Quality Management Theory Research Articles

Evolution of management theories

This paper examines critically the evolution of management theories and how they have informed the supervisory practices of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Programme in Zimbabwe. The paper identifies a number of management theories that have influenced the supervision of the ECD Programme in Zimbabwe. Theories that have been found to have greatly informed the supervision of the ECD Programme in Zimbabwe include Scientific Management, Systems and Contingency. However, the Bureaucratic Management, Administrative, Human Relations, Total Quality Management, Learning Organisation and Re-engineering theories have had some influence on the supervision of the ECD Programme. The paper was a desk review. Unlike others, the study established that the Quantitative Theory of Management was not as influential in the supervision of ECD because of the view held by most supervisors that managerial decisions and the nature of the ECD Programme itself cannot be quantified. The paper concludes that supervisory practices at any given point in time are indicative of the influences of the management thought prevalent during such a period and the human element in place. An important issue that emerged is that, even when and where new theories tend to be more pervasive, the influences of the already existing ones remain visible and influential to some extent.

Students' Perception of Quality of Lecture Hall Resources Used in Teacher Education Programmes in the Universities in Nakuru County, KENYA.

Quality of Lecture Hall Resources usedin teacher education programs is central to provision of quality education in the universities in Kenya and other world nations. This research study is informed by the claim that quality of lecture hall resources used in teacher education programmes is low in the universities in Nakuru County, Kenya. The objective of this research study was therefore to determine how students enrolled in teacher education programmes actually perceive  quality of lecture hall resources in the universities in Nakuru County, Kenya. This study was premised on the Theory of Total Quality Management by Deming and Attributive Theory of Quality of Higher Education. The researcher adopted the cross-sectional survey research design. Data was collected from a study populationof 310 obtained from a total of 6 universities (Private and Public Chartered Universities) offering teacher education programmes. Stratified, purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used. Sample size was 257 respondents. Using Test Retest method, the questionnaire scored 0 .8 reliability coefficient. Instrument was validated and piloted. Data from students’ questionnaires were analyzed using statistical tools in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations were calculated. One- way Analysis of Variance, Post Hoc Test, T-tests were carried out to measure significant differences between means of samples. The study found out thatPrivate Y students (mean=3.26) perceived that quality attributes of Lecture Hall resources are  frequently available. Public Q (mean=3.12), Private X (mean=3.09) and Public P (mean=2.58) also reports that quality attributes of Lecture Hall resources are frequently available. This means that Private Y and Public Q leads in the prevalence of quality attributes of Lecture Hall resources. Students’ Perceived that Quality of Lecture Halls Resource was better in private universities (M = 3.17, SD = 0.60) than in public universities (M = 2.79, SD = 0.73). The results further indicate that the difference between the two means was statistically significant, t (225) = 4.263, p<.05). This is an indication that quality of lecture hall resources in private universities was higher than those of public universities. These findings could inform policy formulation on provision of quality Lecture Halls Resource in the universities offering teacher education programmes.The study recommends that universities should prioritize provision of quality lecture hall resources with a view to improving quality of teacher education programmes. All ethical concerns and procedures were observed.

Quality management vision of future early career operations managers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the gap between the current vision and knowledge of future early career operations managers (OM) and a common strategic total quality management (TQM) framework.Design/methodology/approachA survey questionnaire and a non-parametric test for different groups of participants were adopted to identify the gap and analyse the significance of these groups on the factors in the TQM framework.FindingsA new set of TQM factors with the necessity of more knowledge and understanding of future generation were identified, followed by the identification of clear differences amongst different groups of this generation.Practical implicationsA sustainable OM practice needs managers and leaders with a sustainable knowledge development of quality management (QM); and as the result of this study, the current vision of future young OM would not echo this.Originality/valueThis study has a systematic, non-parametric approach towards currently fragmented QM analysis, and is integrated with human resource and visionary elements of future young OM and universal QM models and theories.

