The Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education

Combining Economic and Conjoint Analysis to Determine

Optimal Academic Services

ABSTRACT

      In today’s era of global competition, organizations must manage their functions and activities in a manner such that they are responsive to customers’ needs and can provide excellence in service to the customer while also being efficient and cost conscious.  These issues are extremely common in corporate organizations, but such concerns are equally relevant in service industries, including institutions of higher education.  This study is conducted at a private, undergraduate institution of higher education.  We utilize focus group evaluation and conjoint analysis combined with economic analysis in the form of a newly designed preferred utility economic cost diagram to pick the ideal services that should be provided to enrolled students at the institution.  The package of ideal services accounts for preferred utility expressed by students and a new methodology (preferred utility function) to balance these against financial considerations to optimize services and financial gains for a college adult education program.  This combination of focus groups and mathematical techniques can be easily employed by educational institutes.