International Review of Management and Marketing ISSN: 2146-4405 available at http: www.econjournals.com International Review of Management and Marketing, 2018, 8(2), 96-101. International Review of Management and Marketing | Vol 8 • Issue 2 • 2018 96 The Meanings of “Good Service Quality”: Insights from a Private University Brand in the Kingdom of Bahrain Mahmood A. Husain Mahmood 1 , Eric E. Mang’unyi 2 * 1 Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia, 2 The Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya. *Email: mangunyie@gmail.com ABSTRACT The phenomenon of branding has become increasingly signifcant within the competitive tertiary education arena, particularly in emerging economies. Using ethnographic approach and supported by experiential and observation data collection techniques, the paper seeks to draw insights on service delivery quality of university customers’ based on their experiences at a private university brand in the Kingdom of Bahrain. This study focuses on the conceptions and perceptions of service quality and brand meanings and their effcacy thereof among students and staff of a private university brand as a case of the research. The study reveals that students’ service quality is associated with the beneft that they derive from this university brand - that is, attaining a degree certifcate, which impacts on their satisfaction. It was also evident that the quality of lecturers’ and availability of resources is seemingly of less importance. The study suggests a holistic approach that could be considered when developing a university brand. Keywords: Brand, Private University, Service Quality JEL Classifcations: M30, M31, M37 1. INTRODUCTION The marketisation of education institutions globally has led to increased competition in the education sector (De Jager and Gbadamosi, 2010; Gallifa and Batallé, 2010; Walker, 2009), with public and private universities competing to attract both students and academic staff. As such, educational institutions develop sources of competitive advantage in the hope of securing customers and remaining competitive (Shahin and Samea, 2010; Walker, 2009). Whilst there are many sources of competitive advantage, service quality has become one of the biggest sources of competitive advantage for higher and further education institutions (Ali et al., 2016; Annamdevula and Bellamkonda, 2016; Cheng et al., 2016; Gallifa and Batallé, 2010). Just like any other business environment and other institutions globally, academic institutions in the Kingdom of Bahrain have been facing similar pressures for example, high demand for higher education (HE) services, growing expectations and stiff competition. However, efforts are focussed on adopting more customer centric approaches with the hope of meeting the needs and wants of their customers better than competitors. Marketisation of higher and further education and institutions has grown remarkably in the past two decades (Newman and Jahdi, 2009). Education institutions that include colleges are now being run as independent corporate bodies and are adopting private sector business concepts such as the marketing concept. Several institutions now regard themselves as brands and compete for customers who are now faced with a wider range of choices (Cook, 2002; 2008). The trend has led to a lot of competition and organisations (including educational institutions) are continuously looking for ways to differentiate themselves so as to attract customers and excel (De Jager and Gbadamosi, 2008). Thus, there is increased attention by universities on the needs and wants of customers, in this context, students or learners, thereby offering them a good service quality. More important for this study is that in the past, Bahrain has seen the importation of private university brands, thus, bringing multicultural business practices. For example, some private universities adopt USA practices, others UK practices, while others bring in Asian business practices, and so forth. Therefore, the needs and wants of the students are met with the cultural practices of staff from different countries, and some university brands that are “imported in mind.” Of course,