Educational leadership and total quality management: investigating teacher leadership styles

This paper aims to investigate an important aspect of quality management in education - teacher leadership styles - as practiced by Greek secondary education teachers. A survey questionnaire was used based on a model developed by Giannias and Sfakianaki in 2016, which progresses the research originally undertaken by Blake and Mouton. A sample of 138 teachers provided their perceptions on the leadership styles they adopt. The study integrates leadership and quality management theories and explores teacher leadership styles in the Greek secondary educational system. Teachers can use their personal results for self-assessment and reflection as part of the total quality management process.

Educational leadership and total quality management: investigating teacher leadership styles

This paper aims to investigate an important aspect of quality management in education - teacher leadership styles - as practiced by Greek secondary education teachers. A survey questionnaire was used based on a model developed by Giannias and Sfakianaki in 2016, which progresses the research originally undertaken by Blake and Mouton. A sample of 138 teachers provided their perceptions on the leadership styles they adopt. The study integrates leadership and quality management theories and explores teacher leadership styles in the Greek secondary educational system. Teachers can use their personal results for self-assessment and reflection as part of the total quality management process.

Theory and Practice of Quality Management in Lifelong Learning at a Public University

The core issue of this paper is a quality in the lifelong learning. The aim of the contribution is to describe the area, level and dimensions of quality in a wide range of lifelong learning programs, respectively of further education, which are realized in the sense of § 60 and 60a of the Higher Education Act. The content of the paper also focuses on the theoretical and practical starting points of the quality phenomenon, both from the historical point of view and especially from the perspective of the current focus and concept of university policy in the European and Czech region. The paper also presents the results of a survey focusing on approaches to the quality assurance systems in the concept of components at selected public university.

Building supply chain quality management theory from case study in China

In view of the inconsistency on the definition and key components of supply chain quality management (SCQM), this study is conducted to make up the deficiency. The research team collected the data using semi-structural interviews of four supply chains from food, toy, automobile and pharmaceutical industries in China. Based on within- and cross-case analysis, six key components of SCQM (supply chain leadership on quality, internal quality integration, strategic supply chain design for quality, upstream quality management system, downstream quality management system and product recall system) were identified. Finally, a definition and its holistic framework of SCQM were proposed. Compared with the existing research, the components identified in this study were more comprehensive, and it can facilitate the operationalisation of the construct and help to develop a high quality measurement scale. Practically, the SCQM framework proposed in this study will provide guidelines for the managers to build up an effective SCQM system.

Building supply chain quality management theory from case study in China

In view of the inconsistency on the definition and key components of supply chain quality management (SCQM), this study is conducted to make up the deficiency. The research team collected the data using semi-structural interviews of four supply chains from food, toy, automobile and pharmaceutical industries in China. Based on within- and cross-case analysis, six key components of SCQM (supply chain leadership on quality, internal quality integration, strategic supply chain design for quality, upstream quality management system, downstream quality management system and product recall system) were identified. Finally, a definition and its holistic framework of SCQM were proposed. Compared with the existing research, the components identified in this study were more comprehensive, and it can facilitate the operationalisation of the construct and help to develop a high quality measurement scale. Practically, the SCQM framework proposed in this study will provide guidelines for the managers to build up an effective SCQM system.

Influence of Organisational Resources on Performance of ISO Certified Organisations in Kenya

This study aimed at examining the influence of organisational resources on organisational performance of International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) certified organisations in Kenya. The study was based on Total Quality Management (TQM) theory. A cross-sectional research survey design was adopted. Primary data was collected from a sample of 282 ISO certified organisations by use of a questionnaire, and secondary data was obtained from financial statements of 27 ISO certified organizations sampled. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze proportions of the variables and multiple regression model was used to estimate the effect of organisational resources on the performance of ISO certified organizations. The findings show that abundant organisational resources reduce performance. The study, therefore recommends that the management of ISO certified organisations should employ limited organisation resources available efficiently and train their staff in managerial skills in order to improve performance of their organizations.

Research on Decision-making of Green Reverse Logistics in Enterprises: A Case Study on Electronic Products Manufacturers from the Perspective of South Africa

In recent years, the environmental problems caused by the traditional implementation of reverse logistics enterprises have become more and more serious. Especially for the enterprises of electronic products, the heavy metal pollution problems caused by the waste of electronic products have made more and more enterprises and researchers begin to seek a green approach. Based on the idea of “Cradle to Cradle” industry model, by the use of relevant theory of activity-based costing and quality management theory, the conceptual model of decision-making of reverse logistics activities for the electronic products manufacturing enterprises will be established; to decrease the influence on environment when implementing reverse logistics activities.

