Enucleating the student support and services needs in higher education: the application of Kano analysis as a strategic tool

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to help higher education institutions (HEIs) develop a better understanding of student support and services needs, thereby enabling them to allocate limited resources for initiatives that effectively improve student experience.Design/methodology/approachAn assessment framework following the Kano analysis is developed to categorize student service features based on customer satisfaction and need fulfillment. The framework is used at a local university, using 23 service features listed as minimum requirements by the national regulatory body for education. Analysis of the satisfaction survey results and prioritization are based on quality indices derived from a factor of importance and the satisfaction gap. A survey was conducted for two academic years to generate a comparison of results.FindingsOf the list mandated as minimum requirements for HEIs, the study revealed that no features were regarded as “must-be,” eight as performing, 14 as attractive and one as indifferent by the students. As these results were disaggregated per year level, the natural decay of delight as in the Kano theory was exhibited as there were less attractive features for students who have been in the university longest. After a full-year academic cycle, results compared to the baseline figures seemed to reveal of impact of the achievement of performance targets by the units rendering specific activities on client satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsFurther rounds of the study are needed to build up more data sets on the relationship between objective performance and satisfaction level for performing features, mindful that this categorization is also bound to change along the way.Practical implicationsAs HEIs in the Philippines journey towards the establishment of their own respective internal quality assurance systems, this study provides a practical approach for institutions to transform a mere list of student services for compliance into a strategic tool to enhance the student experience.Originality/valueIn the context of continuous quality improvement, the study presents how the qualitative Kano model, along with simple quantitative tools in the methodology, can be utilized not only in the planning stage of service design but also in closing the planning, doing, checking and acting (PDCA) cycle and opening the quality improvement spiral.