Research Proposal For Expansion Of International Trade In Higher Education

Problem Statement

Describe about the Research Proposal for Expansion of International Trade.

Rapid changes in the sector of higher education have led to the expansion of international trade in higher education services. Therefore, countries such as Holland, UK, New Zealand and US have transformed into host countries for a diverse assortment of international students and hence the higher education services have become increasingly associated with a global export industry (Ahmad, Rahman & Rahman, 2015). Higher education has turned out to be a major source of foreign exchange for the host countries, especially in the post Second World War era. The gradual increase in popularity of the host countries for international students resulted in imposition of regular fees for the international students. This issue has led to the origin of arrangements between higher education institutes in conventional host countries and local institutes for higher education. Malaysia has been a prolific contributor to the sector of international students for higher education in host countries. Therefore, Malaysia has to face the implications of rising costs of higher education in overseas destinations as well as the increasing demand for higher education in the local jurisdiction. Furthermore, the establishment of private institutions for ensuring higher educational services in Malaysia also demanded the drastic reforms in higher education sector in the country (Abdul, Reza & Amizi, 2016). The restructuring of higher education sector in Malaysia was realized in the mid part of 1990s and was also modified further in order to cope with the Asian financial crisis in 1998 through advertisement of benefits which could be derived in the form of foreign exchange. The complex competitive landscape in the Asian continent increased gradually with the increasing number of institutes for provision of higher education to international students (Abdollah, Abdullah & Voon, 2016). The aggregation of several institutes for provision of higher education also raises concerns for research in order to review the factors responsible for attracting students to the Malaysian private educational institutes. The information obtained in context of the research activity could be used to frame a problem statement, thereby illustrating the problem statement for the research as well as the research objectives.

The research problem is vested in the acquisition of attention of international and local students for private educational institutes in Malaysia. The problem arises from the background of higher education restructuring in Malaysia alongside other competitors in Asia which are gradually becoming centers for academic excellence in higher education. The execution of past research activities in the domain of consumer behavior and business management direct towards the changes in consumer behavior due to certain factors such as financial attractiveness, ease of access to employment and placement opportunities, institution attractiveness, flexibility of procedures for enrolment and the availability of educational courses and programs (Aziz & Chok, 2013). The research is also subject to considerable gaps as perceived in suitability of the environment of Malaysia to foreign students which can decrease the prospects for foreign exchange through the educational sector. Furthermore, the research gap also counts for the inclusion of limited factors in context of the judgment of students (consumers) and the exclusion of behavioral as well as demographic traits of consumers. The research process progresses in unison with a purpose statement highlighting the generic objective of the research process (Bagheri, 2014). The purpose statement is directed towards identification of the profound factors which could improve the attractiveness of private higher educational institutions in Malaysia. The research study assumes specific factors identified in previous research activities as well as the literature review in order to resolve the research problem.

Research Question and Objectives

The research question is, “What are the factors observed in consumer behavior that can affect the preferences of students opting for higher education in private institutions in Malaysia?”

The objectives of the research could be illustrated as follows:

The first objective of the research is to determine the suitability of financial attractiveness as a formidable factor in the preferences of students for higher education in Malaysia

Second objective refers to illustration of employment opportunities as an influencing factor.

Finally, the research aims to identify the alternate evaluation criterion implemented by students for selection of a private institute for higher education in Malaysia.

The quantification of the individual objectives could be accomplished through the research activity which represents the behavioral preferences of students and can be accessed in the form of frequencies or percentage as observed in the outcomes of data collection and analysis stages of the research (Bagheri, 2014).

The significance of the study could be observed in context of the Malaysian economy as well as the different private educational institutes for higher education in Malaysia. The research outcomes could enable the identification of potential prospects for enhancing the foreign exchange earning capabilities as well as the reputation of private institutions in Malaysia as centers for academic excellence in higher education. This would also account for realization of development opportunities for the higher education sector in Malaysia and could be beneficial for local students who prefer to travel abroad for higher education.

