Gaining Competitive Advantages: Analyzing the Gap between Expectations and Perceptions of Service Quality

Universities have obligations to fulfill the needs of two customers –students and industry. Students must be intellectually prepared to meet the challenges of a highly competitive global environment. One approach in meeting this challenge is to focus on `Service Quality.' The purpose of this paper is to review the relevant research literature and theorize several propositions about SERVQUAL in the higher educational environment. The research considers the gap between expected services and perceived services and how these dimensions of SERVQUAL may be utilized to improve service quality and customer satisfaction.