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In this study, a total of 102 students in 5 courses(Electronic engineering, Civil engineering, Mechanical engineering, Chemical engineering and MBA) in the international branch of Amirkabir University, were asked to complete a SERVQUAL questionnaire. This questionnaire measured students' perceptions and expectations in five dimensions of service that consists of assurance, responsiveness, empathy, reliability and tangibles. The quality gap of university services was determined based on differences between students' perceptions and expectations. The results demonstrated that in all of the five SERVQUAL dimensions, there was a negative quality gap (p < 0.05). Also responsiveness was the most important dimension for the students but had the largest gap. So, improvements are necessary and university must pay more attention to the students requirements. There was limitation in this research because the current research was conducted among international branch of Amirkabir university. So, the results are limited to these faculty, not to the whole of the university. Also there were many questions in the questionnaire which makes the students tired and impatient. There are limited researches that consider service quality in the Iranian higher education. However, for the first time, the service quality of international branch of Amirkabir university was measured by the SERVQUAL in this research.

Purpose Knowledge is recognized as a valuable asset and universities are in search of a new strategy that allows them to build their knowledge and experience. To achieve this goal, it seems essential to find the factors associated with knowledge creation (KC) in universities. There is currently no comprehensive model that delineates the relationships between personal, institutional and support-related factors of KC. The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the factors that affect KC in higher education institutions. Design/methodology/approach This is an explanatory mixed methods approach that consists of qualitative and quantitative stages. In the qualitative phase, 14 authorities on KC were interviewed and the data yielded were subjected to content analysis. A model and hypotheses were then formulated and a questionnaire was developed to test these. The questionnaire was submitted to faculty members of Tehran University. Questionnaire data were was analyzed using structural equation and partial least squares with the aid of SmartPLS. Findings The results showed three main categories of KC factors: institutional, personal and support. A total of 19 sub-factors were identified within these main categories. According to the results, social capital (path coefficient=0.84) had the strongest correlation with the institutional; basic skills for KC (path coefficient=0.92) had the strongest correlation with the personal, and information and library resources (path coefficient=0.95) had the highest correlation with the support aspect of KC. Originality/value The study uses a multidimensional approach to test the effect of factors on KC, and can contribute to organizations (especially universities) through developing a more comprehensive model of KC. This research may lead to guidelines for universities, using Tehran University as a case study, which give more attention to the main factors of KC and improve and develop the KC process.

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