Analysis of Quality of Services in Higher Education Institutions

Analysis of Quality of Services in Higher Education Institutions

Ivana Jošanov-Vrgović, Ana Jovičić Vuković, Nataša Papić-Blagojević, Dragana Bolesnikov
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1196-1.ch020
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Abstract

An overview of domestic and foreign literature shows that the concept of quality of services at higher education institutions (HEIs) is the focus. Quality of service is one of the main factors of competitive advantage. Perceived quality of services in HEIs can be defined as the difference between what students expect to receive and their perceptions of what they really get. If HEIs get acquainted with students' expectations, they will have the opportunity to adjust their behavior to what is expected of them, and thus to positively influence on the students' perceived quality of services. Globalization has created a more competitive environment and opened market for HEIs. It affected on ensuring high quality in HEIs. The quality of HEIs is of key importance for a society because the students, employers, and society have the benefits of it, and quality education contributes to economic development of the country.
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Quality Of Service

The occurrence of the concept of quality relates to the occurrence of human civilization. One of the first examples of quality assurance (Janovac, 2014) in written form can be found in the records of Hamurabi's Law, from the time of ancient Babylon from the period of about 2500 years. BC. The ancient Egyptians emphasized the importance of the quality of the products, which testify to the pyramids and various writings written on papyrus. The large number of craftsmen in the Middle Ages led to the establishment of guilds, craft associations, who were active in terms of planning and quality management. The beginning of the industrial revolution has caused the need for quality management in large systems. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a culmination of quality that represented a civilization response to an industrial society.

In the seventies of the 20th century, Japan took the world's leading position in quality and became world powers. The culture of constant improvement (kaizen) has led to the biggest changes, with the greatest emphasis on the education of quality experts and the introduction of mass training programs. The Western approach was created in response to kaizen defining a quality improvement strategy. In 1987, Malcolm Baldrige “The National Quality Award” was founded, which became the highest level of national recognition for the business excellence of American companies.

The quality of services issue is present in the theory and practice of management for many years, and in today's conditions of business it is especially evident. The ISO quality system is widely accepted in Europe. Today, quality is the most important type of business and it is one of the key factors of competitiveness. The turbulence, complexity and diversification of the business environment imposes the need for the development of products and services that will satisfy consumers, but also provide profit, while creating a positive reputation of the organization. The quality of products and services becomes a critical factor in the success, acquisition and maintenance of a competitive advantage. Organizations strive to improve the quality of their products and services, processes and employees in order to meet demand, but also provide more than the expectations of clients (Jovičić et al, 2013).

Quality in modern business concepts has become a tool for achieving business goals, which before the management of the organization sets the task to achieve in a balanced way the highest level of satisfaction of the requirements of interested parties. The basis of such a management system is the Quality Management System (QMS), which is built on the basis of eight principles. These principles are the result of the experience of the world's best companies and are translated into the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard, which are (Kosar, Rašeta, 2005):

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