6th D Day

Evaluating antecedents of student retention and loyalty in business
schools.
Final Year Project
Submitted by Registration Number

Ayesha Maqsood 150002
Hiba Afzaal 150006
Faculty of Management Sciences
Air University School of Management (AUSOM)
Air University, Islamabad.

Final Year Project BBA (Fall 2018)
Evaluating antecedents of student retention and loyalty in business schools.
Submitted By: Ayesha Maqsood (150002)
Hiba Afzaal (150006)
Supervisor: Sir Qaiser Janjua

Executive Summary
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 7
Literature review ........................................................................................................................................ 9
Research Objectives .................................................................................................................................. 13
Research Questions ................................................................................................................................... 13
Methodology .............................................................................................................................................. 14
Research design ...................................................................................................................................... 14
Quantitative Research ............................................................................................................................. 14
Qualitative research ................................................................................................................................ 14
Typology ................................................................................................................................................. 15
Sample .................................................................................................................................................... 16
Analysis ...................................................................................................................................................... 18
Class Connectedness ............................................................................................................................... 18
Curriculum .............................................................................................................................................. 19
Pedagogy ................................................................................................................................................. 19
Power Distance ....................................................................................................................................... 21
Appendix .................................................................................................................................................... 23
Pedagogy ................................................................................................................................................. 23
Power Distance ....................................................................................................................................... 23
Class Connectedness ............................................................................................................................... 24
Curriculum .............................................................................................................................................. 24
Faculty .................................................................................................................................................... 25
Interviews – Respondent grids ................................................................................................................ 25
Interviews................................................................................................................................................ 32
References .................................................................................................................................................. 63
Plagarism Report ...................................................................................................................................... 64
Introduction
Higher Education is the strongest, sturdiest ladder to increased socio-economic mobility – Ms Faust,
Harvard University.
Higher education is highly regarded as one of the great contributors in any nation’s economic
development. It’s a $100 Billion industry worldwide. United State of America (28%) is the biggest
market for overseas students, followed by United Kingdom (11%) and Germany (9%). The one main
reason behind the success of the education sector in these countries is that of quality and deliverance. The
universities that are internationally regarded as the best in world; Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, all have one
thing in common. They have created value for their students and they deliver on that value consistently.
Asia has big markets for higher education. China which is one of the frontrunner for economic
development is also one of the biggest education markets. China relies on its education sector to help it
succeed globally. Japan and Korea are also major contributors in making Asia a welcoming market for
international students. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are still not benefitting from the education market.
Focusing on Pakistan specifically, there are a lot of obstacles to overcome for her to be able to provide
quality education and sustainability. The reason as to why we are not poised as a nation to aim at
international market is because our education sector domestically is crumbling. Higher education has
become very important for our nation, as it aspires to produce critical thinkers and innovators which are
of utmost importance for a developing economy. HE in Pakistan is playing an important role in changing,
the socio-economic trends.
Pakistan has erected over 250+ universities in recent times. In hopes of bridging the demand gap but in
the race to reach the market these HEI’s have missed an integral part for sustainability that is “Value
Creation”. These universities have not bothered themselves with actually creating a business model which
benefits the students as much as it profits the organization. Around 1.6 million students are enrolled in
universities throughout Pakistan. There is a shortage of universities for the youth bulge of Pakistan which
is currently 66%. Just as Pakistan has scarce job availability for the unemployed, therefore the focus is
now being directed at starting businesses from the scratch.
In the current situation, a university in Pakistan is a commodity; there is not much that is differentiating
them within the education sector. Except the handful medical schools in the metropolitan cities of
Pakistan none of the other HEI’s are giving the students anything special or unique. The university system
in Pakistan has been the same since 1947, except HEC issued an incentive to universities thereby the
more published articles the university will have, the higher it will be in ranking. This incentive has
unfortunately had a negative effect on the teaching standard.
Now, instead of focusing on teaching, the faculty is laser focused on publishing as many papers as
possible. This leads to substandard publications and below standard teaching quality.
Even now in universities we are subjected to the age old curriculum that has been followed since we only
had 50 universities in the country. The stagnation in our curriculum has leaded us to be unable to compete
with the international students.
The limitations in our knowledge which is the result of the flourishing ‘ratta’ system of Pakistan, has
inadvertently affected our ability to adapt to the changing work environment. A university student’s life in
Pakistan is extremely different from that of our neighbors or students from other countries. The focus is
completely on the bookish knowledge with less to no regard to the personal grooming and mental
wellbeing of the student. Being burdened by books 24/7 constricts the mind of the student, the learning
the mind gets from actual experiences is lessened as one does not have time to go and experience things.
Student retention and loyalty is first and foremost based on the happiness and willingness of the student.
If we have a student who is in a university in order to avoid the social pressures, that student has spurious
loyalty towards the institution.
In Pakistan there is a dearth of universities, however it lacks abilities to retain students and create
attitudinal loyalty amongst the target market. In this study, the factors that affect retention and loyalty
such as education quality, capability of faculty, attitude of students, curriculum etcetera will be
investigated. Many more factors can be identified as the students currently enrolled in universities will be
interviewed. Themes will be extracted from the qualitatively gathered data to help in understanding the
student’s frame of mind. Therefore the purpose of this study is to explore the various variables and their
significance towards creating attitudinal loyalty and profitable business models.
Literature review
In education there are vast volumes of published books and journal articles about quality, early from
1980s up to now. The idea of quality is still frequently both misrepresented and misunderstood by many
academics (Doherty, 2008). There are different definitions described by different people on the quality of
education in Higher Education which all summarizes to exceptional, perfection, as fitness for purpose,
value for money and a degree to which the standard objectives are met. There are other definitions that
define the concept of service quality. It has been explained as focusing on meeting customers’ needs and
requirements screening if the service delivered matches their expectations. (Tsinidou, Maria :
Gerogiannis, Vassilis : Fitsilis, Panos, 2010)
Many studies have focused at customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in marketing sense. In the case
in point, the students are considered as customers who come into the institute for a particular service and
leave after a period. In this student- teacher link we observe that there is a gap that needs to be filled. To
build and sustain student loyalty is the most pivotal goal for any higher education institute. To enhance
student loyalty providing high level of service quality is currently one of the major components being
used. Higher education institutions are bound to constantly and regularly improve the quality of service
they provide. The five sets of variables were subjected to factor analysis corresponding to the higher
education service quality dimensions that are administrative quality, physical environment quality, core
educational quality, support facilities quality and transformative quality. (Teeroovengadum, Viraiyan :
Kamalanabhan, T.J. : Seebaluck, Ashley Keshwar, 2016).
A popular approach for evaluating quality in HEIs is quality function deployment. It is a focused
procedure for carefully attending to the voice to the need customer and then effectively responding to
those needs, wants and expectations. SERVQUAL defines five dimensions for quality that are tangibles,
reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Tangibles are the physical facilities, equipment,
support services and service personnel. In the context of higher education, the tangibles are an essential
part. It is necessary for an institute to provide the students with the basic standards of the education. A
proper infrastructure is required to have a peaceful environment so that both teachers and students can
focus on the important things. Tangibles include availability of adequate cafeteria set-up, accessibility to
suitable library infrastructure, availability of adequate recreational Structure, availability of adequate
sports set-up, learning setting, Having adequate lecture rooms, Having quiet places to study within
campus, availability of suitable teaching tools and equipment (e.g. Projector, White boards) General
infrastructure, Favorable ambient conditions (ventilation, noise, odor, etc.) prevailing within the campus,
Safety on campus, Appearance of buildings and grounds.
Reliability is the extent to which the knowledge, skills learned, and services are offered accurately
dependably on the time without errors. It is linked with the curriculum and the pedagogy in the institute.
Pedagogy refers to the way the HEI is teaching, the methodology of imparting knowledge to the students,
as for curriculum it includes multiple factors on which the variable is measured. It is mainly depended on
Interesting module content/books, Educational material of high quality, Efficient structure of modules,
Availability of information on the curriculum structure, Variety in elective modules/modules on
specialization areas, Laboratories (connection with market demands) and Lectures timetable. Pedagogy
includes the use of multimedia in teaching (e.g. use of overhead projector, power-point presentations),
active participation of students in their learning process, provision of regular feedback to students with
respect to their academic performance, well designed examinations and continuous assignment to
promote the enhancement of knowledge skills.
Responsiveness refers to the willingness to help the students in this study and meet their needs and wants.
The institution needs to fully understand the needs and requirements of the students, this requires for the
institute to have an open mind and a two way communication with the students. Responsiveness focuses
on the support facility quality too such as reasonable pricing and quality of food and refreshments on
campus, availability of adequate IT facilities, availability and adequacy of photocopy and printing
facilities, availability of transport facilities, amount of opportunity for sports and recreational facilities
and availability and adequacy of extracurricular activities including those through clubs and societies.
Essentially, the infrastructure of the institute is what constitutes of its responsiveness.
Assurance is the confidence and trust that the students hold towards the institute and the feeling of safety
in case of danger. It is a key goal of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European
Higher Education Area (ESG) is to contribute to the shared understanding of value assurance for learning
and teaching across borders and among all stakeholders. The main areas discussed are policy for quality
assurance, design and approval of programmes, student-centered learning, teaching and assessment,
student admission, progression, recognition and certification, teaching staff, learning resources and
student support and Information management. ((ENQA), 2015)
Empathy is the last dimension of SERVQUAL that says the attention and care that the institution may
offer to customers/students. This part also refers to convenient operating hours. This is mainly about how
the admin treats their students or customers. Attitude and behavior matter a lot here. They way you are
making your customers feel represents the values and culture of your organization. Willingness of
administrative staff members to help students, ability of administrative staff members to solve students’
problems, Politeness of administrative staffs, behavior of administrative staff members imparting
confidence in students, well standardized administrative processes to avoid bureaucracy and useless
difficulties, well structured procedures so that the service is delivered at a minimum time and
transparency of the official procedures between the admin, teachers and students. (Teeroovengadum,
Viraiyan : Kamalanabhan, T.J. : Seebaluck, Ashley Keshwar, 2016)
Class connectedness is another variable that has a direct impact on student loyalty. It entails of the
students relations within themselves, be it peer relations or with the senior or junior students respectively.
Friendships serve six primary functions which are stimulating companionship, help, intimacy, reliable
alliance, self-validation, and emotional security (Mendelson & Aboud, 1999). The assimilation and
friendship are interrelated. In a research article it was tested and concluded that most of the friendships in
higher education institutes are not real. There is personal interest involved behind the friendship that
maybe some educational help, social help or because of fierce competition between students. (Tennessee,
2011)
Students enrolled in a same course with peers showed lower levels of classroom connectedness. Student
to student relationships plays an important part in creating a supportive and cooperative classroom
climate. Three types of peer relationships are identified by Kram and Isabella (1985) are the information
peer, the collegial peer and the special peer. It is important to maintain these peer relationships for
individuals for the survival in the organization. It was also found in the research that at times peers tend to
keep information to themselves to perform better than others and to be rewarded at some point in time;
thus, this results in relatively lower class connectedness. (Sollitto , Michael : Johnson, Zac D. : Myers,
Scott A., 2013).
To have a better relationship between the students and teachers a small test was conducted. In that test, a
team was formed to carry out a project in which the team members were both the teachers and the
students. Towards the middle of the project there was resistance shown by some of the professors to
accept the student’s ideas and their leadership style. This study showed that even if there is a partnership
between student and teachers, there will still be a boundary that the teachers would like to keep. That
includes both power and resistance. Even if they have a strong partnership; teachers still want to be
recognized by their higher rank in-front of the students. In this case, students’ voice is listened, but
teachers do things as they like to do. It was observed that when the power and resistance was shown by
some of the teachers, the performance and participation level of students dropped drastically. Students felt
that in a project like this still they are being controlled. (Seale, Jane: Gibson, Suanne: Haynes, Joanna:
Potter, Alice, 2015)
Power in this test is described as the sense of ownership and higher role of the teachers. The teachers felt
that they have ownership of the project. The reason for this was that they knew that they have more
experience and knowledge because they have been the part of this field for a long time now. On the
contrary, teachers felt that students might not be able to perform well and give their best because they had
limited knowledge and practice.
Resistance was shown by both sides. After the students felt the power factor dominating, approximately
90 students from both first and second year resisted to take part in this project for further study. The
project was designed to create the partnership between teachers and students so that the student voice
would be heard. Instead, students weren’t motivated enough to participate in the project.
The student engagement and its impact on student retention is very important when assessing the
students. The assessment plays an important role in retaining the students. The engagement of students is
based on three criteria that are cognitive, behavioral and affective criteria. The degree to which students
are attending to and utilizing mental effort in the learning tasks encountered is cognitive criteria.
Behavioral criteria are the level of how much the students are making active responses to the learning
tasks presented. The level of students’ investment in, and their emotional responses to, the learning tasks
is the affective criteria. (Handelsman, Briggs, Sullivan, & Towler, 2005)
Fair assessment of students on their semester performance based on their assignments, projects, class
participation and exams need to be standardized. If students feel that they are not being rewarded
accordingly then motivation level decreases. Motivation includes the learning process which is backed by
interest, competence and challenge. If the motivation fades away, then slowly and gradually the
involvement of the students also starts to part. Involvement is the combination of activities,
communication and commitment. Low motivation level results in less student retention and universities
see dropout students from first and second year the most. (Mandernach, B. Jean, 2014, pp. 1-14)
The students’ assessment is done on three levels that are instructors’ observation of the student’s
behavior, students’ self-reports and administrative records. The first dimension is the amount of student is
interacting with other students and collaborating. The amount of time the student is contributing towards
education and the relationship with teachers. It is about the level that the student is interacting with
faculty to discuss matters. The second dimension is related to assessing students’ engagement with course
material and the overall performance of the students. The third dimension is of administrative records that
includes the daily attendance, assignment submissions, observance to assignment guidelines and
participation in additional or extracurricular activities. The assessment is mainly related to engagement of
students to have student loyalty towards the program and institution. (Mandernach, B. Jean, 2014, pp. 4-
7)
Research Objectives
1. To understand reasons behind the spurious loyalty of students in business schools
2. To identify the contributing factors towards lack of retention
3. To align said factors and make a model that induces a value enhancing business model
Research Questions
1. What are the issues that the students face in universities in terms of curriculum and pedagogy?
2. How important is the role of faculty in adding value to the university?
3. What is the effect of peer relationship in building a positive environment in the university?
4. How do the students see themselves in the university?
5. How do the students identify with the university?

