TQM implementation and students' satisfaction of academic performance

The contribution of quality management practices to student performance: Mediated by school culture

School management is responsible and accountable for implementing educational policies into practice effectively and efficiently to provide quality education. Simultaneously, school management can grasp the core features of the whole school process and identify the relationship among three variables: quality management practices, school culture, and student performance. The current study aims to explore the school principals' perception about quality management practices and its relationship with school culture and student performance in the public secondary schools of Punjab province, Pakistan. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the study adopted an exploratory sequential mix-methods research design. The researcher conducted a systematic literature review of sixty-three previous studies and interviews with eleven school principals for the qualitative data. Based on results obtained from the qualitative phase, a questionnaire was prepared and dispatched to 150 school principals to get quantitative data. Successively 120 valid responses were received. SEM analysis was performed to get quantitative results. The study's preliminary conclusion demonstrated a positive connection between quality management and student performance in public secondary schools, and quality management was also a significant predictor of school culture. Further, school culture served as a complete mediator between quality management and student performance.

The impacts of total quality management practices in Algerian higher education institutions

Algerian universities rely on total quality management. TQM is one of the most successful strategic options for improving the quality of higher education. In addition, achieving academic accreditation and progress in international rankings. The study aims to address relevant contemporary issues by examining the impact of total quality management on the quality of higher education. The data were analyzed using a mixed-method approach; the study was done as a survey, with data collected via questionnaires issued to 610 students. The questionnaire included Likert scale items that were quantitatively evaluated and modeled using structural equation modeling (SEM) using Amos to accomplish the path analysis of the research model. Furthermore, qualitative data were acquired through interviews with 24 professors who are members of the Quality Cells, and qualitative data were evaluated using content analysis with NVivo. The study findings revealed that TQM has a direct and significant impact on the quality of graduates, scientific research, and community service in Algerian universities. The main results have been presented, and recommendations for future research are made.

QoS in higher education institutions: the concept, a literature review and future directions

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the meaning and operationalisation of quality of service (QoS) in the context of higher education institutions (HEIs).

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review of 167 articles published in various peer-reviewed journals between 1990 and 2019 is performed.

Findings

The findings reveal that around 40 dimensions have been used to conceptualise QoS in HEIs. Reliability followed by responsiveness, tangibility, empathy, assurance, programme design, academic and non-academic processes, reputation and facilities have received the highest attention. The most popular approach is empirical, and surveys and single-context studies are the most popular methods. The United Kingdom (UK) leads research on quality in HEIs, followed by the United States of America (USA) and India.

Research limitations/implications

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by presenting a comprehensive synthesis of articles addressing QoS in HEIs.

Practical implications

Policymakers and academic administrators can use the findings of this study to conceptualise student satisfaction along the educational value chain. The discussion on HEIs’ and students’ perspectives will help policymakers create teaching excellence.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by presenting a unified synthesis of various strands of the literature on QoS in HEIs.

Total Quality Management in higher education: a literature review on barriers, customers and accreditation

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the evolution of Total Quality Management (TQM) in terms of barriers, customers and accreditation in higher education (HE) over the last three decades (1991–2020) using literature review to establish the current state.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 137 articles across 55 journals were consolidated for this review specifically focused on TQM (barriers, customers and accreditation) in HE. The investigations were carried out to identify the chronological growth of articles, research streams and methodologies. The articles were classified based on four research approaches and three research streams which have been reviewed in detail.

Findings

Considering the rapid growth in the HE sector and the concerns over reduction in quality of education especially in developing countries, the importance of TQM in HE is immense. The findings include identification of the barriers to successful TQM implementation, the need for alignment of TQM objectives of higher educational institutions (HEIs) and identified target customer(s) with the selected model/framework and the impact of accreditation/certification in the attainment of TQM.

Originality/value

This study which tries to bring a perspective to the main trends in TQM application to HE with respect to barriers, customers and accreditation over the last three decades is expected to add to the body of knowledge in this area and help future researchers to focus on the relevant areas identified in this paper.

Development of comprehensive coursework of quality management in universities pertinent to the construction industry: a case of Pakistan

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to determine a comprehensive coursework for teaching quality management in the universities of developing countries i.e. Pakistan pertinent to the construction industry. Additionally, a framework was also developed based on the results.

