Total quality management in California public higher education
| Date | 01 September 2001 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880110399077 |
| Pages | 127-131 |
| Published date | 01 September 2001 |
| Author | Nael Aly,Joseph Akpovi |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Total quality
management in
California public higher
education
Nael Aly and
Joseph Akpovi
Introduction
Following the path of Corporate America,
many US academic institutions have
embarked on a mission to improve their
quality in order to remain competitive. In the
past ten years, many US universities have
become either partially or totally involved in
TQM implementation. Quality Progress
magazine reported that as many as 146
universities were involved in TQM in 1998.
According to Tuttle (1994), a growing
number of universities are embracing TQM
for the same reasons that led industry and
government to embrace it: ``Management
systems are outmoded and can no longer
ensure success in an increasingly competitive
world''. Oblinger and Rush (1997) observed
that:
. . . rising costs, reductions in funding and
fluctuating enrollments combined with public
demands for higher quality are raising a number
of questions on university campuses:
(1) How can administration be made more
effective and responsive while avoiding or
reversing staff expansion?
(2) How can the efficiency and quality of
instruction be improved?
(3) How can we appeal to a new generation of
students?
(4) How can we be more student (customer)
oriented?
(5) How can we be more responsive to the
changing needs of those who employ our
graduates?''
To address these issues and improve
performance, a number of universities have
started TQM initiatives. Bresler (1993)
explained that ``TQM's practical process-
based approach is attractive to many higher
education administrators who find themselves
increasingly challenged to offer a higher
quality `product' at a more affordable price''.
According to Vazzana et al. (1997), TQM is
widely practiced in higher education, and
even the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award, an internationally-recognized guide of
modern quality management, now has criteria
for educational institutions. However,
Karapetrovic et al. (1999) indicated that
without a methodical approach to improving
quality and profitability, and a focus on the
university system, TQM efforts may be
doomed for failure. Montano and Utter
(1999) observed: ``While implementing TQM
and quality improvement endeavors at
educational institutions can be difficult at
The authors
Nael Aly is Professor and Chair of the Management,
Operations and Marketing Department at California State
University, Stanislaus, California, USA.
Joseph Akpovi is a Business Analyst at E&J Gallo
Winery, Modesto, California, USA.
Keywords
Higher education, Total Quality Management, USA
Abstract
This paper investigates the extent of Total Quality
Management (TQM) implementation in two California
public higher education systems: the California State
University (CSU) and the University of California (UC)
systems. These two higher education systems include 32
statewide campuses with over half a million students and
27,000 faculty. A questionnaire was sent to all campuses
in both the CSU and UC systems. Issues such as TQM
implementation and the benefits and challenges of such
implementation are surveyed, discussed and analyzed.
This study reveals that more than half of the California
public universities are implementing TQM in one form or
another and the TQM implementation in the CSU system
is much wider than that in the UC system. In general, the
character of implementation is still limited to business-
type operations in universities, such as business finance
and administrative services.
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127
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume 9 .Number 3 .2001 .pp. 127±131
#MCB University Press .ISSN 0968-4883
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