Online Education and Managing Service Quality with the Challenges of COVID 19: The Case of University of Business and Technology (UBT) Saudi Arabia

With the pandemic of COVID 19 hitting global economy and forcing social distance, all sectors were exposed to the wave. The educational sector is not exceptional, most universities were forced to adopt online education with the lack of experience necessary needed. This step was like walking blind in a foggy road without realizing the suitability of this service or how to satisfy students. The pandemic spread of Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) has created stress, anxiety, and several concerns among people around the world. It is disrupting every aspect of human life including education. Since customer satisfaction has always been linked to customer retention, there is a need to measure how students perceive the quality of online learning services. In this study, the perceived quality of online learning at the University of Business and Technology (UBT) was measured, and the modified service performance model (modified SERVPERF) was applied as an instrument for measuring service quality. This study has brought ideas that could be very important for educational institutions in general and managers in UBT specifically. It could help creating more focused marketing plans by giving the priority in investing to sides that promote students’ perception of the quality of online learning services in UBT. Management of educational institutions can better customize their marketing efforts to guarantee customers’ expectations are satisfied by identifying students’ views of service quality. Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) has accurately specified and prioritized the areas that need more care from UBT management to improve online learning experience