Total quality management (TQM) can be best

defined as one of the key approaches

towards realizing the goal of meeting
customer satisfaction. According to
Besterfield in 1995, “TQM defined as both a
philosophy and a set of guiding principles
that represents the foundation a continuously
improving organization.” Moreover, he added
that “management has to outline the quality
goals, quality policies and quality plans so
that employees are constantly reminded that
the customers, not the product, is the top
priority.”
TQM has been adopted as management
paradigm by many organizations. As
everyone clearly aware of the whole process
of TQM whereby formerly it was only applied
in manufacturing sectors most likely into
supply chain, automobile, machinery, factory,
and transportation. Many people only accept
and realize that TQM can be just effective in
services from manufacturing and industrial
sectors. However, nowadays the process of
TQM that being practiced by the business
worlds for many years has also been adapted
and applied in education sector. This is due
to the existence of TQM in the education
sectors to help education institutions change
from traditional to modern management and
be more effective. Education institutions
such as schools and universities should
apply TQM as a management process to
ensure more productive and achieve the
current requirements. In order to overcome
the economic, social and cultural needs of a
flexible management structure and
implementation of more modern
management as the trend now known as
flexibility, portability and the ability to take
advantage of modern culture.
So therefore, the objective of this research is
essentially; to identify the general principles
requirements for the implementation of TQM
in SMK Taman Sri Andalas, Klang. As TQM
is a philosophy of organizations, improves
organizational performance and
administrative. Based on the philosophy of
W. Edwards Deming in year 2000, TQM is a
systematic approach to education reform.
Deming's work is not merely about
productivity and quality control; it is a broad
vision on the nature of organizations and
how organizations should be changed. When
educators look at TQM principles, they
assume that the model applies only to profit-
making organizations. Actually, TQM applies
as well to corporations, service
organizations, universities, and elementary
and secondary schools.
Thus, this research supports educators in
institutions to be aware of rapidly evolves
and changes on schools’ tasks that day to
day became difficult than before; so that it
requires new development and methods for
schools’ management system. So if that the
case, this research is to pull in modern
management approach for schools to adopt
it. The concept of TQM is considered as one
of modern management approach. Since
before until now, there are still many schools
carry out administrative traditional patterns
on educational system.
1.1 Background of Study
The potential benefits of TQM in schools are
very clear whereby TQM can help schools to
provide better service to its primary
customers; they are students and employers
(School principal, teachers and staff). The
benefit is also as the continuous
improvement focus of TQM is a fundamental
way of fulfilling the accountability
requirements common to educational reform.
Despite of that, operating a no-fear TQM
system with a focus on continuous growth
and improvement offers more excitement
and challenge to students and teachers than
an only good-enough learning environment
can provide.
According to past research by Ronald
Fitzgerald in 2005, he highlighted that in a
TQM school, improvement teams and
individuals (School principal, teachers and
staff) are constantly working on improving
service to customers (students). The
concept of a service being "good enough" is
considered inadequate. He came out with
several areas that should take into reflection
in order to implement TQM in schools. There
are 10 important areas; awareness and
commitment for everyone, a clear mission, a
systems planning approach, teaming
replacing hierarchy, enabling and
empowerment replacing fear, focus on
mastery learning, management by
measurement, development of student TQM
skills, a humanistic and a brain compatible
focus, and a transformation plan.
Generally, this research aims to highlight
general principles and requirements of TQM
and particularly point out how the approach
can be used to improve the quality of SMK
Taman Sri Andalas, Klang. It is also to
analyze each of these requirements and how
those fit in the school that leads to upgrade
performance of SMK Taman Sri Andalas,
Klang.
Based on Jamal Ahmad’s study, published
on early 2011, he stressed on, there are still
many education institutions refuse to follow
TQM process. They been trapped with
organization’s traditions whereby the ways
they work on education system is still in
traditional way. Also, the author added in
order to meet economic, social and cultural
challenges require flexible organizational
structures and an implementing trend of
modern management approach characterized
by flexibility, portability and the ability to take
advantage of modern culture.
Alternatively, the concepts formulated by
Total Quality Management (TQM) founder,
W. Edwards Deming, have been suggested
as a basis for achieving excellence in
schools. It is an opportunity to conceptualize
a systematic change for schools. Indeed, the
concepts formulated by TQM founder, W.
Edwards Deming, have proved so powerful
that educators (school principal and
teachers) want to apply TQM to schools.
Deming's philosophy provides a framework
that can integrate many positive
developments in education, such as term-
teaching, site-based management,
cooperative learning, and outcomes-based
education.