Methodology
Research design
The research design is the master plan that connects the research problems to the actual pertinent
research. It articulates what data is required and what will be the methods that are to be followed in order
to do so. The way the data is to be analyzed and redirected towards are research objectives/problems is
also part of the design. Both the collection method and analysis along with the way it is all put together
needs to be effective so that the answers fully encompass the initial research problems.
Quantitative Research
Quantitative research gathers data in a numerical form which can be put into categories, or in rank order,
or measured in units of measurement. This type of data can be used to construct graphs and tables of raw
data. The four main types of quantitative research designs are; descriptive, co-relational, quasi-
experimental and experimental. The difference between these designs primarily relate to the control the
designer has on the variables.
A descriptive design is one where the researcher seeks to describe the current status of the subject of the
study. There is not a hypothesis at the beginning; it develops once the data is collected.
A co-relational design explores the relationship between variables using statistical analyses. It does not go
for cause and effect, and is therefore observational when it comes to data collection.
A quasi-experimental design a.k.a Causal-Comparative establishes a cause-effect relationship between

variables. There aren’t any groups and the independent variable is not manipulated. The control groups
are identified and then exposed to the variables in question. The results are then compared to the groups
that were not exposed to the variable.
True experimentation i.e. experimental design use scientific methods to establish a cause- effect
relationship. The researchers keep all the variables except the one in question as controlled; they use the
scientific method to establish cause-effect relationship among a group of variables in a research study.
Researchers make an effort to control for all variables except the one being manipulated (the independent
variable). The effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable are collected and analyzed for
a relationship.
Qualitative research
Qualitative research is empirical research where the data are not in the form of numbers. (Punch, 1998, p.
4). Qualitative research is multi-method in focus, involving an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its
subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to
make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. Denzin and
Lincoln (1994, p. 2).
A qualitative research helps in understanding the social reality of individuals, groups and cultures as
clearly as the participants feel or live it throughout their lives. The people are hence studied and
conversed with in a setting which best suits them and puts them at ease.
Due to the exploratory nature of this study, a qualitative approach was employed to discover the
antecedents of student retention and loyalty in Business University. As the evaluation and assessment of
services is complex in nature, the interpretive approach is suited better for a detailed understanding of the
murky and obscure elements of cognitive assessment for service failure and the resulting responses.
Cohen in 1998 suggested that qualitative methods have yielded the most important contributions to the
service theory. In this project, face-to-face interviewing technique is employed. Kvale (1983) described
the qualitative research interview as “an interview, whose purpose is to gather descriptions of the life-
world of the interviewee with respect to interpretation of the meaning of the described phenomena”
(p.174). Face to Face interviews are more effective and informative since the physical encounter offers us
an opportunity to observe and further interrogate the physical cues; facial expressions, tone, body
language and intonation of the respondent which results in a deeper more significant understanding of the
respondent’s psychology. Since the inherently interactive nature of face to face interviews, there was an
intention to test certain propositions and ideas through the interview, to confirm its validity.
A total of thirty (20) interviews are conducted as any new information from the respondents started to
diminish which led to the eventual sample size. In addition, the nature of the study demanded a purposive
sampling technique. The respondents are chosen based on their degree, availability and willingness to
effectively communicate their thoughts and ability to understand the purpose and nature of the interview
(Bernard, 2002; Patton, 2002; Creswell & Plano, 2011).
Typology
Interviews as a methodology can be broadly defined as structured, unstructured and semi-structured. Our
approach was semi-structured interviews, which are interviews that seek to combine the strengths of the
structured and unstructured interview, by combining pre-defined questions the researcher wants answers
to, but also allowing the interviewee to steer the conversation in other directions to a certain degree.
For the purpose of these interviews the participants selected were informed beforehand about the
background of the interview, so they were able to recollect their experience better and could easily share
their answers with brevity. As a researcher the intent of the interview should be open and inviting, to
make the respondent at ease as possible to get fully informed and real answers. It is very important for
the interviewee to get a range of views from one respondent. The researcher should make an effort to
approach the interview with openness. That is, not to seek to confirm the ideas the researcher may have
before the beginning of the interview. The interviewee’s knowledge must be in focus. The sampling size
for interviews are not as important as getting a range of views on the research topic. Contrasting views
could be pivotal to modifying the theory (Rapley, 2004).
Interviews can range from the power being with the interviewer to the power being with the interviewed
(Brinkmann, S., &Kvale, S. (2007) doing interviews. S.l.: SAGE Publications.P2-18). In order to get as
much information as possible they must not be straightforward “tape recording conversations” but rather a
conversation with actively follow up questions met to clarify and extend. These types of interviews are
seen as qualitative methods and are used to discourse analysis. These qualitative researches are needed to
capture the complexity of people’s lives. Much effort must be made by the interviewee not to cross to
much social lines; they must try not to offend the subject. There are 3 types of interviews: structured,
semi-structured and unstructured. We have conducted semi-structured interviews. Planning an interview
is important because it can help to get a better more reliable result. The discussed topics should be
organized in a logical sequence. Start with easy to answer questions and go on to the harder to the more
sensitive or difficult topics. Comprehensible language that is relevant to the interviewees should be used
and leading questions avoided. Probes can be used to get more information or explanation. They are to
clarify a response using focused follow-up questions. An important part is to listen to the interviews back
between interviews and reflect on the process. It could be necessary to adjust parts. For the best answers
from the participants, the participants should feel comfortable with the interviewee. Questions should be
asked naturally and worded clearly. Good interviewing requires the researcher to accept that the course
and content of an interview cannot be determined in advance. Being aware of interviewing techniques is
important in conducting a neutral interview where the findings are not based on pre-expected knowledge.
(Doody, O., & Noonan, M. (2013). Preparing and conducting interviews to collect data. Nurse
Researcher, 20(5), 28-32. doi:10.7748/nr2013.05.20.5.28.e327).
Five stages of conducting a qualitative research are mention in the paper “Grab” and good science:
Writing up the results of qualitative research. Stage 1 - Selecting the kind of interview: Justify the reason
for taking the kind of interview, a semi-structured interview helps in narrowing down the areas or topics
that needs to be asked. Stage 2 – Establishing the ethical guidelines: it is important to establish some
ethical guidelines before entering the lives of other. This helps in facilitating the interaction with the
interviewees and provides them confidence to continue with the interviewing process. Stage 3 – Crafting
the interview protocol: This is the most important and time-consuming part where you have to design two
important components i.e. (a) how you introduce yourself and (b) what are the questions to be asked.
Stage 4 – Conducting and recording the interview: The most commonly used methods to record an
interview are notes written at the time, notes written afterwards, audio recording, and video recording.
Stage 5 – Analyzing and summarizing the interview: This can be done by using qualitative data analysis
software, meeting with researchers who have analyzed semi-structured interviews, etc. Stage 6 –
Reporting the findings: This stage addresses the findings of the interview, in order to make your findings
more reliable; refer to literature available on the topic. (Gilgun, J. F. (2005). “Grab” and good science:
Writing up the results of qualitative research. Qualitative health research, 15(2), 256-262.)
Sample
The sampling technique used in this research is random sampling. The sample included business students
from universities all over Islamabad; Nust, Air University, Fast and Bahria University. Students were
picked randomly from the business schools in these universities. The interviews were conducted in the
university premises and on average each interview took almost 30-45 minutes. The interview environment
was comfortable for the respondent, so they can freely share their experiences and articulate their
underlying motivations and perceptions of the situation easily. The respondents were clarified that their
responses will remain anonymous for confidentiality and the data will remain secured against any misuse.
The structured interview had six areas for questions, for the researcher to collect themes from. The first
area of questions asked about ServQual which included questions regarding the faculty, administration,
curriculum and the infrastructure. The second area of questions asked about was Co-creation of value and
how it affects a student’s relationship with the system and his or her level of trust with the university. The
third enquired the organizational assimilation, which entails the integration of the student moral and the
university beliefs. The fourth area of questions asked about the psychological effects the students have
when studying in a business school. Lastly the two areas tackled behavioral and attitudinal loyalty
respectively. All interviews were recorded and summarized separately for in-depth analysis. Each
interview had a different response. Saturation was achieved after 14 interviews.
Analysis
Class Connectedness
Classroom connectedness is conceptualized as the student-to-student perception of a supportive and
cooperative communication setting in the classroom. When a student is in a supportive and a cooperative
environment, he/she feels connected and tends to perform well. On the contrary, if the climate is not
supportive and cooperative in the classroom; the element of friendship diminishes, and performance is
damaged to some level. When there is a feeling of less connectedness among the peers then behavior is
affected to some extent. The student may come late to the classes, they may not be motivated enough to
participate in the class activities or they may feel as if the classes are a burden and it’s a drag.
In this context, friendship is the one element that dominates among the other factors that affect the
classroom connectedness. Friendship is a bond of mutual affection and fondness between people. It is a
stronger and deeper type of interpersonal bond than an association. When there is a sense of friendship,
the social value gets evolved and the person feels to be the part of society. One of the respondents
confessed that, “being a topper of the class I feel like I don’t have real friends. People come and talk to
me for their own benefit only. I believe that toppers don’t have friends”. Linking it back to Michael
Sollitto’s article that says that it is observed that students that were enrolled in the same course had lower
level of classroom connectedness in terms of friendships. Mostly people stayed friends because they
could use each other’s help during the semester. One of the respondents during the interview confessed,
that most of the students don’t share academically; that maybe educational information or knowledge that
one may have but others don’t. If the students are not talking to each other and keeping their distance,
then eventually it leads to class discomfort. Class discomfort can be observed when there is negative
competition instead of healthy competition between the students, conflicts start taking place based on
academic grounds and causes overall discomfort in the class. This further leads to unhealthy
environment to study. Many students complain about being under sheer pressure in the class as they are
unable to cope up with the artificial pressure created by the students who score well in the class. A class
should have an environment that is inductive towards collective learning for all the students. Having
unhealthy study environment causes low levels of output in students as the teachers have to put in less
effort to teach the class with having students in majority that score well. This kind of unhealthy
environment demotivates students in the class as they feel it is unjust by the teachers to put in less effort
towards the low scoring/ average students which is all caused by the negative competition created in the
class as discussed earlier. Demotivated students are unable to produce constant good results due to above
mentioned reasons, this further causes students to lose motivation to study and produce resistance towards
loyalty for the program and in some cases towards the institute as well. This is an overall loss to the
institute.
One of the respondents pointed us towards the direction of peer to peer competition due to teacher
favoritism caused by their negligence as they are unaware that they are being biased towards certain
individuals in the class.
Contrary to that, the data we collected showed that majority of the students have a positive impact of
friendship. This positive impact showed that the friendship in the classroom is one of the key factors that
improve the performance of the student during a semester or the degree. The classroom connectedness
creates a friendly and a comfortable environment for the students. When two or more people are stressed
or burdened by the same amount of workload, they are more likely to solve the issues effectively. They
will talk to each other more and share the burden by making small groups that divides the workload. This
creates a less stressful situation for all the members of the group equally and gives a sense of achievement
to all the individuals in the group. With the friendly environment, students are more open to study and
tend to perform well. They are rewarded with good grades at the end of the course, by which later they are
appreciated by parents, teachers and even fellows. It is a natural thing to feel good about you when
appreciated and recognized by someone. This appreciation and recognition give the student’s confidence.
Students start to feel good about themselves which leads to the increased motivation level. If the students
of the institute have increased level of motivation; the administration and the faculty try to put in extra
effort to make the happy students, their loyal students. Higher the motivation level; higher the loyalty of
the students. If the institute has more loyal students, it embeds the values resulting in the attitudinal
loyalty of the students.
Curriculum
Curriculum is one the most important factor that is used by the institutions to produce competent
graduates to enter the industry. The data we collected showed that curriculum is one the major driving
forces of the student retention. Majority of the students of Air University, Bahria University and FAST
University confessed that their curriculum is up to date and they are happy and satisfied with it. On the
other side, students of NUST were disappointed by the curriculum of their Business school. They told that
the curriculum is outdated and is not aligned with the modern world problems faced today. One
respondent said that, “I feel like I haven’t learned anything new from this business school”.
Having a curriculum that is up to date means that they are covering vast knowledge bases. Students feel
connected to the real world are they are taught different case studies about different industries which
provide them with a better knowledge of the market and the new trends in the market. By every passing
semester, students are learning through new real-life scenarios. Having a curriculum that provides a
strong base to the students, boosts up the confidence in the students when they enter the industry which in
turn helps them grow in their professional career positively. Having an up to date curriculum means that
quality research is being practiced and promoted which promotes in portraying a positive image of
university by competing with other national and international universities across the globe. This might
look like a small thing to be considered but has a long lasting and a very crucial effect on the institute. An
institute with an updated curriculum will ultimately retain more students compared to universities with
outdated curriculum, hence, student retention and loyalty in business schools is observed.
Pedagogy
In the context of ServQual, pedagogy sits well within the frame of reliability. In the case of higher
education institutes reliability consists of the extent to which the knowledge, skills and talents learned are
offered; accurately and dependably in the given time without errors or deformities.
Pedagogy refers to the way the HEI is teaching the curriculum following some set rules of methodology;
the way the knowledge is being imparted to the students. The level of effectiveness in the deliverance and
how the actual material is being given out. One of the most glaring aspects that showed throughout the
interviews was that the students were not completely sure on what methodology was actually being used
in the universities. One respondent said, “One of my teacher praises the case method and teaches us
through case, another teacher says that at this stage in our life the case method is irrelevant for us. This
makes me favor one style of being taught over the other and then I do badly in the other style. In this
instant the slide method of teaching is what I prefer and due to this I don’t perform well in a case class”.
This shows that some universities still do not have a broader vision on what method of teaching is to be
followed. If such a decision has been made by the university management they are failing to implement
their policy. Different faculty members make the decision on their own about how they will teach and
lead the class. This however concludes that the university has not given a uniformed policy on the
pedagogy of the business school. A participant said, “We are suddenly subject to the case methodology,
which sounds to be very helpful but in reality only a few students have completely grasped the technique
and therefore other students cannot do well”. This turmoil of how to study and what techniques to follow
creates a confusion in the mind of the student, in class the teachers can help steer the class into a set
direction but at home, during a students study sessions the confusion results in him not working hard
enough to perform better. A student said, “I used to study the case before the class and in my mind I was
very prepared but during the class I realized my way of solving it was not how the teacher wanted it done,
after that I lost interest in doing cases as I knew that not all my courses will follow this methodology”.
From here it can be seen that two parallel ways of teaching has caused the student to shy away from
giving his best, the student is either put off by one method or has difficulty in understanding and
managing the two together. This meant the students had gaps in their minds as to how and what they
should learn during their self study sessions.
Students in the business schools is Islamabad have a belief that the pedagogy is given to the university
though Higher education commission, which is a government body. There the student who has a lack of
trust in the government in turn also has a lack of trust in the functioning of the university. This results in
the student not looking at the university pedagogy in a subjective way but from a biased point of view.
Another issue that was identified while discussing pedagogy in regards to AUSOM was relayed by one
student. “The University changed its methodology during our degree and it created havoc for students,
some teachers were pro the change and some against. This resulted in the students not aligning
themselves with the case methodology and curriculum”. It can be seen that the faculty has impact on what
the student thinks about the university they study in, some students out of loyalty to teachers did not
happily accept the change and some did. After a year of the case method being religiously followed in
Ausom the tone of the students seems to have changed, as one student puts it, “The pedagogy of Ausom is
specifically good because with the introduction of the case study teaching method the students get
involved more and are inclined to participate, creating a healthy competition”. Since the advent of the
case study methodology the students have now started accepting it and as it can be seen from the
testimonies of the students that they are now more open to the change from the initial stages. Another
student of Ausom said, “The curriculum and methodology of Ausom in now up to par with the higher
ranked universities, the end product for a university should be an enabled leader and here in Ausom that is
being done through the case method. The students are now more prepared to face the practical world by
learning in such a hands-on way about decision making”. The change of tone can be sensed from when
the initial change was put in place till now, from here we can deduce that after the students fully
understood what the new pedagogy stood for and how it worked the students started seeing the positives
about it and are now embedding this change within them.
Power Distance
A study showed that even if there is a partnership between student and teachers, there will still be a
boundary that the teachers would like to keep. This boundary can be identified as the power distance,
some faculty members would like to keep a wider gap than the others. In the data collection through
interviews it was seen that the administration of the university created a higher power distance than the
faculty. Throughout the data collection a theme of administration dominance and red tape was seen, the
university tends to deliver commandments without taking student input. One respondent agreed to this by
saying, “Whenever a decision is made, it is very rare if the students are given logic behind it most, most
of the time the new policy is simply implemented”. The administration is inclined towards ignoring the
queries of the students, one student said, “If the admin officers have time they will give you enough
attention to hear you out, but there will be an underwhelming response from them and no other action
would be take”. This will lead to the student feeling unwanted and unimportant, this acts’ as a direct blow
to a student’s confidence. Lack of confidence leads to a an under motivated student, the reason behind
this lack of confidence is further cemented by another student, “Whenever I take a problem to the admin,
they act as if my problem is created by myself and that this is a problem only in my mind and not in
reality”. This feeling of being unheard results in the student being angry and distasteful, leading to the
student making disloyal remarks about the institution. This in turns becomes a big barrier in being loyal to
the university.
For the faculty, if there is a strong partnership; teachers still want to be recognized by their higher rank in-
front of the students. Study showed, students’ voice is listened, but teachers do things as they like to do.
One respondent confessed against the hierarchal management, “Teachers do not necessarily care for the
student and their issue, they are concerned with running a business, the teachers are however polite to the
students as part of their JD but the administration is very cranky”. It was observed that when the power
and resistance was shown by some of the teachers, the performance and participation level of students
dropped drastically. Students felt that in a project like this still they are being controlled.
The administration feels that it has ‘ownership’ of the university and its assets such as the students. The
reason for it is that they have different expertise and in their minds the business aspect of the university is
being run by them. A participant corroborated this point by saying, “The admin says that they do not have
to handle the student issues, the teacher are there for this purpose, and when we go to the teachers they
talk to us but in the end no action can be taken as they have no power of their own”. This shows that the
students need an outlet and also a platform where they can be heard without the burden of being less
powerful or ‘just a student’ meaning the power distance negatively affects the productivity of the student.
One of the interviewees agreed that the teachers have more experience and are capable beyond the
students understanding however this experience should help the students to enable them to learn, practice
and perform to their best potential. “The faculty consists of gurus of the field; they should not show
arrogance but should help the students in starting up businesses”.
Another aspect that was identified in the interview phase was that the students were directly informed
about a policy change or re-instated policy after the changes have had been made. There was no input
from the students taken in the policy making or decision making, this resulted in the student always being
in the dark about the working of the policy and could never embed those values due to the lack of clarity.
Appendix
Pedagogy
Positive Negatives
Case Study Transformation – Career Option Inconsistent delivery style – Lack of interest –
enhancements – Interest in new methodology – Lose focus – Avoid class – Unresponsive class–
Creating interest in the university – Current Performance negatively affected – unsatisfied
students of methodology are satisfied –High student – Lack of loyalty
Retention and Repeat Customer
Completely Theoretical therefore boring – Classes

