Total Quality Management in Higher Education

Study of Engineering Institutions

Sayeda Begum, Chandrasekharan Rajendran, Prakash Sai L., K. Ganesh, Sanjay Mohapatra

• Publisher: Routledge India
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000332469
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book offers a conceptual, theoretical, and empirical overview of the role of total quality management (TQM) in Indian higher education from the perspectives of the engineering faculty, students, and alumni. It identifies the critical dimensions to measure the performance of TQM.

This volume conceptualizes the service quality of higher education, especially in engineering education, through empirical assessment of the services being provided to major stakeholders like the faculty, the students, and the alumni. It highlights the significance of TQM in creating success stories while discussing the importance of improved productivity and quality in higher education with respect to the quality of engineering educational institutions. Further, the book provides a complete framework for the implementation of TQM in engineering educational institutions.

This book will be of interest to students, teachers, and researchers of education and management studies. It will also be useful for educationalists, education administrators, education policymakers and bureaucrats, management professionals, business leaders, and the governing bodies of higher education institutions.

1
Introduction

Across the globe, numerous studies and research institutes have affirmed higher education as important because the demand for higher education is growing faster than before (Nigel, 2017). International bodies such as UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau of Research for Education Published Report 2012, the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) Conference on Raising Productivity in Higher Education – 2016, a panel discussion report organized by the National Research Council of the National Academies – 2012 on improving measurement of productivity in higher education, and many more have provided a platform for all stakeholders of the segment to appraise the best practices, in addition to highlighting the need for improved productivity of higher education. Higher education is directly related to a country’s advancement and innovativeness and is recognized by both developed and progressing nations. Amidst the international competitiveness, the quality of higher education and the outcomes pose a serious challenge to the growing economies.

Human resources development (HRD) occupies a prominent position in the policy-planning activity in a developing economy as it is a key factor that sustains the competitive advantage of a nation – duly reflected in creating a talented workforce, enhancing industrial productivity, or improving the quality of life in general. The intellectual capital generated by the higher education sector is progressively understood to be fundamental part of the global knowledge economy Kuber and Lennon, 2008). The importance of higher education has various direct and indirect contributions to higher education industries (HEIs) in the country (Sari et al., 2016). Higher education plays a key “catch-up” role in accelerating the rate of growth towards a country’s productivity potential (Bloom et al., 2006). World Bank (2000) (in Enemark, 2005) has stated: “Higher education is the modern world’s basic education, but many countries are falling further and further behind”. Enemark (2005) has highlighted the urgency to improve the quality of higher education in the developing countries so as to remain successful in the knowledge-based economy.

India’s higher education system was the largest in the world in the fiscal year 2017. The education sector in India is poised to witness huge growth in the years to come as India will have world’s largest tertiary-age population and second largest graduate talent pipeline globally by the end of 2020(see IBEF).

India is witnessing frequent serious commentary about its higher education, especially with respect to the quality of the engineering educational institutions: e.g., a recent statement made by the present HRD minister on the release of the report of the All India Survey on Higher Education 2017–18, Higher Educational Profile 2017–2018 at a national conference on research and innovation in higher education (see AISHE). Sheikh (2017) depicted the rise of higher educational institutions in the post-independence era and also raised concerns about the quality of education being provided in such institutions in India. Sharanabasappa and Basavaraj (2017) highlighted the importance of higher education and echoed concerns over the quality issues being faced by the higher educational institutions of India.

Gandhi (2015) argued that the changes in the educational sector has forced the higher education system in India to revolutionize its ways of working, and hence, there is a need for quality practices to revamp the process of teaching-learning-evaluation. Pradhan (2009) established the causality between education and economic growth in India from 1951 to 2001. Recently, in a daily report headlined “India is in the middle of an engineering education crisis”, an apparent remark on the lack of performance of Indian students at the global level was made, and the quality of education that is imparted by colleges was blamed (Economic Times, 2018). There was an impression of non-contentment with the quality of service (education) being provided in the engineering educational institutions (EEIs) of India among almost every major stakeholder involved. Even the parents of qualified students were found not to be satisfied when their children don’t find adequate academic careers, even after payment of huge capitation fees for a degree from the EEIs. The employers have set the impression of unhappiness with the degree of competence they find in the students after the completion of their degrees (The Hindu Business Line, 2018). The need for and importance of quality in the technical educational institutions of India have been duly stated in many recent studies: Ahuja (2012), Mehta et al. (2014), Pandi et al. (2016), and Praveen et al. (2018).

