Micro-credentials are gaining traction as viable vehicles for rapid upskilling of the workforce in the twenty-first century and potential pathways for gaining employment for some students. The primary purpose of the current systematic review was to understand the current conceptions and discourses of micro-credentials in higher education and to identify the opportunities and challenges in adopting micro-credentials in higher education. The review also aimed to develop a need-driven micro-credentials framework that demonstrates the value of micro-credentials to stakeholders, i.e., learners, higher education institutions, employers, and government agencies. Key findings revealed that there are various stakeholders’ needs and expectations. The learner wants short, practical, and up-to-date courses for their chosen career path, education institutions emphasise accreditation for building trust, employers want clarity regarding the competencies gained through micro-credentials, and government bodies expect higher graduate employability with lower tuition fees. Key findings revealed that implementing micro-credentials can be disruptive in the higher education sector and present several challenges. However, these challenges are likely to be mitigated by increased collaboration among stakeholders. The review has revealed several outstanding research questions critical for the success of micro-credentials as significant pathways to supplement traditional degree programmes. The research presented in the article has implications for policy development to guide the implementation of micro-credentials in the higher education sector.

This research is conducted in order to evaluate the purpose of studying the customer relationship practices and customer satisfaction in PHEI that offers undergraduate degrees in Malaysia.  According to the results obtained, it proves that CRM practices contain more positive effect on its customer satisfaction. The sample size used was only focused on PHEI that offer undergraduate programmes in Malaysia.  According to the research conducted, there are few limitations that disclose the exact relationship between CRM and Customer Satisfaction. Education industry has become one of the major growing industries in Malaysia with various numbers of competitors. Thus, this study allows policy makers of PHEI to focus and implement CRM practices that would have an increase of direct positive impact of satisfaction for their customers.  The study conducted also helps to evaluate not only CRM and satisfaction but also evaluate the effect of the Gender and Age Group factors that reflects on the relationship.

In the original publication of Varadarajan et. al (2023) the reference McGreal & Don (2022) was incorrect and should have been McGreal & Olcott (2022).The original article has been updated.