Quality management in universities: towards an integrated approach?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the thesis that universities are developing their different quality management (QM) systems comprehensively and integrating them in their broader management and governance systems, covering different processes, organisational levels and the principles of QM. Design/methodology/approach The empirical work is based on a country case study which embeds three paradigmatic university case studies. Data are obtained from institutional documents, as well as from individual and panel interviews. A content analysis using N-Vivo was undertaken. Findings Universities show signs of integrating QM in their overall management and governance framework. They develop their QM systems with a focus on teaching and learning, but they are increasingly trying to integrate their other processes. They seek to involve their different organisational levels, from the programme to the institutional level. Universities cover most QM principles, but show deficiencies regarding customer focus, mutually beneficial supplier relationships, involvement of people and process and system approach. Research limitations/implications The research shows the results of three paradigmatic cases regarding QM implementation, since these were the first to have their QM systems certified by the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education. In future work, it would be interesting to understand how other universities are developing their QM systems and whether implementation occurs in an integrated way. Practical implications The authors expect that the results will add to the discussion on the implementation of QM in universities, further contributing to the development of truly integrated approaches to QM in higher education. Originality/value The paper discusses the QM systems which are being developed and implemented in universities and analyses how integrated they are, as only those that are fully integrated will contribute to improve the overall quality of universities.

Sustaining ISO 9001-based QMS in higher education: a reality?

“…The study shows that the success of the university in sustaining its QMS depends on several factors: first, commitment from its people which include the management, academics and staff of the university. To succeed, top management must show their commitment and be aware of their roles in the QMS such as through defining the quality policy, mission, goals and also promoting a quality culture (Manatos et al, 2018), and then they have to communicate and diffuse these throughout the university. According to O' Mahony and Garavan (2012), leadership in the context of implementation process operated at a number of levels.…”

“…In Malaysia, the main reason public universities implement the ISO 9001-based QMS is because of the directive from the government. In Europe, the establishment of the European Higher Education Area and the creating of a common understanding of the principles and procedures associated with both internal and external quality assurance has encouraged the development of quality management in European universities (Manatos et al, 2018;Kohoutek and Westerheijden, 2014). Sayeda et al (2010) stated that the process aspects of QMSs embrace a variety of factors including self-assessment, internal audits, benchmarking, managing by process, measurement, information and analysis, and accreditation of the QMS.…”

“…It was found that the higher the commitment of leaders within the HEI, the faster the pace of quality management implementation and the wider its scope (Csizmadia et al, 2008). Top management in higher education showed their commitment by defining the quality policy and developing mission, values and goals and promoting a quality culture (Manatos et al, 2018) and then they have to deploy these vision, mission, goals, policy and objectives as it is inadequate if it is not diffused throughout the organisation.…”

The relationship between quality management practices, organizational innovation, and technical innovation in higher education

“…Based on a review of the literature, we identified seven common QMPs in HE as shown in Table 1. We have decided to include program design (PD) in our study as it has been considered a relevant factor (Asif et al , 2013; Álvarez-García et al , 2016; Manatos et al , 2018).…”

Development of dialectical thinking in students as a factor in improving the quality of higher education in technical universities

“…Natural science disciplines were considered, including physics, mathematics and computer science, from the point of view of their interconnection based on cross-curriculum communications [12]. The integrative approach was the mainstay of teaching cognate disciplines combining two or more subjects and their content; it served as an instructional time saver and ensured best possible acquisition of academic subject matters by integrating concepts as a factor in improving the quality of education [13]. In the context of inexhaustible informational and structurally organizational sources of instruction capable of meeting the requirements of a wide variety of educational models, complementarity theories in the process of instruction in higher school are being developed.…”