Основные аспекты методологии системы менеджмента качества

This article describes the formation and development of quality management as an integrated system. The author considers the theory and methodology of quality management since the early XXth century to the present day and describes the main problems encountered in the process of quality management system, as well as the ways to overcome them.

Assessment of the quality of educational portals

The article describes the results of theoretical and experimental studies on the evaluation of the quality of educational information placed on information and educational portals. The methodology allows you to compare not only portals, but also the results of training on exam scores and test scores. The methodological basis of the assessment is the cognitive approach and the negentropic approach. The article gives a comparison of entropy and negentropy. On the basis of comparison, the authors propose a negentropic approach to assessing the quality of educational resources obtained as a result of information retrieval. The search results are evaluated by cognitive and perpetual scores. Estimates are introduced into the entropy formula and converted to the formula of negentropy. The negentropic approach serves as the basis for calculating the statistical amount of information obtained as a result of information retrieval. The cognitive approach serves as a basis for assessing the qualitative characteristics of educational information, such as: visibility, perceptibility, interpretability. Open information portalsare the source of educational resources. The article shows that modern information portals are often clogged with unreliable or unnecessary information, which makes it difficult to find relevant educational information. In contrast to the widespread methods for one relevanceassess of the information retrieval, this article differentiates the notion of the relevance of the information retrieval. The article introduces three qualitatively different notions of relevance: formal, semantic and perpetual – relevance. The article introduces new additional characteristics of the quality of information search, the coefficient of cognition and the coefficient of perpetuation. These coefficients are introduced into the formula for estimating entropy and obtain the cognitive-entropy formula. As a result, a new method for assessing the content of educational information was proposed, based on a new characteristic – cognitive-entropy. The cognitive entropy formula, unlike the entropy formula, allows us to estimate not a statistical amount of information, but a useful amount of information that satisfies the information need of the user. The article describes the results of a mass experiment involving students, bachelors and masters, including studies of a number of educational and public information portals. The number of requests to one portal exceeded 2500. This allowed us to obtain reliable statistical data for assessing the quality of the educational resources of the portal. The results of the experiment made it possible to classify portals according to their degree of suitability for obtaining educational resources. Limit cognitive entropy curves have been introduced, which can be regarded as analogues of the upper and lower boundaries in Shewhart charts, which are used in the theory of quality management. Shewhartchartsare used for a simple statistical evaluation of product quality. Limit cognitive entropy curves are used for qualitative and statistical evaluation of educational information on information portals. The method of estimating cognitive entropy is an author’s development. It allows you to estimate the amount of information not by the information volume, but by the quality of the necessary information, that satisfies the information requests of the user of educational resources. Based on the experiment, the portability or usability of portals for educational purposes were shown. If the results of calculating the conceptual curve of the portal lie below the lower limit curve of two, then such an educational portal is not suitable for educational purposes.

Is personality a key element of Six Sigma project success?

Many quality improvement techniques, including Six Sigma, rely on teamwork. Little of the research on personality and teams has been incorporated into quality management theory and practice. This paper summarises the pertinent personality literature with Six Sigma research and describes the results of a multiple-case study. Two new personality variables relating to openness to new experiences and conscientiousness were found to have a potentially strong impact on project success. Also, a new variable that can be described as the overall level of creativity in the project team was determined to have significant potential. Finally, this work further confirms the critical nature of project complexity, project uncertainty, and team leadership to project success.

Is personality a key element of Six Sigma project success?

Many quality improvement techniques, including Six Sigma, rely on teamwork. Little of the research on personality and teams has been incorporated into quality management theory and practice. This paper summarises the pertinent personality literature with Six Sigma research and describes the results of a multiple-case study. Two new personality variables relating to openness to new experiences and conscientiousness were found to have a potentially strong impact on project success. Also, a new variable that can be described as the overall level of creativity in the project team was determined to have significant potential. Finally, this work further confirms the critical nature of project complexity, project uncertainty, and team leadership to project success.

