Service System Interactions At Tertiary Institutions: A South African Perspective

Abstract

A university as an institution has a distinct identity and has a meaningful role to play in society.  A university in its entirety is a system comprising of many sub-systems.  The university’s stakeholders represent various systems, viz. students, parents, government, donors, public, etc.  It is the interaction of these systems that is critical for the successful measure of service quality.

This paper focusses on three objectives.  Firstly, the notion of service and the classification of education as a service are discussed. Secondly, service as a system is discussed, with particular reference to the Work System Framework (WSF) and the application thereof to a university. Thirdly, the Interact-Serve-Propose-Agree-Realize (ISPAR) Model, and application of the ISPAR model to a university, are reported.  It is evident from this paper that service is a major factor in tertiary institutions, and specifically in South Africa, service cannot be overlooked.