Implications

This section provides theoretical, managerial, and policy implications based on data analysis, results, and the discussion of the results. The theoretical implications contributed to the knowledge body and the managerial and policy implications contributed to higher education management in Qatar in general and to Qatar University management.

a) Theoretical implications

This research helps in expanding the knowledge body in the field of service quality assessment and management. The major contribution of this study is the development of customized quality assessment tool for the higher education sector in Qatar. The study expanded the completeness of SERVQUAL model and provided a modified version of the scale that is applicable to Qatar education.

The study identified seven service quality dimensions applicable to Qatar higher education sector, which are the original five dimensions of SERVQUAL and two new dimensions culture/value and image and tested these dimensions empirically in higher education sector of Qatar. The results of hypothesis testing provided strong evidence that both new dimensions have statistically significant correlation between perceived service quality and have predictive power on perceived service quality. This stresses the importance of developing customized measures of service quality based on the culture where the service is provided. Using generic models such as SERVQUAL may result in missing important concerns of the customers.

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b) Managerial Implications

The findings provided some implications to higher education management on the utilization of services quality measurement and assessment to achieve customers' satisfaction and influence customer's behavior. Based on the findings, recommendations are made under the following sections. It should be noted that the findings are purely based on the analysis of survey responses.

Areas for immediate improvements based on the Gaps Analysis

The findings arrived at in this study helps Qatar University management to understand the specific areas that are in need for service quality improvements. Identifying the priority areas for improvement puts the management in better place for enhancing the quality of the services.

The results of the gap analysis suggest several implications for the university's ability to provide a quality education experience to its students. The findings indicated that students expect more from their higher education institution than it is providing to them. The negative mean gap score pinpoint some areas requiring priority service quality improvements at Qatar University. Gaps priority order reliability, empathy, responsiveness, assurance, image, tangibles and culture/value in descending order. The management needs to take appropriate actions for closing the gaps between the students' expectations and actual perceptions.

Service Quality Dimensions

The performed statistical analysis indicates that corporate image and culture/value can be considered as a determinant or dimension of service quality in higher education settings and

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both are proven to have a positive correlation with perceived service quality. Therefore, considering image and culture/value dimensions are highly recommended for consideration when assessing services quality. Based on the gap analysis, students expect from their university to contribute more to the welfare of the society and to be more in line with the religion values in the community. The university should put more effort into participation in activities and programs that contribute to the welfare of the society and incorporate religion and social values into the university. The university can also consider enhancing the branding and reputation of the university in the society and media.

Student positive behavioral intention (loyalty)

Assessing the quality of the provided services helps gaining better understanding of how the improvement plans and reforms influenced the student’s loyalty behavioral intention is very important for higher education institutions.

In the process of gaining a better understanding of higher education, this thesis investigated the linkage and the relation between service quality and students’ loyalty. The findings proved that loyalty positive behavioral intentions significantly correlates to the service quality level provided by the institution and the seven dimensions of service quality considered in this study. The higher the quality level, the more loyal students the institution will end up having. Therefore, the management of higher education institutions needs to take actions for closing the gaps between students' expectation and perception of services by providing high quality services that meet or exceeds the expectation of the students in order to maintain the current students and gain new students in future at a lower cost. Loyal students spread positive word of the mouth and participate in lowering the cost of

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marketing and advertising in a highly competitive environment, which provides students with many educational options. The study findings suggest maintaining high-quality services as a winning strategy in such a competitive environment. The university should focus on building students loyalty while the students are still active in the university by meeting their needs and expectations and it should maintain the relationship with students after graduation, which can be achieved via alumni relations office.

Policy

The most important contributions of this study is the development of a customized measure of service quality that is pertinent to Qatar higher education sector. The instrument was empirically tested at Qatar University. The higher education management at Qatar can develop instruments for service quality management and assessment. Regulatory body such as SEC can design a policy that requires adopting the instrument as a standard for measuring and assessing the quality of services in Qatar higher education sector.