An exploratory study of supply chain management for tertiary educational institutions

Supply Chain Management (SCM) in the manufacturing industry is a very common scenario. However, SCM in the service industry especially in higher educational institutions is receiving more attention. This exploratory research addresses the education supply chain, the research supply chain, and educational management as major constituents in Tertiary Educational Supply Chain Management model. Its applicability was successfully verified and validated through survey data from leading tertiary educational institutions around the world. Model constructs were identified and confirmed by 493 respondents, representing university administrators, faculty and staffs, employers, and graduates. The resulting model was subsequently evaluated for accuracy and validity by multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis and the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. This model furnishes stakeholders of the supply chain with appropriate strategies to review and appraise their performance toward fulfillment of ultimate goals, i.e. producing high-caliber graduates, which represents human resource contribution, and high-impact research outcomes, which represents research contribution, for the betterment of the consumer, i.e., the society.