Design/methodology/approach

Factors and course contents of quality management are extracted through a content analysis of the published literature. Further, a questionnaire survey is conducted involving 150 professionals to assess the requirements of the industry and academic professionals of the construction industry for effective quality management. Finally, for getting a more objective perspective, using quality function deployment (QFD) matrix a framework is developed.

Findings

The results show the level of importance of each design requirement. We can identify the design requirements through which we can fulfill the needs and demands of the stakeholders. Contents like benchmarking, supply chain management, six sigma and other data analysis methods, costing and auditing of quality, customer satisfaction analysis, TQM: theory and practices and ISO certification processes and procedures should be included in any course program related to quality management pertinent to the construction industry. Along with these contents, workshops and seminars must be arranged to address the user requirement for increased leadership and communication skills.

Originality/value

There is a lack of literature available on course content for quality management in the universities for the construction sector, therefore, a huge scope of future research in the field of quality management in the construction industry needs to be investigated. This research highlights the most significant quality management factors and course contents as per the requirement of industry professionals. Therefore, this study adds to the existing body of knowledge by developing a robust framework that will help decision-makers and top management to develop constructive quality management course work at university level that will help in producing qualified and trained quality professionals to the construction industry.

Developing quality label awareness index of helmet users

Purpose

This research aims to develop an index for measuring Indonesian quality label awareness among motorcycle helmet users. The index measures quality label awareness and its antecedent variables, which are the variables that represent marketing effort on promoting the quality label.

Design/methodology/approach

The indicators of the index were derived from a literature review. A survey was performed. The respondents are 487 motorcycle drivers and passengers helmet users in Jakarta. The authors conducted some statistical analyses, namely, exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach’sαanalysis, and multiple regression analysis.

Findings

A quality label awareness index was developed and tested. The index consists of quality label awareness and its determinants. The determinants are label marketing clarity and label marketing credibility. The research result showed that the index is valid and reliable.

Research limitations/implications

The authors performed the survey only at Jakarta using convenience sampling technique. Thus, the findings may not be generalized to other contexts. Given this, replication research is important to be performed in the future in order to test the stability of the findings in other contexts.

Practical implications

The index can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of quality label and quality label marketing programs.

Originality/value

This study is believed to be the first to develop and test consumers' quality label awareness index.

ISO 9001-certified public healthcare center’s efficiency and re-certification

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure the efficiency of ISO 9001-certified public healthcare center in Jakarta, Indonesia and examine the impact of “re-certification“ on the efficiency.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample of the research is 30 ISO 9001-certified district public healthcare centers in Jakarta. The data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the Man–Whitney U test were applied.

Findings

The research result showed that there is a variation in efficiency values of ISO 9001-certified public healthcare centers that this research studied. There are only 23 percent of the public healthcare centers that can be categorized as the technically efficient public healthcare center. Furthermore, this research also found that there are no significant efficiency value differences among the groups of public healthcare center based on the number of “re-certification” the center experienced.

Research limitations/implications

This research only involved ISO 9001-certified public healthcare center from Jakarta, Indonesia.

Practical implications

Registering ISO 9001 for the public healthcare center does not guarantee that the public healthcare center will have better efficiency. The government and the public healthcare center management should ensure that the ISO 9001 implementation method used by the public healthcare center is appropriate for improving the efficiency of the public healthcare center.

Originality/value

There is a lack of research that studied the efficiency of ISO 9001-certified public healthcare center. Furthermore, there is no research that investigates the effect of “re-certification“ on efficiency. This research fulfills the literature gaps.

The key factors of total quality management in the service sector: a cross-cultural study

Purpose

Literature refers to the key factors of total quality management (TQM) based on studies carried out in individual countries. However, few studies focus on studying the TQM factors in service companies based on multinational data. The purpose of this paper is to empirically identify the key TQM factors and their impact on internal and external customer performance measures across different countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The research questions regarding the TQM factors and their effects were examined using a sample of service organisations from three countries (131 from Greece, 70 from Mexico and 151 from Spain). TQM factors and their impact on employee and customer satisfaction were analysed separately for each country. Exploratory factor analyses, coupled with multiple linear regression analyses, were conducted.

Findings

The key TQM factors identified are common among the three participating countries and can be summarised as follows: quality practices of top management, process management, employee quality management, customer focus, and employee knowledge and education. The adoption level of these five key factors of TQM varies across service organisations in different countries. The results also confirmed that some of the TQM elements are antecedents of customer- and employee-focused performance.

