THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF COMMITMENT ON PERCEIVED QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

We wish to study the improvement of Tunisian higher education via the concept of market orientation (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990). The objective of our research is to frame the concept of market orientation for developing countries, particularly because this trend is the subject of much interest, as reflected in numerous work developed in recent years (Caruana et al., 1998; Van Vught, 1999, Tan 2002 Young Binsardi and Ekwulugo 2003 Webster et al. 2005 Voon Boo Ho 2005 Jane and Izhar 2006 Fravian and Lozano 2006 Hammond et al., 2006 Svenson and Wood, Hadi et al., 2008, Kuster and Aviles-Valenzuela, 2010). The specificity of the Tunisian context will also make it possible to bring elements in line with what has just been cited. Consequently, all the interest of our research is based on the study of the transposition of the "market orientation" which is often considered as belonging to the private sector alone. Moreover, this research is based on the notion of “public higher education”. Indeed, this concept seems to guarantee a better quality of higher education in Tunisia and with the needs of the labor market. However, the concept of organizational commitment has often played a role of intermediation between the individual and organizational structures. This is why our research will focus on the mediating role of organizational commitment related to the impact of market orientation on the perceived quality of higher education in Tunisia.