Chapter One
The Study
1.0 Introduction
Total quality management (TQM) can be best defined as one of the key approaches towards realizing the goal of meeting customer satisfaction. According to Besterfield in 1995, “TQM defined as both a philosophy and a set of guiding principles that represents the foundation a continuously improving organization.” Moreover, he added that “management has to outline the quality goals, quality policies and quality plans so that employees are constantly reminded that the customers, not the product, is the top priority.”
TQM has been adopted as management paradigm by many organizations. As everyone clearly aware of the whole process of TQM whereby formerly it was only applied in manufacturing sectors most likely into supply chain, automobile, machinery, factory, and transportation. Many people only accept and realize that TQM can be just effective in services from manufacturing and industrial sectors. However, nowadays the process of TQM that being practiced by the business worlds for many years has also been adapted and applied in education sector. This is due to the existence of TQM in the education sectors to help education institutions change from traditional to modern management and be more effective. Education institutions such as schools and universities should apply TQM as a management process to ensure more productive and achieve the current requirements. In order to overcome the economic, social and cultural needs of a flexible management structure and implementation of more modern management as the trend now known as flexibility, portability and the ability to take advantage of modern culture.
So therefore, the objective of this research is essentially; to identify the general principles requirements for the implementation of TQM in SMK Taman Sri Andalas, Klang. As TQM is a philosophy of organizations, improves organizational performance and administrative. Based on the philosophy of W. Edwards Deming in year 2000, TQM is a systematic approach to education reform. Deming's work is not merely about productivity and quality control; it is a broad vision on the nature of organizations and how organizations should be changed. When educators look at TQM principles, they assume that the model applies only to profit-making organizations. Actually, TQM applies as well to corporations, service organizations, universities, and elementary and secondary schools.
Thus, this research supports educators in institutions to be aware of rapidly evolves and changes on schools’ tasks that day to day became difficult than before; so that it requires new development and methods for schools’ management system. So if that the case, this research is to pull in modern management approach for schools to adopt it. The concept of TQM is considered as one of modern management approach. Since before until now, there are still many schools carry out administrative traditional patterns on educational system.
1.1 Background of Study
The potential benefits of TQM in schools are very clear whereby TQM can help schools to provide better service to its primary customers; they are students and employers (School principal, teachers and staff). The benefit is also as the continuous improvement focus of TQM is a fundamental way of fulfilling the accountability requirements common to educational reform. Despite of that, operating a no-fear TQM system with a focus on continuous growth and improvement offers more excitement and challenge to students and teachers than an only good-enough learning environment can provide.
According to past research by Ronald Fitzgerald in 2005, he highlighted that in a TQM school, improvement teams and individuals (School principal, teachers and staff) are constantly working on improving service to customers (students). The concept of a service being "good enough" is considered inadequate. He came out with several areas that should take into reflection in order to implement TQM in schools. There are 10 important areas; awareness and commitment for everyone, a clear mission, a systems planning approach, teaming replacing hierarchy, enabling and empowerment replacing fear, focus on mastery learning, management by measurement, development of student TQM skills, a humanistic and a brain compatible focus, and a transformation plan.
Generally, this research aims to highlight general principles and requirements of TQM and particularly point out how the approach can be used to improve the quality of SMK Taman Sri Andalas, Klang. It is also to analyze each of these requirements and how those fit in the school that leads to upgrade performance of SMK Taman Sri Andalas, Klang.
Based on Jamal Ahmad’s study, published on early 2011, he stressed on, there are still many education institutions refuse to follow TQM process. They been trapped with organization’s traditions whereby the ways they work on education system is still in traditional way. Also, the author added in order to meet economic, social and cultural challenges require flexible organizational structures and an implementing trend of modern management approach characterized by flexibility, portability and the ability to take advantage of modern culture.
Alternatively, the concepts formulated by Total Quality Management (TQM) founder, W. Edwards Deming, have been suggested as a basis for achieving excellence in schools. It is an opportunity to conceptualize a systematic change for schools. Indeed, the concepts formulated by TQM founder, W. Edwards Deming, have proved so powerful that educators (school principal and teachers) want to apply TQM to schools. Deming's philosophy provides a framework that can integrate many positive developments in education, such as term-teaching, site-based management, cooperative learning, and outcomes-based education.
