Effects of institutional reform oncorporate image and value in adeveloping country context

Norizan Mohd Kassim, Mohamad Najdawi, Zeina Al Azmeh and Hissa Sadiq

Summary

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to examine the importance of organizational change

involving an implementation of a reform project in a higher learning institution in Qatar. The project was

aimed at enhancing the institution’s corporate image and value in its effort to be an institution of choice in

the country.

Design/methodological/approach – Based on the results of two separate focus group sessions, a

survey questionnaire was developed and was then sent to 8,000 respondents. Data from 866 usable

questionnaires were analyzed using a rating scale to identify the degree of agreement among the

respondents with respect to a number of statements posed to them as well as using an

independent-sample t-test to determine whether differences exist between male and female students

with regards to the statements.

Findings – Results showed that the respondents agreed with all of the statements pertaining to image,

value, academic levels, campus life and the reform project carried out by the higher educational

institution under study. Academic levels appeared to be extremely important because it is an essential

element in building and enriching both the image and the value of the institution and is of particular

importance to attract new students. With the enhanced image resulting from the reform project, the

institution is moving in the right direction towards becoming an excellent institution which will be sought

after by both Qatari and international students.

Practical implications – The implications of this study suggest that the top management needs to

consider the identified variables in their effort to boost the image and value of the institution. They should

also focus on individual needs in order to implement the changes successfully.

Originality/value – The findings from this study reveal the nature of professional practice in a higher

education institution, demonstrates the impact of this work context on practices, and provides concrete

strategies for managing organizational change in building and enriching its image and value.

Keywords Higher education, Organizational change, Educational systems and institutions, Qatar,Corporate image

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

An era of change is not unusual in the history of mankind. Managing and leading change is

not as easy as we might think. Even so, the reality of ongoing change is not new for most

leaders (Bunker and Wakefield, 2006). Part of the problem is that there is little agreement on

what factors most influence a transformation initiative (Sirkin et al., 2005). Thus, leading and

managing change is essential and can be incredibly difficult (Kotter, 2001; Sirkin et al.,

2005). Many organizations fail miserably in their effort because most of their managers do

not realize that transformation is a process, not an event (Kotter, 2001). Organizational

change management does not only happen in business organizations but it is becoming

increasingly common in public organizations as well. Leaders in public organizations have

improved their performance by incorporating greater market orientation into their strategic

planning process (Ostroff, 2006). Successful implementation of change in an educational

PAGE 32 j MEASURING BUSINESS EXCELLENCE j VOL. 14 NO. 2 2010, pp. 32-45, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1368-3047 DOI 10.1108/13683041011047849

Norizan Mohd Kassim is an

Associate Professor in the

Department of

Management and

Marketing, College of

Business and Economics,

University of Qatar, Doha,

Qatar. Mohamad Najdawi is

Professor and Dean, in the

Department of

Management and

Marketing, College of

Business and Economics,

University of Qatar, Doha,

Qatar. Zeina Al Azmeh is

Director of External

Relations, Qatar University,

Doha, Qatar. Hissa Sadiq is

Professor and Dean,

College of Education, Qatar

University, Doha, Qatar.

institution can enhance its corporate image and value, which can help it to become an

excellent institution or an institution of choice among students.

This study was commissioned to examine the impact of an evidence-based organizational

change and its effects on the overall image and value of a higher educational institution (HEI)

in Qatar as perceived by the people who were most affected by the change following the

implementation of a reform project by the institution which started in 2003. The study also

investigated the competitive position of this institution, it strengths and weaknesses as

compared to other institutions of higher learning, and the effectiveness of the organizational

change over the past three years from 2006.

The next section of this paper presents a review of the literature in order to determine some

previous work related to the topic that have been done by researchers and to show that that

this paper will be able to contribute to the literature. This is followed by the section that

discusses the justifications, the objectives, and the theoretical framework of this research.

The remaining sections discuss the methods of data collection and analysis, the results

obtained, the discussions on the findings, and finally the conclusion and implications from

the findings.

Review of literature

In Arab societies, education has always been recognized as a driver of change and

progress. As reported by Deghady (2008, p. 16) all the six member nations of the Gulf

Co-operation Council (GCC), namely Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab

Emirates (UAE), and Oman have been undergoing rapid development in their higher

education landscape. These countries have attracted many major American, British,

Canadian and Australian universities to affiliate with local universities or to set up a branch

within their border. However, Misnad (2007) reported that recognizing education as a driver

of change and progress alone is not good enough to bring about transformation and change

in the Arab world. In fact, according to her, one needs to overcome three challenges:

1. the political will to change, the duration of the reformation processes and its outcome;

2. the commitment of economic resources; and

3. overcoming social resistance and skeptism.

Sirkin et al. (2005) called these challenges as the hard elements of change management.

