Customer Focus in Education
By
Dr. Mahr Muhammad Saeed Akhtar *
mahrsaeed@yahoo.com
Despite many efforts educators, business and government leaders, as well as parents have
been concerned about the quality of education. Many students are deficient in knowledge, have
standardized test scores that below average, and do not have required level of skills to be
successful as adults. As a result, criticism emerged from all stakeholders, forcing educational
leaders to explore new ways to improve student performance. The criticism increased in the
public sector, where a big portion of student population attends.
After witnessing the success of customer-oriented approaches in business that resulted in
major improvements in product quality, and better awareness of the importance of providing
customer focused service, educators are trying to implement this approach into education.
Although the importance of the concept of “customer” was realized and the idea of customer
focus was recognized in industry and business, educators needed to recognize the importance of
treating students and parents as valued external customers who seek services from their
organizations. Customer focus is an off shoot of quality program for any organization. Linda (1998)
defined customer focus as an organization’s understanding of customers’ attitudes, knowledge, and
actions that served to align products and services with the customer’s definition of quality
Tribus (1990), a colleague of Deming, was a pioneer who discussed the core philosophy
of customer focus and discussed the application of this concept to schools. He made a
______________________________________________________________________________
* Author is Professor of Education at the Institute of Education of Research, University of the
Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
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compelling case for the application of Total Quality Management to schools. As a result, many
aspects of educational process are integrating the TQM philosophy to address concerns of all
stakeholders about the quality of education.
Many educators and researchers, (e.g., Glasser, Bonstingl, and Grawford) have reviewed
important aspects of the customer focus movement, and related them to education. They have
discussed the appropriateness of addressing students and parents as external customers of
schools, and have continued to develop systematic plans to incorporate practices that provide a
customer focused approach to education. Deming (1958) perceived that education, industry, and
government should interact as a system in improving education. In this system, Deming (1986)
supported the importance of the customer (students). He considered the customer as the most
important factor in the system. He also emphasized that consumer research should be prioritized
to obtain reactions and demands of customers. He argued that findings of this research should be
considered important in implementing quality and customer focus movements. Deming and
Juran believed that by responding to customers’ needs the customer can be satisfied completely.
Feedback from customers can provide clear guidelines for teachers to achieve educational goals
for their students, as well as enhance their job satisfaction.
Coulson (1996) reported that teachers have positive perceptions regarding the concept of
customer focus and its effect on the quality of education and customer satisfaction. Despite
some good results and an increased level of awareness, parents, students, and community and
business leaders in the United States have become increasingly critical in regards to public
education. Because of these complaints and the need for better results in specific curriculum
areas, federal and state governments have created legislation that called for school reforms.
These reforms provided increased opportunities for parental involvement (external customer),
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and input into the education of their children (external customer). Freestan (1992) noted that in
the United States new laws in education are forcing public school employees to implement
innovative ways of reaching their customers, continuously improving instructional delivery and
materials, and assess their efforts using appropriate methods.
Timer and Kirp (1989) reported that in the United States, more rules and regulations
concerning all aspects of education have been generated since 1983 than in the previous history
of education. Nationwide, more than 700 statues affecting the teaching profession were enacted
between 1984 and 1986. The Michigan Legislature in June 1996 passed a law allowing interdistrict school of choice, providing opportunities to enhance quality educational experiences for
all students. Federal and state support for schools of choice exemplified the need to address the
need to improve education to meet expectations of a school district’s external customers. With
school choice a reality, parents and students have the freedom to choose an educational
environment. This ability to choose has resulted in schools becoming more competitive as they
attempt to retain their customers, while seeking additional ones to fill their programs.
The concept of customer focus approaches to education is rapidly becoming an accepted
philosophy within schools. Soranno (1997) in this regard, explained that:
…consistently providing service excellence requires more than good
management. Research shows that service-oriented culture is required with every
employee understanding and sharing the company’s beliefs, values, and norms
that focus on serving the customer. Every employee’s action must demonstrate a
service philosophy (p. 3).
Albrecht and Zemke (1985) further emphasized that the satisfaction of customer needs is
“either everyone’s business or it might as well be no one’s business; that’s the way it will be
transacted” (p. 103).
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Researchers in education have suggested that the concept of customer satisfaction should
be adapted for use in the field of education. For this purpose, Deming’s 14 points can be adapted
to education because the concept of total quality is not rigid, but processes and procedures for
continuously improving performance (byrnes, 1994).
Glasser (1993), Lezotte and Schmoker are among researchers who have researched TQM
in the efforts to restructure and improve education. The implementation of TQM in education
implies meeting needs and reasonable expectations of external customers of education.
Schmoker and Wilson (1993) recommended that the work of Deming can be used as a template
to provide a comprehensive body of principles that can promote action toward the goal of
improving all schools.
Schmoker and Wilson (1993) argued that Deming’s process, being customer focused,
could be helpful to improve the quality of education. They consider Deming’s work as a source
to begin improving schools and educational opportunities for students. Deming’s philosophy is
distinguishable from other educational reform efforts in its adaptability and ability to be
integrated into other reform efforts.
Glasser (1993) in his book, The Quality School Teacher, stated that “His [Deming] ideas
apply as much to schools as to business” (p. xi). Rhodes (1990) also supported Deming’s
approach understandable and applicable to schools. He explained that:

