A global look at quality managemenr in universities Research Paper

A global look at quality managemenr in universities - Research Paper Example Universities across the world have been positing themselves as â€Å"world-class† in view of the market opportunities presented by globalization (Xavier and Alsagoff, 2013). In a global scenario, quality and perception of quality of a university is defined and determined by many internal as well as external mechanisms. In this context, quality of education has become a decisive factor while determining the management strategy for any university (Dobrzanski and Roszak, 2007, p.223). Xavier and Alsagoff (2013) have observed how universities present themselves as â€Å"world-class† to the global markets through many strategies, thereby attracting students from all over the world. Any examination of the quality of universities in global context will have to start with addressing the questions, what is defined by quality, and whether there are global standards of quality in education (Paradeise and Thoenig, 2013, p.189). Quality in the context of university education is ofte n defined as: Expression of significant range of educational effectiveness and reflection of a new approach in which need of systematic evaluation of undertaken activities is taking essential meaning including improvement and making endeavors towards accreditation which aim to confirm that all the standards of educational effectiveness are provided† (Dobrzanski and Roszak, 2007, p.223-4). Quality of university education can also be defined in terms of financial effectiveness, academic standards, and public usefulness as well (Dobrzanski and Roszak, 2007, p.224). ... This is an approach that ensures participation, plans long-term, aims at â€Å"customer satisfaction†, and brings benefits to all the academic and social stakeholders (Becket and Brookes, n.d., p.43). Fotopoulos and Psomas (2008) have studied TQM in the context of Greece and observed that any TQM model must have a â€Å"soft† and â€Å"hard† side, the â€Å"soft† side being a plan to address long term issues and related to â€Å"leadership, employee empowerment and culture† (p.151). The â€Å"hard† side on the other hand refers to â€Å"quality improvement tools and techniques† (Fotopoulos and Psomas, 2008, p.151). It is pointed out by Fotopoulos and Psomas (2008) that â€Å"there is no unique model for a good TQM programme and TQM is a network of interdependent elements, namely, critical factors, practices, techniques and tools† (Fotopoulos and Psomas, 2008, p.151). Yet, there have been a number of â€Å"TQM elements† id entified through various research projects and they are, leadership, strategic quality planning, employee management and involvement, supplier management, customer focus, process management, continuous improvement, information and analysis, knowledge and education, and TQM tools such as â€Å"flow charts, relations diagram, scatter diagram, control charts, pareto analysis, quality function deployment, design of experiments and so on† (Fotopoulos and Psomas, 2008, p.152-3). There are widely accepted quality frame works for universities other than TQM such as European Framework for Quality Management (EFQM) and SERVQUAL that approaches the issue from the customers' â€Å"perspective† (Becket and Brookes, n.d., p.43). The dynamics of the process of attaining