Training session in Quality Management Introduction

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Training session in Quality ManagementIntroductio
n

• Prof dr André Govaert
• Medjugorje 22 02 2006

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Quality Management

• Contents
• ? Quality concepts
• ? Quality Management in Higher Education
• ? Quality Manual

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Quality concepts

• Quality concepts
• ? What is quality?
• ? Clients of Higher Education
• ? Quality Management
• ? Quality dimensions

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What is quality?
Quality concepts

• No unambiguous definition
• According to researchers five different
  approaches
• Classical approach
• 1. quality as ideal picture (transcendent or
  philosophical approach)
• 2. quality based on measurable techniques
  (product approach)
• Modern approach
• 3. quality as conformity with specifications
  (production approach)
• 4. quality as suitability for use (client
  approach)
• quality in terms of performance
• (price/value approach)

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Clients of HE
Quality concepts

• Quality is determined by the appreciation of the
  clients
• What is a client?
• Clients are all persons directly or indirectly
  using or influenced by the services and products
  provided by an organisation
• Process terms all persons who consider your
  output as an input for their activities and
  processes (either internal or external)

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Clients of HE
Quality concepts

• External/internal suppliers
• Most important clients ?
• ? students
• ? the work field
• ? professor in the higher years, in continuous
  education
• Everybody is internal client of other staff
  members

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Total quality management
Quality concepts

• Five core concepts
• ? focus on the client
• ? quality improvement never ends
• ? quality assurance of the processes
• ? emphasis on prevention
• ? thinking in terms of processes
• ? final quality is the result of quality
  management in all previous links

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Total quality management
Quality concepts

• Five essential working principles
• ? leadership and engagement of the board of
  directors
• ? quality is everybodys responsibility
• ? encouraging of teamwork beyond departmental
  boundaries
• ? systematic problem solving and improvement with
  adapted means
• ? to measure is to prepare decision taking on the
  basis of data

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Total quality management
Quality concepts

• Five implementation characteristics
• ? formulation of a clear mission and vision
• ? drawing up of a quality manual
• ? education and in-service training
• ? delegation of responsibilities, decisions and
  liabilities up to the lowest possible level
• ? continuously asking the clients for feedback
  an operational system of consideration of
  complaints

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Quality dimensions
Quality concepts

• ? design quality
• the extent to which the design of a process or
  activity meets the clients explicit or implicit
  desires, requirements or expectations design
• all preparatory steps for the actual realisation
  or implementation needs, requirements,
  expectations design

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Design quality
Quality concepts
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Quality dimensions
Quality concepts

• quality assurance
• the extent to which the designed process is
  actually being implemented, so that the result
  meets the specifications from the design stage
• assurance quality requires quality assurance

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Quality assurance
Quality concepts
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Quality
Quality concepts
Expectations
Curriculum
Quality
Quality
Reality
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Quality dimensions
Quality concepts

• ? Quality assurance
• methods and techniques used to optimise the
  assurance quality
• all planned and systematic actions necessary to
  inspire enough confidence that a product or
  service meets the quality requirements
• Quality assurance system consists of
• ? appropriate procedures/agreements/regulations,
  describing processes
• ? verifying the compliance with the agreements
• ? analysing the causes of deviations
• corrective measures to remove the causes
• of problems

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Quality dimensions
Quality concepts

• ? quality improvement
• all actions that lead to an improvement of
  process quality, services and products
• for systematic quality improvement process
  knowledge, process control, client knowledge,
  regular assessment
• one should know where he stands, where the
  organisation is going to mission, objectives
• remark
• 1. improvement does not mean that it is bad now
• 2. priorities
• - importance
• - level
• - feasibility, time, money
• - psychological effect

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Quality management in HE

• ? advantages
• ? drawbacks and obstacles
• ? critical factors of introduction

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Advantages
Quality Management in HE

• HE
• ? comply with the legislation (external
  obligation)
• ? check external threats
• ? positive experiences pioneers

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Advantages
Quality Management in HE

• advantages that support the introduction in HE
• ? deeply rooted efforts towards quality
• ? experience in assessment
• ? high educational level
• ? long-term thinking
• ? immediate contact with clients
• ? high autonomy pedagogical freedom favour
  changes

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Drawbacks and obstacles
Quality Management in HE

