Critical success factors for sustainable improvement in technical education excellence

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to identify critical factors of total quality management (TQM), for use in a possible framework that addresses sustainable quality improvements in technical institutes as a plausible means of TQM implementation in higher education programs. Design/methodology/approach -The literature survey of the TQM and related quality methodologies and content analysis of TQM literature in technical institutes provide the theoretical and practical background for this work. The content analysis was carried out following the standard principles of deductive reasoning and subsequently, relevant factors were identified for implementations. Findings -Unlike the scenario in industry, TQM philosophies have to be adopted differently for a successful implementation in technical institutes. The identified critical factors of TQM and related quality improvement methodologies provide a comprehensive guideline for an effective and efficient implementation of TQM in technical institutes. Originality/value -This paper identifies the critical factors of quality improvement initiatives that are most comprehensive and have potential to address the quality issues of technical institutes. The critical factors identified in this study, offer a practical guidance for academics to implement TQM in technical institutes and can form the basis for delineating a mathematical model for these institutes.

Human Resource Abilities and Skills in TQM for Sustainable Enterprises

“…Responsibility with the TQM performance [27,[63][64][65] Support to improve the production process [51,66] Communication about the mission and objectives of the company [67][68][69] Quality policies and quality goals [70,71] Quality is the mean to increase profits [72,73] Dissemination of quality culture [74,75] Promotion of training and education [76,77] Training and education TQM courses to improve employee skills [78,79] TQM courses for managers and supervisors [79][80][81][82] Quality circle courses [79,81,83] Technical statistics courses [84][85][86] Financial resources for training [87][88][89][90][91] Courses on communication, effective meetings, and leadership [64,65,92] Courses on identification and troubleshooting [93][94][95] Employees integration…”

“…Promotion of continuous improvement [82,[103][104][105] Enhanced Production Processes [80,103,104] Cost reduction and its management [106][107][108] Higher productivity [109][110][111] Defect and waste disposal [23,51,104,109] Greater security for employees [23,51,109,112], [113] The final questionnaire is structured into three sections: demographic information, critical success factors of TQM, and benefits of TQM, which are answered on a Likert scale with values between one and five, where one indicates that this activity is not carried out or that the benefit is not obtained, and five indicates that the activity is always carried out or that the benefit is always obtained. This scale is used by Iqbal and Asrar-ul-Haq [23] to establish relationship between TQM practices and employee performance; and Singh, Kumar, and Singh, [33] to measure the impact of TQM on organizational performance in India.…”

Total quality management implementation, and its barriers in Education system

“…TQM advocates about the people development very explicitly because business excellence largely depends on the extent employees of an organization are capable in their respective fields. TQM uses employee capabilities in all activities and processes and makes collaboration feasible and real as comprehended [18,22]. It leads continuous improvement of the capabilities of the employees.…”

“…In a TQM effort, all members of an organization participate in improving processes, products, services, and the culture in which they work. As specified by British Standard Institution, TQM is composed of a "management doctrine and company patterns which intent to rein the human and material resources of an organization in the most efficient way to attain the goal of the organization" [15,22].From these definitions, it is easily possible to identify the essential characteristics as well as the significant offerings of TQM, such as: continuous improvement; integration of people, functions and resources; systematic and structured approach; quality control at every level of the organization and at every step of the operating process; developing human and organizational capabilities; efficient utilization of resources; people participation; customer satisfaction; creating a quality culture and so on.…”

Quality issues affecting organisational performance: a review of Indian technical education

“…Bobe and Kober (2015) found in an empirical study that effective management, coordinated research and networking are important for organisational success in the higher education. Sahu et al (2013) reported that the lack of research, poor infrastructure, non-commitment from senior management, lack of training and poor placements are the major issues for poor quality of technical education in India. Patil and Kamalpur (2012) explained that clear vision, management commitment, employee empowerment, continuous improvement and self-evaluation, teaching methodology and industry-institute interaction are the key quality factors which are important for organisational excellence.…”