Customer compatibility management: an alternative perspective on student-to-student support in higher education

Emphasizes the controllability of customer-to-customer interaction in the higher education environment. Argues that students’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their experience of a university may be significantly influenced by their experience of other students. Customer compatibility management supplements other approaches to quality management, such as TQM. Tutors and managers of the educational environment have always recognized that some features of student-to-student interaction need to be managed. Borrows some concepts from the services marketing literature and proposes a more focused and comprehensive customer compatibility management programme. Uses the theatrical metaphor to illustrate the roles and functions that need to be adapted in a compatibility management programme. Introduction