How imperative this study intends to create
awareness for schools’ principals, teachers
and admin staff to understand the
importance of TQM. In fact, an effective TQM
applies in school will help schools to
achieve goal and vision successfully. By
Implementing Deming's concept of adopt the
new philosophy, it requires a rethinking of
the school's mission and priorities, with
everyone in agreement on them. Existing
methods, materials, and environments may
be replaced by new teaching and learning
strategies where success of every student is
the goal. Individual differences among
students are addressed.
1.2 Statement of Problems
Based on past research (Dheeraj Mehrotra,
2010), it found that the concept of TQM was
developed by an American, W. Edwards
Deming, after World War II for improving the
production quality of goods and services.
The concept was not taken seriously by
Americans until the Japanese, who adopted
it in 1950 to revive their post-war business
and industry, used it to dominate world
markets by 1980. By then most U.S.
manufacturers had finally accepted that the
nineteenth century assembly line factory
model was outdated for the modern global
economic markets.
The concept of TQM is applicable to
academics. Many educators believe that the
Deming's concept of TQM provides guiding
principles for needed educational reform. The
Japanese transformed their economy and
industry through a visionary management
technique called TQM. School leaders are
finding that TQM principles can provide the
formula for improving America’s schools.
The approach should be applied for schools
in Malaysia as well. The reason is because,
tasks of schools (management, system,
teaching and learning process) turned out to
be more difficult and complex compare to
back then. There are many challenges facing
by schools, including various demands for
shortage of material and human resources.
Schools system should be changed in terms
of content, methods, techniques and
approach suitable models that ensemble the
management of schools. Most of education
institutions including schools are facing
many challenges in terms of renewable and
diverse community demands versus human
and physical resources scarcity. Drastic
changes occurred on the reality of
educational systems that run the educational
process in content, methods and techniques.
However, there is a notable that many
education institutions including schools have
never attempted to implement the philosophy
of TQM. So therefore, this research will help
to give bigger picture schools to implement
TQM in order to achieve schools objectives.
Participatory management (school members)
among well-trained and educated partners is
crucial to the success of TQM in education;
everyone involved must understand and
believe in principles. Some personnel who
are committed to the principles can facilitate
success with TQM. Their vision and skills in
leadership, management, interpersonal
communication, problem solving and
creative cooperation are important qualities
for successful implementation of TQM.
1.3 Research Purpose and
Objectives
1.3.1 Purpose of research
Generally, the purpose of this research is to
identify the requirements for the
implementation of TQM in SMK Taman Sri
Andalas, Klang and to analysis each of these
requirements and how those fit reality in the
school.
1.3.2 Objectives of research
There are three objectives of the study as
follows:
1. To identify the leadership’s
responsibilities of TQM in
the following aspects:
-school performance
-educational quality
2. To identify the strategic
planning undertaken by the
school in implementing TQM
3. To examine relationship
between the beneficiary
satisfaction and quality
service provided by school
1.4 Research Questions
1. What is the leadership’s
responsibilities of TQM in the
following aspects:
-school performance
-educational quality
2. What is strategic planning
undertaken by schools in
implementing TQM?
3. Is there any significant
relationship between the
beneficiary satisfaction and
quality service provided by
school?
1.5 Significance of Study
This research will evaluate the
implementation of TQM that being executed
or no implementation at all by SMK Taman
Sri Andalas, Klang. In order to achieve the
research objectives, this research also will
focus on variables that cover on other
requirements of TQM implementation. So
therefore, this research will provide empirical
data for other researches by other
researchers with the same field and aspects
in future.
Findings of the research will also give
school’s principal, teachers and staff in SMK
Taman Sri Andalas, Klang ideas and
understanding of methods or techniques and
suitable models and philosophy of TQM.
Expectantly, this research can help school’s
principal, teachers and staff in SMK Taman
Sri Andalas, Klang to recognize the best TQM
implementation headed for school
excellence. Besides that, school’s principal,
teachers and staff in SMK Taman Sri
Andalas, Klang be able to improve the TQM
implementation in order to deliver entirely
benefits and satisfaction to their main client:
students.
1.6 Research Limitation
1.6.1 Limitations in sample
size
This study is based on only one case in one
of the schools in residential areas in Klang.
Small sample size to be used has no
statistical support that will allow a conclusive
decision or any generalization or the general
results of the study was conducted.