Practical implications

Multinational service organisations may use such an instrument to evaluate TQM implementation among worldwide operations and then benchmark their performance. In addition, an understanding of similarities and differences among countries would help managers around the world to address difficulties of TQM implementation related to the country culture.

Originality/value

Previous studies have compared key TQM factors across different countries in manufacturing, but overall, there has been a little attempt in the literature to analyse the adoption of TQM factors among service firms, as well the relationships between quality improvement and performance across different geographical regions.

Evaluating comparative performance of Indian engineering educational institutes based on TQM criteria for internal benchmarking

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for designing a multiple performance measurement tool for evaluating, comparing and benchmarking the working of engineering educational institutes in a group based on total quality management (TQM) criteria and performance measurement criterion, respectively.

Design/methodology/approach

Proposed framework is based on fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) which takes in to account the fuzziness of human opinion for realistic outcome and generalization of the results. Based on the proposed framework a case study was conducted on engineering institutes of central India for collecting data and analyzing the current practices followed in these institutes. A relationship among TQM implementation criterion was developed, their respective weights derived and then institutes were ranked.

Findings

It was found that the rank of institutions based on both the criterion is same, which indicates that the institutes having better TQM implementation have better performance.

Research limitations/implications

The research in this paper is limited to Indian scenario; studies in other countries and sectors may be conducted to compare the results obtained.

Practical implications

The results will help policy makers in identifying institutions having poor performance in the region.

Originality/value

The paper is navel in its attempt to provide a model based on TQM criteria for evaluating the working of engineering educational institutes in a group in terms of their relative weightage and benchmark.

Determinants of effectiveness in public higher education-students’ viewpoint

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of effectiveness in public colleges of Punjab (India) from the students’ perspective and the impact of these determinants on the satisfaction level of students. The study further explores the difference in the overall satisfaction of students’ toward college effectiveness on the basis of demographic variables.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a survey approach. The sample comprises of 369 students from 19 public/government general degree colleges of Punjab (India). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) has been used to explore the determinants of public colleges and structural equation modeling (SEM) has been used to analyze the impact of these determinants on the satisfaction of students.t-Test and ANOVA have been used to examine the difference in students’ satisfaction on the basis of their demographic variables.

Findings

The research instrument has been tested for both reliability and validity. The findings showed that the eight determinants of the satisfaction of students toward public colleges, namely academic environment, college administration, students support services, learning material, infrastructure facilities, placement services, extracurricular activities and financial administration. These, eight independent variables have been entered into SEM. The SEM model shows that infrastructure facilities, academic environment, learning material, college administration, extracurricular activities and financial administration have a positive and significant impact on the students’ satisfaction. On the basis of demographic variables, significant differences in overall satisfaction have been found for gender and level of education.

Practical implications

Public higher education sector in Punjab suffers from many limitations. Students are the internal customers of educational institutions and their satisfaction toward higher educational institutions will make every learner’s mind and policymakers in the field of education think seriously about bringing reforms in the higher education sector in Punjab.

Originality/value

Punjab, a well-known state of northern India is a leader in providing higher education. But, it is a fact that public higher education sector in Punjab has been facing many challenges. Student satisfaction is the central goal of any institution and this research helps to develop new insight in the quality of public higher education.

Quality management and customer results: the tourist accommodation sector in Spain

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the critical factors of quality and customer results and also investigate the structure of relationships between the critical factors of quality, in the context of the tourist accommodation sector in Spain.

Design/methodology/approach

A theoretical model is proposed together with the hypotheses to be tested and the data obtained in 186 tourist accommodation businesses certified under the “Q for Tourism Quality” are analyzed, with the technique of structural equations models.

Findings

The results show that the antecedents of customer results are continuous improvement and quality policy/planning.

Originality/value

The practical implications of this paper focus on providing managers of enterprises of tourist accommodation with variables on which to perform in order to improve customer satisfaction; their leadership and commitment to quality are fundamental in the process of implementing the quality management system, which helps ensure that the company provides a quality service that influences customer satisfaction.

TQM and academic performance in Iraqi HEIs: associations and mediating effect of KM

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the associations between total quality management (TQM) core elements, knowledge management (KM) processes, and educational organization outcome with respect to academic performance (AP).

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on a cross-sectional survey design. The survey was conducted on 87 colleges in Iraqi higher-education institutions (HEIs). Four main hypotheses were developed and tested statistically by applying multivariate data analyses.

