Institutional performance in higher education: is quality a relevant concept?
| Pages | 156-165 |
| Date | 01 September 1999 |
| Published date | 01 September 1999 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684889910281719 |
| Author | James Pounder |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Institutional
performance in higher
education: is quality a
relevant concept?
James Pounder
Introduction
A major development in higher education
worldwide over the past two decades has been
the preoccupation with institutional perfor-
mance evaluation. Institutions of higher
education have increasingly come under Gov-
ernmental and societal pressure to
demonstrate value for money performance
(Goedegebuure et al., 1990; Liaison Commit-
tee of Rectors, 1993; Lucier, 1992; Pounder,
1997; Segers et al., 1990; Sizer et al., 1992).
One outcome of this pressure has been an
attempt by higher education to apply industrial
concepts, formulae and techniques to the
management of higher learning establish-
ments. Following the trend in industry, higher
education has chosen to base its performance
assessment initiatives on the notion of quality.
Quality, however, is a notoriously ambiguous
term. In the commercial world where the
notion should be at home, it defies generally
agreed definition (Garvin, 1988). Equally, a
number of writers in the higher education field
have recognised how indeterminate the quality
concept is when applied to higher education
(Bauer, 1992; Staropoli, 1992; Liaison Com-
mittee of Rectors' Conferences, 1993;
Vroeijenstijn, 1992; Williams, 1990). The
ambiguous nature of quality has been empha-
sised by Reeves and Bednar (1994, p. 441),
who have traced the evolution of quality
definitions and have reached the following
conclusion: ``The search for a universal defi-
nition of quality and a statement of lawlike
relationships has been unsuccessful''.
This paper describes a study which tested
the relevance of quality to institutional per-
formance assessment in higher education.
The study was conducted in the Hong Kong
higher educational system and was completed
in August 1997. Data collection took place at
a time when the Hong Kong higher educa-
tional system comprised only nine accredited
higher educational institutions and seven of
the nine institutions participated in the study.
Hong Kong, following the general trend, has
quality at the centre of institutional perfor-
mance assessment in higher education. Hong
Kong higher educational institutions are
mandated to demonstrate their effectiveness
by a system which emphasises ``quality''
performance through self assessment and peer
review (Pounder, 1997).
The study developed a set of organisational
effectiveness self rating scales for Hong Kong
The author
James Pounder is Associate Professor of Management
at Lingnan College, in Hong Kong.
Keywords
Quality, Organizational effectiveness,
Higher education, Performance measurement,
Behaviourally-anchored ratings scale
Abstract
Over the past two decades, institutions of higher
education worldwide have come under pressure to
demonstrate effective performance. Their response has
been to borrow the quality concept from industry and
place it at the centre of institutional performance
assessment in higher education. This article describes a
Hong Kong study which developed valid and reliable
organisational effectiveness self rating scales for higher
educational institutions. In the course of developing these
scales, the relevance of quality to institutional perfor-
mance assessment was examined. In failing to produce a
valid and reliable effectiveness scale for a quality
dimension, the study highlighted the shortcomings of the
quality concept particularly as a basis for the comparative
assessment of institutional performance. The study also
indicated a methodology for identifying concepts which
may provide a firmer base than quality for such
comparisons.
156
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume 7 .Number 3 .1999 .pp. 156±163
#MCB University Press .ISSN 0968-4883
To continue reading
Request your trial