They propose four factors, namely duration, integrity, commitment and effort that must be

carefully studied by their leaders in order to determine if their change programs will succeed

or fail. These four factors coincide with the three challenges suggested by Misnad (2007).

All the GCC nations have shown their commitment to education reformations by spending

billions of dollars into expanding their private institutions in order to educate their nationals

up to the international standards (Deghady, 2008). For example, as reported by Deghady

(2008), in 2003 Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman have all opened their first private

universities, with strong public support from their governments. According to him, more than

$22 billions have been allocated for education and human resource development in the UAE

and Saudi Arabia alone. Thus, this commitment of economic resources has been echoed

across the GCC countries.

In marketing, recognizing the needs of customers is top priority. The success, the quality,

and the entire outcome of a higher education institution’s experience should be determined

by the extent to which it has satisfied its customers (Maringe, 2005; Lee, 2008). It is, after all,

the image and value of the institutions that will impact the recruitment of new students. It will

also influence a donor considering giving an endowment to the institution or a company

selecting the institution to do contract research and development work (Ivy, 2001). Moreover,

the institution’s market is becoming more crowded and competitive in the Arab world. Thus,

educational change is urgently needed by them in order to survive and succeed in the

market place (Misnad, 2007).

VOL. 14 NO. 2 2010 jMEASURING BUSINESS EXCELLENCEj PAGE 33

Change by definition, requires creating a new system, which in turn always demands good

leadership (Kotter, 2001, p. 3). Guiding changemay be the test for a leader because change

is often resisted by the people it mostly affects. As Kotter said:

Management is about coping with complexity. Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with

change (Kotter, 2001, p. 4).

One of the reasons for implementing organizational change is to build up strong corporate

image. Many organizations spend time, resources and efforts to build strong image for their

business (Poon et al., 2000). In fact, the image interface represents the point of contact

between the various stakeholders (customers, employees, government, community and

stockholders) and the organization. Moreover, the stakeholders’ experiences are shaped by

the outcomes of the various management systems (Poon et al., 2000).

Various definitions of corporate image have been discussed by a number of researchers.

According to Bernstein (1984) corporate image is the net result of the interactions of all

experiences, beliefs, feelings, knowledge and impressions that people have about an

organization. Souiden et al. (2006) describe corporate image as the overall impression

made on the minds of the public about a firm. In other words, corporate image is the

reception of an organization in its surroundings. Yavas and Shemwell (1996) describe

corporate image as a total perception of an object, which is formed by processing

information from various resources (such as word-of-mouth (WOM), past experiences and

marketing communications) over time.

On the other hand, value refers to the benefits a customer receives from buying a good or a

service (Solomon et al., 2008) or the organization promises to deliver. In other words, value is

defined as the tangible and intangible benefits s/he receives from the organization.

Intangible benefits are feelings or sensations engendered by the product or services, while

tangible benefits are physical benefits gained from ownership or use of the products or

services.

Thus, in this study, image is defined as the net result of the interactions of all experiences,

impressions, beliefs, feelings and knowledge of the respondents about the organization,

while value is defined as the tangible (university’s degree) and intangible benefits

(experiences) they receive from the institution. We believe that an enhanced image and

value of the institution could improve its reputation thus making it more competitive vis-a-vis

other educational institutions in the country. Thus, in this study, image and value were

assumed to be the overall performance of the institution under study.

From the above review of the literature it is clear that many higher education institutions in

Arab countries, particularly those from the GCC, have implemented many changes aimed at

making them more competitive. Despite such common occurrences there was no research

done that examined the impact of an implementation of such changes on the image and

value of a higher education institution, particularly from a developing country environment of

the Middle East. Thus, we hope the findings of this research would contribute to the

literature.

Research objectives, justifications, and theoretical framework

This study was meant to investigate the importance of organizational change and its effects

on the institution’s corporate image and corporate value. This study is not about ‘‘technical’’

issues of a change process. Instead, it is primarily about perceptions and understanding of

the people that it mostly affects. Thus, this study focused solely on students’ perspective.

Our choice of the HEI used in this research was due to the fact that it has implemented a

reform project aimed at making it more competitive. The HEI was one of the several higher

education institutions in the State of Qatar. At the time of this study, there were eight other

universities in the country. The students of the HEI and those eight other universities not only

came from Qatar but also from other GCC countries, the Arab League countries, as well as

from non-Arab countries. Thus, the HEI was not only competing with other universities from

inside the country but also with many foreign universities, particularly those from the GCC or

PAGE 34 jMEASURING BUSINESS EXCELLENCEj VOL. 14 NO. 2 2010

regional countries for students. In its efforts to become more competitive the HEI has

undertaken some proactive steps at trying to get its programs accredited by international

accreditation bodies. Among the programs offered by the HEI include engineering,

business and economics, arts and sciences, education, and laws.

The specific changes made by the HEI under study under the reform project were for

achieving a number of specific objectives as discussed below.