feel like a burden – Avoid class – lose of interest
leading to lose of focus – lack of retention/loyalty
Power Distance
Positives Negatives
Open door policy – Student felts heard – the Red tape – bureaucratic working – the students
queries got answered – they feel validated and aren’t heard – demotivated students – assembly line
important – feeling of ownership (Embedded feeling – there was no link with the institute – no
beliefs) - values align – loyalty build – long term loyalty
relationship with students
Admin ignores – students are ignored – become

angry – students and their queries aren’t valued –
angered students are ready to leave – students don’t
have a voice
Policy discrimination – students are subject to

policy change without their input – policies are at
times changed without any frame of reference –
sudden changes result in a conflict in the students
mind.
Class Connectedness
Positives Negatives
Comfortable environment – less stressed situation- ‘Toppers don’t have friends’ – no knowledge
enabled a conducive environment – growth in sharing – faculty plays favorites – unhealthy
performance – good grades – increased motivation competition – de motivated students – resistance
– loyalty among students – embeds value within – towards loyalty
leading to attitudinal loyalty
Friendship – open relations – relaxed students – Peer to peer relations are damaged – teachers play
conducive atmosphere to study – motivated favorites – students lose interest in working
students – sharing of knowledge – happy students
Curriculum
Positive Negative
Up to date – covers all basis – case study – career Studying old books – new articles aren’t given
enhancing (AUSOM) importance – old theories – technologies have
changed
Case study – real life scenarios – learning decision Different teachers – some teach through slides –
making – competent information – higher retention some use cases – conflict of curriculum creates
confusion
Faculty
Positive Negative
Co-operative – open and willing to listen to the Limitations – fake power – higher mgmt has real
students – creates a sense of understanding – power – teachers cannot take actions to fix queries
motivates the student – student is stress free – leads – conflict with faculty – students lack loyalty and
to retention trust in the mgmt (The faculty has no power, how
will the students effect the mgmt)
Creates a relationship with students – student is Inconsistency of teaching – creates conflict in the
understood and validated – good intention of mind of the student – de motivated student –
faculty – students are loyal to the faculty performance is effected badly – unhappy student –
lack of retention and loyalty
Students are engaged by the faculty –interest is Theoretical knowledge – lacking in practical
created – interest leads up to retention implications and decision making – students is
dissatisfied with career options – students loses
interest in working for the university (own career
options are less) – creates disloyalty and resistance
towards collaboration
Knowledgeable faculty- professional - baring a Teacher dominance – power distance is too huge –
few all have great grip on the course they are students are uncomfortable – they don’t question –
teaching they don’t learn – there is not a learning
environment present – no loyalty towards
university
Interviews – Respondent grids
Respondent 1
Organizational Psychological Attitudinal Behavioral
SERVQUAL Co-Creation Assimilation Effects Loyalty Loyalty
Faculty  +  -
Pedagogy  +
Curriculum  +  -  -
Class
Connectedness  +  +
Power Distance  -  +
 
