Problems and Strategies in Services Marketing

The purpose of this paper is to explore and encapsulate the enablers that can facilitate agility in faculty members of engineering institutions. The paper also aims to conduct a prelim qualitative validation of the enablers and analyze the interplay between them using the total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) approach.,The study adopted the TISM approach to comprehend the interactions and transitivity between the enablers. Cross-impact multiplication matrix (MICMAC) analysis was applied to rank the enablers and classify them on the basis of the driving and dependence power into dependent, autonomous, independent and linkage enablers.,Extensive literature review and expert opinion helped identify 16 enablers that can promote workforce agility. The results indicate “management support” as the most crucial enabler. Rewards and recognition and employee empowerment were among the other enablers that have a high driving force. New capabilities, learning and innovation and the expanding role of faculty members were found to have high dependence power, which makes the enablers dependent on other enablers for activation.,The results of this study would assist the management of engineering colleges and universities to design, adopt and implement policies and practices that would facilitate agility in faculty members. Faculty members shoulder the responsibility of molding the future generation, and hence, it is important that they are competent enough to impart quality education. The policymakers should focus on policies and practices that leverage human resource potential and support an innovative climate that nurtures entrepreneurial activities in engineering institutions.,So far research on workforce agility has predominantly focused on the manufacturing sector. Despite the workforce (refers to faculty members here) being crucial in contributing to the progress of universities and colleges, very little work is done on how faculty members can be made agile. Application of the TISM method in identifying the variables that can facilitate faculty members' agility in engineering institutions in India is a new and original contribution to the literature on workforce agility.

Enablers of workforce agility in engineering educational institutions

High-quality engineering education is becoming increasingly important in India and worldwide due to globalisation and the universal demand for technical personnel of quality. Deterioration of quality in engineering education calls for revitalising the existing system of engineering educational institutions (EEIs) by the adoption of a structured integrated quality management model. Stakeholders' or customers' satisfaction is directly proportional to quality. Stakeholders aspire very much to employability and hence feel that engineering education should be rendered in terms of quality and the ability to produce a greater number of employable students of good quality who are compatible with organisations worldwide. In this paper, important critical success factors (CSFs) are identified through extant literature reviews, and the opinions of experts from academia and industry are sought to construct a new model, the – Integrated Educational Quality Management System (IEQMS). IEQMS is a comprehensive model, a b...

The IEQMS model for augmenting quality in engineering institutions – an interpretive structural modelling approach

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships of service marketing mix (SMM) as service input and service output in terms of students’ performance, satisfaction and referral act in context to higher and technical education (HTE) through the application of structural equation modeling.,A quantitative research, conducted through a self-administered survey composed by a closed-ended structured questionnaire, was incorporated for the students who were enrolled in the technical educational institutions situated in the Khandesh region of India.,The findings of this study revealed that traditional SMM is statistically linked with the performance of students in terms of skill and knowledge enhancement, satisfaction and referral act of students, which are perceptible new emerging SMM; performance, pleasure and pointing out in terms of service output.,Integrating SMM as service input and service output are productive for HTE in enhancing growth (quantitatively) by the inclusivity of diversified students and development (qualitatively) by enhancing their performance for global standing, making them satisfied and motivating them for recommending their institution to others. This integration can be utilized as a yardstick by the institutions for staying ahead in students’ market with a distinctive competitive advantage.,Growth and development of HTE will raise a society’s quality of life and thereby increase a country’s socio-economic status.,The study has exhibited SMM as input and output of a service system that is useful for the growth and development of HTE. The measurement tool presented is effective in (re)framing policies on SMM as service input based on desired service output.

/pdf/service-marketing-mix-as-input-and-output-of-higher-and-28nh4z4v5i.pdf

Service Marketing Mix as Input and Output of Higher and Technical Education: A Measurement Model Based on Students' Perceived Experience.

Graph Theory with Applications to Engineering and Computer ... This outstanding introductory treatment of graph theory and its applications has had a long life in the instruction of advanced undergraduates and graduate students in all areas that require knowledge of this subject. The first nine chapters constitute an excellent overall introduction, requiring only some knowledge of set theory and matrix algebra.