Changing its logo

The objective for changing the logo was that the new logo should leverage the community’s

loyalty towards the tradition of the HEI and at the same time communicating its new direction

to the community.

Modernizing its identity

The objective was to modernize both the corporate identity and the communication

practices in order to remind its stakeholders about its new direction while at the same time

preserving its heritage even though the services provided by this institution have changed

drastically.

Raising its academic level

All students would have to adhere to a new, albeit higher minimum standard of admission.

Following this, new core curricula for all the colleges were developed to include a broad

spectrum of knowledge and skills for students to prepare themselves for various

professional careers and social roles. The HEI’s core curriculum reform strategy

specifically focused on student learning where courses, programs, experiences, and

assessments were constructed by the faculty, always with the specific and clear learning

outcomes in mind, and students are ultimately evaluated in terms of whether or not they

achieved these objectives.

Raising faculty quality

In addition to the required qualifications, the faculty members were expected to be

knowledgeable in their field, to have high expectations and standards, and to use the most

efficacious teaching strategies and assessment techniques.

Improving its infrastructure

In order to generate and build a stronger community, the institution has also improved its

campus infrastructure, students advising and registration systems as well as creating a new

office of career services. These activities should be carried out within the HEI’s constraints in

terms of financial, technology, human resource, and infrastructure (Lee, 2008).

The theoretical framework or model for this research is shown in Figure 1. Basically, this

research examined whether the reform project and its accompanying impacts or changes

on campus life and academic level would influence the HEI’s image and eventually its value.

Methods of data collection and analysis

Based on the results of two focus group sessions, a questionnaire aimed at assessing the

institution’s academic level, campus life, and the results of the reform project as perceived

by the students was developed. All the general questions pertaining to the respondents’

experiences with the HEI as well as their demographic variables were tapped by direct

single questions. The questionnaire was written in English and was then translated into

Arabic. To ensure accuracy the questionnaire was then translated back into English

(Douglas and Craig, 1983). A four-point Likert interval scale (ranging from strongly agree to

strongly disagree) was used. We envisaged the three independent variables considered

above would significantly explain the variances in image and value of the institution. The

descriptions of the variables and their resultant corresponding reliability assessment (see

Table I) are described next.

VOL. 14 NO. 2 2010 jMEASURING BUSINESS EXCELLENCEj PAGE 35

Image

This dependent variable measure asked respondents to indicate their levels of agreement

with seven statements that assess the change in image of the HEI resulting from the reform

project.

Value

This dependent variable measure asked respondents to indicate their levels of agreement

with six statements that assess the change in HEI’s value resulting from the reform project.

Reform project

This independent variable was tapped seven statements that assess the changes made to

the HEI resulting from the reform project.

Academic levels

This independent variable asked the respondents to indicate their levels of agreement with

13 statements that assess the influence of the change in academic levels on HEI’s image

and value resulting from the reform project.

Campus life

This independent variable asked the respondents to indicate their levels of agreement with

ten statements that assess the influence of the change in campus life on HEI’s image and

value resulting from the reform project.

In this cross-sectional correlational study, data on three independent variables (reform

project, campus life, and academic level) and two dependent variables (image and value)

were collected from students of the HEI via a survey questionnaire. The unit of analysis of this

study was the students of the HEI. The information given by the student respondents was

treated as fully and strictly confidential, and therefore the name of the institution could not be

Table I Means, standard deviation and correlations between the constructs

Pearson correlation*Variable Mean SD Cronbach alpha CR 1 2 3 4 5

1. MAL 2.510 0.506 0.78 0.82 0.6362. MCL 2.249 0.547 0.77 0.78 0.596 0.5363. MRP 2.610 0.667 0.89 0.90 0.530 0.502 0.5684. MI 2.393 0.562 0.76 0.77 0.653 0.542 0.547 0.5355. MV 2.528 0.574 0.82 0.78 0.550 0.469 0.467 0.447 0.547

Notes: MAL ¼ Academic level; MCL ¼ Campus life; MRP ¼ Reform project; MI ¼ Image; MV ¼ Value; CR ¼ Composite reliabilityand; diagonal represents the average variance extracted (AVE); * significant level at , 0.001 at two-tail

Figure 1 Proposed research model

MAL

MCL

MRP

MI MV

Note: MAL = Academic level; MCL = Campus life; MRP = Reform project; MI = Image and;MV = Value

PAGE 36 jMEASURING BUSINESS EXCELLENCEj VOL. 14 NO. 2 2010

disclosed to the respondents. Thus, throughout this paper the educational institution was

referred to as the HEI.

A convenience sampling procedure was used. The total student population of the HEI at the

time of the study was about 8,000 and responses were received from 866 students (10.8

percent response rate). The questionnaires were distributed to the students by the

researchers during their class sessions and were collected as soon as they completed them.

It took about 15-20 minutes for each student to complete the questionnaire.

