Key Words: Quality management, Excellence, quality indicators, SWOT, Benchmarking
Introduction
Each people wants quality education. Quality is a dynamic idea. It can be used both as an absolute
and a relative concept. In absolute sense, it exhibits as highest possible standards which cannot be
surpassed. In relative views, it is a means by which the end products is judged to be up to standard.
Quality can be defined as that which best satisfies and exceeds customer needs and wants. Quality
education needs quality management. It shows conformance to specification and fitness for
purpose or use zero defects. It is the approach popularized by Peters and Waterman in in the search
of Excellence (1982).
Need and Significance
Each educational institution needs quality education for its progress. It depends on quality
management of the institution. It is observed that there are thousand institutions running in our
country, but a few are up to mark, some are running haphazardly and some are meant for
commercial purpose. If we want educational development of country for development of
civilization, we have to know the skill of management. We have to learn the strategies of
management, indexes of quality management and Road maps etc. for academic institutions. To
high light the above concepts this topic is taken.
Objectives
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To find the need of quality management in education;
To estimate the indicators of quality management;
To outline the strategies of quality management;
To design a roadmap of quality management; and
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To develop some suggestions for implication of quality management in educational
institution.
Methods
a) Indicators of Quality
 Discipline and Punctuality
 Cleanliness and up-keep of campus
 Excellence in academic achievement
 Excellence in non-academic achievement and
 Organizational Climate and satisfaction of the customers
The excellence in academic and non-academic components are tangible and overt, whereas
outcome in discipline, punctuality, cleanliness, and satisfaction are intangibles and covert. It is
important to say that concept of quality goes beyond conventional idea of performance in academic
ideas. Indicators can be quality of input like students, teachers, instructional resources, leadership
qualities of the principal etc.; can be process aspects of quality.
b) Strategies of Quality Management
The following steps may be helpful as a possible planning sequence which may be adopted in
any educational institution for quality management.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Vision, Mission and Values
Market Analysis
SWOT Analysis and Critical Success Factors
Corporate and Business Plan
Quality Policy and Quality Plan
Quality Costs
Evaluation and Feedback
c) Road map of Quality Management
Andy Frazier in his book named ‘The Road Map of Quality Transformation in Education’ suggests
six stages: prepare, assess, plan, deploy, sustain and breakthrough. The details are given hereunder.
Prepare
The first important component of preparation is Vision mission goals and targets. The vision must
be according to time (short term, medium term, long term) and size (micro, macro, mega scenario).
Vision has to be collectively developed or collectively adopted and accepted.
The second aspect is to build the quality teams. It will develop on the basis of project and project
teams. Involvement of everyone in the institute in the quality team is an important consideration.
The third element of the preparation is establishing the consistency of purpose. The entire
organization is to prepare to accept it as an ongoing process and the constancy of purpose must be
visible and articulated.
The fourth element of the preparation is to decide the level that is mega, micro, and macro and
within that area of focus of the exercise.
Assess
There are three steps may be followed in the process. The first one is to develop, adopt or adapt an
institutional evaluation instrument. There are good number of instruments available. Each
instrument has its strength and weaknesses.
The second aspect of assessment is to create feasibility of decision making on data and facts. It is
to examine the amount of data and facts that are available on record in the institute; and the quality
of data in terms of their reliability, comprehensiveness, and recently etc. The purpose of
assessment is to build a decision support system.
The third component is the SWOT analysis, where collectively the members of organization
analysis and understand the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of and to the
organizations. SWOT accumulates facts, feelings, perceptions, and understanding of
organizational and inter-personal processes.
Plans
A normal approach to planning should be to identify the possible methods and means to achieve
and also identify the person and the teams who would be responsible to implement the activities.
While activities are identified, it is a good idea to develop them in the form of project, since it is
time bound and goal oriented. The plan must indicate the mechanism of assessment, monitoring
and evaluation. It should indicate the involve teams responsibility, method of evaluation and
monitoring, midcourse corrections and re-planning.
Deploy
It is real implementation. Here innovation is installed into the minds of the implements as well as
in the organizational platform. Through this process the innovation may be tried out. This trial is
followed by review and evaluation. Here, the innovation may be reviewed in the basis of
experience and outcome obtained.
Sustain
After trial and evaluation, the innovation as well as the process of adaptation can be modified and
continued. This continuation itself is a sustained process of adoption of innovation. In this stage
innovation is internalized and it becomes a part and parcel of the organizational process and also
ethos. When particular innovation is internalized in a system it needs a different way of working.
As more and more innovations are internalized, institutions develop a new culture of change.
Beyond culture is ethos when change becomes natural and hence sustainable. This stage is linked
with next step breakthrough.
Breakthrough
Change as a culture as the ethos of an organization. There is no change permanent. It moves from
one level to another. It is visible more in the form of cycle where we move around two three stages
of planning, action, reflection and so on. This is a continuous approach of change and moving
forward.
Findings and Implications
From the above study it was obtained the chief indicators of quality management of academic
institutions, the various strategies for implicating of quality management, and a clear cut road map
of quality management. The study highlights a wider dimension for quality management of
academic institutes. These are experimented in various institutions having amazing result. The
teachers, academia, managers, educational institutions may implement it in their respective field
to reap the better harvest.
Suggestions and Conclusion
A good quality product depends on a good quality resources and management. There are numerous
educational institutions running haphazardly without proper management. Everybody in this world
needs good products that means quality or benchmarking standardized product. To harvest these,
it needs good quality management and resources. Now a day several models on quality
management are available. Some places resources are also available. The real lack is our sincere
approach of implementation. The more sincere we become in implementation the strategies of
quality management the more success we become to achieve our goal. All the stakeholders in
educational enterprises must be aware about it and adopt sincerely. Hope, the output will be
marvelous.
References
Frazier, A. Roadmap for Quality Transformation in Education, Florida, St. Lucie Press, 1997
Lindsay, W.M. and Petrick J. A., Total Quality and Organizational Development, Florida, St.
Lucie Press, 1997
Lessem, R. Hand Book of Total Quality Learning: Building a Learning Organization, New
Delhi, Beacon Books, 1997
Okland J.S. Total Quality Management, Oxford, Heivemann, 1989
Peters and Waterman, In the Search of Excellence, 1982.
Teeter, D.J. and Lozier, G.G. (eds.) Pursuit of Quality in Higher Education: Case Studies in
Total Quality Management, Sanfranscisco, Jossey-Bass, 1993