How imperative this study intends to create awareness for schools’ principals, teachers and admin staff to understand the importance of TQM. In fact, an effective TQM applies in school will help schools to achieve goal and vision successfully. By Implementing Deming's concept of adopt the new philosophy, it requires a rethinking of the school's mission and priorities, with everyone in agreement on them. Existing methods, materials, and environments may be replaced by new teaching and learning strategies where success of every student is the goal. Individual differences among students are addressed.
1.2 Statement of Problems
Based on past research (Dheeraj Mehrotra, 2010), it found that the concept of TQM was developed by an American, W. Edwards Deming, after World War II for improving the production quality of goods and services. The concept was not taken seriously by Americans until the Japanese, who adopted it in 1950 to revive their post-war business and industry, used it to dominate world markets by 1980. By then most U.S.
The concept of TQM is applicable to academics. Many educators believe that the Deming's concept of TQM provides guiding principles for needed educational reform. The Japanese transformed their economy and industry through a visionary management technique called TQM. School leaders are finding that TQM principles can provide the formula for improving America
The approach should be applied for schools in Malaysia
1.3 Research Purpose and Objectives
1.3.1 Purpose of research
Generally, the purpose of this research is to identify the requirements for the implementation of TQM in SMK Taman Sri Andalas, Klang and to analysis each of these requirements and how those fit reality in the school.
1.3.2 Objectives of research
There are three objectives of the study as follows:
1. To identify the leadership’s responsibilities of TQM in the following aspects:
-school performance
-educational quality
2. To identify the strategic planning undertaken by the school in implementing TQM
3. To examine relationship between the beneficiary satisfaction and quality service provided by school
1.4 Research Questions
1. What is the leadership’s responsibilities of TQM in the following aspects:
-school performance
-educational quality
2. What is strategic planning undertaken by schools in implementing TQM?
3. Is there any significant relationship between the beneficiary satisfaction and quality service provided by school?
1.5 Significance of Study
This research will evaluate the implementation of TQM that being executed or no implementation at all by SMK Taman Sri Andalas, Klang. In order to achieve the research objectives, this research also will focus on variables that cover on other requirements of TQM implementation. So therefore, this research will provide empirical data for other researches by other researchers with the same field and aspects in future.
Findings of the research will also give school’s principal, teachers and staff in SMK Taman Sri Andalas, Klang ideas and understanding of methods or techniques and suitable models and philosophy of TQM. Expectantly, this research can help school’s principal, teachers and staff in SMK Taman Sri Andalas, Klang to recognize the best TQM implementation headed for school excellence. Besides that, school’s principal, teachers and staff in SMK Taman Sri Andalas, Klang be able to improve the TQM implementation in order to deliver entirely benefits and satisfaction to their main client: students.
1.6 Research Limitation
1.6.1 Limitations in sample size
This study is based on only one case in one of the schools in residential areas in Klang. Small sample size to be used has no statistical support that will allow a conclusive decision or any generalization or the general results of the study was conducted.
1.7 Definition of Terms
Based on glossary of Reliableplant.com Total Quality Management also referred to as TQM. It is a philosophy that embraces all activities through which the needs and expectations of the customer (both internal and external) and the community, and the objectives of the organization, are satisfied in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible by maximizing the potential of all employees in a continuous drive for improvement.
Chapter Two
Literature Review
2.0 Introduction
Education in Malaysia is today found to be improved towards a global context. The quality of education in Malaysia should be at a global level for opening the eyes of the world that education in Malaysia is also not be underestimated. Not only the quality of education it can be seen at institutions that are generally known and recognized internationally, but each institution in the country should have had a very good level of quality and reliable. Supposedly, the quality of education in Malaysia must be consistent and applied in all educational institutions. It is not only applied in the universities in this country but also to all schools. As all know the basics of learning a student is starting from the school. So the government and the responsible party should have stressed the importance of quality in every school. Process of review and survey to each school carefully by government as to ensure that quality education is guaranteed.