1.7 Definition of Terms
Based on glossary of Reliableplant.com Total
Quality Management also referred to as
TQM. It is a philosophy that embraces all
activities through which the needs and
expectations of the customer (both internal
and external) and the community, and the
objectives of the organization, are satisfied in
the most efficient and cost-effective way
possible by maximizing the potential of all
employees in a continuous drive for
improvement.
Chapter Two
Literature Review
2.0 Introduction
Education in Malaysia is today found to be
improved towards a global context. The
quality of education in Malaysia should be at
a global level for opening the eyes of the
world that education in Malaysia is also not
be underestimated. Not only the quality of
education it can be seen at institutions that
are generally known and recognized
internationally, but each institution in the
country should have had a very good level of
quality and reliable. Supposedly, the quality
of education in Malaysia must be consistent
and applied in all educational institutions. It
is not only applied in the universities in this
country but also to all schools. As all know
the basics of learning a student is starting
from the school. So the government and the
responsible party should have stressed the
importance of quality in every school.
Process of review and survey to each school
carefully by government as to ensure that
quality education is guaranteed.
Based on research by Murad Ali and Rajesh
Kumar Shastri in 2010, “the importance of
education for the development of excellence,
expertise and knowledge leading to overall
development in economy cannot be
undermined. This has needed a sound
strategy for the development of schools in
almost all countries of the world.
Establishing leadership in the world is
possible only when we have a developed
system of schools in which efficiency
remains the sole principle to evaluate
performance.”
The system of school is found successful in
making available to the society a dedicated,
committed, devoted and professionally sound
team of human resources to decide the
future of any nation. This is possible only
when the principles of quality management
are inculcated in the system of schools.
Total Quality Management (TQM) is
inevitably common factor that will shape the
strategies of higher educational institutions
in their attempt to satisfy various
stakeholders including students, parents,
industry and society as a whole.
There are also some ways for the
implementation of TQM can also be seen
through the concept of Deming's 14
principles and process of Malcolm Baldrige
national quality Award. It found that the
concept and prosess are successful for
educators to achieve the true vision of the
school.
2.1 The concept of Deming’s 14 principles
According to Fred C. Lunenburg, 2010 , the
concept of Deming’s 14 principles are based
on the assumption that people want to do
their best and that it is management’s job to
enable them to do so by constantly
improving the system in which they work.
The framework for transforming schools
using Deming’s 14 principles follows as
diagram below;
Diagram 1: Deming’s 14 point plan for TQM
In order to improve and transform schools
system to better consistent, educators like
principals, teachers, and staff can apply the
Deming’s 14 principles. Every each of points
is really comprehensive and gives best
guidelines for educators to improvise the
schools system to be more efficient and
effective.
Create Constancy of purpose
The purpose here means to improve product
and service in order to make it clearer and
should be shared by all stakeholders like
principles, teachers, staff, parents and
students. It aims to meet the customers’
needs.
Adopt the new philosophy
The second principle here means the
implementation of Deming’s work in order to
thinking the whole again (rethinking) of the
mission and priorities of school itself. It
should come with new teaching and learning
styles base on current approaches. In
adopting the new philosophy in school, those
existing methods, materials, and
environments that being applied by school
should be replaced with new strategies in
order to address individual differences
among students.
Cease inspection, require evidence
In industry this was called as product
inspection. According to Deming, it always
costs more to fix a problem than to prevent
one. Reliance on remediation can be avoided
if proper intervention occurs during
instruction. Examples of preventive
approaches in schools include Robert
Slavin's (2009); success for all schools,‖
James Comer’s (2000, 2006); school
development program, Henry Levin's (1986);
accelerated schools, Joyce Epstein's (2010);
parent involvement strategies, Cara Shores’;
RTI process, and the more traditional, long-
standing intervention approaches: Head Start,
Follow Through, preschool programs, and
other remedial interventions. These
intervention strategies can help students
avoid learning problems later.
Improve the quality of supplies
Deming’s thought that school need to move
toward single supplier for any one time and
develop long term relationships of loyalty and
trust with suppliers.
Continuously improve production
Schools should improve constantly and
forever on every activity like teaching and
learning processes. The process should be
consistent with learning style theories (Dunn
& Dunn, 1992; Dunn, Dunn, & Perrin, 1994),
Howard Gardner’s (1994) multiple
intelligences, and Henry Levin’s accelerated
schools for at-risk students, educators must
redesign the system to provide for a broad
range of people like handicapped, learning
disabled, at-risk, special needs students and
find ways to make them all successful in
school. This means requiring universal
standards of achievement for all students
before permitting them to move to the next
level.