Results

As expected, the student sample consisted of more females (73.8 percent) than males (26.2

percent) due to the fact that females represented 70.0 percent of the student population. The

majority of the students were Qatari (70.7 percent) and were mostly from the College of Arts

and Sciences (43.6 percent), followed by the College of Engineering (26.0 percent), and the

College of Business and Economics (25.5 percent). About 62.3 percent of the respondents

were enrolled between 2004 and 2007.

After determining the reliabilities of the measures for the sample, frequency distributions for

demographic variables were obtained. Then Pearson correlation matrix was obtained for the

three independent variables and the two dependent variables. Most of the relationships

reported were related in the expected direction, i.e. they were significantly correlated (see

Table I). The reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity of the constructs were

estimated by Cronbach alpha, composite reliability and average variance extracted,

respectively, as shown in Table I. Based on the results shown in this table, the instrument has

demonstrated adequate reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity.

Next, analysis of the various variables was done by assigning a rating scale based on the

degree of agreement among the respondents with the statements posed to them (Table II).

In addition to the above descriptive analysis, independent-sample t-tests were performed to

determine whether differences exist between the male and female students with regards to

the statements. The results obtained are discussed next.

Image

Table III shows that there was some evidence (agreed by the majority of students) that, out of

the total of seven statements posed to the students, only one received strong agreement

(þþ rating, i.e. strongly agreed/agreed by 61-79 percent of the respondents), while two

statements received average rating (þ rating, i.e. strongly agreed/agreed by 50-60 percent

of the respondents), as follows:

1. Statements receiving þþ rating:

B I feel protective of the HEI’s reputation.

2. Statements receiving þ rating:

B The HEI’s reputation is positive.

B The HEI’s reputation has improved in the last three years.

Table II Ratings used to assess the variables

Criteria Assigned ratings

80 percent or more of the respondents either strongly agreed oragreed with the statement indicating that the statements were able tocontribute very strongly to the variable þþþ

61-79 percent of the respondents either strongly agreed or agreedwith the statement indicating a moderate contribution þþ

50-60 percent of the respondents either strongly agreed or agreedwith the statement indicating a weak contribution þ

VOL. 14 NO. 2 2010 jMEASURING BUSINESS EXCELLENCEj PAGE 37

Table III Rating analysis and independent t-test

Item VariablesSD(%)

D(%)

A(%)

SA(%) Mean SD t-value p-value Ratingc

Image (MI)1. HEI reputation was positive 15.5 34.3 42.1 8.1 2.76 0.908 0.250a ns þ

2. Reputation of all colleges was positive 13.5 51.3 31.1 4.2 2.13 0.922 0.030a ns3. HEI reputation has improved in the last three

years 19.4 21.9 39.4 19.3 2.42 0.826 1.926a 0.054** þ

4. After joining HEI my impressions becamepositive 15.9 34.6 38.8 10.6 2.00 0.894 2.300a 0.022**

5. HEI’s reputation is comparable to that of otherregional universities 22.6 42.7 29.6 5.1 1.74 0.887 2.652b 0.008*

6. HEI’s reputation is comparable to that ofdeveloped countries’ universities 31.9 43.1 21.7 3.3 2.56 0.846 0.525b ns

7. I feel protective of HEI’s reputation 11.7 18.4 38.4 31.5 3.11 0.896 2.696b 0.007* þþ

Academic level (MAL)1. HEI’s academic level is comparable to that of

other regional universities 14.3 30.0 49.1 6.6 2.48 0.818 3.030b 0.003* þ

2. The academic level of my College is comparable

to that of similar universities in the region 13.4 31.2 43.6 11.8 2.54 0.868 2.848a 0.005* þ

3. HEI’s academic level is comparable to that ofother international universities 22.2 43.8 29.3 4.7 2.17 0.823 1.223b ns

4. Academic level in my college is comparable tothat of other international universities 20.0 40.4 32.6 7.0 2.27 0.858 2.155b 0.000*

5. HEI’s academic level is the same across allcolleges 25.9 43.0 27.4 3.8 2.09 0.823 21.761a ns

6. Admission standards at HEI are high 8.0 20.2 44.7 27.2 2.91 0.886 21.085a ns þþ

7. HEI offers appropriate student social activities 13.9 28.5 49.2 8.4 2.52 0.834 24.788b 0.000* þ

8. HEI students are committed to their studies 10.2 32.3 48.0 9.5 2.57 0.799 1.424a ns þ

9. Academic level of all programs is the same 11.4 43.4 42.3 2.9 2.37 0.720 22.052a 0.041**10. Good student advising system 25.5 28.6 40.2 5.7 2.26 0.904 22.140a 0.033**11. Good faculty at HEI 8.8 18.8 63.6 8.8 2.72 0.743 2.532b 0.012* þþ