Deming’s underlying beliefs are familiar.

The public and policy makers already have seen the results.

Deming’s approach reframes what already exists allowing new perceptions of
available solutions (p. 23).
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Glasser (1993) reported that many of school districts in the United States have already
begun to implement Deming’s philosophy because his framework uses existing staff, facilities,
and materials as efficiently as possible to produce quality learning outcomes. Lunenburg and
Ornstein (1996) suggested that educators considered TQM a model that was applicable only to
profit-making organizations. But now TQM has been applied to every organization including
schools. According to Deming (1988), TQM can be adapted for use with corporations, service
organizations, universities, and elementary and secondary schools.
TQM provided a framework that could integrate innovations that were used in business
(i.e. teaming, site-based management, collaboration, and outcomes-based decision making) into
education. Because of the effectiveness of TQM, educators are attempting to apply it to many
types of educational institutions. As Deming indicated, TQM can be used in any type of
organization regardless of size or orientation (e.g., public, private, profit, non-profit, service,
manufacturing, etc.) to create an efficient, effective environment for both employees and
customers.
Despite support for the Deming’s philosophy, some of his terminology needs to be
translated for use in education. For example, Deming’s 14 points do not include terms that refer
to learning or curriculum. However, this adaptation is not difficult. For example,
superintendents and principals can be considered management and teachers and support staffs are
analogous to employees. Acquisition of knowledge and performance outcomes is similar to the
product of the organization. Students, parents, and community members become the external
customers and members of the organization are the internal customers.
Deming (1986) believed that educational leadership is responsible for improving the
quality of education by implementing his 14 points. Deming also believed that importance
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would be focused on customer (student), which he insisted was the most important factor in the
organization. He also insisted that consumer research was necessary to obtain feedback and
reactions to the design of the product. With this knowledge, management could anticipate
changes in demands and requirements for their product to maintain quality.
Many scholars have revised Deming’s 14 points into principles that support the purpose
of customer focus movement and quality education. Kaufman and Zahn (1993) have considered
continuous improvement, customer satisfaction, positive return on investment, and doing it right
the first time important factors for improving the quality of education and creating a system that
is more customer focused. Deming’s 14 points have been adapted for education as follows:

Creative constancy of purpose: The performance and success of learner in and
beyond school should be in center focus. Create the vision of what education will
deliver, including measurable specification for success.

Adopt a new philosophy: Move from school centered education to learnercentered success.

Cease dependence on mass inspection to achieve quality: Do not evaluate learners
and teachers on the basis of constant grading, testing, and compliance with
scheduling. Shift to self-evaluation and self-pacing.

End the practice of rewarding individual learner classroom performance alone
(passing tests, answering oral questions); reward total understanding and overall
accomplishing with others.

Constantly improve the system of teaching: Learning, educational supports and
service.

Institute training on the job. Provide in-service experiences with topics and areas
that contribute to competence, empowerment, growth and self-development.

Institute leadership by defining and moving constantly toward partnershipderived share destination.

Drive out fear: Reasonable risks are to be rewarded (with or without success) if
they were taken to achieve organizational objectives.

Breakdown barriers between classes, levels, specialties, schools, departments,
administration levels.

Eliminate slogans, exhortations and numerical targets.
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
Eliminate work standards (quotas): mastery and competence are more important
than attendance or compliance.

