Students’ perception of service quality: a case study of school of business, university of nairobi

Abstract

The School of Business at the University of Nairobi has been admitting student‟s way in excess of their capacity to handle. This has been due to the need for the university to raise money for their operations and expansion of physical facilities. The large number of students has put a major strain on the physical facilities as well as the human resources of the School of Business. The strain has affected the quality of services offered by the school with students often complaining of poor service quality. Service quality is related to service potential, service process or service result. This study intended to determine the students‟ perception of the service quality at the school of Business. Relevant literature was reviewed in chapter two explaining the various theories relating to service quality. Every time a service company provides a service to a particular customer, the customer makes an assessment of the quality of service even if unconsciously. The sum total of repeated assessment and the collective assessments by all customers establishes in their minds the organisations image in terms of service quality. To determine the students‟ perception of service quality, the researcher adopted the descriptive research methodology. Questionnaires were prepared and distributed to the students using the convenience sampling method. Data was collected and analysed using a statistical package to produce charts and summary statistics. The interpretation of the results from the survey was done. The research was able to establish the perceived quality of service offered at the School of Business including but are not limited to physical facilities, human resource and teaching and learning materials. The study established the main areas requiring immediate attention was public relations, updated learning materials and expansion of physical facilities. The study also established that the students consider the price of the service as too high and review of the same downwards may be necessary.