Based on research by Murad Ali and Rajesh Kumar Shastri in 2010, “the importance of education for the development of excellence, expertise and knowledge leading to overall development in economy cannot be undermined. This has needed a sound strategy for the development of schools in almost all countries of the world. Establishing leadership in the world is possible only when we have a developed system of schools in which efficiency remains the sole principle to evaluate performance.”
The system of school is found successful in making available to the society a dedicated, committed, devoted and professionally sound team of human resources to decide the future of any nation. This is possible only when the principles of quality management are inculcated in the system of schools. Total Quality Management (TQM) is inevitably common factor that will shape the strategies of higher educational institutions in their attempt to satisfy various stakeholders including students, parents, industry and society as a whole.
There are also some ways for the implementation of TQM can also be seen through the concept of Deming's 14 principles and process of Malcolm Baldrige national quality Award. It found that the concept and prosess are successful for educators to achieve the true vision of the school.
2.1 The concept of Deming’s 14 principles
According to Fred C. Lunenburg, 2010 , the concept of Deming’s 14 principles are based on the assumption that people want to do their best and that it is management’s job to enable them to do so by constantly improving the system in which they work. The framework for transforming schools using Deming’s 14 principles follows as diagram below;
Diagram 1: Deming’s 14 point plan for TQM
In order to improve and transform schools system to better consistent, educators like principals, teachers, and staff can apply the Deming’s 14 principles. Every each of points is really comprehensive and gives best guidelines for educators to improvise the schools system to be more efficient and effective.
- Create Constancy of purpose
The purpose here means to improve product and service in order to make it clearer and should be shared by all stakeholders like principles, teachers, staff, parents and students. It aims to meet the customers’ needs.
- Adopt the new philosophy
The second principle here means the implementation of Deming’s work in order to thinking the whole again (rethinking) of the mission and priorities of school itself. It should come with new teaching and learning styles base on current approaches. In adopting the new philosophy in school, those existing methods, materials, and environments that being applied by school should be replaced with new strategies in order to address individual differences among students.
- Cease inspection, require evidence
In industry this was called as product inspection. According to Deming, it always costs more to fix a problem than to prevent one. Reliance on remediation can be avoided if proper intervention occurs during instruction. Examples of preventive approaches in schools include Robert Slavin's (2009); success for all schools,‖ James Comer’s (2000, 2006); school development program, Henry Levin's (1986); accelerated schools, Joyce Epstein's (2010); parent involvement strategies, Cara Shores’; RTI process, and the more traditional, long-standing intervention approaches: Head Start, Follow Through, preschool programs, and other remedial interventions. These intervention strategies can help students avoid learning problems later.
- Improve the quality of supplies
Deming’s thought that school need to move toward single supplier for any one time and develop long term relationships of loyalty and trust with suppliers.
- Continuously improve production
Schools should improve constantly and forever on every activity like teaching and learning processes. The process should be consistent with learning style theories (Dunn & Dunn, 1992; Dunn, Dunn, & Perrin, 1994), Howard Gardner’s (1994) multiple intelligences, and Henry Levin’s accelerated schools for at-risk students, educators must redesign the system to provide for a broad range of people like handicapped, learning disabled, at-risk, special needs students and find ways to make them all successful in school. This means requiring universal standards of achievement for all students before permitting them to move to the next level.
- Train and educate all employees
Training for educators is needed in three areas. First, there must be training in the new teaching and learning processes that are developed. Second, training must be provided in the use of new assessment strategies (Popham, 2010a, b). Third, there must be training in the principles of the new management system. For schools, this means providing continuous professional development activities for all school administrators, teachers, and support staff.
- Supervisors must help people
Supervisors here mean principles. Deming asserts that the primary task of leadership is to narrow the amount of variation within the system, bringing everyone toward the goal of perfection. In schools this means bringing everyone toward the goal of learning for all. It means removing achievement gaps for all population groups; a movement toward excellence and equity.
- Drive out fear
The focus of improvement efforts then must be on the processes and on the outcomes, not on trying to blame individuals for failures. If quality is absent, the fault is in the system, says Deming. It is management’s job to enable people to do their best by constantly improving the system in which they work. Fear creates an insurmountable barrier to improvement of any system. In schools, faculty and staff are often afraid to point out problems, because they fear they may be blamed. School leaders at all level need to communicate that staff suggestions are valued and rewarded.