12. Good faculty in my college 9.1 12.4 56.9 21.6 2.91 0.835 0.973a ns þþ

13. Faculty members in my college are accessible to

students 9.2 18.1 49.1 23.6 2.57 0.878 21.266a ns þþ

Campus life (MCL)1. The systems (registration etc.) are organized 12.8 17.8 50.2 19.2 2.76 0.908 0.775a ns þþ

2. I know where to get help 29.7 35.3 27.7 7.3 2.13 0.922 20.116a ns3. I am satisfied with the social activities 15.9 31.5 46.7 5.9 2.42 0.826 23.912a 0.000* þ

4. I am satisfied with the campus 35.6 32.9 27.3 4.3 2.00 0.894 23.524a 0.000*5. I am satisfied with the parking 52.7 23.1 21.5 2.8 1.74 0.887 1.102b ns6. I am satisfied with the labs 15.7 20.6 56.0 7.7 2.56 0.846 25.672b 0.000* þþ

7. Students should be allowed to enter campus atany time 7.5 12.8 41.1 38.6 3.11 0.896 5.959a 0.000* þþþ

8. HEI is responsive to students’ needs 23.2 38.3 35.0 3.5 2.19 0.828 21.074a ns9. I am satisfied with the quality of life 23.2 29.9 42.1 4.7 2.28 0.874 20.132b ns10. The environment is conducive to social

interaction 29.6 31.8 31.9 6.8 2.16 0.929 0.224b ns

Marketability of HEI degrees or programs or value (MV)1. The education is sufficient for work 10.5 24.7 56.8 8.0 2.62 0.778 3.978b 0.000* þþ

2. Degree is well recognized locally 9.4 18.0 60.7 11.9 2.75 0.782 3.194a 0.001* þþ

3. Easy to find a job 16.9 42.0 35.6 5.5 2.30 0.811 4.065a 0.000*4. Prospective employers are aware of the

programs offered by my college 16.6 43.4 36 3.9 2.27 0.781 2.401a 0.017**5. Programs offered by HEI are useful for the local

job market 8.9 31.8 54.2 5.2 2.56 0.727 3.271b 0.001* þ

6. Programs offered by my college are useful for the

local job market 11.1 26.4 47.2 15.2 2.67 0.866 2.214a 0.027** þþ

(Continued)

PAGE 38 jMEASURING BUSINESS EXCELLENCEj VOL. 14 NO. 2 2010

Thus, there was a clear indication that the image of the HEI has improved after the

implementation of the reform project. Nevertheless, there were also some indications that

image in many ways has failed to change the students’ perceptions (since less than 50

percent of the students agreed with the respective statements), particularly with respect to

the following:

B The reputation of all the colleges is positive (35 percent).

B After joining the HEI my impressions became positive (49 percent).

B The HEI’s reputation is comparable to that of other regional universities (35 percent).

B The HEI’s reputation is comparable to that of developed countries’ universities (25

percent).

The results in Table III showed that there were significant differences in the scores for the

male and female students for items 3, 4, 5 and 7 (see also Appendix, Table AI). Overall, the

respondents’ perceptions of the image of the HEI were generally favorable (with the male

students more agreeable than the female students (see Appendix, Table AI)).

Academic level

There were also mixed results obtained for the academic level since the majority (more than

50 percent) of the respondents agreed with the statements posed to them. The results

provided strong and average support, particularly in terms of the following:

B The HEI has good faculty (þþ rating).

B My college has good faculty (þþ rating).

B The faculty members in my college are accessible to students (þþ rating).

B Admission standards at the HEI are high (þþ rating).

B The HEI’s academic level is comparable to that of other regional universities (þ rating).

B The academic level of my college is comparable to that of similar universities in the region

(þ rating).

B The HEI offers appropriate student social activities (þ rating).

B HEI’s students are committed to their studies (þ rating).

Table III

Item VariablesSD(%)

D(%)

A(%)

SA(%) Mean SD t-value p-value Ratingc

Reform project (MRP)1. The reform project has brought positive changes

to students 13.4 21.7 49.5 15.4 2.67 0.893 20.413a ns þþ

2. The reform project has improved academic

performance 10.6 25.9 55.4 10.6 2.64 0.811 20.492a ns þþ

3. The reform project has brought positive changesto faculty 10.0 25.4 55.4 11.2 2.63 0.784 20.641a ns þþ

4. The reform project has brought positive changesto college 9.9 22.9 56.0 11.2 2.68 0.800 1.408a ns þþ

5. The reform project has brought positive changesto HEI 11.0 23.0 53.8 12.2 2.67 0.828 20.815a ns þþ

6. The reform project has improved the image of

HEI 12.8 20.3 52.1 14.8 2.69 0.876 20.814a ns þþ

7. The pace of change is suitable 25.4 29.9 35.5 9.2 2.29 0.949 0.754 ns

Notes: SD ¼ Strongly disagree, D ¼ Disagree, A ¼ Agree, and SA ¼ Strongly agree; a equal variances assumed; b equal variancesnot assumed; c +++80 per cent or more of the respondents either strongly agreed or agreed with the statement; ++61-79 per cent of therespondents either strongly agreed or agreed with the statement; +50-60 per cent of the respondents either strongly agreed or agreedwith the statement; * significant at p , 0.01; ** significant at p , 0.05; n ¼ 866; Males (M) ¼ 227; Females (F) ¼ 639