Train and educate all employees
Training for educators is needed in three
areas. First, there must be training in the
new teaching and learning processes that are
developed. Second, training must be
provided in the use of new assessment
strategies (Popham, 2010a, b). Third, there
must be training in the principles of the new
management system. For schools, this
means providing continuous professional
development activities for all school
administrators, teachers, and support staff.
Supervisors must help people
Supervisors here mean principles. Deming
asserts that the primary task of leadership is
to narrow the amount of variation within the
system, bringing everyone toward the goal of
perfection. In schools this means bringing
everyone toward the goal of learning for all .
It means removing achievement gaps for all
population groups; a movement toward
excellence and equity.
Drive out fear
The focus of improvement efforts then must
be on the processes and on the outcomes,
not on trying to blame individuals for
failures. If quality is absent, the fault is in the
system, says Deming. It is management’s job
to enable people to do their best by
constantly improving the system in which
they work. Fear creates an insurmountable
barrier to improvement of any system. In
schools, faculty and staff are often afraid to
point out problems, because they fear they
may be blamed. School leaders at all level
need to communicate that staff suggestions
are valued and rewarded.
Eliminate boundaries
The barriers among staff in schools should
be eliminated in order to achieve and create
constancy of purpose for improvement of
product and service.
Eliminate the use of slogans
Implicit in most slogans, exhortations, and
targets is the supposition that staff could do
better if they tried harder. This offends rather
than inspires the team. It creates adversarial
relationships because the many causes of
low quality and low productivity in schools
are due to the system and not the staff.
Typical slogans used by educators are; keep
the main thing, the main thing. This slogan
refers to keeping students the focus of all
discussions. Another slogan that most
teachers adopt is; all children can learn.‖
Slogans, such as these serve as targets in
school organizations.
Eliminate numerical standards
There are many practices in education that
constrain our ability to tap intrinsic
motivation and falsely assume the benefits
of extrinsic rewards. They include rigorous
and systematic teacher evaluation systems,
merit pay, management by objectives,
grades, and quantitative goals and quotas.
These Deming refers to as forces of
destruction. Such approaches are
counterproductive for several reasons:
setting goals leads to marginal performance;
merit pay destroys teamwork; and appraisal
of individual performance nourishes fear and
increases variability in desired performance.
Let people be proud of their work
Most people want to do a good job. Effective
communication and the elimination of "de-
motivators" such as lack of involvement,
poor information, the annual or merit rating,
and supervisors who don't care; are critical.
Encourage self improvement
The principal and staff must be retrained in
new methods of school based management,
including group dynamics, consensus
building, and collaborative styles of decision
making. All stakeholders on the school's
team must realize that improvements in
student achievement will create higher levels
of responsibility, not less responsibility.
Commit to ever-improving quality
The school board and superintendent must
have a clear plan of action to carry out the
quality mission. The quality mission must be
internalized by all members of the school
organization (school board members,
administrators, teachers, support staff,
students, parents, community). The
transformation is everybody's job (Deming,
1988, pp. 23-24).
The concepts formulated by TQM founder,
W. Edwards Deming, have been suggested
as a basis for achieving excellence in
schools. It is based on the assumption that
people want to do their best and that it is
management’s job to enable them to do so
by constantly improving the system in which
they work. It requires teamwork, training, and
extensive collection and analysis of data. It
is an opportunity to conceptualize a
systematic change for school districts.
2.2 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
process
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
recognizes U.S. organizations in the
business, health care, education, and
nonprofit sectors for performance excellence.
The Baldrige Award is the only formal
recognition of the performance excellence of
both public and private U.S. organizations
given by the President of the United States. It
is administered by the Baldrige Performance
Excellence Program , which is based at and
managed by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology , an agency of the
U.S. Department of Commerce. Up to 18
awards may be given annually across six
eligibility categories like manufacturing,
service, small business, education, health
care, and nonprofit organization.
However, it can also be used as a guide for
schools to achieve a successful TQM
concept. The Baldrige criteria form an
excellent model of Total Quality Management
(TQM). The criteria are divided into seven
key categories:
1. Leadership
2. Strategic Planning
3. Customer Focus
4. Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge
Management
5. Workforce Focus
6. Process Management
7. Results
Nevertheless, in this research will base on
the objectives and analysis or requirements
of TQM according to Malcolm Baldrige
national quality award. This is because the
criterion of Baldrige promotes awareness of
performance excellence as an increasingly
important element in competitiveness. It also
promotes the sharing of successful
performance strategies and the benefits
derived from using these strategies. However
for this research, it will only be focusing on
leadership, strategic planning and customer
focus (the benificiary satisfaction).