Respondent 2
Co- Organizational Psychological Attitudinal Behavioral
SERVQUAL Creation Assimilation Effects Loyalty Loyalty
Faculty  +  -
Pedagogy  +
Curriculum  +  -  -
Class
Connectedness   +
Power Distance  -  -
Respondent 3
Faculty  +  +
Pedagogy  +
Curriculum  +  +  -
Class
Connectedness  -  +
Respondent 4
Faculty  +  +
Pedagogy  +
Curriculum  +  +  +
Class
Respondent 5
Faculty  -  -
Pedagogy  -
Curriculum  -  -  -
Class
Connectedness  -  -
Respondent 6
Faculty  +  -
Pedagogy  -
Curriculum  -  -  -
Class
Connectedness  -  -
Respondent 7
Faculty  +  +
Pedagogy 
Curriculum  +  +  -
Class
Respondent 8
Faculty  -  -
Pedagogy  +
Class
Respondent 9
Faculty  +  +
Pedagogy  +
Curriculum  +  -  +
Class
Connectedness  +  +  +
Respondent 10
Faculty  +  +
Pedagogy  +
Class
Power
Distance  +  +
Respondent 11
Faculty  
Pedagogy 
Curriculum   
Class
Connectedness  
Power Distance  
Respondent 12
Faculty  
Pedagogy 
Class
Respondent 13
Faculty  
Pedagogy 
Class
Respondent 14
Faculty  
Pedagogy 
Class  
Connectedness
Respondent 15
Faculty  
Pedagogy 
Class
Respondent 16
Faculty  
Pedagogy 
Class
Respondent 17
Faculty  
Pedagogy 
Class
Respondent 18
Faculty  
Pedagogy 
Class
Respondent 19
Faculty  
Pedagogy 
Class
Respondent 20
Faculty  
Pedagogy 
Class
Interviews
Mohsen A.Malik - Air;
ServQual:
The faculty is knowledgeable about the course that they are teaching, the theoretical knowledge is
present. Some of the teachers do give concepts beyond the curriculum but that’s in minority. When
talking about the administration, when the students go there is always a favorable response to the queries.
The behavior of the administration and faculty instills confidence in the student to give their best.
The methodology and curriculum are up to par with other higher ranked universities, initially the
expectations were that the classes will have lectures, assignments and quizzes but the introduction of the
case methodology has increased the level of the class. It is a positive inclusion as it helps the students to
prepare for the practical world. The teaching however can be better, the level of professionalism is
lacking. Acca course is at par with the international certification requirements. The teaching is very
inconsistent; some teachers are very wholesome whereas others can barely relay the concept on class,
which makes for a very conflicted student.
The open door policy here is very prevalent and acts as a motivator for the students, the dean is open to
hearing about the entire student problems, this result in the student feeling wanted and helped a boast of
confidence.
The students can go to the teacher numerous times to understand a query is it personal or course related,
the teachers show genuine willingness in helping the student promptly. The teachers show sincerity when
listening to the student problems and help accordingly.
The HUMAN TOUCH is very necessary for any student to be motivated to give his best and continuing
to stay in the university.
Co-Creation of Value:
University seeking the student opinion is not a something that happens in Ausom. The decision are made
by the management without any input from the student, they are not asked for suggestions which is very
de-motivating considering the students are the ones who need to be given value in the university as they
are its consumers. Whenever a decision is made, it is very rare if the students are given logic behind it
most, most of the time the new policy is simply implemented.
Even now, the students are ready to spare their time willingly to give their ideas and suggestions to the
university if asked; no student will step out of the way to help the university in solving any prevalent
issue. The students are not made the part of the solution; if a student does give feedback it is ignored and
made unheard. Issues being faced by the students are not a priority for the administration to solve; they
are first and foremost focused on getting new intakes.
The experience in this university as student has been very memorable, the faculty has been a huge factor
in making life easy by being accommodating in the time of need. This way of facilitating is very
important as the student feels as if he is a part of the system and part of a well oiled machine just as a
family is.
Organizational Assimilation:
A cordial relationship with most of the business students due to the interaction while participating in co
curricular activities. There is camaraderie within the students and a level of comfort while talking to each
other. To know the teachers personally will amp up the personal touch from where the student could
understand the teacher better and therefore will be able to take their advice better, the attitudes and belief
of the university are the same as mine; this motivates me to talk to the faculty and the administration.
Therefore as a student I’m ready to give my best to make my teachers and university proud. The
university has made me a more mature and learned person, it has groomed me through the experiences,
learnt many things about people as well as the practical world.
Psychological Effects:
Very satisfied with the experiences, made good friends along the way and have acquired a lot of
knowledge, the expectations matched from the beginning. The university is trustworthy and works with
integrity even though it rarely involves the students in the work it does. There is a very strong sense of
commitment with my university.
Attitudinal Loyalty:
There is an emotional connection present, I’m glad I came to this university. I have already recommended
Air to many of my juniors and family relations.
Behavioral Loyalty:
I will not do my further studies in this university as I want to broaden my horizon and also the higher
degree faculty does not seem up to par. But during my undergrad I will not leave this university even if
given a choice, I will continue to support this university as an Alumni.
Shalal- e – Noor – (Ausom);
ServQual
The faculty is knowledgeable about the main courses taught by them. The curriculum and methodology
has been inconsistent which creates a conflict in the mind of the student. The behavior of the
administration is only de-motivating for me, there is no confidence being instilled in the students. The
supposed open door policy works only superficially, the management listens to me from one year and
takes it out from the other. Nothing is being done about the problems being relayed by the students. So
the open door policy is just a façade. The teachers show genuine interest in the problems being told to
them but there is no solution at the end.
Co Creation of Value
The university does not seek your suggestion and ideas; the university does not provide information about
its policy in detail. As a responsible student and in order to improve my own resume I will willingly give
my suggestions to the university. The environment provided by the university to give suggestions is very
fragile as they try their best to not listen to the students. The university does not involve the students at
all. There is not an equal role n determining the outcome.
Organizational Assimilation
I have friends in the university and the ones I’m not friends with I’m comfortable talking to them. I know
the students of the university we enough as I have spend the last three years here. The teachers talk to us
outside class but the administration is very rude. The university operations are barely known to the
students. I will volunteer to work in the extracurricular activities to enhance my CV and not out of
obligation towards the university. I do help juniors with their assignments and projects. I have had an
education in the university but it was not well rounded, things I have learnt I have learnt by default, due to
the negative behavior of the management.
Psychological Effects
Yes, satisfied experience it had ups and downs. Below expectations, not satisfied with the grading system
makes me question the integrity of the university operations. University does not care about student
welfare, it is being run as a business, earning profits is the goal or so it seems.
Attitudinal Loyalty
I do have an emotional connection because of friends and time period. I will however not recommend the
university to others
Behavioral Loyalty
I will leave the university if given a choice during my undergrad. I might consider the University for
Future Education because of the comfort of the known, as the university is better than its competitors I
will patronize and support it as Alumni.
Asad latif - AUSOM
ServQual:
I think that student is claiming that the faculty has enough knowledge related to the subject. I don’t think
that student usually admits that the faculty has enough knowledge they always say that the faculty
member doesn’t have potential to deliver the content. He is saying that there is a very low amount of
teacher who teach beyond the curriculum, but I think that teacher don’t teach anything in extra because
they face resistance from majority of the class that is the reason why they are unable to teach the content
beyond the course curriculum.
Participant is talking about the level of professionalism, he has mentioned that the teachers are not
professional, but I think that those who act professional are always perceived as a negative person and
students are usually against these kinds of persons.
Most of the time students don’t praise the openness of the Dean in case where students can easily give
their view. They always say that this is the formality, dean is always in the favour of the Faculty but in
this case, we can draw a conclusion based upon the opinion mentioned by the participant that the
measures taken by the Dean are in favour of the students.
I don’t think that there is any unconventional think which he is talking about. He is talking about the
standard blame which we always put on the system. But as he is talking the faculty impact on the life of
student, it is right and true. I don’t think that majority of the students give credit to the faculty impact on
student life they always start a blame game.
Participant is talking about the personal relationship between teacher and student, I think in this case he is
talking about the conventional way as how students will make relations, but these relations are always
perceived to be negative and most of the students are in favour of these relations, but they are students are
not willing to talk on this issue.
Under this heading participant is only talking about the conventional things usually students are always
talking about.
Recommending the university, in which you are studying, is a very rare thing which I often hear from any
student.
Behavioral Loyalty:
As per the response, Behavioral Loyalty according to the participant is not based upon the quality
education provided by the university because if it is so the student must come back to the University for
Graduation.
Kainaat Sajid - AUSOM
SERVQUAL
The faculty of this university is knowledgeable. But there are a few teachers who don’t have that grip
over the courses they are teaching. The administration has always been helpful and attentive towards my
queries and I have never faced any difficulty. The curriculum of the University and the teaching
methodology of AUSOM specifically are good because with the introduction of case study teaching
method the students get involved more and are inclined to participate. It creates a healthy competition.
The behavior of faculty and administration staff is very courteous. They all are very helpful and this
instills a confidence and ability to perform better. There is an open door policy with the higher
management which I think is good because it gives the students a sense that they are being listened to.
The classes and seminar are always held in time.
A student can go anytime and as many times to the faculty members to understand or discuss any issues
be it academic or personal. The faculty members show genuine interest and are responsive.
Co creation of Value:
The university or our department does not seek for ideas or suggestions from the students. They are
decided by the top management and are implemented on the students.
Many students are willing to spare their time and effort to help the university in improving services but it
won’t be of any use since the university does not involve the students much. Students in Air University
don’t feel like they are a part of this university because their input is not valued.
And I think it’s possible for a student to improve university processes/services because at the end of the
day it’s the students who are actually going through it.
I have developed a friendly relation with other students in this university and I am comfortable talking to
them. As far as the teachers are concerned they do discuss their issues and talk about it which gives us a
chance to understand them better and their personality.
The values and norms of this university are acceptable and I don’t mind following them. I am comfortable
performing my tasks according to the university standards. The teachers value my opinions and ideas. I
feel involved in this university.
Psychological effects:
I am satisfied with my experiences in this university. They don’t completely match my expectations but to
some extent they do. This university performs with integrity, it’s trustworthy. But I would not go an extra
mile to stay in this university. Overall I am satisfied.
Attitudinal loyalty:
I don’t feel an emotional connection with this university but that is a personal thing and has nothing to do
with this university and I would recommend this university to others.
Behavioral Loyalty
I have no intent of continuing my further studies in this university. I would prefer some other institution
for my higher education because first of all this university does not offer many master courses and the
faculty does not seem good enough. I will continue to support this university In the future because it has
taught me a lot.
Muffarah Tariq - AUSOM
ServQual
Faculty does not have vast knowledge, their ideas and views are very rigid. The behavior is good, they are
genuine and sincere, and now the methodology is being strictly followed. The classes are on time and not
getting cancelled like they were before. Some admin issues are not tackled willingly; the issues took time
to be solved. Promptness isn’t looked after, the delay is very common. The admin is not actively working
towards helping the students; they are not sure what their duties are. Overall behavior is okay-okay.
Faculty is not sure how they will personally be effected by the admin therefore they don’t mingle with the
admin and try to handle the student issues without involving the deans.
Co Creation of Value
University does seek our opinion but rarely implements them; the students are sufficiently given
information about the new rules and policies. Hod is not responsive. The events and functions make the
experience memorable.
Students are friends with each other; peer to peer relationship is good. Faculty does discuss personal
stories to make the students feel understood. All students do not fulfill responsibility. University is
concerned about the student relationship with the system but not amongst themselves. The university
taught us a lot about life, the day to day running of the university and student interaction is a mutually
respectful relation.
Behavioral Loyalty
Not Satisfies, the changes have left us confused about the values and daily operations of the university,
committed to the university because of the time spent. Will go an extra mile if it helps our CV, doing
maters from here is a no. Small issues with the university that every student has but have not faced big
issues. I have suggested people to come to air
Bachelors yes, MBA no, need to broaden my horizon. Emotional connection is high, the students here are
happier here in comparison to Nust etc, I did recommend
Muhammad A.Z. Malik - Bahria;
ServQual:
The faculty of the university is knowledgeable about the courses that are being taught and possess in-
depth knowledge in their area of expertise; however, exceptions are still there with inexperienced teachers
that join the university for time being. The administration is helpful when the problems are simple with
traditional solutions; however, in complex situations students are always referred to other administrative
departments that make it harder for the student to find a solution to a problem in time.
The curriculum is defined by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan and covers all the basic
theoretical knowledge of the defined field of study but students feel the need to have advanced knowledge
of theories and practices taking place in the modern world. The teaching method is one-way
communication method through lectures (presentations) which can be improved by two-way
communication method that would help the students to engage in the lessons being taught and gain better
understanding. The curriculum of Bahria University is amongst the high ranked business schools in
Islamabad and produces competent businessmen.
The faulty and administrative staff and faculty members are well behaved and encourage students to
perform well in their studies by pointing out the weak points and providing confidence and solutions to
those shortcomings one might have. Faculty members along with the administrative staff are courteous
and have an open-door policy which makes the students feel confident that their problems are being heard
and addressed. Some classes and seminars take place on time while others may take a longer time to
start and few might go over time with the lectures, there is inconsistency when it comes down to time
management of starting and finishing of lectures. This problem is temporarily fixed but a long-term
solution is awaited. Students get their problems fixed in no time if the problem is small; however,