Products and services are the offerings of the business industry to people in return for financial returns. The educational sector has also changed into a global business with the increasingly complex demands for international educating in host countries. The different entities which are responsible for moderation of consumer behavior in the educational industry have been rarely mentioned in business management literature (Chamhuri, Kusumawat & Batt, 2015). However, the essential dimensions responsible for decision making abilities of students alongside the factors responsible for selection of institutes have been illustrated in distinct works by researchers and scholars in business management. Prior to illustration of literature, it is imperative to apprehend the definitions of evaluation criteria preferred by a consumer for judging a particular product. Selection of a product has been attributed as an outcome of the consumer behavior and the latter is associated with numerous underlying implications such as evaluation criteria and the purpose or value proposition of the product or service. Evaluation criteria can be considered as a cumulative entity derived from specific aspects, benefits or features in a particular product which could respond to a particular problem of the consumer (Hsin et al., 2013). Evaluation criteria perform an exclusive role in determination of alternatives to a specific product or service. Consumers are entitled to form their evaluation criteria based on information from external and internal sources thereby realizing a comprehensive evaluation of alternatives to reach the most promising decision. The efficiency of evaluation criteria can be derived from the comparison of strengths and drawbacks of individual product and service alternatives with respect to the evaluation criteria established earlier. The intangible nature of consumer behavior is associated with lack of quantified representation as well as the ambiguity of factors which influence consumer behavior since individual evaluation criteria can vary on the basis of personal or behavioral preferences (Jayasingh & Eze, 2015).

Literature Review

The different research activities in the sector of marketing in higher education are not considered as sufficient references for deriving precise outcomes. Furthermore, the assistance for the literature in context of research activity can be obtained from the comprehension of the factors which influence decision making abilities of students. The profound observations in literature have pointed out to the complexity of decision making for students while selecting an institution according to their preferences. The choice of an educational institute after the completion of secondary education is cumbersome for the students as they could not formulate a precise evaluative criterion. Even though it can be said that students have specific preferences which account for their evaluation criteria, the relevance of the factors to the final outcome cannot be perceived. Students preferring for educational institutes on the basis of advertising or any other form of attractiveness implied by the educational institutes account for the primitive evaluation criteria and chances of inadequate services are higher in this case (Khoo-Lattimore & Prayag, 2016). The complexity of the decision making process in selecting a reasonable institution for students is responsible for deriving considerable efforts on behalf of students. Students are supposed to undertake extensive internal and external search for information and thereby present a viable approach to institute selection (Latiff & Ariff, 2013). Students should be able to apprehend the features of educational institutes in context of the information acquired by them alongside following viable approaches to interpret the information with respect to their evaluation criteria. The processing of data in a meaningful manner enables students to accomplish a reasonable selection of institutions (Latiff & Ariff, 2013).

The selecting capabilities of students or decision making abilities could be illustrated in context of consumer behavior. Students are also considered as consumers of the educational industry and hence their behavior could be accounted as a vital aspect of business management in education. Organizations in the educational sector implement considerable marketing efforts for various educational programs in order to allure students. Notable citations in literature have directed towards the influence of distinct variables on the decision making process adopted by students. It is imperative that the number of variables which could influence the selection process of students could be segregated into wider encompassing categories or themes (Latiff & Ariff, 2013). These themes are largely recognized in literature with references to their impact on consumer behavior among students. First of all, the financial attractiveness of an institute is perceived by students as a major influence on their decisions. The primary cause for restructuring of educational sector in several countries in the Asian continent could be sighted in the increasing costs for international education in host countries which traditionally served international students (Osman et al., 2012).  

