Benchmarking as an Instrument for Improvement of Quality Management in Higher Education

Abstract

Conditioned by globalisation and constant change, higher education institutions (HEIs) are forced to pursue new instruments for quality assurance in higher education. States seem to pursue this aim by attempting to create an efficiently operating system of higher education that satisfies needs of diverse societal groups. Quality dimension is the most important element of efficient and effective higher education. From the perspective of a state, assessment and monitoring of quality are instruments for the management of processes of higher education. The article substantiates these statements using the evolution of the dimension of quality in the European and Lithuanian higher education in the course of the Bologna Process. The article also presents a benchmarking method and discusses its development and application tendencies in business organisations. Also, it looks at possibilities to apply this method in higher education. The main aim of this article is to explore benchmarking as an effective instrument for the improvement of performance quality in HEIs and complement the already implemented quality management systems. Another aim is to suggest this method to national agencies for quality assurance in higher education for monitoring and analysis of qualitative changes on the systematic level. The object of the article is the improvement of performance quality in HEIs. Benchmarking is proposed for the use in higher education on the institutional level as an instrument that complements presently introduced quality management systems in Lithuanian HEIs. This way, it will contribute to the formation of the culture of quality in higher education.

Bringing quality management to perspective in higher education institutions’ research output: A focus on selected private universities in Nigeria

“…The result from the structural equation modeling analysis showed that benchmarking and self-assessment enhance the positive contributions of TQM methodologies toward HIEs' research output. Benchmarking as earlier stated occurs when organizations look out for key players in the industry who have made massive improvements over time, to understand their strategies and implement those strategies in their organization if possible [ 29 ]. The findings from this study align with Paliulis & Labanauskis [ 28 ] who asserted that HEIs that create high-profile research output benefit from intensive benchmarking of the global education industry leaders to understand their competitive strategies while creating their unique niche for effective performance.…”

Brand Name and Customers' Intention

“…This research proposes and hypothesizes the role of brands (with the dimensions of quality perception, brand image, integrated marketing communications) in shaping attitudes and influencing college consumer interest. The findings of Paliulis and Labanauskis (2015), indicate that the quality dimension is the most important element of an efficient and effective higher education both with regard to academic and administrative matters. The quality of services for higher education consists of seven criteria: quality of input, curriculum, academic facilities, industry interaction, interaction quality, support facilities, and non-academic processes (Jain et al, 2013).…”

Implementation of Benchmarking Method for Higher Education Institution: A Literature Review

“…With the presence of a quality assurance team in educational institutions, it is hoped to increase the level of institutions, so that this can be the purpose of the promotion of educational institutions (Kustian et al, 2018;Tijssen et al, 2009). (Paliulis & Labanauskis, 2015) also revealed that benchmarks are effective in improving the quality of performance in higher education institutions and can complement the existing quality management system (Hudson et al, 2010) research in Turkey revealed that there are no student mentoring standards in Turkish educational institutions, thus setting benchmarks for mentoring practices that can help teachers identify student needs so they can develop programs to meet their needs. participants can improve the quality of education in Turkey.…”