complex situations are relative and require time according to its complexity. Faculty has a short
responsive time to problems whether it is professional or personal and show willingness to help by taking
sincere interest in solving the problems. Students visit the faculty members to discuss the issues every
now and then to seek guidance with respect to education and sometimes for their personal matters too and
the faculty shows a positive response by trying to help them as much as they can in their capacity.
The equipment is not balanced in the university; some parts of the university are equipped with latest
technologies and state-of-the-art furniture while other parts are outdated and need replacement. Some
classrooms lack the basic necessities required to run a classroom effectively. Outlook of the university is
neat as looks sophisticated, but maintenance section lacks some attention.
Co-Creation of Value
The university seeks students’ ideas and suggestions by the end of semester through online evaluations,
but students are uncertain if they are ever heard through this platform. Illustrations and information are
only provided when needed or are sometimes provided on demand. But overall, fulfills the HEC
requirements.
Students are willing to spare time and effort to share ideas and suggestions to the university to help
further improve their services because they believe that they better know the shortcomings of university
from their perspective and if improved by taking their experience into account the academic section could
be improved significantly. So far, the university decides for itself when it comes to scheduling of events
and services, and students are not taken into account whilst making such decisions.
Students do not believe that they have an equal role in determining the final outcome of the university
services nor they actively support the usage of different services as they should. But the relevant
information is conveyed to the students anyway. The time is university has been memorable for the
students as they experienced many different things in and by the university. University services can
certainly be improved by experimenting new ideas that are already in place by the rest of the world.
Having a supportive faculty and administrative staff, students feel confident in areas where they
considered themselves weak by using the services offered by the university.
All the students in this university are like a one-unit family hence, considered as friends as they are easy
to talk to when approached with positive attitude. Knowing everyone in such a vast majority is not
possible for any student until he/she is a well-known celebrity with special interest in socializing with
others. Student – teacher relationship varies from person to person, but if a teacher is close to someone,
he/she might be sharing issues and problems with students. The students have an idea about how the
university operates and accepts most of the attitudes and behaviors held in the university. The teachers
appreciate creative work of students and sometimes feel involved in the learning process.
Stress – Psychological Effects
Students are satisfied with their experiences from the university until their bachelors, but the master’s
level need to be upgraded to match the expectations of the students. The university is trustworthy and
performs with integrity. The university is not concerned about student’s welfare until the fees is being
paid. Students usually avoid going an extra mile to remain the students of universities. If given a
chance to study in a better university, students will and should move on towards better education system.
Attitudinal Loyalty
Emotional connection is always present between the university and students as it is one of the major
highlights of one’s life. I was happy to join the university but would have moved on if had the chance to
study somewhere better. But would recommend this university to different people for different purposes
depending on what they are seeking for as their careers.
Behavioral Loyalty
No, I would not continue to study in the same university if had a choice to leave nor I would be
considering this university to fulfill my future educational needs. However, I would continue supporting
this university as Alumni.
Zunaira Asad – Bahria University
ServQual
The faculty is very knowledgeable, at the university where I’m studying; I experienced some most
interesting things in the context of academic advising. Each faculty member had five to six advisees.
Advising meant having a lot of conversations, about credits, requirements and majors. Yet those
conversations also became the foundation for students. The administration helps whenever it has time and
students are welcomed when the administration has time to listen their issues. In comparison to other
business schools in Islamabad my university is not involved in much co curriculum activities. The faculty
is helpful, but the administration does is not helpful to the students, even when they listen to the
problems, they are not actively trying to solve a problem instead of helping they make things worse
sometimes. Faculty however is sincere and genuine towards the student problems the administration is
not. There is no open-door policy in the university, only the society heads can talk to the higher
management.
Co- creation of value
University does not seek ideas and suggestions from the students they do what they want to do, and
Feedback is taken from the students once during the duration of the semester but no implementation is
seen as a result of those feedbacks. As a responsible student of the university I would willingly spare time
to help the University for New Ideas. The students are told about any changes made in the running of
things without any reasoning behind it, the students are not given any role in determining the outcomes of
a university. The university has given students a platform in the form of clubs and societies, the presidents
of these clubs can interact with the management however this is not effective for the students to be heard.
They club heads do things they want to do they don’t listen to members
The experience has been a memorable one, it has had its ups and downs but overall it was an experience
filled with learning, and now I’m in my second last year I look forward to making the most from the
services being provided in this university. . This feeling of inferiority felt by the students makes it
difficult for the student to be motivated to work for the university up to its standards. All students are
individuals with needs, but the university does not prioritize the needs of the students labeling them as
immature etc. Beside all the ups and downs my university experiences thus far have been amazing. I have
learned and experienced so many new things in such a short period of time, and it has gone by so fast. I
am still discovering all the opportunities that university offers me. Bahria is a very welcoming place, and
from the first day. I have made many new friends from many different backgrounds.
Loyalty
I consider the students are my friends, and I’m very comfortable talking to the students, seniors or juniors.
The students do discuss their experiences with each other but the administration and faculty do not
indulge in talking about their life experiences and personal accomplishments, it’s a very surface
relationship where the faculty demands the students respect due to the post they hold. The faculty does
not strike up conversations with us outside of class, neither does the administration. As a student I would
like to know my people shaping my future a little better, a balance of personal and professional in order to
learn more than just the curriculum. I do not feel compelled to participate or volunteer in extracurricular
activities for the university. On the knowledge side I do feel I’m more capable at the things that I have
learnt in the university and these skills will help me in having a successful career.
Samina Ibad – Bahria
ServQual:
According to my experience, faculty of Bahria University is co-operative to some extent. This all depends
on teacher to teacher and situation to situation. Some teachers or staff do favoritism others try to resolve
problems. Without any doubt, Business school is performing quite belter than others. It is increasing its
efficiency day by day. But where it is lacking, is its staff including faculty. Faculty does not show proper
interest and with this kind of attitude student get demotivated.
Co-Creation of value:
Business School tries to bring more innovative methods for teaching but it is actually lacking behind the
implementation phase. QEC evaluation and other qualitative feedback are taken from students but these
feedbacks do not contain any worth because no action is taken. Though, some of the students are
considered as favorite without any reason and only their words/opinion are given value. So majority of
students are demotivated and losing their interest.
Organizational assimilation:
The culture and academic environment of this business school is not much friendly. Students because of
favoritism culture get teachers support and do not help. However, some of teachers have negative attitude
in order to help others. This creates unhealthy competition and less interest towards better academic
performance.
Psychological effects:
As a semi government school, I am satisfied with its discipline, some strict rules and regulation
concerning towards behavior. However, most of the expectations are not yet aligning with the culture and
its structure. Insecurity is increasing day by day with the sudden unplanned announcement of grading
policies. This school has lost trust from my side.
Attitudinal loyalty:
Because of investment, trying fully to complete the degree with respect and patience. Because the
negative attitude and favoritism has taken me steps behind.
Behavior Loyalty:
I won’t be continuing the post graduate degrees from this university not even going to serve this
university because of favoritism and unhealthy competition in colleagues and students.
Muhammad Saqib Javed - Bahria;
ServQual:
The faculty is knowledgeable about the course that they are teaching, mostly faculty have theoretical
knowledge but lack practical work.
Administration is very open to queries of students and they have very friendly environment.
The methodology and curriculum are better than other higher ranked universities, initially the
expectations were class lectures and assignments and quizzed, but the introduction of group discussion
has increased the level. The behavior of administration is very friendly with students which give students
the confidence, but the behavior of faculty is sometime rude or ignorant. The teaching is very
inconsistent; some teachers are very wholesome whereas others can barely relay the concept on class,
which makes for a very conflicted student.
The open-door policy here is present, and it motivates the students, anyone can directly go to head off
departments or rector office and they always helps students with problems. This makes students very
much secure in the university
Classes and seminars are always conducted in time university follow up with its services every semester.
No not all students get attention of faculty with their problems, faculty have problem of favoritism. Same
is the case with meeting with faculty, favorites can meet anytime with teachers, but the others have to
wait to get teachers free. Overall look of university is very neat and clean.
No this decision are made by the management without any input from the student, even they don’t ask for
student’s suggestions. Whenever a new decision is made students don’t get much information about it.
Yes students are always ready to spare their time for university to make it even better in services they are
providing. No there is no such platform to provide our suggestion for improvement. The students are not
made the part of the solution; if a student does give feedback it is ignored and made unheard. Issues being
faced by the students are not a priority for the administration to solve; they are first and foremost focused
on getting new intakes.
Mostly students of my class are my friends and we are very comfortable talking with each other and even
talking to any student in the university. After studying for quite some time together we know each other
very well. I like to know teachers and staff of university but due to favoritism mostly students don’t get
chance to know the teachers. The attitudes and belief of the university are the same as mine; this
motivates me to talk to the administration. Therefore as a student I’m ready to give my best to make my
teachers and university proud. The university has made me a more mature and learned person, it has
groomed me through the experiences, learnt many things about people as well as the practical world.
Very much satisfied with the experiences, made some very good friends during my time in university and
have acquired a lot of knowledge; the experience is always beyond expectations from the beginning. The
university is trustworthy and works with integrity. There is a very strong sense of commitment with my
university.
There is an emotional connection present, I feel very lucky I came to this university; I made some very
good friends which helps me in life. I have already recommended Bahria too many of my friends and
family relations.
Behavioral Loyalty:
Yes, I will continue my studies in this university till this degree and for the further studies, I am not
thinking at the moment for the further studies at all. I will continue to support this university as Alumni.
Muhammad Sarmad Ul Haq – Bahria
ServQual
The faculty is knowledgeable for the subjects they are teaching us. The thing about this faculty I like is
they engaged with the students throughout the lectures rather than showing the slides show. I also
appreciate that the lectures are made with the effort and they are broken down to such level of students so
they can understand it easily.
The administration here is very friendly and the open-door policy is very much effective for the students
to discuss issues about the teacher student problems. For that the students are in confident that the faculty
is open ear to their problems rather than neglecting them.
The curriculum and the teaching techniques are above my expectations as per the other institutes. By
breaking down the lecture into small portions and removing the barrier between the students and the
teacher, it felt a lot easier to understand in a friendly environment rather than the strict environment.
The administration and staff are very friendly additional to the visiting teachers. The visiting teachers are
more passionate about the wellbeing of the students, as they are aware of the present market stuff they
present the slides with up to date material.
Their behavior of the staff and teachers are great but with the favor comes the disfavor, sometimes the
teacher restrict the students to do projects In that language where the teacher has no command, but if they
select the FYP in that particular language then faculty do arrange the relevant teachers to help and support
them in need of issues.
Co- creation of Value
There is open-door policy with the higher management as per they say. The students can enter any
director’s office after telling the issue to the PA of the director. If the issue is greater they can talk with
the director any time.
As it’s a government university there are many seminars held at the university’s auditorium and we are
fairly invited to the auditorium and sometimes its event that strict that our class attendance is held at that
seminar so that we won’t miss it.
University does follow up in the services in the correct way but in a straight forward manner. Sometimes
the students belonged to backward area, it’s difficult for them to understand then the issues, but having
being the good friends and teachers, issues have been resolved for them in no time.
The faculty listens to the students but not in the professional manner, as being the government employ’s,
they know that their job is secure. Sometimes they behave very rudely with the students but most of the
time their behavior is acknowledgeable.
The teachers are very good and passionate as I also mentioned earlier, they motivate the students for
learning more and more. They do invite the students to the office in case of any issue or if they have any
problem getting the lecture.
Actually being a CR I had like daily visits the faculty members, so I almost never had any big issues, but
sometimes I ask the administration faculty to print stuff that the teacher had said, they ignored saying that
the services are down and we’ll do this tomorrow. The issue is the faculty most of the time only entertains
the CR of the class and incase of any issue they can easily blame the CR in short for e.g. in case of any
notification displayed on the notification board .
The labs were fully functional at our university they were updated and upgraded at our time as I
remember back in 2016. The labs are perfect but the staff at the lab has issues with the students. Their
issues are 100% genuine as they have to maintain the lab but I must say sometimes they behave rudely
with the students. For instance, I also had a small fight with the faculty at lab as they were not letting me
and my friends to sit and do the assignments.
The physical facilities of the university are visually appealing such as class rooms, library, and cafeteria?
Yes the university seeks our ideas as my friend suggest to improve their website with the online student
data that was previously can only be checked in the universities network. But as per the university rules,
