Factors that create a competitive advantage: Consonances and differences between administrators and students in educational institutions

Abstract

The intense competition that lives the education industry, requires that management to understand the critical factors of service quality. Knowledge about the desires of consumers is one of the conditions to offer an excellent service. Thus, this article evaluated whether the improvement priorities desired by students converged with those of the managers. Two questionnaires were used, developed from the matrix of competitive positioning and resource-based view. The first captured expectations and perceptions of student in relation to 22 attributes. The other captured judgments of administrators about value, rarity, imitation and organization. Students and coordinators of courses in the computer science area of two educational institutions were questioned. In addition, comparisons were developed between perceptions of the two groups. The results revealed that there is a lack of alignment between improvement priorities conferred by students and managers. For the attribute qualification of teacher team, for example, groups of students of IFRN and IFPB put it at different levels: greater weakness and greater competitive strength, respectively. Although the managers of the two educational institutions consider this aspect as a temporary advantage, actions aimed at teacher training must be prioritized with greater intensity by the management of the IFRN. Therefore, management has to better understand the demands of customer improvements, eliminating deficiencies in the provision of services.