Significance of the Study

Therefore, financial attractiveness is ensured by private institutions through measures such as scholarships, grants or study aids to foreign and local students alike. Deduction in fees on the basis of academic performance is also perceived as a prominent aspect of financial attractiveness depicted by the private higher educational institutes. Thereafter the educational programs facilitated by the institutes must be suitable for the academic preferences of students i.e. the courses should be aligned with the distinct streams of secondary education provided all over the world. The availability of programs and courses is also an influential factor in determining consumer behavior of students since minimal availability of preferred courses in a particular institute could prompt students to consider other alternatives (Rashid, Rahman & Khalid, 2014). The third variable which is included in the evaluation criteria of students is the flexibility of enrolment procedures. Generally, it is observed that students, especially international, are subject to numerous complicacies during enrolment in specific courses such a student visa, permissions and authorization from local authorities. Thereafter, students are profoundly concerned with the ease of access to placement opportunities after completion of the program or course. The characteristic feature of an educational program or course can be observed in the prospects for employment offered to students. Generally, educational institutes which could be able to provide promising employment opportunities to students after graduation account for higher prospects to attract students. Finally, the reputation of an institute in the local as well as international jurisdictions is responsible for the choice of students (Safi & Ramay, 2013). It is imperative that an educational institute with all the necessary facilities and infrastructure as well as proven track record of efficiency in higher education services poses superior chances of selection by students. The diversity of factors which are observed in literature in context of the consumer behavior observed in students opting for higher education services in private institutions can be considered as beneficial for reaching on a definitive choice of institution. However, the consideration of diverse factors can be associated with negligence for certain underlying implications.

Research design of this activity is concerned with the selected approach for research. The research assumes a qualitative approach which includes a precise description of research variables which could not be quantified (Teng, Siong & Mesbahi, 2013). The selection of qualitative approach is used for obtaining diverse implications for research outcomes which could not be possible in a quantitative approach since the research variables assumed for this activity are intangible in nature.

Data collection would be ensured through a questionnaire survey which fulfills the objective of primary data collection. The selection of questionnaire survey as a promising alternative for primary data collection can be validated by the sample behavior which comprises of students (Wyer, 2015). The sample selected for the research survey comprises of 30 students in private institutes of Malaysia. Secondary data collection is carried out with the help of online sources such as research publications, academic journals and peer-reviewed articles as well as literature associated with consumer behavior and business management.

The measurement of variables is ensured through a comprehensive representation of data collection outcomes in the form of percentages and frequencies, thereby easing the process of interpretation (Wee et al., 2014).

Reliability of the method can be ensured through the collection of questionnaire responses directly in first hand from the respondents. The validity of the data can be concluded through the present association of respondents with the educational institutes in Malaysia.

The Data analysis method used for the research is the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The software is capable of drawing generalizations of research findings in data collection stage. The apprehension of consumer behavior traits in students through the research variables can be observed descriptively with the help of outcomes of the data analysis process which is in the form of frequency and percentages.

Every research activity is characterized with the presence of ethical standards referring to the permission for research activity, management of resources and the process of data collection. The researcher should emphasize on obtaining permission from individual participants in order to execute the data collection process (Zendehdel, Paim & Osman, 2015). The participants must be greeted properly alongside being informed about the research objectives and assumed significance of the research. The data collection process should be executed in presence of the participant and the inputs must be stored in PDA or any other documented form in order to preserve the integrity of the data.

The specification of resources for the research accounts for a formidable inclusion in the research proposal. Financial resources required for the research can be estimated in the form of expenses of data collection process, secondary sources of information, stationery costs and expenses for travel and food. The estimated budget for the research activity is estimated at 100 baht which will be primarily used for food, travel and data collection instruments (Wee et al., 2014). The timescale allowed for the research is six weeks and can be illustrated with references to individual research activities in the form of a Gantt chart as described below.

Activity	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
Selection of research topic
Estimation of research question and objectives
Literature review
Primary data collection
Secondary data collection
Data analysis
Review of findings in data analysis
Final formatting and submission

Conclusion

The research proposal indicated the key terms and definitions required for executing research on the issue of factors influencing consumer behavior among students in context of private educational institutes in Malaysia.

References

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