VOL. 14 NO. 2 2010 jMEASURING BUSINESS EXCELLENCEj PAGE 39

The result in Table III showed that there were significant differences in the mean scores for

the male and female students for items 1, 2 4, 7, 9, 10 and 11. Overall, eight of the 13

statements posed to the respondents were rated to be on the positive side with the rating of

either þ (weak support) or þþ (moderate support) indicating that they were generally

favorable (with the male students more agreeable than the female students (see Appendix)).

Campus life

In contrast, there was strong and average support for the campus systems and activities in

building the HEI image, especially in terms of the following:

B Students should be allowed to enter campus at any time (þþþ rating).

B The systems (registration, etc) are well organized (þþ rating).

B I am satisfied with the labs (þþ rating).

B I am satisfied with the social activities (þ rating).

It is worthy to note that the accessibility to campus was rated most highly by the respondents

indicating their preference for easy access to the campus at any time of the day. The results

in Table III show that there were significant differences in the scores for the male and female

students for items 3, 4, 6 and 7 (see also Appendix, Table AI). Overall, as expected the result

indicated that the mean scores for the female students were significantly different from the

male students (see Appendix, Table AI).

Value

There was a strong support that the programs and the degrees offered by the HEI were

fulfilling the market needs, particularly in terms of the following (Table III):

B The education is sufficient for my future work (þþ rating).

B The degrees are well recognized locally (þþ rating).

B The programs offered by my college are useful for the local job market (þþ rating).

B The programs offered by the HEI are useful for the local job market (þ rating).

Interestingly, the result in Table III shows that there were significant differences in the mean

scores between the male and female students for all the statements posed to them. Overall,

the respondents’ perceptions pertaining to the value of the HEI’s programs and the degrees

offered were favorable where the male students were more agreeable than the female

students with the statements (see Appendix, Table AI).

The reform project

Last but not least, there were strong evidences that the reform project has enabled the HEI to

improve its image, especially in terms of the following (Table III):

B The reform project has brought positive changes to the students (þþ rating).

B The reform project has improved the academic performance (þþ rating).

B The reform project has brought positive changes to the faculty (þþ rating).

B The reform project has produced positive changes to the college (þþ rating).

B The reform project has produced positive changes to the HEI (þþ rating).

B The reform project has improved the image of the HEI (þþ rating).

The only statement that did not provide strong support to the HEI’s ability to reform was the

one that says the pace of change was suitable (only 45 percent). Overall, more than 50

percent of the statements pertaining to the reform project were rated to be on the positive

side. One possible explanation for this could be that the students realized that the HEI was

moving in the right direction.

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Discussions

The results of this study confirmed that most of the variables considered in the theoreticalframework were important contributors to the enhancements of the HEI’s image and value.By focusing solely on the academic level, campus life, and the reform project, the HEI wasable to enhance and enrich its corporate image and value. Thus, it seems worthwhile for theHEI to continue to investigate this subject so that any shortcomings can be remedied.

Academic level appeared to be extremely important because it is an essential element inbuilding and enriching both the image and the value of theHEI and is of particular importancein attracting new students. Campus life has indicated important and significant differences inperceptions among the respondents pertaining to the four statements as shown in theappendix. On the whole, there were some positive perceptions among the respondentstowards their campus life, the main ones being that they would like to see their campus to beaccessible to them on a 24-hour basis, that the systems were well-organized, that thelaboratories were good, and that they were satisfied with the social activities available on thecampus. Nevertheless, campus life represents one area, which requires some attentions bythe HEI. Among the needed improvements include more parking space, availability of ageneral helpdesk, being more responsive to their needs, and creating an environment that ismore conducive to their social interactions. Finally, the reform project was found to beextremely important to the senior students who were indirectly involved in the project. Moreimportantly, the reform project has already received strong support from the students. Thus,their perceptions of the reformprojectmight influence new students positively. Thus, focusingon individual needs in order to narrow the gaps in opinions among the students might be ahighly effective managerial strategy for the HEI in its efforts to enhance its image and value.

Conclusion and implications

On the whole, the respondents’ perceptions of the image of the HEI were generallyfavorable, particularly in terms of the respondents being protective of their institution andtheir perception about the reputation of their institution was not only positive but also it hadimproved over the last three years, especially for the male students. Thus, the reform projectrepresents the right move undertaken by the HEI to turn it into an excellent institution that ismore competitive and much sought after by students.