Graph theory with applications to engineering and computer science, by Narsingh Deo. Pp xvii, 478. 1974. SBN 0 13 363473 6 (Prentice-Hall)

Purpose – The paper aims to discuss current Technical Education scenarios in India. It proposes modelling the factors affecting quality in a technical institute and then applying a suitable technique for assessment, comparison and ranking. Design/methodology/approach – The paper chose graph theoretic approach for quantification of quality-enabled model. Further, the paper has validated the approach by taking examples of institutions and applying the methodology. Findings – The paper provides a systematic methodology to build a quality model for quantification of various factors in a technical institute. The qualitative effect represented in form of a single numerical index is a novel method for such representations. The illustrated methodology in the paper is equally useful for comparison and ranking of a set of institutes. Research limitations/implications – Because of the chosen factors in the approach, the methodology may not be equally suitable based on type and size of institute and the geographical ...

Quality concerns in Technical Education in India: A quantifiable quality enabled model

With more than 5,000 technical institutions set up in India to impart technical education, this education sector is booming like never before. However, at the same time, the reports published by AICTE in 2012 indicate that more than 130 technical institutions have given application for closure. With more than one million students appearing for the engineering entrance exam, the failure of these institutions can be attributed to the non-compliance to provide quality education for producing quality graduates. Most of the technical institution still do not understand the main quality technical education enablers and how these are interrelated to each other. If, this is known prior to management, then they can plan their policies in right direction. The endeavour is being made by the authors through this paper to identify the enablers through literature survey and discussions with experts. ISM methodology and questionnaire survey has been performed to understand the intervening effect of these enablers with each other. It is found that the two enablers namely ‘Stakeholders’ view point’ and ‘Financial Position’ have high driving power and therefore deserve great attention. This study concludes with practical implication.

Interpretive structural modelling of enablers of quality technical education: an Indian perspective

Selection of a technical institution is a complex task as it involves many tangible and intangible factors, which are difficult to quantify. Moreover, this problem becomes much more important as the whole professional life of the student depends upon this. With the change in higher education policy in 1991, lots of technical universities came into existence in India. With the ever rising number of technical institutions, it becomes important to rank these institutions so that students can choose appropriate institution, according to their capabilities. Although many agencies, provide these ranking but these seems to be biased one. Therefore, an endeavor has been made in this paper to provide mathematical model to rank the technical institutions by using Fuzzy MADM approach. Fuzzy logic helps to quantify the intangible factors and Graph Theoretic and Matrix Approach (GTMA) gives single numerical index based upon which different technical institutions can be compared easily. This will save lot of time and will give confidence to both technical institutions and students.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel7/6826642/6837685/06837977.pdf

Applying Fuzzy MADM approach for the selection of technical institution

Article history: Received December 20, 2011 Received in Revised form March, 25, 2012 Accepted 23 April 2012 Available online April 27 2012 With the change of education policy in 1991, more and more technical institutions are being set up in India. Some of these institutions provide quality education, but others are merely concentrating on quantity. These stakeholders are in a state of confusion about decision to select the best institute for their higher educational studies. Although various agencies including print media provide ranking of these institutions every year, but their results are controversial and biased. In this paper, the authors have made an endeavor to find the critical factors for technical institution evaluation from literature survey. A Pareto analysis has also been performed to find the intensity of these critical factors in evaluation. This will not only help the stake holders in taking right decisions but will also help the management of institutions in benchmarking for identifying the most important critical areas to improve the existing system. This will in turn help Indian economy. © 2012 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

/pdf/pareto-analysis-of-critical-factors-affecting-technical-1296tftkvb.pdf

Victor Gambhir

Papers

Quality concerns in Technical Education in India: A quantifiable quality enabled model

Interpretive structural modelling of enablers of quality technical education: an Indian perspective

Applying Fuzzy MADM approach for the selection of technical institution

Pareto analysis of critical factors affecting technical institution evaluation

Handbook of Sustainable Materials: Modelling, Characterization, and Optimization