Incorporating Customer Requirements in Designing Academic Graduate Program

Abstract

Course design is an important component in the success of academic programs. Design and execution of the academic programs according to the industry lead to the career success of university graduates. This study narrates the process through which the academic program Master of Science in Supply Chain Management (MS-SCM) was designed by a university in Pakistan based on customer demands, considering prospective employers as customers. In order to convert customer requirements into program courses, the technique of “Quality Function Deployment” (QFD) was used. The “House of Quality” (HOQ) was used to translate the customer requirements into courses to be offered in the program. A small-scale survey of the managers involved in the recruitment of new graduates in their respective supply chain related departments from a variety of organizations was conducted in order to learn about the voice of customer. Based on the demands of the managers, courses with suitable content were identified that meet the requirements of potential employers. This study shows how by using QFD, providers of higher education can customize their academic programs to meet the requirements of the customers.

Keywords

• total quality management
• house of quality
• quality function deployment
• qfd
• supply chain management
• education
• academic programs
• graduate programs
• curriculum
• universities
• pakistan