Total quality management in UK higher education institutions

Total quality management (TQM) is a management process that has made its wa y into higher education institutions (HEIs) in many developed countries. Fo r example, in the US, HEIs have been influenced due to the success of many large corporations. They were influenced by the critical state of education in the 1980s in terms of student grades, funding, and complaints from empl oyers and parents, Many institutions began to implement it in the early 199 0s and have been successful. in UK higher education, the progress of TQM is rather slaw, with examples represented by only a few new universities. How ever, these institutions have benefited from a TQM process similar to their counterparts in the US, such as improved student performance, better servi ces, reduced costs and customer satisfaction. The paper reports on the resu lts of a recent survey an TQM in UK HEIs. The authors examine how TQM princ iples and core concepts can be measured to provide a means of assessing the quality of institutions on various aspects of their internal processes. It is found that the measurements of TQM principles and core concepts, which are critical success factors, reflect performance of institutions. Arty cha nge in the performance of the critical success factors affects the institut ion's business excellence. It also provides information to the institution' s top management on its performance over time and in comparison with other institutions. The measurement method could be used by the quality assurers in the UK to assess education quality of HEIs.