Findings

The results provided evidence that both TQM core elements and KM processes should be implemented holistically. TQM core elements have a positive and significant impact on both KM processes and AP. Moreover, KM processes partially mediate the association between TQM core elements and AP.

Originality/value

Empirical research on the association between TQM, KM, and performance is very limited. This study provides insights and further understanding of the effect of TQM core elements on KM processes and AP, and therefore, allows decision makers to get in-depth knowledge about these associations and the mediating effect of KM in HEIs context.

Investigating patient loyalty

Purpose

This research aims to investigate the simultaneous effect of trust, subjective norm, image and perceived risk on patient loyalty.

Design/methodology/approach

This research used quantitative research methodology. The authors surveyed the patient of a healthcare service institution in Depok, Indonesia, and 163 of the institution patients participated in the survey. Multiple regressions analysis was performed to analyze the empirical data.

Findings

The findings showed that subjective norm and image have positive influence on patient loyalty. However, this research also found that trust and perceived risk do not have significant impact on patient loyalty.

Research limitations/implications

The author(s) used convenience sampling method, and the sample only involved respondents from a healthcare service institution in Depok, Indonesia. Hence, the findings of this research may not be generalized to the other contexts. Therefore, we recommend further research to replicate this research to examine the stability of this research’s findings.

Practical implications

The research results show that subjective norm and image affect the patient loyalty. Thus, the management of healthcare service institution should consider and manage all of these factors proactively.

Originality/value

This study is believed to be the first to develop and test patient loyalty model that includes trust, subjective norm, image, perceived risk and trust.

Use of multiple methodologies for developing a customer-oriented model of total quality management in higher education

Purpose

– Educational institutes must embrace the principles of total quality management (TQM) if they seek to remain competitive, and survive and succeed in the long run. An educational institution must embrace the principles of quality management and incorporate them into all of their activities. Starting with a theoretical background, the paper outlines the results of a study conducted on both internal and external customers of the educational system, with select engineering and management institutes as foci of study. The study is an attempt toward developing an integrated customer-centric model of quality management in education, through the use of multiple methodologies so as to be able to evaluate service quality; prioritize improvement of service; and guide and develop educational services by incorporating the voice of the customer (VOC). The purpose of this paper is to establish the prioritization for improvement of service design of an educational system through incorporation of the VOC, be it internal or external customers, through the use of multiple methodologies, leading to generalization of results.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study uses multiple methodologies with various techniques for analysis through the application of the SERVQUAL; quality function deployment (QFD); interpretive structural modeling (ISM); and path analysis. The SERVQUAL was applied to identify the gap and determine the level of service quality. Following this, QFD, ISM and path analysis were used to identify the set of minimum design characteristics/quality components that would meet the requirements the various internal and external customers of the educational system. The QFD was used to identify the set of minimum design characteristics/quality components that meet the requirements of the various internal and external customers of the educational system. The ISM and path analysis were used to identify and prioritize the design characteristics/quality components that would meet the requirements the various internal and external customers of the educational system.

Findings

– The findings from the various techniques were amalgamated, and proposed as an integrated model of TQM in higher education. The study helped identify with a customer perspective, the quality components which would help design TQM for higher education institutions in India.

Research limitations/implications

– The paper could be useful to government bodies, funding agencies, policy makers and administrators in developing a system that could lead to satisfaction of both internal and external customers of the educational system.

Originality/value

– The study includes within its scope the varied customers of the educational system, namely, internal and external customers of the educational system; the internal customers being the faculty and the administrative staff, and the external customers being the students and the industry (as the employer). This is yet to be seen in other research studies. Also, the integration of the multiple tools and their application to the field of higher education in India, has not yet been made available in the literature.

Indonesian public healthcare service institution’s patient satisfaction barometer (IPHSI-PSB)

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a new public healthcare patient satisfaction index (PSI) in Indonesia. More clearly, the index measures overall patient satisfaction and its determinants.

Design/methodology/approach

– Literature review was performed to identify the determinants of patient satisfaction. Data collection was carried out by using survey with questionnaire. The survey involves 161 patients of one public healthcare service institution in Tangerang, Indonesia. The authors conducted some statistical analyses, namely exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach α analysis, and multiple regression analysis.

