An empirical research of educational supply chain for the universities

The exploratory study investigates the education supply chain and the research supply chain as major constituents in the educational supply chain for the universities. Its applicability was successfully verified and validated through survey data from leading tertiary educational institutions around the world. Model constructs were identified and confirmed by 493 respondents, representing experts and administrators, faculty, staffs of the university, employers, graduates, etc. The resulting model was subsequently evaluated for accuracy and validity by multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis and the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The research model provides a novel approach for decision makers of each supply chain components to review and appraise their performance toward fulfillment of ultimate goals i.e. producing high-caliber graduates and high-impact research outcomes, which represent two main contributions, for the betterment of the end customer, i.e., the society.