the FYP he created now only rests in the library and it was never implemented in the real environment.
They do seek the idea but the implantation of that idea looks merely impossible.
Yes, the university seeks our ideas if they are appealing in kind of help to the environment or it can help
in future for the issues that are faced in present. As it was an agriculture university their primary motive
was to make something that could help improve the agriculture field. But besides that motive we also had
great developers that were making applications, websites and many more hardware related projects of
their choices.
The time I entered the university as I was scared I didn’t know anyone and the time I left the university is
was more scared because I know them. The students in the university are not friends they are like family.
Scared at first but we are comfortable at talking to other students. The teacher and staff are good. There
was a time we arrange a class tour with our teacher and he came with all his family i.e. his wife and kids
and we enjoyed the whole tour with our beloved teacher.
A lot satisfied with the experience, the expectations were great. The university is a trustworthy friend as it
helped me through my studies and I am very much thankful to the teachers and to the students who helped
me through my entire good years. I am willing to take extra mile with them again if had a chance, had a
great time.
Behavioral Loyalty:
I would have looked forward to continue my studies in the university but as know their limitations and
now I want to broaden my vision for that I would want to continue my future studies abroad. I wouldn’t
have left the university if I ever had a chance even when I was an Alumni.
Zeeshan Qureshi – Fast;
ServQual
The majority of the faculty is very knowledgeable, the administration helps whenever it has time i.e.
depending on their own workload, and students are welcomed when the administration has time to tackle
their issues. In comparison to other business schools in Islamabad my university is up to par in
accordance to the curriculum and methodology. The faculty is helpful but the administration does is not
helpful to the students, even when they listen to the problems they are not actively trying to solve a
problem. Faculty however is sincere and genuine towards the student problems the administration is not.
There is no open door policy in the university, only the society heads can talk to the higher management.
University does not seek ideas and suggestions from the students. Feedback is taken from the students
once during the duration of the semester but no implementation is seen as a result of those feedbacks. As
a responsible student of the university I would willingly spare time to help the university out in making
new values added policies. The students are told about any changes made in the running of things without
any reasoning behind it, the students as consumer are not given any role in determining the outcomes of a
university. The university has given students a platform in the form of clubs and societies, the presidents
of these clubs can interact with the management however this is not effective for the students to be heard.
The experience has been a memorable one, it has had its ups and downs but overall it was an experience
filled with learning, and in my last year I look forward to making the most from the services being
provided in this university. A student can actively improve a university and its services because he is the
end user and knows very well what things work and what don’t. This feeling of inferiority felt by the
students makes it difficult for the student to be motivated to work for the university up to its standards.
All students are individuals with varied needs but the university does not prioritize the needs of the
students labeling them as immature etc.
The students do discuss their experiences with each other but the administration and faculty do not
indulge in talking about their life experiences and personal accomplishments, it’s a very surface
relationship where the faculty demands the students respect due to the post they hold. The faculty does
not strike up conversations with us outside of class, neither does the administration. As a student I would
like to know my people shaping my future a little better, a balance of personal and professional in order to
learn more than just the curriculum. I do not feel compelled to participate or volunteer in extracurricular
learnt in the university and these skills will help me in having a successful career.
Psychological effects
As a local university I’m satisfied with the experience, it is better than most universities in Islamabad. As
a local university my expectations were not high so therefore, they matched. The teaching has been
subpar, but the market and its opportunities have not been discussed therefore the future is full on the
unknown. The university works with integrity and is trustworthy, however it is a business and its first and
foremost objective is getting profits and student welfare secondary.
Attitudinal Loyalty
I will not leave this university in the middle of the degree even if given a choice. After spending three
years here I do feel an emotional connection with the university. I will recommend this university to my
family and friends.
Behavioral Loyalty
I will not study for my higher degrees from this university as I want to leave Pakistan. As Alumni I will
never badmouth the university, but I will not come back here as I it does not give any innovative
experience in the higher degrees.
Zoha Mahmood– Fast;
ServQual
As far as my experience is concerned, faculty members seem to be knowledgeable in their own domain. I
have never taken a course from a teacher that wasn’t aware of their course with up to date knowledge.
The administration, unfortunately, isn’t as cooperative. Student queries are always heard but they aren’t
always dealt with in the most efficient manner. Fast has surpassed my expectations in terms of its
curriculum and teaching methodology. They try to provide us with insights about the practical world in
almost every course utilizing up to mark methodologies. In comparison to other highly ranked business
schools in Islamabad, I definitely think fast’s curriculum is at par. As far as the faculty is concerned, they
are extremely helpful with professional and personal issues. They always encourage us to come to them
for any kind of queries, which in turn helps us perform to our full ability. They are always quick to
respond to us as well. You just have to take the initiative to approach them and they will deal with it
sincerely and genuinely. I haven’t had such an experience where teachers keep postponing meetings due
to their own scheduling issues. I have gone to my teachers with several issues over the course of my time
here at fast and they have always responded positively to them. In fact, most of them even personally
followed up to get an update on the situation. Most teachers do have our best interest at heart but there are
some exceptions. The majority of administration like I said earlier isn’t as cooperative. They are
extremely difficult to deal with and are mostly very inconsiderate towards the problems or queries of the
students. In contrast to that, the upper management including our head of department practices an open-
door policy and are always there to listen and assist us. I do feel secure in my university. Punctuality is
the hallmark of my university, the classes and other seminars that the university conducts always on time
which encourages us to practice the same. Equipment in the university isn’t up to date. Some of the seats
in our classrooms are broken and need renovation. Not all the of the computers present in our labs work
but other than that everything is state of the art. The classrooms and library are visually appealing and
comfortable but the cafeteria due to being under construction isn’t. Yes, the university is always clean.
Even if students carry out an event, they are encouraged to clean up their mess afterwards.
University doesn’t seek student ideas and suggestions about its current and future programs, curriculum
etc. Feedback is taken from the students on the teacher and course twice a semester which is anonymous
but there rarely is any action taken on it. To help bring improvement I would willingly spare time to help
the university out in making new values added policies, but the university doesn’t foster a suitable
environment to offer suggestions and ideas for improvement. The university doesn’t involve the students
with the matters of its operations or policies etc. at all. Student’s voice is rarely taken into account with no
role in determining the final outcome of the university services. There have been a lot of improvements in
our university for the ease of students like vending machine and AT machine, but these weren’t
particularly a result of student input. The university does convey relevant information about the services
and activities it carries out to the students through announcements on our student portal called “Slate”. I
have only interacted with placement office at my university and it’s has been a very accommodating
experience. It’s been the best experience of my life. Everything I have leant at this place can’t be
quantified. My university has enable me to perform tasks that I couldn’t perform well before ranging from
meeting deadlines for several projects in the same day to interacting with professionals for various
reasons. Essentially almost every service, benefit, value or fun the university provides us with may not
necessarily depend upon specific requirement of a student, but it does essentially fulfil a certain need of
students. Yes, different students, depending on their taste, choice or knowledge, involve themselves
differently with university as every student comes with their own needs and interest.
I do consider my fellow students to be my friends. I always feel comfortable talking to them. I may not
know all of them well on personal level except my friends but the sense of understanding what we all go
through on daily basis unites us. In class, some of the teachers often share their experiences with us and
it’s amazing to hear them out and getting to know them on a different level. Other practice a more
stringent and to the point relationship.
I do not feel compelled to participate or volunteer in extracurricular activities for the university. On the
knowledge side I do feel I’m more capable at the things that I have learnt in the university and these skills
will help me in having a successful career.
I do accept the values and norms here, but I don’t agree with all of them. But we have to follow them
otherwise we face penalties. After spending three years here, I do believe I have a good idea about how
this university operates. I understand every organization has its own standards and your association to a
certain organization obliges you to follow them as well. Most of the teachers that I have come across have
been appreciative of my work if it’s up to the mark. Some teachers do value our opinions, and some don’t.
I do talk to my friends about my experience here whether it’s about the workload or the events or
anything else. I do help the students that I know in their projects ad assignments and they return the same
favor. Yes, I do feel like I am becoming good at the things that I have learnt here in this university. This
university has been a learning experience in all aspects. My recent internship experience was a proof that
Fast has groomed me a lot and taught me how to conduct myself in personal situations as well as the
theoretical knowledge. I do perform to the best of my ability and take my responsibilities as a student of
this university seriously. Former students are always there to guide us through any difficulty so that we
can do better and improve.
I am highly satisfied with my experience here. It has taught me things I couldn’t have imagined. I have
friends in several other business schools here in Islamabad and I often get hear about their experiences
and studies and I believe Fast is the best amongst them all. But the stress has too much as well; they push
us to unimaginable lengths with the work load. I honestly had low expectations from this place, so I think
it’s safe to say that they have been surpassed because of the huge learning curve involved. The university
does work with integrity but it’s too biased towards its own policies and standards to a point where
students feel neglected. I have formed a strong association with people at this university, so I do feel a
sense of commitment towards fast.
Attitudinal Loyalty
After spending three years here I do feel an emotional connection with this university from its physical
infrastructure to the people. I am happy to join this university in comparison to other and I would make
the same decision f given the choice amongst other business schools in Islamabad. I will recommend this
university to my family and friends as well but only if they can handle the forthcoming stress and
unimaginable workload.
Behavioral Loyalty
I will not study here for my higher degree because I want to expand my experience to foreign business
schools outside Pakistan as well. I will forever be thankful for everything I have learnt here in this
university and always remember it in good words as well because all the growth the university has
instilled in me whether that was from a negative or positive demeanor associated with the university, it
was a learning experience nevertheless. I will never badmouth the university, but I will not come back
here as I it does not give any innovative experience in the higher degrees.
Farwa Malik – FAST
SERVQUAL
The faculty of this university is highly qualified and knowledgeable, and is much aware of every detail
that needs to be covered in the syllabus for each subject. The administration is very supportive and also
very helpful towards all kinds of queries that a student might have.
University has designed all its courses according to the standards of H.E.C Pakistan (Higher education
commission). The methodology taught and explained is right up to the international standards. It stands
among the top best business schools in Islamabad.
The faculty is very helpful, courteous and supportive towards its students; it helps them to understand
their strengths so that they perform better in their practical life after their academic session. The
university keeps revising its security policies, each and every student is safe within the premises and that
is because of all the right safety measures being taken by the university.
Faculty always helps its students with both academic and private matters. If a student has anything to
discuss, they can openly communicate with their teachers regarding their academic problems or if needed,
their personal problems as well. The faculty is very cooperative and promptly replies to any queries.
The physical equipment available in the university is working fine and is maintained time-to-time and
season-to-season. All the rooms are well furnished and well facilitated. Everything is well managed and
designed according to the departments that it gives such a positive and neat outlook to the university.
Co creation of value
Students are always encouraged to give their feedback and ideas for university and its faculty’s
progressive performances. The online evaluations at the end of semesters are a platform for students to
rank each and every faculty member and the course they have taught that semester.
This helps the management to improve or work on weak areas of the university for the sake of betterment
of it. Students whereas are always in doubt as if their suggestions or evaluations are fully being taken in
consideration or not.
Organizational assimilation
Everyone in this university is here to learn and gain experience for the practical life and as per our social
and moral values; I do carry a friendly vibe where everyone is welcome to socialize with me and to
exchange thoughts and ideas. Everyone performs according to their capacity and it can’t be really said
who is better and who is not until or unless grades decide that.
Stress – psychological effects
The university has delivered all its promises and has satisfied its students to their best benefits. I would
definitely recommend anyone looking for great learning and comfortable environment to get enrolled in
this university, as it will make one feel like home with the best of services it has to provide.
Attitudinal loyalty
I have spent four years in this university, I’ll definitely miss it as I learned and experienced a lot from
here.
Behavioral loyalty
I’d never stop learning from this institute even given a choice to leave but will definitely gain more
exposure and learning by pursuing further education after bachelors from abroad and would help the
university later by sharing my valuable experience.
Anonymous - Fast
ServQual
The student is admitting the cooperative attitude of faculty toward the problem solving which we mostly
don’t hear from any student. As compared to all other cases the administrative is performing same. No
open-door policy is a conventional thing and most of the times we hear that society heads are only able to
talk to the higher management which is always an excuse by every student.
The most important thing which the student is talking about is that student can change the university
because they know that where are issues which the university has and how they can be resolved.
The student is saying that how the faculty and other students can help each other to change their future
and streamline them in accordance with the specified goals. And this can only be done by motivating
students to participate in extracurricular activities and make them interact with each other.