Findings

– A new public healthcare PSI was developed and tested. The index consists of overall patient satisfaction and its determinants. The determinants include the quality of healthcare delivery, the quality of healthcare personnel, the adequacy of healthcare resources, the quality of administration process, perceived value, perceived sacrifice, and image. Furthermore, the new index was called as IPHSI-PSB.

Research limitations/implications

– This research was carried out only in Tangerang, Indonesia and only involved one public healthcare service. Hence, the index needs to be tested in different cities in Indonesia. Furthermore, it is also needed to involve more public healthcare service institutions in future researches.

Practical implications

– Public healthcare service managers can use IPHSI-PSB to monitor, measure, and improve the patient satisfaction of the public healthcare service institution they manage.

Originality/value

– This paper has developed and tested a new public healthcare patient satisfaction index.

Factors influencing the behavioral intention of public transport passengers

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that influence the behavioral intention (BI) of paratransit passengers in three major cities in Indonesia, namely Bandung, Medan, and Surabaya. More specifically, this paper will examine the relationship between the BI and other factors, including satisfaction (SAT), perceived sacrifice (SAC), perceived value (PV), service quality (SQ), and frequency of usage.

Design/methodology/approach

– The empirical data were collected through a survey with 264 respondents. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

– SQ affects word-of-mouth (WOM) of paratransit passengers directly and indirectly through PV. However, SQ has no statistically significant direct effects on repurchase intention. SAC is proved to affect WOM and repurchase intention of paratransit passengers indirectly via PV. In addition, it is also found that SAT and frequency of usage have no statistically significant effect on WOM and repurchase intention of paratransit passengers.

Research limitations/implications

– The data collection using convenience sampling method as well as the use of small sample size caused the limitation of the research results in representing across all paratransit passengers in the three cities where the research was conducted in. This study can be replicated with larger sample size in order to examine the stability of the results in other contexts.

Practical implications

– The research results shows that sacrifice, SQ, and PV affect the BI of paratransit passengers. Thus, the management of paratransit service provider should consider and manage all of these factors proactively.

Originality/value

– The paper has established a BI model of public transport passengers that can help organizations to manage the formation of BI of their passengers. The model has some novelties, which are first, the model includes frequency of usage, second, it uses BI as a multidimensional construct, consisting of repurchase intention and WOM, rather than a single dimensional construct, and third, it also includes the direct relationship between SAC and BI (repurchase intention and WOM).

Patient loyalty model

PURPOSE

This study aims to investigate the simultaneous effect of subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and trust on patient loyalty.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

The empirical data were collected through survey. The respondents of the survey are 157 patients of a health-care service institution in Bogor, Indonesia. Multiple regressions analysis was performed to test the conceptual model and the proposed hypotheses.

FINDINGS

The findings showed that subjective norm and trust influence patient loyalty positively. However, this research also found that perceived behavioral control does not influence patient loyalty significantly.

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS

The survey was only conducted at one health-care service institution in Bogor, Indonesia. In addition, convenience sampling method was used. These conditions may cause that the research results can not be generalized to the other contexts. Therefore, replication research is needed to test the stability of the findings in the other contexts.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Health-care service institutions need to pay attention to trust and subjective norm to establish patient loyalty.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

This study is believed to be the first to develop and test patient loyalty model that includes subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and trust.

Quality models in industrial and engineering educational scenarios: a view from literature

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report a literature review which was conducted to trace the quality journeys occurring in industrial and educational scenarios.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the literature was reviewed to trace the efforts made to implement quality models in industrial scenarios. Quality models include International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 9000 certification, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA), Deming Prize and European Quality Award (EQA). Next, the literature was reviewed to trace the quality journey being undertaken in an engineering educational scenario.

Findings

Modern Engineering Educational Institutions (EEIs) are required to first accredit their programs by following Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)‐based stipulations. Then, these EEIs have to strive to implement quality models.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the low volume of research conducted, relatively very few papers dealing with ABET and quality models could be reviewed. However, the exhaustive review of most of these papers has overcome this limitation.

Practical implications

First, modern EEIs should gain accreditation to ABET and then strive to obtain quality models. This endeavour would make fresh engineers employable in industrial scenarios.

Originality/value

It appears that no researcher has so far attempted to examine the implementation of quality models in an engineering educational scenario. In this context, the results of the literature review reported in this paper could be utilized while implementing quality models in EEIs via ABET‐based accredited programs.