Abstract:
In today's competitive academic enviromnent where students have many options available to them, factors that enable educational institutions to attract and retain students should be seriously studied. Higher education institutions, which want to gain competitive edge in the future, may need to begin searching for effective and creative ways to attract, retain and foster stronger relationships with students. Service quality is considered as an important determinant of competitiveness in higher education. This quality comes from the combination of excellent learning process and public satisfaction on the service delivered. However stakeholders are asking whether the universities have compromised on service quality due to high enrolment and opening up of satellite campuses across the country. To remain competitive, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are required to continuously acquire, maintain, and build stronger relationships with students. This study therefore seeks to establish the effects of service quality on organizational perfonnance in Kenyan Universities. Specifically, the study focuses on the relationship between the five dimensions of service quality namely; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and organizational performance. The population of the study consisted of 39 management staff as follows: 18 from Kabarak University Nakuru Town Campus and 2l from Egerton University Nakuru Town Campus. The student population consisted of 2,221 students undertaking various courses at Egerton University Nakuru Town Campus College and 858 students from Kabarak University Nakuru Town Campus. Stratified random sampling was used to select 255 third and fourth year students from NTCC and 99 students from Kabarak University Nakuru Town Campus College. A five-point Likert scale research questionnaire was administered to the sampled students to provide the required data. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between service quality and organizational performance. Multiple Regression analysis was used to analyse the effect of service quality on organizational performance in Kenyan universities. The results revealed that there was a relationship between tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and organizational performance. The study concluded ‘bat institutions of higher learning should focus on understanding customer’s needs, xrceptions and behavioural patterns of the sector and adopt customer oriented strategies that enhance service quality. "
