Alumni Orientation: Development of the Construct
Ibrahim Alnawas: BA, MSc, PhD
Assistant Professor
Marketing Department, University of Petra
Jordan-Amman
Email: ialnawas@uop.edu.jo
Christine Phillips
Associate Professor
Politics, Economics and International Relations Department, University of ReadingUK
Email: c.b.phillips@reading.ac.uk
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to conceptualise and empirically examine the constructs that
constitute the concept of Alumni Orientation (AO). Using a discovery-oriented approach,
conducted by supplementing educational and marketing literatures with in depth
interviews from 22 alumni personnel in six different UK universities, the author
identified three second-order formative constructs and three first-order reflective
constructs to measure the concept of AO. The study then developed a self-administrated
survey to validate the six identified constructs that form AO. Through using rigours
statistical analysis, the study confirms that the measurement instrument for AO is the 48items which can be validly and reliably measured using the NINE multi-item components
of: Case for Support; Alumni Database Management; Social Media Management;
Financing Event Management; Financing Publication Management; Promoting Best
Practices of Event Management; Promoting Best Practices of Publication Management;
Intrafunctional Coordination and Interfunctional Coordination.
Keyword: Alumni Orientation, Scale Development, Higher Education, Alumni
Engagement.