- Eliminate boundaries
The barriers among staff in schools should be eliminated in order to achieve and create constancy of purpose for improvement of product and service.
- Eliminate the use of slogans
Implicit in most slogans, exhortations, and targets is the supposition that staff could do better if they tried harder. This offends rather than inspires the team. It creates adversarial relationships because the many causes of low quality and low productivity in schools are due to the system and not the staff. Typical slogans used by educators are; keep the main thing, the main thing. This slogan refers to keeping students the focus of all discussions. Another slogan that most teachers adopt is; all children can learn.‖ Slogans, such as these serve as targets in school organizations.
- Eliminate numerical standards
There are many practices in education that constrain our ability to tap intrinsic motivation and falsely assume the benefits of extrinsic rewards. They include rigorous and systematic teacher evaluation systems, merit pay, management by objectives, grades, and quantitative goals and quotas. These Deming refers to as forces of destruction. Such approaches are counterproductive for several reasons: setting goals leads to marginal performance; merit pay destroys teamwork; and appraisal of individual performance nourishes fear and increases variability in desired performance.
- Let people be proud of their work
Most people want to do a good job. Effective communication and the elimination of "de-motivators" such as lack of involvement, poor information, the annual or merit rating, and supervisors who don't care; are critical.
- Encourage self improvement
The principal and staff must be retrained in new methods of school based management, including group dynamics, consensus building, and collaborative styles of decision making. All stakeholders on the school's team must realize that improvements in student achievement will create higher levels of responsibility, not less responsibility.
- Commit to ever-improving quality
The school board and superintendent must have a clear plan of action to carry out the quality mission. The quality mission must be internalized by all members of the school organization (school board members, administrators, teachers, support staff, students, parents, community). The transformation is everybody's job (Deming, 1988, pp. 23-24).
The concepts formulated by TQM founder, W. Edwards Deming, have been suggested as a basis for achieving excellence in schools. It is based on the assumption that people want to do their best and that it is management’s job to enable them to do so by constantly improving the system in which they work. It requires teamwork, training, and extensive collection and analysis of data. It is an opportunity to conceptualize a systematic change for school districts.
2.2 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award process
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recognizes U.S. organizations in the business, health care, education, and nonprofit sectors for performance excellence. The Baldrige Award is the only formal recognition of the performance excellence of both public and private U.S. organizations given by the President of the United States. It is administered by the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, which is based at and managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Up to 18 awards may be given annually across six eligibility categories like manufacturing, service, small business, education, health care, and nonprofit organization.
However, it can also be used as a guide for schools to achieve a successful TQM concept. The Baldrige criteria form an excellent model of Total Quality Management (TQM). The criteria are divided into seven key categories:
- Leadership
- Strategic Planning
- Customer Focus
- Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management
- Workforce Focus
- Process Management
- Results
Nevertheless, in this research will base on the objectives and analysis or requirements of TQM according to Malcolm Baldrige national quality award. This is because the criterion of Baldrige promotes awareness of performance excellence as an increasingly important element in competitiveness. It also promotes the sharing of successful performance strategies and the benefits derived from using these strategies. However for this research, it will only be focusing on leadership, strategic planning and customer focus (the benificiary satisfaction).
Leadership
School leadership is the process of enlisting and guiding the talents and energies of teachers, pupils, and parents toward achieving common educational aims. A leadership principle would be the way leadership is performed within an organization. Or as itself the principles that people them should take the lead. In order to perform the Leadership Development directed to its goal one should first work out the Leadership Principles. Leadership principles should be in line with the basic values of the Organization. For leaders the leadership principles serve as a guideline. For the staff they are an opportunity to point their leaders onto non-conforming behavior. From school context, principal is the role model of leadership.
Strategic Planning
Strategic Planning refers to the entire set of processes and behaviors that an organization uses to identify, prioritize, focus, and schedule action in order for it to remain viable in the future. Most organizations including education institutions like schools, do a great job of planning, but they fail when it comes to plan execution. In order to understand the concept of strategic management, first we need to understand the literal meaning of the word “strategy”. The best definition of strategic planning is a plan of action resulting from strategy or intended to accomplish a specific goal. When an organizations including education instituitions choose to make quality a major competitive edge (differentiation), it becomes the central issue in strategic planning. This is especially reflected in vision, mission and policy guidelines of an organization.
An essential idea behind strategic quality planning is that the product is customer value rather than a physical product or service. This feat cannot be achieved unless an organization creates a culture of quality and no strategy and plan can be worthwhile unless it is carefully implemented.
Customer Focus
When we define Total Quality Management, the term quality implies the customer and the product or service being delivered to the same. Here we would attempt to understand the definition of a business enterprise in terms of its customers it serves in the marketplace. In other words, a company’s business is defined by what needs it is trying to satisfy, by which customer group it is targeting, and by the technologies it will use and the functions it will perform in serving target market.
For an education sector, the customers here are definitely students, parents, community, teachers and admin staff. So therefore, in this research as well will look on relationship between cutomers in school and quality service that being provided by school.
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter presents the research design used by the researchers in this study. It is presented in terms of population, sample and the sample selection, data gathering instrument, administration of the instrument and the data analysis process. This brief explanation provides a better understanding of the tabulated data that is discussed in the next chapter.
3.1 Research Design
This research would be of descriptive research since much of the data collection is based on questionnaires. This study uses quantitative method, which has been designed to get some reviews on a school principal, teachers, admin staff and students at SMK Taman Sri Andalas, Klang on their preference and perspective on implementation of TQM in their school.
The researcher designated a questionnaire consisting of a set of questions, which will be divided into four sections. In section A, the researcher will obtain demographic data of the sample. Section B is meant on leadership regarding responsibilities of a leader in implementing TQM in school. In Section C touches on strategic planning that helps in implementing TQM in school. Meanwhile, Section D will gather information about the beneficiary satisfaction (customer focus) towards their perspective on the quality service provided by school.
3.2 Samples
The target population of this study is including a school principal, teachers, admin staff and students. There are 50 respondents for this study. The sample for this study is selected by using stratified random sampling. Stratified sampling is a procedure used to obtain a greater degree of representativeness while decreasing probable sampling error. Stratified sample method is chosen to ensure an adequate number of respondents.
3.3 Instrumentation
The instrument that will be used to conduct this study is questionnaire of a five point likert scale which comprises of 34 questions in four major sections.
3.3.1Demographic Data
In section A, the questionnaire will investigate on the respondents demographic data. There are five questions will be asked in this section which is age, gender, current status (position), and level of education.
3.3.2 Leadership
In this section, the researcher will ask the respondents on their perspective on a leader’s responsibilities towards implementing TQM in school in order to maintain scool performance and education quality.
3.3.2 Strategic Planning
In section C investigates on strategic planning in implementing implement TQM in school.
3.3.3 The beneficiary satisfaction
In section D seeks customers focus, customers here are teachers, admin staff and students and to examine relationship between the beneficiary satisfaction and quality service provided by school
Basically, the questionnaire administered is meant not to burden the respondents since the respondents are known for their hectic schedule. The questionnaire is a straight forward task where respondents would only answer 34 questions that only take about 7 – 10 minutes to complete it.
3.4 Data Collection Method
Data collection is by the researcher at the respective school. Each questionnaire will be attached with instructions that clearly explain the purposes of the study and the questionnaires will be returned to the researcher as expected. In addition, the respondents will be informed about the objective of completing the questionnaires, the confidentiality of their responses and that the data would only be utilized for the purpose of this study.
3.5 Data Analysis
The data analysis will be conducted using SPSS to retrieve accurate number of respondents with respective answers that will be answered by respondents. ANOVA and T-tests also relevant to be used in this study as to identify whether there is differences opinions between respondents based on variable demographic factors. Besides that, pearson’s correlation will be used to see significant relationship between the beneficiary satisfaction and quality service provided by SMK Taman Sri Andalas.
3.6 Conclusion
This chapter will describe the research design that will be used in this study. It explains on the population, sample and sample selection, data gathering instrument, data collection method as well as the data analysis process. It is hoped that this chapter has provided a clearer picture on the tabulated data.
