Educational institutions like other organizations are realizing the significance of customer‐centered philosophies and are turning to approaches such as total quality management to help manage their businesses. This paper starts with the background theory and then outlines the results of a study conducted on students within selected educational institutions in India to obtain a student perspective of the quality of those institutions. The SERVQUAL methodology was applied to identify the gap between customer expectations and perceptions of the actual service received. The quality function deployment technique was then used to identify the set of minimum design characteristics/quality components that meet the requirements of student as customers of the educational system.

In keeping with the socio‐economic and cultural transformation that has placed newer demands on the educational system, in terms of greater responsibility and accountability and increased expectations by stakeholders, the system has been pressurized to shift its focus from one in quantitative expansion to one with emphasis on quality. Such shifts and changes are being witnessed not only in the developed countries, but also in the developing countries of the world. The education system, and more so the higher education system in particular, in an attempt to react to the demands and ever increasing pressures from its stakeholders, finds itself in a market‐oriented environment, with internal and external customers; wherein, “delighting the customer”, is the rule for survival in the long run. “Delighting the customer”, is the core message of total quality management (TQM) and, hence, there is a need to identify and apply the relevant concepts of TQM to each and every aspect of academic life; that is, to the teaching, learning and administrative activities. The paper is a theoretical attempt at conceptualizing TQM in education.

The past decade has seen a proliferation and mushrooming of a large number of educational institutions offering professional courses. With demands for greater responsiveness and accountability on the one hand and growing competition for students and resources on the other, the educational system in India has begun to realize the significance of a qualitative orientation, and commensurate to this there have been attempts to provide for better services, with 'delighting the customer' being the focus of all efforts. This has resulted in the need for identifying and applying the relevant concepts of Quality Management to Education. Starting with a theoretical background, the paper outlines the results of a study conducted on the students as primary customers to obtain a perspective on the Quality of select educational institutions. The paper is aimed at identifying the design characteristics of a system that would meet the customer requirements of the student as an external customer. Based on the literature review followed by a pilot study, the various customer requirements and design characteristics were identified and thereby, the variables conceptualized. The SERVQUAL was applied to identify the gap and determine the level of service quality. Following this, Quality Function Deployment, Interpretive Structural Modelling and Path Analysis were used to identify the set of minimum design characteristics/quality components that meet the requirements of the students as an important customer.

PurposeEducation is becoming much more of a “product” with varying customers and stakeholders. There are huge pressures to become more accountable and responsive to customer needs, and educational institutions need to become more efficient, effective and customer‐centric. Quality is fast emerging as a theme that is rapidly spreading within the higher education institutions. However, the emphasis has been essentially an external customer's perspective, i.e. an employer or a student perspective. The internal customer's perspective has generally been ignored. This study aims to examine faculty's, i.e. an internal customer's, perspective about quality systems in higher education.Design/methodology/approachThe study undertaken is exploratory and diagnostic in nature, aimed at identifying the set of minimum design characteristics/quality components that would meet the requirements of the faculty. An extensive literature review led to identification of variables that were pilot tested for validity and reliability. The empirical study was conducted across engineering and management institutions in and around Delhi, India, imparting graduate and post‐graduate professional degrees/diplomas with the sample comprising the faculty. Multiple tools and techniques were used to quantitatively and qualitatively arrive at a synthesized and integrated model of quality management in education.FindingsBased on the analysis of data through quantitative and qualitative tools, the study helped in the identification of quality components, which, if adopted and implemented, could lead to satisfaction of the faculty.Practical implicationsEmployee satisfaction is a major driver towards adoption of a customer centric philosophy by any organization and the educational system is no exception. Every organization should consider the requirements of their employees and initiate measures to meet them so as to cultivate employee satisfaction.Originality/valueWhile quality management in higher education has been a focus of research all over the world, the vast array of literature illustrates that research has essentially focused on the external customer of the educational system. The study was conducted with the objective of obtaining an internal customers' perspective by focusing on the faculty and proposing an integrated framework for quality management in education.

PurposeThe Indian higher educational system is one of the largest in the world. Besides, the growth of students and universities, the range of disciplines and universities in professional and vocational education has greatly increased. With the sudden immense growth of the educational institutes all over the country, educational institutions must improve the quality of their services to compete and achieve a leading position. Orientation towards quality and competitiveness in higher education in India has thus started gaining the attention of the policy makers, educational planners, and administrators as also the various stakeholders of the educational system. With the internal and external stakeholders becoming more demanding in a gradually liberalizing Indian economy, the issues related to quality need to be addressed from varying perspectives on the very conceptualization, implementation, and assessment. Starting with a theoretical background, the purpose of this paper is to present the results of an empirical study conducted on the administrative staff, so as to obtain the internal customer's perspective on quality.Design/methodology/approachBased on the literature review followed by a pilot study and an earlier study based on the quality function deployment technique, certain elements critical to quality management in education are identified. Thereafter, the interpretive structural modeling (ISM) technique is applied.FindingsThe ISM technique helps prioritize the strategic issues in quality assessment qualitatively, so as to propose a hierarchical structure through prioritizing, sequencing, and categorizing of ideas. The elements are classified as drivers, enablers and dependents, and the hierarchically structured.Practical implicationsThe adoption of such a framework in educational institutions would lead to the creation of an environment where the administrative staff would be satisfied and in turn, be able to deliver quality service to the other customers and stakeholders.Originality/valueAn implementation of the integrated framework of such critical components can help policy makers, educational planners, and administrators as also the various stakeholders of the educational system contribute towards growth, success and survival in the rapidly changing environment.