Most of the students don’t know that universities are profitable organizations they are working for
generating profit. I am shocked to hear that this student is seeing the university from the perspective of a
profitable organization and by having such a perspective can help student to identify issues which they are
facing.
Attitudinal Loyalty
Staying in the university, if an opportunity is given, is a good decision but I student has not mentioned the
exact reason due to which they are not willing to leave; emotional attachment is not a solid reason.
Recommending a university is also a loyalty towards the university which is a very rare thing I have heard
from any student.
Behavioral Loyalty
This is a conventional reason which the students are always giving, I think that students would rather ask
a question to themselves that what innovative thing which they have given to the university.
Nowairah Khan; - Nust;
ServQual
The minimum requirement for the faculty is to have a masters and some do have PhD’s therefore they are
knowledgeable about their field. The faculty and administration is not open to student queries. The
teachers are inconsistent with the methodology, some are using the stagnant slide style other do try to be
creative but that’s a minority, so there is room for improvement. Nbs is one of the highest ranked school
so yes the curriculum is at par with some foreign universities. The faculty listens to the students but the
administration is not helpful at all, they do not facilitate students and there is no open door policy. Nbs
follows the red tape way of functioning; the hierarchy does not allow the students to interact with the
management. Teachers do not necessarily care for the student and their issue, they are concerned with
running a business, the teachers are however polite to the students as part of their JD but the
administration is very cranky. The faculty actively listens to the problems but does not give a solution
right away as the power lies with the management.
Nbs has all state-of-the-art buildings and amenities from classes to soccer grounds. The grandeur of the
building gives a very neat outlook.
The university absolutely does not seek ideas and suggestions from the student. Even if the student wants
to give a suggestion they are not willing to hear the student out. Out of duty as a student I will give my
ideas to make the running of the university better but I know that my suggestions will not be prioritize.
The only way to give suggestion is a suggestion box which has not been checked in the four years I have
been there. There is very little interaction between student and the management, the management does not
seem to care about the students and their welfare.
The experience is memorable but most of the memories are not positive, the administration and teacher
made the four years very inconvenient by not giving the students their due regard. Different students have
different needs but those are not catered for the student body at large is very dissatisfied with the running
of the management. Only the societies that make the university look good are approached for ideas.
There are 5-6 people in this university whom I consider friends; I have a cordial relationship with other
students being in the senior batch. The faculty does talk to the students on a personal level they come
across as TEAM UNIVERSITY. The administration and faculty does not interact with the students
outside of the class, as a student looking at the behavior of the faculty I would like them to just come and
teach and leave with minimum interaction. The students do not feel comfortable discussing their own
problems with the faculty as it feels like the teachers do not personally care for them. The value and
beliefs of the university do not essentially resonate with the student body as they are mainly unaware of
them at a core level.
In the four years of my degree I have questioning the way the university operates and not once have I
gotten an answer, so I have no idea about the universities operations? The red tape bureaucracy turns the
management into being very rude to the students, and they do not listen to the students. The teachers are
only appreciative is the work done by the student is extremely extra ordinary. The overall experience has
been bad as I don’t think I have learnt anything new in these four years. As a new student I thought I will
be able to unlock a lot of potential in me but that was not the case, nothing new was taught, we stuck to
the course and that is what we learnt, we learnt nothing about the practical world and the market. I feel
like I’m self taught, the university did not actively help me into grooming myself or the other students.
Psychological Effects
I’m not completely satisfied I think as I was de motivated initially I did not put in all the effort that I
could in learning, I distance myself from the universities and the clubs etc. The experience was not as per
the expectations, coming into one of the highest ranked universities in the country I had high expectations
but they fell short after the four years. I’m not satisfied with the university, the management is not
concerned with the student welfare it is concerned with making profits I have zero sense of commitment
towards Nbs. I will willingly leave the university for another if given a choice.
Attitudinal Loyalty
I do not feel an emotional connection with the university, I\m not happy with my decision to come here.
The only reason I will recommend the university is because of the ranking it holds in Pakistan.
Behavioral Loyalty
I will prefer to study in Lums in comparison; I will not consider this as a university for my further
educational needs. I will not patronize or support this university as Alumni.
Syeda Aqsa Jilani - NUST
SERVQUAL
Most of the faculty is knowledgeable in their own fields of study, and the administration is very helpful.
I’m not satisfied with my curriculum because most subjects offered seem outdated and redundant, while
our juniors are offered more practical courses. The faculty and admin are helpful and display an
encouraging attitude towards students, they are courteous, and an open-door policy is in place where
anyone can talk to the higher management. Classes are always on time, most faculties listens to our
problems, equipment is state of the art and facilities are appealing.
University doesn’t seek our ideas and suggestions for future programs and curriculum, ideas can however
be given, but it’s up to the university to follow up on them or not. University management mostly ends up
making its own decisions without any input from students. My experience is memorable, but I believe it
could have been more memorable had it been for better courses and a two-way communication model
between us and the management.
I consider the students here my friends, I am comfortable talking to them, and I know them pretty well.
The teachers and staff do discuss their problems sometimes; I like the teachers and staff, mostly. I work
with the norms, attitudes, behaviors and values at the university, even though I might not accept most of
them. I don’t feel very involved in the university. I do feel like I’m getting better at the things I’m being
taught.
Stress-Psychological Effects
I’m partly satisfied with my experience at the university. Most of my expectations haven’t been met. I
don’t think the university is trust worthy and I might go an extra mile to remain a student here, because I
just want to finish my studies and not start over somewhere else. I don’t have a strong sense of
commitment to it, however.
Attitudinal Loyalty
I don’t feel an emotional connect with the university, I’m not as happy to join it in comparison to others
here, and I wouldn’t recommend it to my family and friends.
Behavioral Loyalty
I want to finish my degree, so I don’t intend to leave if given the choice; I won’t consider the university
for my future educational needs. I won’t talk badly about the university, but I don’t think I’ll consider
myself a strong advocate of it either.
Rohaan Masood - FAST
ServQual
Overall, I think University faculty is knowledgeable and supportive but on the other hand administration
is not good with helping us with queries and we have to make follow ups to keep them reminded of your
quoted issues. Curriculum of our university is at par with other universities of Islamabad. Behavior of
staff and teachers is good towards students but administration's behavior with students is not satisfactory.
Teachers are very helpful with problems of students and are always willing to solve our problems and
queries regardless of nature of query (Private or Professional). They always show that they have best
interest at heart for students. Administration is not as helpful as faculty. We need to make proper follow
up after regular intervals to get things done. Lectures are mostly on time by teachers and infrastructure,
Furniture, labs etc. are up to date and we feel secure in our university.
Our university does welcome new ideas from students regarding future programs and courses and provide
us with sufficient information, but actual implementation is not done based on ideas of students. I am
willing to spare time for my university and university itself provides us with environment to offer
suggestions, ideas but access to information is limited. Involvement of students to reach solutions of
problems is limited, students’ input is taken but very less importance is given while deciding teaching
methodology, curriculum redesigning, class and exam scheduling, extra-curricular activities, grading etc.
I don't think students get equal role in determining outcome of university services, Usage of services of
university and the relevant information is not conveyed to us in timely manner. University encourages the
interaction and I try to benefit from it. I believe my time in university was memorable and my university
enables me to perform certain things that I couldn’t do before like y presentation skills have improved a
lot. Students can improve processes by trying new things and improve processes using out fresh minds
filled with new Ideas. Our University does not bend for personal needs of students and tend to follow
roles that are stated.
I consider my university as my family. Most of students are my friends, teachers are very friendly, and we
also discuss personal matters and problems and issues we face. This is one of the many things I like about
my university and I like its culture and norm. I like to invite people to my university and show them
around. I like to work according to standards of university. Teachers are very helpful, and they value our
opinions, I like to talk to my friends about university, do volunteer work for it, help students with their
projects, getting involved in university and feeling that I am getting good at what I have learnt and
groomed while studying in this university. I have gotten sense of responsibility while studying here and I
think I have performed differently those former students.
Stress – Psychological Effects
I am satisfied with my university & my expectations with is institute are met. This institute holds high
level of integrity and in my opinion is trustworthy. I think I like about my university is that, its concerned
about the welfare of students. This attitude is mostly nurtured by teachers and faculty members due to this
reason I feel sense of commitment to my university. Despite my sense of commitment, I would not go
extra mile to remain student of this university for further study because I would like to study in new
environment to grow as a person and professional.
Attitudinal Loyalty
I feel emotional connection with my university and I am happy to join this university. I would like to
recommend friends and family to join this university
Behavioral Loyalty
I will Leave this university if I get chance to study further because I want to grow as a person and as a
professional. I will patronize and support this university in future.
Ahmed Qureshi – NUST;
ServQual
The Significant amount of the faculty is very knowledgeable, most of the time administration helps but it
depends on their own workload, and students are more than welcome by the administration to overcome
their problems. In comparison to other business schools in Islamabad my university is on top of the
ranking in curriculum and methodology. The faculty is always helpful as compare to administration, in
some cases administration listen to the problems UN actively, which mean they do not want to solve the
problem. Overall Faculty is sincere and genuine towards the student problems the administration is not.
There is no open-door policy in the university, only the society heads can talk to the higher management.
From security Point of View University is very safe and secure. Most of the time the classes and seminars
are on time apart from natural issues like weather, traffic factor also can’t be avoided. Yes, faculty always
prompts reply to our queries. Yes, always teachers show willingness when we approach them with an
issue, they do here our issue properly. No have no such experience in past from any teacher. No, the
faculty always has time to listen to our problems. Yes, when we approach to a faculty member, he/she
actively listens to the query and tries to solve as soon as possible. Yes, recently I went to member
regarding an issue he/she gave me personal attention even after university hours. Yes, teachers are very
loyal to the profession. Every equipment in the university is best. The physical facilities are constructed
purposely thus they are fit for the purpose. University published materials such as pamphlets; prospectus,
statements etc. are very much appealing to read. Yes, overall university is very neat and tidy.
University does not seek ideas and suggestions from the students. Most of the time feedback is taken from
the students during the duration of the semester but no implementation is seen as a result of those
feedbacks. As a responsible and loyal student of the university I would always willingly spare time to
help the university to improve its environment and curriculum. Not all of the time but sometime
university seeks guidance from students regarding any problem. The students are told about any changes
made in the running of things without any reasoning behind it, the students as consumer are not given any
role in determining the outcomes of a university. The university has given students a platform in the form
of clubs and societies, the presidents of these clubs can interact with the management however this is not
effective for the students to be heard. The university often conveys us the relevant information about
services and activities which are carried out. Yes there is sufficient student interaction for its activities
and different processes. I always proactively interact with the university to gain benefit against the
services they are offering, like Gym, sports competition and inter university games. Yes definitely I spent
my precious 4 years and every day is worth spending in this university, I learned and groomed a lot. A
student is the end user and can actively improve a university and its services; he knows very well what
things work and what don’t. Yes I am able to perform those tasks which I can’t perform before because
university helped me to groom myself and gain confidence. All students are individuals with varied needs
but the university does not prioritize the needs of the students labeling them as immature etc.
Yes I know many students very well in this university due to friendly atmosphere. Some Staff members
are friendly they often discuss their problems. Not very often but sometimes they do discuss about many
things. Yes I always want to interact with new persons. Yes I always accept the values, norms and belief
of the universities. Yes I have an idea about how this university operates. As a student I would like to
know my people shaping my future a little better, a balance of personal and professional in order to learn
more than just the curriculum. I do not feel compelled to participate or volunteer in extracurricular
learnt in the university and these skills will help me in having a successful career. Yes I always help my
friends and juniors in their assignments. Yes sometime the things which I learned in this university are in
daily routine, so I feel pro in those things. Yes this university has groomed me in my personal
development plan. I have not got over all learning experience yet. As a part of this university I take
responsibility seriously, I feel this university is my second home, from where I have learned a lot. Yes as
compare with former students I can work differently because new technology is introduced day by day,
smart learning methods are invented day by day, so I feel better than former students.
Yes I am very much satisfied with this university. My expectations were not high at the beginning but the
level of the university was close to international. Over all I am satisfied with this university. The
university works with integrity and is trustworthy, however it is a business and its first and foremost
objective is getting profits and student welfare secondary. I would love to remain a student of this
university for life. I will not leave this university in the middle of the degree even if given a choice
Attitudinal Loyalty
As time passes day by day I feel more emotional connection as I spent my 4 worthy years. It was best
decision to join this university and university proved that itself. I will recommend this university to my
family and friends.
References
(ENQA), E. A. (2015). Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education.
3-32.
Mandernach, B. Jean. (2014). Assessment of Student Engagement in Higher Education. A Synthesis of

