A Study of Implementation of Total Quality Management in Management Institutes in Pune

A Study of Implementation of Total Quality Management in Management Institutes in Pune

1. Col R K Puni, Associate Prof. ASM - IBMR

2. Rakesh Bhati, Associate Prof. ASM - IBMR

Key Words: TQM, Management Institutes, Perception, Service Marketing

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on a study of faculty perceptions of the implementation of total quality management (TQM). Results of a survey covering Management Educational Institutes in Pune, providing quality education have been projected. Aspects discussed include, TQM deployment, tools used, successes, failures, benefits, and problems encountered. The majority of respondents indicated their institute's commitment to TQM but a significantly smaller proportion demonstrated notable engagement with actual implementation of a formal TQM program and benchmarked internal quality standards. Even smaller percentages responded to the use of TQM tools and quality-enhancing activities. Though some of the faculties agreed to the allocation of budget by the institute for development however the implementation on the ground does not seem to take place. Faculties strive to achieve academic excellence and share responsibilities to create an environment of mutual trust. The institutes make all out efforts to identify students' issues & handle complaints effectively. Most of the institutes have a formal evaluation system.

1. Introduction

This paper discusses the findings of a survey of faculty perceptions regarding total quality management (TQM) practices in Management Institutions in Pune region. TQM has preoccupied the attention of both business and academic communities, first in manufacturing and then more recently in the service sector. Today, customers have become increasingly discerning and are demanding high quality in products, services, and in life.

Institutes of the 21st century resemble a corporate organization. All countries are seeking to improve their institutes, and to respond better to higher social and economic expectations. With the changing scenarios and economy, the education sector no more comprises of the traditional institutes especially in the developed communities. Quality in educational institutes attracts as much attention as is the case of other service sector organizations. Most of the institutions are now a days opting for ISO 9001 certification.

This study focuses on organizations rendering services directly to people that are intangible such as the services performed by a school/college that are intangible and directed at a student's mind. This category of service is unique since the organization is not isolated from the customer - the latter must physically be present throughout the service act, unlike other sectors such as manufacturing. This intensive interaction between the service organization (Institutes) and the customer (Students) in person has profound quality implications for the organization. Ensuring quality and consistency in the service offering is a lot harder to achieve than in other sectors. The organization has no option but to rely extensively on the performance (skills, judgment, and training) of its personnel (Faculties) who render the service act. The disposition of employees (Faculties) assumes far greater significance for, as was so aptly put by some sage you can't get happy customers from unhappy employees.

2. Review of Literature

TQM has been used successfully in variety of organizations, including manufacturing and service organizations. TQM was first applied in industries. Colleges and universities have later gradually started applying TQM principles. Some researchers have documented the experience of ISO 9001:2000 certification and TQM implementation in some higher educational institutions. TQM is for achieving excellence (Jabnoun and Sedrani, 2005) and TQM is for continuous quest for excellence (Lakhe and Mohanty, 1994). TQM can be defined as a holistic management philosophy aimed at continuous improvement in all functions of an organization to deliver goods and services in line with customers' needs or requirements (Demirbag et al., 2006). Management Leadership is a key factor in the success of TQM in higher education institutions (Tari, 2006). When top management is committed to quality, adequate resources will be allocated to quality improvement efforts (Karuppusami and Gandhinathan, 2006). Naik (2001) has strongly suggested that brining quality movement through application of TQM in Indian higher education will result in global recognition. He further suggested that a law should be made to have quality assurance cell in every academic institutions like in UK. Madu and Kuei (1993) discussed the dimensions of quality teaching in higher educational institutions. They discussed the difference between Total Quality Assurance and Total Quality Management, and recommended changes to be made in colleges and universities in order to improve the quality of teaching. M.S. Owlia and E.M.Aspinwall (1996) first developed a new framework, in which quality dimension and its corresponding characteristics were identified. G.S Sureshchandar et al (2001) discussed 12 dimensions of quality management as critical for the utilization of a TQM environment in service organizations like Banking and non banking financial institutions, insurance, health care system and education. A conceptual model for Total Quality Control has been proposed demonstrating the relationships among its dimensions. Sangeeta Sahney et al (2004) explores that the quality of education is becoming important, particularly so in higher education, where the quality of process is the quality of output in the form of enlightened students who move out of the system

3. Objectives & Scope

The main objective of the paper is study of faculty perceptions of the implementation of total quality management (TQM). The three major aspects of the implementation of Total Quality Management i.e. TQM deployment, personnel and work processes and customers satisfaction have been studied in management institutes providing quality education in Pune.

The scope of this problem is quite large given that the service (education) sector has been growing rapidly in the recent past especially the Pune being the hub centre. This study seeks to establish the extent to which TQM has been deployed in education institutes in Pune region. Has TQM been embraced by educational institutes? The principal aim of the study was to explore the views and expectations of faculties