Leadership
School leadership is the process of enlisting
and guiding the talents and energies of
teachers , pupils , and parents toward
achieving common educational aims. A
leadership principle would be the way
leadership is performed within an
organization. Or as itself the principles that
people them should take the lead. In order to
perform the Leadership Development
directed to its goal one should first work out
the Leadership Principles. Leadership
principles should be in line with the basic
values of the Organization. For leaders the
leadership principles serve as a guideline.
For the staff they are an opportunity to point
their leaders onto non-conforming behavior.
From school context, principal is the role
model of leadership.
Strategic Planning
Strategic Planning refers to the entire set of
processes and behaviors that an organization
uses to identify, prioritize, focus, and
schedule action in order for it to remain
viable in the future. Most organizations
including education institutions like schools,
do a great job of planning, but they fail when
it comes to plan execution. In order to
understand the concept of strategic
management, first we need to understand the
literal meaning of the word “strategy”. The
best definition of strategic planning is a plan
of action resulting from strategy or intended
to accomplish a specific goal. When an
organizations including education
instituitions choose to make quality a major
competitive edge (differentiation), it becomes
the central issue in strategic planning. This
is especially reflected in vision, mission and
policy guidelines of an organization.
An essential idea behind strategic quality
planning is that the product is customer
value rather than a physical product or
service. This feat cannot be achieved unless
an organization creates a culture of quality
and no strategy and plan can be worthwhile
unless it is carefully implemented.
Customer Focus
When we define Total Quality Management,
the term quality implies the customer and the
product or service being delivered to the
same. Here we would attempt to understand
the definition of a business enterprise in
terms of its customers it serves in the
marketplace. In other words, a company’s
business is defined by what needs it is trying
to satisfy, by which customer group it is
targeting, and by the technologies it will use
and the functions it will perform in serving
target market.
For an education sector, the customers here
are definitely students, parents, community,
teachers and admin staff. So therefore, in
this research as well will look on relationship
between cutomers in school and quality
service that being provided by school.
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter presents the research design
used by the researchers in this study. It is
presented in terms of population, sample
and the sample selection, data gathering
instrument, administration of the instrument
and the data analysis process. This brief
explanation provides a better understanding
of the tabulated data that is discussed in the
next chapter.
3.1 Research Design
This research would be of descriptive
research since much of the data collection is
based on questionnaires. This study uses
quantitative method, which has been
designed to get some reviews on a school
principal, teachers, admin staff and students
at SMK Taman Sri Andalas, Klang on their
preference and perspective on
implementation of TQM in their school.
The researcher designated a questionnaire
consisting of a set of questions, which will
be divided into four sections. In section A,
the researcher will obtain demographic data
of the sample. Section B is meant on
leadership regarding responsibilities of a
leader in implementing TQM in school. In
Section C touches on strategic planning that
helps in implementing TQM in school.
Meanwhile, Section D will gather information
about the beneficiary satisfaction (customer
focus) towards their perspective on the
quality service provided by school.
3.2 Samples
The target population of this study is
including a school principal, teachers, admin
staff and students. There are 50 respondents
for this study. The sample for this study is
selected by using stratified random
sampling. Stratified sampling is a procedure
used to obtain a greater degree of
representativeness while decreasing probable
sampling error. Stratified sample method is
chosen to ensure an adequate number of
respondents.
3.3 Instrumentation
The instrument that will be used to conduct
this study is questionnaire of a five point
likert scale which comprises of 34 questions
in four major sections.
3.3.1Demographic Data
In section A, the questionnaire will
investigate on the respondents demographic
data. There are five questions will be asked
in this section which is age, gender, current
status (position), and level of education.
3.3.2 Leadership
In this section, the researcher will ask the
respondents on their perspective on a
leader’s responsibilities towards
implementing TQM in school in order to
maintain scool performance and education
quality.
3.3.2 Strategic Planning
In section C investigates on strategic
planning in implementing implement TQM in
school.
3.3.3 The beneficiary satisfaction
In section D seeks customers focus,
customers here are teachers, admin staff
and students and to examine relationship
between the beneficiary satisfaction and
quality service provided by school
Basically, the questionnaire administered is
meant not to burden the respondents since
the respondents are known for their hectic
schedule. The questionnaire is a straight
forward task where respondents would only
answer 34 questions that only take about 7 –
10 minutes to complete it.
3.4 Data Collection Method
Data collection is by the researcher at the
respective school. