Education management: Perception of TQM and Its Effect on Attractiveness of Place of Study

1. Education management: Perception of TQM and Its Effect on Attractiveness of Place of Study FengJie University of Malaya Graduate School of Business Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia Aida Idris Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2. Introduction Significance of the Study Research Methodology Theoretical Framework& Items measurement Research Findings Conclusion Presentation Outline

3. Total quality management (TQM) has been adopted as a management paradigm by many organizations worldwide In the last decade, TQM was introduced in the service industry Quality management models practiced by the business world have also been adapted and applied to the education sector Introduction

4. This paper regards students as consumers purchasing the services provided by the industry • Two important principles of TQM have been analyzed in this research • Customer need focus • Customer’s perception of quality of service • Objective: To investigate the performance of Malaysian educational institutions in relation to quality management philosophy Introduction

5. Provide general info. in relation to perception of TQM from student’s point of view Enable educational institutions to evaluate their performance & formulate the strategies for better performance Significance of the Study

6. Sample Selection Demography of respondents Perception on the institution’s quality of service Respondents’ satisfaction according to their needs focus Attractiveness of place of study (UM, UPM, UIA, USM,UTM) QuestionnaireDesign Research Methodology Primary data : Self-administeredquestionnaire 150 post-graduate students Three universities, UM, UIA, UPM Secondary sources: - Local and international journals

7. Theoretical Framework& Items measurement Student Needs Focus H1: The higher the focus on students’ needs, the more attractive the place of study Attractiveness of Place of Study Quality of Service H2: The better the quality of service, the more attractive the place of study Items measurement are developed based on the works of Kwan (1996) and Lagrosen (1997), as well as separate interviews with a group of students and academicians.

8. Response Rate: Total 150 questionnaires distributed;120 received (response rate of 80%) • In the end, 115 usable responses • Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient • Quality of service has the alpha value of 0.9254 • Customer needs focus has the alpha value of 0.9525 • Mean scores of each statement were analysed to compare the perception of different groups of respondents A low mean score implies a more positive perception A higher score means a less positive perception Research Findings

9. Gender Female Male 48% 52% Research Findings- Demographic Characteristic of Respondents - Gender

10. Age 56.5% 60 50 36.5% 40 30 20 10 4.3% 1.7% 0.9% 0 < 20 20-29 30-39 40-49 > 50 Research Findings- Demographic Characteristic of Respondents - Age

11. Marital 0.90% Single 23.50% Married without Children Married with 60% Children 15.70% Divorced Research Findings- Demographic Characteristic of Respondents - marital

12. Nationality 42.60% Local International 57.40% Research Findings- Demographic Characteristic of Respondents - Nationality

13. Occupation 2% 3% 8% Full-time Student Manager 14% Senior Manager Salaried employee 3% Professional 63% 7% Business Owner Others Research Findings - Demographic Characteristic of Respondents - Occupation

14. Income 38.3 40 35.7 35 30 25.2 25 20 15 10 5 0 < 1000 1000 - 2999 > 3000 Research Findings - Demographic Characteristic of Respondents - income

15. Gender and nationality have a significant effect on quality of service • Gender: female respondents (mean=108.78) appear to be more satisfied than males (118.65) with the quality of services provided by the institutions, at p<0.05 • Nationality: local students (110.90) are more satisfied than foreigners (118.0), also at p<0.05 Research Findings- Effect of Demographic Factors

16. In general, UM offers the best quality of services compared to the other four institutions • UM scores the lowest mean ( ) for all ten statements - respondents are most satisfied with UM in all constructs of quality used in the study • The second best scorer is UPM ( ), which also performs consistently across all ten statements • UM’s main strengths • S1 (mean 1.6870) - has a reputation for quality of knowledge culture • S3 (mean 1.7739) - offers qualifications that will be recognized by employers • UM’s major weakness • S8 (mean 1.9043) – the effective communication with all stakeholders • Interestingly this also appears to be the greatest weakness of all five universities involved in the study. Research Findings - Quality of Service

17. Respondents generally agree that UM is the best scorer (mean =?) in all ten statements measuring the said variable, followed by UPM ( ) • UM’s primary strengths (Highest agreement) • S1(mean 1.921) - open new career opportunities for students • S2(mean1.826) - improves personal development & educational experiences • UM’s major weaknesses (Lowest agreement) • S7(mean 2.6783) - offers flexible entry throughout year • S9(means 2.6348) - offers scholarship for needy students • Again these are both the greatest weaknesses observed in all five institutions. Research Findings - Student Needs Focus

18. Research Findings - Ranking the Attractiveness of Place of Study Mean Score of Student’s TQM Perception on the General Ranking

19. Pearson Correlation test • There is a significant relationship between quality of service and attractiveness of place of study (R=0.324, p=0.000). H1 is supported • The relationship between student needs focus and ranking is also found to be significant (R=0.414, p=0.000). H2 is also supported • The positive sign in both tests affirm that a university’s rank tends to improve with better services and focus on its students’ needs. Research Findings- Relationship between Quality of Service/ Student Needs Focus and Ranking

20. Results show that there is a positive relationship between the quality of service /student need focus and attractiveness of place of study • The study provides empirical evidence that can help institutions to better understand the need of TQM and how TQM can improve institutional performance • The findings show that students place a high importance on an institution’s quality management. • Thus more effort should be taken to enhance the practice of TQM in every component of the institution, and embed it as an organizational culture Conclusion - Findings

21. The difference in perception among students shows that there is room for further improvement in TQM implementation at Malaysian universities • The areas which deserve greater attention are communication with stakeholders, financial aid for students, and flexibility in entrance requirements • Customer participation is important as it provides measures of the actual performance, which completes the feedback loop in the strategic management process Conclusion - Implications

22. Thank You