Prioritised challenges and critical success factors for delivering quality education in Malaysian private higher education institutions

Anis, Azilah and Islam, Rafikul (2019) Prioritised challenges and critical success factors for delivering quality education in Malaysian private higher education institutions. Quality Assurance in Education, 27 (4). pp. 465-492. ISSN 0968-4883

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Abstract

Purpose - The paper develops a hierarchical model to rank the challenges faced by the private Malaysian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the provision of quality education and subsequently their corresponding critical success factors (CSFs) to address those challenges. Design/methodology/approach - A sequential mix method was adopted in this study. Semi structured interviews with 29 participants were initially conducted to identify the challenges and CSFs. This was followed by a questionnaire survey involving 158 respondents to prioritise the identified findings. Thematic analysis was conducted in the qualitative stage, uncovering the challenges and their corresponding CSFs. Data for both stages were accumulated from internal and external stakeholders of Malaysian private HEIs. Finally, the four stages of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) were applied to rank the challenges and CSFs. Findings - The qualitative stage identified eight challenges, i.e. ‘Academics’, ‘Facilities’, ‘Students’, ‘Programmes and curriculum’, ‘Competition’, ‘Accreditation’, ‘Finance’ and ‘Research’ together with their corresponding CSFs. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) enables the ranking of these challenges. ‘Finance’ has been found to be the most crucial challenge and ‘High competency in managing the institution’s finance’ as the most important CSF to address this challenge. Research limitations/implications – As the study restricted its focus on Malaysian private HEIs, the results may not be generalised for public HEIs as well as foreign private HEIs operating in Malaysia. Originality/value - The hierarchical model developed in this study is deemed important for implementation in order to resolve the prioritised challenges. It spells out the specific areas in which the resources of Malaysian private HEIs need to be prudently disbursed and properly managed.

Item Type:	Article (Journal)
Additional Information:	2887/77364
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Challenges; critical success factors; quality education; Malaysian private higher education institutions, Analytic Hierarchy Process
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General)
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences > Department of Business Administration Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences
Depositing User:	Rafikul Islam
Date Deposited:	30 Dec 2019 11:17
Last Modified:	12 Feb 2020 11:44
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/77364

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