This chapter gives a brief overview of Indian engineering institutions, their growth in the last two decades, and their demands for the future, concentrating on the need to improve the quality of education, especially within the framework of total quality management (TQM). Figure 1.1 presents the organization of Chapter 1.

Figure 1.1 Organization of Chapter 1

1.1 Total quality management (TQM)

The definition of quality has evolved from “quality is excellence” to “quality is value” and from “quality is conformance to requirements” to “quality is meeting and/or exceeding customers’ requirements” (Reeves and Bednar, 1994); however, quality is what satisfies the consumers. The adoption of TQM philosophy in business has been one of the major factors contributing to the realization of various benefits, such as improving productivity, quality, and personnel morale – all leading to improved business results (e.g., Hansson and Eriksson, 2002). Empirical research works and case studies involving TQM implementation from various researchers have repeatedly emphasized the importance of quality improvement initiatives resulting in a sustainable competitive advantage in both manufacturing and services domains (e.g., Sureshchandar et al., 2001). The following are few examples of TQM definitions from various studies.

• TQM is an approach to improving the effectiveness and flexibility of organizations as a whole. It is essentially a way of organizing and involving the whole organization: every department, every activity, every single person at every level. For an organization to be truly effective, each part of it must work properly together, recognizing that every person and every activity affects and, in turn, is affected by others. TQM is a method for ridding people’s lives of wasted effort by involving everyone in the processes of improvement: improving the effectiveness of work so that the results are achieved in less time (Oakland, 1989).
• Total quality management may be defined as managing the entire organization so that it excels in all dimensions of products and services that are important to the customer (Chase and Aquilano, 1992).
• TQM is the “art of managing the whole to achieve excellence” (Besterfield et al., 1999).
• TQM is a continuously evolving management system consisting of core values, methodologies, and tools, the aim of which is to increase external and internal customer satisfaction with a reduced amount of resources (Hellsten and Klefsjo, 2000).
• TQM is a philosophy that emphasizes a systematic, integrated, and consistent perspective involving everyone and everything (Issac et al., 2004).

A common understanding that can be adopted from these studies is that TQM can be used as a methodology to increase the effectiveness of all facets of an organization at the same time, reducing cost and increasing customer satisfaction.

1.2 TQM in the manufacturing sector

The literature on TQM in the manufacturing sector is replete with various aspects, such as the identification, development, and validation of TQM implementation constructs (Ahire et al., 1996); the critical factors of TQM; and instrument development for measuring the effectiveness of TQM constructs (Saraph et al., 1989). The critical factors grounded in the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Model (Black and Porter, 1996), along with the linkages of TQM to an organization’s strategic position (Madu and Kuei, 1993) and the impact of quality management practices on performance and competitive advantage (Flynn et al., 1995), are some additional aspects. These researchers have studied TQM as a competitive advantage and provided valuable insights into the “soft issues” of TQM (Powell, 1995): TQM cultural phenomena (Kujala and Lillrank, 2004); TQM in SMEs (Ghobandian and Gallear, 1996); the impact of organizational size and culture on TQM implementation (Benson et al., 1991); the relationships between TQM practices and organizational performance (Terziovski and Samson, 1999); the relationships between TQM practices and operational performance (Samson and Terziovski, 1999); the factors affecting the relationship between TQM and organizational performance (Montes et al., 2003); TQM age versus quality (Ahire, 1996); the extent of the relationship between quality management systems, such as ISO 9000, in TQM implementation (Idris et al., 1996); quality management in large versus small firms (Ahire and Golhar, 1996); the role of supervisors in TQM and non-TQM firms (Golhar et al., 1997); and the soft TQM, hard TQM, and organizational performance relationships (Rahman and Bullock, 2005). There are also a number of theoretical and empirical studies examining the relationship between quality, cost, and financial performance (e.g., Lawler et al., 1995; Hendricks and Singhal, 1996; Reed et al., 1996); firm characteristics, total quality management, and financial performance (Hendricks and Singhal, 2001); and so on. In spite of the in-depth exploration of almost all possible areas, researchers (Saraph et al., 1989; Ahire et al., 1996) have emphasized empirical studies that explore the holistic aspects of TQM and help TQM develop into a rationally evaluating discipline in the future. TQM philosophy in business has been credited with leading to improved business results (e.g., Forker et al., 1996; Anderson and Sohal, 1999; Hansson and Eriksson, 2002) and helping to raise morale, reduce costs, improve quality, and increase productivity and industrial competitiveness (e.g., Holusha, 1993).