Literature and Assessment Tools, 4-7.
Seale, Jane: Gibson, Suanne: Haynes, Joanna: Potter, Alice. (2015). Power and resistance. Reflections on
the rhetoric and reality of using participatory methods to promote student voice and
engagement in higher education, 1-20.
Sollitto , Michael : Johnson, Zac D. : Myers, Scott A. (2013). Students' Perceptions of College Classroom,
1-15.
Teeroovengadum, Viraiyan : Kamalanabhan, T.J. : Seebaluck, Ashley Keshwar. (2016). Quality Assurance
in Education. Measuring service quality in higher education: Development of a hierarchical, 2-12.
Tennessee, U. o. (2011). ASSIMILATION AND FRIENDSHIP. Collegiate Assimilation and Current Quality of
High School Friendships, 1-20.
Tsinidou, Maria : Gerogiannis, Vassilis : Fitsilis, Panos. (2010). Quality Assurance in Education. Evaluation
of the factors that determine quality in higher education: an empirical study, 1-23.
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Evaluating antecedents of student retention and loyalty in business

Final Year Project

Submitted by Registration Number

Faculty of Management Sciences

Air University School of Management (AUSOM)

Air University, Islamabad.

Evaluating antecedents of student retention and loyalty in business schools.

Submitted By: Ayesha Maqsood (150002)

Hiba Afzaal (150006)

Supervisor: Sir Qaiser Janjua

1. To understand reasons behind the spurious loyalty of students in business schools

2. To identify the contributing factors towards lack of retention

2. How important is the role of faculty in adding value to the university?

4. How do the students see themselves in the university?

5. How do the students identify with the university?

A quasi-experimental design a.k.a Causal-Comparative establishes a cause-effect relationship between

Completely Theoretical therefore boring – Classes

Admin ignores – students are ignored – become

Policy discrimination – students are subject to

Interviews – Respondent grids

Mohsen A.Malik - Air;

Stress – Psychological Effects

Co- creation of value

Co- creation of Value

Stress – psychological effects

Stress – Psychological Effects

Mandernach, B. Jean. (2014). Assessment of Student Engagement in Higher Education. A Synthesis of

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