Abstract
All organisations, including higher education institutions, are subjected to the
demands and competition of the market in which they function. Over the past few
years there has been a steady increase in the level of competitiveness of the higher
education sector. The days when higher education institutions could dictate to
learners are definitely something of the past, and quality service and customer care
are becoming more important. In order to retain and expand market share, highquality
service must be rendered.
Due to the very nature of higher education institutions, the contribution and role of
employees are quite significant. The nature of corporate culture and level of job
satisfaction, as in the case of the private sector, have an impact on the delivery of
customer service. The question, however, is: Do a positive corporate culture and
high levels of job satisfaction contribute to the level of learner satisfaction in a higher
education environment?
In order to investigate this matter, empirical research was conducted by presenting
two structured questionnaires (a culture survey and a job satisfaction survey) to
employees, and a learner satisfaction questionnaire to learners. Based on the data
obtained through the research, a rank-order correlation was done to establish
whether or not there is a significant relationship between corporate culture, job
satisfaction and learner satisfaction.
The findings show that there is not a significant relationship between learner
satisfaction and job satisfaction. However, a relationship was observed between
corporate culture and learner satisfaction. From this observation it can be deduced
that a positive corporate culture could contribute to learner satisfaction.
Dr. NR Barnes