Coaching for Monitoring Education Quality and Quality Assurance of Modular Education Program Based on Public-Private Partnership

A new stage in the development of quality management theory was the transition to knowledge management. Coaching is considered an important instrument of influence on the performance of individuals and the organization as a whole in terms of knowledge management. Modern management in the coaching style gives priority to look at employees as the main resource of the organization. The paper presents the analysis of the literature devoted to coaching development in Russia. The study was conducted based on the dualism of coaching, considered as an activity and as training. The paper focuses on coaching for monitoring the quality of education and education quality assurance of the modular education program implemented through public-private partnership, which also becomes the subject of coaching. The first part of the study was conducted using content analysis helping to identify and organize all mentions of coaching. The second part of the study was aimed at clarifying the role of the coach/organization. The paper identifies the major problems encountered in the coaching practice. The study covers two issues: (1) comparison of different approaches to the understanding of coaching, justification of the use of concept of “coaching” as a theoretical construct; (2) clarification of the role and purpose of “coach” in relation to the problematic field: expertise, accreditation, supervision, outsourcing and quality control. The article describes the experience of the Transbaikal State University in cooperation with coaching organizations and shows the specifics of public-private partnership regulation on the following levels: state, society, company, employer and high school.

Research on the hospital management system in view of total quality management

Hospital TQM system is designed to fit China′s specifics, based on the Total Quality Management(TQM)theory and integrating the system theory concepts, comprising two structural modules of perceived quality and non-perceived quality.The former is a trinity framework made up of patient satisfaction, employee commitment and social reputation, while the latter is a management system featuring Six pillars and six columns , constituting a three-dimensional management for integrated operation and integration of the hospital. Key words: Total quality management; Perceived quality; Non-perceived quality; Management system

Leadership for change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the scope of application of systems thinking and cybernetics for change management by presenting the case of a private university of Pakistan. Six Sigma has been tested as a possible solution to the problems faced by the institution. Design/methodology/approach – Stafford Beer’s approach of running the system on trial at five levels has been used to estimate system’s efficacy. The system analysis helped to identify lapses in the system as well as the leverage points for quality improvement. Six Sigma DMAIC tools have been applied for the possible improvement in the process of course management in a private university of Pakistan. Findings – Private universities in Pakistan are operated as a business and the business owners are busy to keep their system stable unmindful for the protocol for sustainability. What will make the system viable and sustainable is yet to be learnt by the private universities of Pakistan. There exists a sharp divide between bottom line approach of businessmen and the academia’s confidence in the quality improvement. However, it has been learned that the organizational development is the job of every academic manager, and managing the process through creative innovation is the only solution. Originality/value – The case study is a unique contribution in theory and principles of quality management for checking the application of Six Sigma and lean techniques for organizational development of a private university.

E-Commerce Consumer Behavior Information Big Data Mining

With the Internet applications in the commercial area of rapid spread, consumer demand-driven experience of becoming a leading Internet development. At the same time, e-commerce as the representative of the social network of constantly new changes. In computer systems and social integration of e-commerce systems are highly interactive, the consumer bears an increasingly important role in consumer behavior characteristics and potential demand has become an important driving force for technological development. A large number of enterprises through the establishment of collaborative filtering recommendation systems predict consumer model, personalized recommendations and services to address the information overload problem. Based on the above requirements, in-depth study of the progress of theoretical research services and service quality management theory, according to a large data analysis and complex network, is recommended by consumer behavior.

Стандартизация процесса формирования учетной информации

Th e article is devoted to the problem of improving the quality of accounting information by synthesizing the
 theory of the formation of accounting information and quality management theory by determining the composition of
 the internal standards of the economic entity in the context of the stages of registration process and their linking with the
 generated qualitative characteristics of accounting information.

Информационная концепция бухгалтерского учета

Th e article is devoted to the problem of improving the quality of accounting information by synthesizing the theory of the formation of accounting information and quality management theory by determining the composition of the internal standards of the economic entity in the context of the stages of registration process and their linking with the generated qualitative characteristics of accounting information.