IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceps/v92y2024ics003801212400048x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluating sustainable service quality in higher education from a multi-stakeholder perspective: An integrated fuzzy group decision-making method

Author

Listed:
  • Bao, Tiantian
  • Liu, Yifan
  • Yang, Zhongzhen
  • Wu, Shanhua
  • Yan, Zhenli

Abstract

Both education for sustainable development (ESD) and service quality in higher education are two dominant areas of recent academic research. Due to the multifaceted and complex nature of higher education, it is crucial to adequately understand the perceptions of various stakeholders regarding the sustainability and service quality of higher education institutes (HEIs). Inspired by multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM), this study focuses on developing a systematic and integrated framework for evaluating sustainable service quality in higher education from a multi-stakeholder perspective. To this end, 20 criteria related to sustainability and service quality in higher education are identified and incorporated into five dimensions to create a comprehensive evaluation criteria system. In addition, epistemic uncertainty, conflict management, and individual bounded rationality are the main challenges in reaching group consensus among stakeholders. Considering the unique theoretical advantages of the intuitionistic fuzzy set (IFS) theory, Dempster-Shafer evidence theory (DSET), and TODIM method, they can be integrated to propose a fuzzy group decision-making method. Specifically, a linguistic preference scale is applied to express stakeholders’ subjective judgments and construct an initial evaluation matrix. The DSET is extended based on belief divergence and belief entropy to fuse the uncertain and conflicting group evaluation information. A combination of IFS and TODIM, called IF-TODIM, is utilized to prioritize alternative HEIs by considering uncertainty representation and loss aversion behavior. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methodology are demonstrated through a case study of maritime transportation education in China. The results enable policy-makers to make informed decisions and develop educational strategies that satisfy stakeholders, with the potential for great value in developing sustainable and high-quality higher education.

