DIGITAL LITERACY AND INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AS DETERMINANTS OF SERVICE QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY FROM AN EMERGING ECONOMY WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR INDUSTRY 4.0 WORKFORCE READINESS

Abstract

With the shifting of emerging economies to Industry 4.0 despite having low digital literacy, institutions of higher learning are progressively incorporating new digital technologies into their learning institutions in order to improve learning outcomes and equip students with the demanded skills in the future. Here, institutional digital transformation as well as digital literacy of students has become significant determinants of perceived quality of service. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of empirical information on their relative contributions. This research paper focuses on the effects of digital transformation (DT) and digital literacy (DL) on the perceived quality of services by students in the conceptualized dimensions of SERVQUAL in higher education. It was a quantitative cross-sectional survey involving 164 diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate students. DT, DL and service quality standardized scales were used and data were processed with the help of SPSS 23. Cronbach alpha ( =.877 -.971 ) was used to check reliability. Pearson correlation revealed a moderate association between DT and perceived service quality (r =.39, p <.01), but there was a stronger relationship with DL (r=.51, p<.01). The result of the multiple regression analysis indicated that both DT ( =.216, =.003) and DL ( =.420, =.001) had a significant predictive value on the service quality, but with a larger explanatory power of DL. The results indicate that institutional digital initiatives have a positive impact on the perceptions of the quality of services, but the contribution of the digital competencies of students is more significant. The research highlights the importance of higher education institutions to supplement technological investments with systematic building of digital skills to enhance service quality and the readiness of workforce in the industry 4.0 era.