• ? lack of knowledge and experience in TQM
  concepts
• ? drawbacks arising from the specific nature of
  educational process
• ? obscure client expectations
• ? lack of uniform interpretation of TQM jargon
• ? different views on educational objectives
• ? unclear relationship between TQM organisation
  and educational quality
• ? lack of economic motives

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Drawbacks and obstacles
Quality Management in HE

• ? resistance in educational staff
• ?high autonomy staff, limited possibilities to
  assure educational process quality, lack of
  efficient decision making structures
• ? ignorant, sceptical about TQM
• ? general resistance to changes
• ? fear to lose influence or autonomy
• ? aversion to additional work considered useless
• ? rejection of relevance of industrial quality
  concepts
• ? lack of receptivity to new developments

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Critical factors of introduction
Quality Management in HE

• external factor government
• will increase
• internal critical factors
• ? initial determination of clear objectives,
  mission and view at each level of the university
• necessary for the essential steering
• ? the internal organisations degree of
  professionalisation and efficiency determines to
  a large extent the power of the quality
  management
• ? without motivated and engaged managers and
  staff members it is impossible to achieve
  considerable progress by means of quality
  management

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Training session in Quality ManagementQuality
Manual

• Prof dr André Govaert
• KaHo Sint-Lieven
• Medjugorje 23 02 2006

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Description
Quality Manual

• A quality manual is a collection of documents
  that together form the establishment of the
  quality system of the organisation. It forms a
  manual in which the (quality) policy and the work
  manner in an organisation is discussed. It is
  also an essential requirement for systematic
  quality assurance and. In addition, when the
  authorities wish to introduce quality care in the
  non-profit sectors, they often necessitate a
  quality manual.

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Description
Quality Manual

• In most organisations the quality documentation
  has a pyramidal shape, as is shown in the figure
  below

Policy Management
Critical processes Procedures
Work regulationsSpecificationsTest and
calibration regulationsStandard formsOperation
and user manuals
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Why write quality and procedure manuals ?
Quality Manual

• determine policy, organisation and work methods
  (memory function)
• ? possess a means to guarantee continuity and
  uniformity in mode of operation
• ? possess a manual for training and in-service
  training of employees
• possess a good description of the current mode of
  operation that may serve as a basis for
  adjustments and improvements
• ? develop a reference framework that makes
  possible internal audits

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Why write quality and procedure manuals ?
Quality Manual

• ? possess a reference work on the organisations
  mode of operation
• ? possess a proof that may convince clients of
  the quality approach
• ? possess elements that may prove useful in a
  liability dispute
• ? last but not least, to be able to conform to
  the ISO 9000 certification requirements, the
  authorities or external clients.

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Typical components of procedure manuals
Quality Manual

• ? introduction (see general quality manual)
• ? description of the relations between the
  various procedures (optional)
• ? various chapters in which the procedure
  descriptions are grouped
• ? supplements with procedures (if limited in
  number and volume) such as work regulations,
  forms and other work documents

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Pros and cons of quality documentation
Quality Manual

• A well-conceived quality documentation system
  does the following
• ? makes the internal functioning more
  transparent
• ? makes possible internal audits
• ? diminishes the twilight zones and potential
  conflicts in an organisation
• ? leads to a greater motivation of the employees
  (awareness of ones responsibility and
  development of a quality culture)

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Pros and cons of quality documentation
Quality Manual

• A well-conceived quality documentation system
  does the following
• ? may serve as a reference for documentation in
  other domains (personnel, finances, computers,
  correspondence...)
• ? facilitates job rotation and deployment of
  temporary workers
• ? eventually leads to an increase of efficiency
  and a reduction of costs

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Pros and cons of quality documentation
Quality Manual

• Potential advantages also exist for the outside
  world
• ? a publicity advantage (especially
  certification)
• ? aura of quality image
• ? demonstrable proof of quality assurance (an
  increasing number of organisations makes quality
  demands on its clients)
• ? aid for other recognition forms
• ? for legal disputes
• ? trust of new clients

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Pros and cons of quality documentation
Quality Manual

• In addition, the following potential
  disadvantages and real problems must be pointed
  out
• ? procedures do not correspond with reality
• ? rigid usage of regulations (umbrella)
• ? excessive detail (paper mountain)
• ? high initial cost and time for setting up
• ? quality documentation is only used to obtain
  and preserve a certificate
• ? development of parallel systems (memoranda,
  memos...)
• ? detachment of other quality care aspects
  (safety, tidiness, environment care,
  maintenance...)