Modelling student satisfaction and motivation in the integrated educational environment An empirical study

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore some issues related to enhancing the quality of educational services provided by a university in the agenda of integrating quality assurance activities and strategic management procedures. Design/methodology/approach - Employing multiple regression analysis the author has examined some factors that are supposed to have an impact on student satisfaction and student motivation in the integrated educational environment. Findings - The results of the two-phase empirical research performed in two higher education institutions indicate that student satisfaction and student motivation can be modelled on a number of predictors, which are associated with several indicators related to various aspects of the integrated educational environment. Research limitations/implications - The sample in this study included two higher education institutions. Future study with a more diverse student population and the refined scale items is recommended to verify and generalize the findings. Practical implications - The research provides useful data for addressing some critical issues in the context of integrating quality assurance activities and strategic management procedures in a university. The results of the empirical study suggest that education managers might carry out regular assessment of their educational environment in the framework of performing strategic analysis, which is aimed at quality enhancement, in order to determine the most significant aspects and associated influences. This would allow them to focus their efforts, time and resources on the issues with the greatest potential for having an impact on the university's operations, and which may be related to providing qualitative changes in the educational environment in the frame of implementing a number of competitive strategies. Originality/value - The relevant literature analysis has allowed the author to explore the research topic from a new (holistic) perspective, and to consider both student satisfaction and student motivation in the integrated educational environment, which was viewed as a complicated multi-level system. In this respect, being related to approaches, ideas and findings in the existing literature, the paper presents an attempt to develop these further in terms of adding value to previous research. The obtained information can be of interest to managers working in the area of higher education.