1.3 TQM in the services sector

Most of the dimensions of quality management in manufacturing do apply equally to services. However, services differ from the manufacture of goods in a number of ways: namely, service intangibility, simultaneity of production, delivery and consumption, perishability, variability of expectations of the customers, and the participatory role of customers in the service delivery (Sureshchandar et al., 2001). In services, TQM has been studied in various industrial domains, such as the software industry (e.g., Issac et al., 2004), the healthcare industry (e.g., Kandampully, 2000), and the hotel industry (e.g., Lau et al., 2005). Several studies have repeatedly emphasized the importance of quality improvement initiatives resulting in a sustainable competitive advantage (Parasuraman et al., 1985; Parasuraman et al., 1988; Saraph et al., 1989; Ahire et al., 1996; Black and Porter, 1996; Kanji, 1998). The critical success factors (CSFs) of quality in services, the relationship between the operational and organizational performance on service quality, and the various aspects of implementation of the concept in the service industries (also called total quality service, or TQS) were extensively studied, along with a large number of studies concentrated on finding out customers’ expectations and perceptions (e.g., Parasuraman et al., 1994). Some attempted to analyze customer perceptions, and a few studies dealt with both the provider’s expectations and the customer’s perceptions of service quality (e.g., Sureshchandar et al., 2002). The commonality – i.e., the overall objective of these studies – was an attempt to study service quality, or the satisfaction level of the customer. Many researchers studied several service businesses in India and identified the critical success factors facilitating TQM implementation, such as in banking sector (e.g., Sureshchandar et al., 2002), in the software industry (e.g., Isaac et al., 2004), in higher education (e.g., Thakkar et al., 2006), and in technical education (Sakthivel, 2007; Viswanadhan, 2008).

1.3.1 Services and service quality assessment

Services are considered intangible because they are impalpable and cannot be grasped mentally (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2003). Therefore, assessing services and measuring service quality are not only intellectually challenging for academic researchers, but also financially rewarding for many a provider who wishes to reap benefits from addressing and implementing the research findings. During the past few decades, service quality has become a major area of attention for practitioners, managers, and researchers, owing to its strong impact on business performance, lower costs, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profitability (Sureshchandar et al., 2002).

1.3.2 Service quality and perceived service quality

Parasuraman et al. (1985) opined that “service quality is an elusive and indistinct construct which can be identified by four primary service characteristics namely intangibility, inseparability of production and consumption, heterogeneity and perishability”. Gronroos (1982) was one of the earliest researchers who recognized the need to develop valid and distinct measures of service quality. Service quality perceptions result from a comparison of consumer expectations with actual service performance (Parasuraman et al., 1985). Perceived service quality is an attitude related to consumer judgment on the overall service received. Parasuraman et al. (1988) suggested the SERVQUAL instrument to assess service quality. The SERVQUAL instrument assesses service quality by identifying the gaps between customers’ expectations and perceptions of the performance of service. A few studies have also used the importance-performance scale to examine service quality, and some have devised their own instruments. Brady et al. (2002) suggested that measuring perceptions (SERVPERF–importance-weighted performance measure) alone might provide a better operationalization of service quality than measuring the difference between expectations and perceptions. While researchers such as Parasuraman et al. (1994) held the view that the perception of quality of service is a determinant of satisfaction, Bolton and Drew (1991) observed that satisfaction precedes the quality perceived. Zeithaml and Bitner (1996) agreed that perceived quality is just one of a number of antecedent factors driving satisfaction.

Education, though inherently a service sector, has its own complexities and remains distinct from other services. In a cognitive sense, education itself is a process of converting tangible resources into intangible resources (Toombs, 1973). The products of education may manifest in various forms, such as skill development, knowledge enhancement, and personality building. The very nature of education poses a distinct challenge to bringing it into any assessment framework. The product of education is often intangible and difficult to measure because it is reflected in the transformation of individuals in their knowledge, their characteristics, and their behavior (Bowen, 1980). The limited studies done in the area of university educational services as well showed that perceived quali...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Acknowledgements
• List of abbreviations
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Review of literature
• 3 Total quality management in engineering educational institutions: framework and dimensions of TQM explained
• 4 Total quality management in engineering educational institutions: faculty members’, students’, and alumni (stakeholders’) perspective
• 5 Relationship between total quality management and institutional effectiveness of engineering educational institutions
• 6 Comparative study of stakeholders’ perceptions of total quality management across institutions
• 7 Summary and conclusions
• Appendix 1 Pre-questionnaire survey – alumni perceptions on the overall functioning and administration of engineering institutions
• Appendix 2 Instrument – perspective of faculty members on TQM practices/dimensions
• Appendix 3 Instrument – perspective of students
• Appendix 4 Instrument – perspective of alumni
• References
• Index