This unique longitudinal study examines the state of work centrality and other life areas (family, leisure, community and religion) in Israel among the same individuals (n=407) over a 12-year period. A new representative sample (serving as a control group) of the Israeli labour force in 1992-93 (n=942) assists us in exploring whether the changes occurred by cohort, life course or period effect. The restudied sample maturation led to a decrease in the importance of leisure, while the importance of work, family, community and religion remained stable. The increase of work centrality between the 1980s and the 1990s was found to be influenced by period effect; there was no evidence of a life course or cohort effect on work centrality, while life course effect was found on the importance of community. In contrast to findings from other countries showing that young people attributed relatively high importance to leisure and relatively less importance to work, cohort effect regarding the latter was not observed in Israel. There, young people in the 1990s tended to view work and leisure as important as their predecessors did in the 1980s.

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PurposeIn today's environment, higher education (HE) institutions need to become more efficient and participate in a competitive global market where client expectations are continually rising. In this new reality, quality is critical for success. While the economic benefits of quality have been long established, many HE institutions still ignore them at their own risk. This is especially true for service quality and this paper will focus on HE service quality management and improvement. This paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachThe paper implements Schneider and Bowen's model of the three tiers of service organizations and service quality management and improvement methods, on HE institutions.FindingsAn analysis of the service process within HE institutions reveals that the quality of service given to the customer tier (the students) by the boundary tier (all the employees who have contact with the students) is greatly dependent on the coordination tier (top HE management and its various departments). In this service chain, there are several problems and pitfalls that prevent the enhancement of service quality.Practical implicationsIn light of the three tiers of service model, the paper discusses practical implications and focuses on recommendations how to manage and improve service quality in HE.Originality/valueThe paper presents a comprehensive approach for managing and improving the service quality chain while addressing the integration between the coordination, boundary and customer tiers, with an emphasis on meeting students' needs and expectations.