The results provided strong and average support in terms of improvement to academic level,particularly the quality of faculty, accessibility to faculty, and academic standards after theimplementation of the reform project. However, there was a significant difference betweenthe male and female students in this regard. For example, the female students thought thatthe institution offered appropriate social activities for students and that the academic level ofall the programs offered were the same even though their male counterparts did not equallyshare these views.

The perceptions of the respondents towards the value of the HEI’s programs and academicdegrees were also generally favorable. As expected the male students obtained highermean scores in this regard. The reason could be that the Middle East is a male dominatedsociety where women play little or no role in business or in family decision making (Deresky,2006). Thus, having a college degree that is marketable is more important to the male thanfemale students.

Even though there were some positive perceptions among the respondents towards theircampus life, this is one area that requires some serious attentions by the HEI in its efforts toimprove its image. Despite the need for continuous efforts, it is interesting to note that thefemale students were more satisfied with the campus life than the male students. Onepossible explanation could be that the female students come to the campus just to receiveeducation and not for other social activities or interactions.

Generally, the implemented reform project has brought about many positive changes to theHEI. So, as a conclusion we can say that, with the exception of campus life that requiressome upgrading, the reform project has met its overall objectives of enhancing the imageand the value of the HEI, which could eventually turn it into an institution of choice amongdomestic as well as foreign students.

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A number of managerial implications could be derived from this research. First, the topmanagement of the HEI needs to consider the identified variables for image and valueenhancement and enrichment, particularly the various initiatives that need to be undertakento improve the campus life of students. Second, they need to develop and refine theirmanagerial strategies based on the importance of these variables. Third, they need todirectly focus on continuous improvement of the course curricula, contents and programs.Fourth, the changes to be introduced to the campus should be properly paced. Last but notleast, we believe our findings can be generalized to other institutions of higher learning with asimilar environment to that of the HEI such as some of the universities in the GCC. We alsoneed to mention here that the main weakness of this paper is the low percentage (10.8) ofquestionnaires that were returned by the respondents.

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PAGE 42 jMEASURING BUSINESS EXCELLENCEj VOL. 14 NO. 2 2010

Appendix

Table AI Independent-samples t-test group statistics

Item Variables Gender n Mean SD t-value p-value

Image (MI)1. The HEI’s reputation was positive Male 227 2.44 0.852

Female 639 2.42 0.845 0.250a ns2. The reputation of all the colleges was positive Male 227 2.26 0.740

Female 639 2.26 0.739 0.030a ns3. The HEI’s reputation has improved in the last Male 227 2.70 1.039

three years Female 639 2.55 0.996 1.926a 0.054**

4. After joining the HEI my impressions became Male 227 2.56 0.882positive Female 639 2.40 0.879 2.300a 0.022**

5. HEI’s reputation is comparable to that of other Male 227 2.30 0.861regional universities Female 639 2.13 0.821 2.652b 0.008*

6. HEI’s reputation is comparable to that of Male 227 1.99 0.887developed countries’ universities Female 639 1.96 0.793 0.525b ns

7. I feel protective of the HEI’s reputation Male 227 3.04 0.935Female 639 2.83 0.988 2.696b 0.007*

Academic level (MAL)1. The HEI’s academic level is comparable to that of Male 227 2.62 0.786

other regional universities Female 639 2.43 0.823 3.030b 0.003*

2. The academic level of my College is comparable Male 227 2.68 0.881to that of similar universities in the region Female 639 2.49 0.858 2.848a 0.005*

3. The HEI’s academic level is comparable to that of Male 227 2.22 0.845other international universities Female 639 2.15 0.815 1.223b ns

4. The academic level in my college is comparable Male 227 2.38 0.935to that of other international universities Female 639 2.23 0.827 2.155b 0.000*

5. The HEI’s academic level is the same across all Male 227 2.01 0.820the colleges Female 639 2.12 0.823 21.761a ns

6. The admission standards at the HEI are high Male 227 2.85 0.898Female 639 2.93 0.882 21.085a ns

7. The HEI offers appropriate student social Male 227 2.29 0.878activities Female 639 2.60 0.802 24.788b 0.000*

8. HEI’s students are committed to their studies Male 227 2.63 0.766Female 639 2.54 0.810 1.424a ns

9. The academic level of all the programs is the Male 227 2.28 0.691same Female 639 2.40 0.729 22.052a 0.041**

10. The HEI has a good student advising system Male 227 2.15 0.914Female 639 2.30 0.897 22.140a 0.033**

11. The HEI has good faculty Male 227 2.83 0.711Female 639 2.69 0.751 2.532b 0.012*

12. My college has good faculty Male 227 2.96 0.813Female 639 2.89 0.842 0.973a ns

13. The faculty members in my college are Male 227 2.81 0.871accessible to students Female 639 2.89 0.880 21.266a ns

(Continued)

