THE SERVICE SYSTEM PROCESS OF KYUAS IN THE EYES OF AN UNEMPLOYED MBA STUDENT
Jalonen-Mutanen, Teija (2012)
Jalonen-Mutanen, Teija
Kymenlaakson ammattikorkeakoulu
2012
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201202162264
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201202162264
Tiivistelmä
Master’s degrees of Finnish universities of applied sciences were made permanent in 2005. These adult education degrees were justified with the working life orientation: the students must have at least three years’ working experience after the bachelor’s degree, they study beside the work, and they are expected to have a subject for their development task from their work. At Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences (KyUAS) the Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme has been conducted since 2007.
The aim of this explorative case study is to make the phenomenon of unemployed master’s students recognized and to find out what kind of expectations the unem-ployed MBA students of KyUAS had when they entered the studies, and how the customer service system process of the institute matched with these expectations and the customer needs. The difficulties in finding a subject for the thesis are discussed as well as the development of the service processes of the MBA studies.
The study was made from the unemployed student’s point of view by making a theme interview to the focus group of five unemployed students. Other primary sources of information were the KyUAS employees. Some other UASs were contacted to benchmark their experiences of unemployed MBA students. Secondary sources were the publications about the master’s degrees of the UASs, the web-pages and the brochures of KyUAS and other stakeholder organizations.
The results show that the unemployed students were satisfied with having a chance of studying during the unemployment period and there were many positive elements in the MBA studies of KyUAS. However, adults are demanding and critical students. According to the replies some features of the core service, the instruction, should be developed as well as the support services. Suggestions are given to develop the international aspects and the courses and especially the diversity of the lecturers consider-ing the possibilities of virtual education. Finding thesis subjects can be organized within the existing processes of KyUAS. The service processes of the MBA studies can be developed with an evaluation model.
The aim of this explorative case study is to make the phenomenon of unemployed master’s students recognized and to find out what kind of expectations the unem-ployed MBA students of KyUAS had when they entered the studies, and how the customer service system process of the institute matched with these expectations and the customer needs. The difficulties in finding a subject for the thesis are discussed as well as the development of the service processes of the MBA studies.
The study was made from the unemployed student’s point of view by making a theme interview to the focus group of five unemployed students. Other primary sources of information were the KyUAS employees. Some other UASs were contacted to benchmark their experiences of unemployed MBA students. Secondary sources were the publications about the master’s degrees of the UASs, the web-pages and the brochures of KyUAS and other stakeholder organizations.
The results show that the unemployed students were satisfied with having a chance of studying during the unemployment period and there were many positive elements in the MBA studies of KyUAS. However, adults are demanding and critical students. According to the replies some features of the core service, the instruction, should be developed as well as the support services. Suggestions are given to develop the international aspects and the courses and especially the diversity of the lecturers consider-ing the possibilities of virtual education. Finding thesis subjects can be organized within the existing processes of KyUAS. The service processes of the MBA studies can be developed with an evaluation model.