Mba Students’ Satisfaction and Loyalty: State vs. Private Universities in Turkey

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the construct of student satisfaction and analyze its relationship with student loyalty in the context of state and private universities. A 45-item Turkish questionnaire adapted from literature, to which the authors added several items, was administered to MBA students of state- and private, foundation-owned universities located in Istanbul, as the largest city of Turkey. In this study, a two-step con?rmative modeling strategy was chosen to test the hypotheses of the theoretical model by using LISREL 8. As the ?rst step of the mentioned approach, a congruent and congeneric measurement model was established for each type of universities; then, in the second stage, hypotheses were tested by analyzing structural models. Research ? ndings show a positive correlation between satisfaction and loyalty. The most important factors of satisfaction for the students attending state-owned universities are academic quality, teaching quality, and appropriateness of career opportunities; however, at private universities teaching quality and supportive services and appropriateness of career opportunities are the most signi? cant factors. Administrative and the quality of library services turned out to be unimportant factors for MBA students both at state and private universities in this study. The distinguishing point of this study, which enhances its originality, was examining the di?erence between state and private universities separately.

Cilj rada je istra?iti konstrukt zadovoljstva studenta i analizirati njegovu povezanost s lojalnoš?u studenta u kontekstu dr?avnih i privatnih sveu?ilišta. Upitnik je bio podijeljen polaznicima MBA studija na dr?avnim i privatnim sveu?ilištima smještenim u Istanbulu - najve?em gradu u Turskoj. Korišten je upitnik na turskom jeziku, s 45 stavki, a prilago?en je izvorima iz literature. Nadalje, autori su u upitnik dodali nekoliko novih stavki. U istra?ivanju je za testiranje hipoteza teorijskog modela korištena konfi rmatorna strategija modeliranja u dva koraka uz primjenu LISREL-a 8. U prvom koraku spomenutog pristupa ustanovljena je kongruentnost i istovrsnost mjerenog modela za svaki tip sveu?ilišta, a u drugom su testirane hipoteze analizom strukturnih modela. Rezultati istra?ivanja pokazuju pozitivnu korelaciju izme?u zadovoljstva i lojalnosti. Najva?niji ?imbenici zadovoljstva me?u studentima koji poha?aju dr?avna sveu?ilišta jesu: akademska kvaliteta, kvaliteta pou?avanja i prikladne mogu?nosti za razvoj karijere. No kod privatnih sveu?ilišta najzna?ajniji su ?imbenici kvaliteta pou?avanja i prate?e usluge, kao i mogu?nosti za razvoj karijere. U ovom istra?ivanju kvaliteta administrativnih slu?bi i usluga knji?nice pokazali su se neva?nim ?imbenicima za MBA studente dr?avnih i privatnih sveu?ilišta. Posebnost istra?ivanja, što pridonosi originalnosti rada, jest u ispitivanju razlike izme?u dr?avnih i privatnih sveu?ilišta odvojeno.