THE SURVEY AND COMPARISON OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN INDUSTRY AND EDUCATION WITH AN EMPHASIS ON PROVIDING STRATEGY TO IMPROVE HIGHER EDUCATION
D. Mohammadi1, K.L. Ahmad2
The total quality management is an inexhaustible improvement which could be reached by people. This approach results from the fact that quality is not gained through commodity and service inspection. The essential advantage of the total quality management is the quality which is dependent on work force.
The total quality management is defined as a team management method in which the quality of work is constantly improving and the management’s and work force’s efficiency is kept high.
The Iranian universities’ situation is in dire need of improvement in quality in the following issues: assessment process, acceptance and admission of students, increasing the interest in students, improving the syllabus and curriculum, increasing the pace through which educational services are provided, improving the workshop and laboratory’s conditions, improving teacher, staff and students’ assessment processes, improving the time schedule for classes, improving the motivation among students and professors to advance in knowledge, increasing students’ degree of involvement in fulfilling scientific and research purposes and goals, decreasing costs, and finally improving learning process.
In this paper, the necessity of using total management quality in universities and their application in teaching-learning process is discussed. Given the goal of total management quality to improve the quality of production system and producing a quality product, we compare it with the teaching-learning process and explain how the total management quality is trying to reach into those goals already set in the industry.
In another view towards the total management quality in this paper, the unending improvement cycle is considered in the production system which is exceptionally useful in education and training. As a matter of fact, it could lead the academic education system towards setting goals in which the improvement of quality is asked for so that students are motivated to think creatively and dynamically of the complex and variable issues of technology and research in the modern world. In this paper, first we take a look at the application of the total management quality in industry and compare Deming and Crazby methods together. Then, the general basic principles of the total management quality are discussed and the main purpose behind Deming and Crazby’s simplification of teaching methods in universities is discussed. Following that, Deming and Crazby’s methods in education are discussed. Eventually, a model is introduced in order to show how the total management quality works in higher education and how the major goals of TQM are realized.
Keywords: Industry, Education, Continuous improvement, Total Quality Management, Higher Education