Suggested Citation

  • Bao, Tiantian & Liu, Yifan & Yang, Zhongzhen & Wu, Shanhua & Yan, Zhenli, 2024. "Evaluating sustainable service quality in higher education from a multi-stakeholder perspective: An integrated fuzzy group decision-making method," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceps:v:92:y:2024:i:c:s003801212400048x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2024.101849
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003801212400048X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.seps.2024.101849?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ching-Chan Cheng & Ming-Chun Tsai & Chien-Lin Lin, 2016. "Quality education service: put your feet in their shoes," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(11), pages 1120-1135, September.
    2. Alexandra-Maria Drule & Irimie Emil Popa & Razvan Nistor & Alexandru Chis, 2014. "Quality of the Teaching Process and its Factors of Influence from the Perspective of Future Business Specialists," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 16(37), pages 827-827, August.
    3. Jun Ye, 2013. "Multiple Attribute Group Decision-Making Methods with Completely Unknown Weights in Intuitionistic Fuzzy Setting and Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy Setting," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 173-188, March.
    4. Yanwei Li & Yuqing Shan & Peide Liu, 2015. "An Extended TODIM Method for Group Decision Making with the Interval Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets," Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Hindawi, vol. 2015, pages 1-9, April.
    5. Izabela Simon Rampasso & Osvaldo L. G. Quelhas & Rosley Anholon & Marcio B. Pereira & Jocimar D. A. Miranda & Wenderson S. Alvarenga, 2020. "Engineering Education for Sustainable Development: Evaluation Criteria for Brazilian Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-11, May.
    6. Rosa María Brito & Columba Rodríguez & José Luis Aparicio, 2018. "Sustainability in Teaching: An Evaluation of University Teachers and Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-16, February.
    7. Sung-Shun Weng & Yang Liu & Yen-Ching Chuang, 2019. "Reform of Chinese Universities in the Context of Sustainable Development: Teacher Evaluation and Improvement Based on Hybrid Multiple Criteria Decision-Making Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-23, October.
    8. Gul, Muhammet & Yucesan, Melih, 2022. "Performance evaluation of Turkish Universities by an integrated Bayesian BWM-TOPSIS model," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    9. Javier Puente & Isabel Fernandez & Alberto Gomez & Paolo Priore, 2020. "Integrating Sustainability in the Quality Assessment of EHEA Institutions: A Hybrid FDEMATEL-ANP-FIS Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-22, February.
    10. Sung-Shun Weng & Yang Liu & Juan Dai & Yen-Ching Chuang, 2020. "A Novel Improvement Strategy of Competency for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) of University Teachers Based on Data Mining," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-18, March.
    11. Yui-Yip Lau & Cristina Dragomir & Yuk-Ming Tang & Adolf K. Y. Ng, 2021. "Maritime Undergraduate Students: Career Expectations and Choices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-18, April.
    12. Fakhra Yasmin & Shengbing Li & Yan Zhang & Petra Poulova & Ahsan Akbar, 2021. "Unveiling the International Students’ Perspective of Service Quality in Chinese Higher Education Institutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, May.
    13. Noori, Amir & Bonakdari, Hossein & Salimi, Amir Hossein & Gharabaghi, Bahram, 2021. "A group Multi-Criteria Decision-Making method for water supply choice optimization," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    14. Yifan Liu & Tiantian Bao & Huiyun Sang & Zhaokun Wei, 2021. "A Novel Method for Conflict Data Fusion Using an Improved Belief Divergence Measure in Dempster–Shafer Evidence Theory," Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Hindawi, vol. 2021, pages 1-15, October.
    15. Ma, Zhanxin & See, Kok Fong & Yu, Ming-Miin & Zhao, Chunying, 2021. "Research efficiency analysis of China's university faculty members: A modified meta-frontier DEA approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    16. Rebeka Kovačič Lukman & Vasja Omahne & Lobna Tag el Sheikh & Peter Glavič, 2021. "Integrating Sustainability into Logistics Oriented Education in Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-24, February.
    17. Ishizaka, Alessio & Resce, Giuliano, 2021. "Best-Worst PROMETHEE method for evaluating school performance in the OECD's PISA project," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    18. Nojavan, Majid & Heidari, Atefeh & Mohammaditabar, Davood, 2021. "A fuzzy service quality based approach for performance evaluation of educational units," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    19. Pamucar, Dragan & Macura, Dragana & Tavana, Madjid & Božanić, Darko & Knežević, Nikola, 2022. "An integrated rough group multicriteria decision-making model for the ex-ante prioritization of infrastructure projects: The Serbian Railways case," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    20. Luque, Mariano & Marcenaro-Gutierrez, Oscar D. & Ruiz, Ana B., 2020. "Evaluating the global efficiency of teachers through a multi-criteria approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yifan Liu & Tiantian Bao & Dan Zhao & Huiyun Sang & Benwei Fu, 2022. "Evaluation of Student-Perceived Service Quality in Higher Education for Sustainable Development: A Fuzzy TODIM-ERA Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-21, April.
