Improving quality management in community colleges in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Organizations around the world are seeking to maximize their success and sustainability to survive in today’s rapidly changing world – by improving the quality of their products and services, responding to clients’ needs, and maximizing customer satisfaction. Quality, in turn, needs to be well managed to guarantee good services or products. This research enhances the understanding of Quality Management in the context of Higher Education (HEI) generally, and Community Colleges (CCs) specifically. It studies the service quality situation and the application of Quality Assurance Standards (QAS) in ten CCs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). It demonstrates the correlation between QAS and service quality, and the influence that QAS have on service quality. In terms of management, this research presents an overview of the Saudi National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment’s (NCAAA’s) application of QAS in CCs, and in relation to SERVQUAL. It specifies the Students’, Faculty and Top managers’ perceptions of service quality and clarifies the application of QAS in CCs in KSA. It identifies the service quality gaps in a sample of CCs, specifies the most influential QAS on service quality in KSA, and provides policy recommendations for stakeholders in CCs and Higher Education (HE) in KSA. In terms of methodological contribution, this research determines how to measure the application of quality management and service quality status in the HEI context. It examines the application of SERVQUAL in the HE context and suggests the modifications needed. Then it examines the application of mixed methods, to get the best of the qualitative and quantitative methods and avoid the shortages of each. Unusually, SERVQUAL was applied on three categories of this research: Students, Faculty and Top Managers, since they represent the main categories of internal stakeholders in HEI. Students are customers, and Faculty and Top Managers are the service providers: Faculty delivers the service and Top Managers lead the whole process and represent the decision makers. In terms of theoretical contributions, this research investigates the literature on service quality, SERVQUAL, Quality Management, Resource Based View (RBV), CCs internationally, and CCs and HE in KSA. It uses RBV theory to differentiate between the performances of CCs, which can be applied to HEI generally. It then suggests an approach, in the light of RBV theory, to understand the reasons for low performance of CCs; how to analyze the situation and determine the reasons for low performing CCs and solutions which can be applied to all other HEI. It clarifies the picture of HEI generally, and CCs specifically, in KSA from the perspective of quality management and service quality application. It provides clearly evidenced policy recommendations derived from empirical data, and recommendations for stakeholders and researchers on what needs to be done, according to the findings. This research is very useful for those who are interested in QM, HE, CCs, and service quality in relation to assurance standards, mixed methods and SERVQUAL adapted to higher education. Through the literature investigated, data gathered, methodology followed, the results and findings reached, and the link is established between the implementation of quality standards and perceived outcomes, this research makes a significant and useful contribution to knowledge. It provides valuable research for institutions in KSA and similar contexts: Arabic Gulf Countries, Arab States or other countries in the world