Remove barriers that deprive educators, administrators, learners, and parents of
their right to take in their accomplishment.

Institute a vigorous process of results-referenced in-service education and selfimprovement of all staff members: Use evaluation for improving, not for blaming.

Enroll everyone in the system to work to accomplish the transformation:
Everyone makes their unique contributions to the shared vision and mission
(1993, pp. 49-51).
Schmoker and Wilson (1993) and Spanbauer (1994) also described Deming’s 14 points to
implement to education. At this point Deming’s work has become accepted in industry and
business, while educational leaders are in the process of trying to implement in their institutions.
So for, many schools have applied TQM concept with mixed success and are still waiting for
further research on its applicability.
Glasser (1992) considered that Deming’s ideas could be alternatives to the prevailing
education system to get out of the ‘crisis in education’. He (1992), in his book, The Quality
School, explained:
Dr. Deming’s ideas can be brought undistorted into our schools so that the present
elitist system, in which just a few students are involved in high quality work, will
be replaced by a system in which almost all students have this experience (p. 3).
Education has not maintained pace with the demographic and societal changes, but has
continued to do business as usual. A major challenge to education today is to prepare the
students to compete successfully in the world marketplace. To meet this challenge, all children
must receive quality education regardless of their place of residence or parents’ income. These
goals can be come achievable by using a customer focused approach in education.
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The customer either in business or education has got an attention and a lot of
importance these days. It requires identifying the needs and wants of the customer and a
better service. The service and relationship with the customer should be in a professional
way. Field (1994) in this regards states:
Internal customers (students, teachers and support personnel in any educational
organization) must have their requirements met so that external customer
(employers, training institutions and social contractors) may then have their
requirements met. The customer-first philosophy demands a working customer
focus and strategy that continually feeds customer requirement into the system.
The system responds with activities that promote customer satisfaction (p. 24).
Spanbauer (1992) emphasized service in the system and considered it as an important
aspect in determining the extent to which customers (parents and students) in education are
satisfied or dissatisfied. He asserted that:
Education is a service with customers like any other business and those customers
do, indeed, express satisfaction and dissatisfaction about school service and
instruction. The quality process in education creates an awareness of customer
needs and significantly improves the quality of service by meeting and exceeding
expectation (p. 35).
As educational leaders acknowledge students as customers, learning as the product, and
teaching as service, the educational system is improving. While improvement is a slow process,
progress is discernible despite “a thousand points of noise”.
Service is an important factor in customer satisfaction. A study of 736 college students
by Browne, Kaldenberg, Browne, and Brown (1998) investigated satisfaction with a university’s
business education program. The focus of this study was the attention paid to ratings of services
and educational quality, and their relationship to students’ satisfaction, willingness to
recommend the institution and satisfaction with educational value received. The findings
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showed that institutions should focus not only on administrative and curricular issues, but on the
whole student (customer) experience.
Alif (1998) believed that applying TQM in education placed greater attention on
customer satisfaction. The many advantages of adopting TQM in educational institutions
include:
1.
Improved student services and increased student empowerment.
2.
Improved delivery of continuing and vocational education.
3.
Decreased compartmentalization.
4.
Improved delivery of instruction through new technologies with the focus on
mastering learning skills.
Lunenburg and Ornstein (1996) reported that the idea of quality improvement has been
implemented in Japanese schools using “Quality Circles”. The focus of these circles is the
customer (student). In a group of 12 members, new ideas are initiated and all concerns (i.e.,
curriculum materials, communication within the schools, instructional improvement, and
classroom observations among teachers) regarding the quality and students are discussed openly.
According to Schoenfeld (1992) there is a growing interest at Mt. Edgecumbe School in
Sitka, Alaska, a public boarding school serving mostly native Americans from Alaska’s
southeastern panhandle, to become a customer focused school. Deming’s essential principles are
being implemented at work, particularly in discipline and teaching. The change at the school can
be seen as:
More than 40% of the students were at risk or have had academic problems before
they came to the school. But as we shall see, Mt. Edecumbe can point to an
impressive list of accomplishments _ even academic one – which would indicate
that the school is adding immensely to the lives of the students there… The
students had done poorly on standardized tests, scoring in the bottom 30%. But
by the end of the school year achievement scores had jumped by a third. (Quoted
in Schmoker and Wilson, p. 129).
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