    2. Ertugrul Ayyildiz & Mirac Murat & Gul Imamoglu & Yildiz Kose, 2023. "A novel hybrid MCDM approach to evaluate universities based on student perspective," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(1), pages 55-86, January.
    3. Tsuen-Ho Hsu & Sen-Tien Her & Jia-Jeng Hou, 2021. "Developing Universally Applicable Service Quality Assessment Model Based on the Theory of Consumption Values, and Using Fuzzy Linguistic Preference Relations to Empirically Test Three Industries," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(20), pages 1-32, October.
    4. Salas-Molina, Francisco & Bistaffa, Filippo & Rodríguez-Aguilar, Juan A., 2023. "A general approach for computing a consensus in group decision making that integrates multiple ethical principles," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    5. Francisco Salas-Molina & Filippo Bistaffa & Juan A. Rodriguez-Aguilar, 2024. "A General Approach for Computing a Consensus in Group Decision Making That Integrates Multiple Ethical Principles," Papers 2401.07818, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    6. Chen, Ya & Pan, Yongbin & Liu, Haoxiang & Wu, Huaqing & Deng, Guangwei, 2023. "Efficiency analysis of Chinese universities with shared inputs: An aggregated two-stage network DEA approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    7. Quetzalcoatl Hernandez-Escobedo & Alida Ramirez-Jimenez & Jesús Manuel Dorador-Gonzalez & Miguel-Angel Perea-Moreno & Alberto-Jesus Perea-Moreno, 2020. "Sustainable Solar Energy in Mexican Universities. Case Study: The National School of Higher Studies Juriquilla (UNAM)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-22, April.
    8. Tien-Li Chen & Chin-Chuan Chen & Yen-Ching Chuang & James J. H. Liou, 2020. "A Hybrid MADM Model for Product Design Evaluation and Improvement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-22, August.
    9. Hassan Hashemi & Seyed Meysam Mousavi & Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Alireza Chalekaee & Zenonas Turskis, 2018. "A New Group Decision Model Based on Grey-Intuitionistic Fuzzy-ELECTRE and VIKOR for Contractor Assessment Problem," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-19, May.
    10. Kristina Galjanić & Ivan Marović & Tomaš Hanak, 2023. "Performance Measurement Framework for Prediction and Management of Construction Investments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-20, September.
    11. Alexander K. Killion & Jessica Ostrow Michel & Jason K. Hawes, 2022. "Toward Identifying Sustainability Leadership Competencies: Insights from Mapping a Graduate Sustainability Education Curriculum," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    12. Zhang, Jingshun & Hu, Jiayi & Wang, Xitong & Fang, Lien & Jin, Yi & Li, Muyang & Liu, Yangqing & Wu, Anna & Wang, Libin & Liu, Ruining & Zhang, Yi & Chen, Faan, 2023. "Quantifying transport safety success at the regional level: A guide to policy and practice on investment for G20," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    13. Ling Wang & Gongliang Hu & Tiehua Zhou, 2018. "Semantic Analysis of Learners’ Emotional Tendencies on Online MOOC Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-19, June.
    14. Fátima Leal & Bruno Veloso & Carla Santos Pereira & Fernando Moreira & Natércia Durão & Natacha Jesus Silva, 2022. "Interpretable Success Prediction in Higher Education Institutions Using Pedagogical Surveys," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-18, October.
    15. Ana B. Ruiz & Mariano Luque & Oscar D. Marcenaro-Gutierrez, 2022. "On the use of Synthetic Indexes Based on Multi-Criteria Decision Making to Study the Efficiency of Teachers," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 1269-1300, October.
    16. Feifei Jin & Zhiwei Ni & Reza Langari & Huayou Chen, 2020. "Consistency Improvement-Driven Decision-Making Methods with Probabilistic Multiplicative Preference Relations," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 371-397, April.
    17. Xuemei Chen & Bin Zhou & Anđelka Štilić & Željko Stević & Adis Puška, 2023. "A Fuzzy–Rough MCDM Approach for Selecting Green Suppliers in the Furniture Manufacturing Industry: A Case Study of Eco-Friendly Material Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-21, July.
    18. Chen, Lei & Wang, Ying-Ming, 2023. "Game directional distance function in meta-frontier data envelopment analysis," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    19. Cristina Checa & Carmen De-Pablos-Heredero & Yenny Guiselli Torres & José Luis Montes-Botella & Cecilio Barba & Antón García, 2020. "Focused Coordination Models towards Sustainability in Higher Education. Case of Quevedo State Technical University (Ecuador)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-16, July.
    20. Liza Lee & Ying-Sing Liu, 2021. "Use of Decision Trees to Evaluate the Impact of a Holistic Music Educational Approach on Children with Special Needs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-6, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:soceps:v:92:y:2024:i:c:s003801212400048x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/seps .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.