VOL. 14 NO. 2 2010 jMEASURING BUSINESS EXCELLENCEj PAGE 43

Table AI

Item Variables Gender n Mean SD t-value p-value

Campus life (MCL)1. The systems (registration etc.) are Male 227 2.80 0.914

well-organized Female 639 2.74 0.906 0.775a ns

2. I know where to get help Male 227 2.12 0.940Female 639 2.13 0.916 20.116a ns

3. I am satisfied with the social activities Male 227 2.24 0.830Female 639 2.49 0.815 23.912a 0.000*

4. I am satisfied with the campus Male 227 1.82 0.875Female 639 2.07 0.893 23.524a 0.000a

5. I am satisfied with the parking space provided Male 227 1.80 0.946Female 639 1.72 0.866 1.102b ns

6. I am satisfied with the labs Male 227 2.26 0.946Female 639 2.66 0.783 25.672b 0.000*

7. Students should be allowed to enter the campus Male 227 3.41 0.789at any time Female 639 3.00 0.909 5.959a 0.000*

8. The HEI is responsive to students’ needs Male 227 2.14 0.854Female 639 2.21 0.819 21.074a ns

9. I am satisfied with the quality of life Male 227 2.28 0.925Female 639 2.29 0.855 20.132b ns

10. The environment is conducive to social Male 227 2.17 0.996interaction Female 639 2.15 0.904 0.224b ns

Marketability of HEI degrees or programs or value (MV)1. The education is sufficient for my future work Male 227 2.79 0.710

Female 639 2.56 0.793 3.978b 0.000*2. The degree is well recognized locally Male 227 2.89 0.786

Female 639 2.70 0.775 3.194a 0.001*3. It is easy to find a job Male 227 2.48 0.806

Female 639 2.23 0.803 4.065a 0.000*4. Prospective employers are aware of the Male 227 2.38 0.807

programs offered by my college Female 639 2.24 0.768 2.401a 0.017**

5. The programs offered by the HEI are useful for Male 227 2.69 0.687the local job market Female 639 2.51 0.736 3.271b 0.001*

6. The programs offered by my college are useful Male 227 2.78 0.876for the local job market Female 639 2.63 0.860 2.214a 0.027**

Reform project (MRP)1. The reform project has brought positive changes Male 227 2.65 0.902

to the students Female 639 2.68 0.891 20.413a ns

2. The reform project has improved the academic Male 227 2.61 0.798performance Female 639 2.64 0.816 20.492a ns

3. The reform project has brought positive changes Male 227 2.61 0.798to the faculty Female 639 2.65 0.780 20.641a ns

4. The reform project has brought positive changes Male 227 2.75 0.806to the college Female 639 2.66 0.797 1.408a ns

5. The reform project has brought positive changes Male 227 2.63 0.859to the HEI Female 639 2.69 0.816 20.815a ns

6. The reform project has improved the image of the Male 227 2.65 0.892HEI Female 639 2.70 0.871 20.814a ns

7. The pace of change is suitable Male 227 2.33 0.912Female 639 2.27 0.960 0.754 ns

Notes: a Equal variances assumed; b equal variances not assumed; * significant at p , 0.01; ** significant at p , 0.05

PAGE 44 jMEASURING BUSINESS EXCELLENCEj VOL. 14 NO. 2 2010

About the authors

Norizan Mohd Kassim is Associate Professor of Marketing in the Department ofManagement and Marketing, College of Business and Economics, Qatar University. Shereceived her PhD degree from Southern Cross University, Australia. She has published,among others, in Asia-Pacific Business Review, European Journal of Marketing, ElectronicMarkets, Journal of Business Research and Singapore Management Review, and in manyrefereed conference proceedings. Her research interests include customer relationshipmanagement, service quality, customer satisfaction and retention, electronic commerce andinteractive marketing, applications of information technology in marketing, borderlessmarketing, and financial markets. Norizan Mohd Kassim is the corresponding author andcan be contacted at: norizanmk@qu.edu.qa or izanmk@yahoo.com

Mohammad Najdawi is Professor and Dean of the College of Business & Economics of QatarUniversity. He obtained his PhD in Operations and Information Management from theWharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His publications have appeared in, amongothers, Management Science, European Journal of OR, Expert Systems, Knowledge-BasedSystems, International Journal of Production Research, Journal of Business Logistics,International Journal of Production Economics, Communications of the ACM, and End UserComputing. He served as Associate Editor for Communications of ACM and InternationalJournal of Operations and Quantitative Management. He worked as a consultant toARAMCO, UNDP, and Georgia Pacific. He is an active member of INFORMS and DSI.

Zeina Al Azmeh is Director of External Relations of Qatar University.

Hissa Sadiq is Professor and Dean of the College of Education of Qatar University.

VOL. 14 NO. 2 2010 jMEASURING BUSINESS EXCELLENCEj PAGE 45

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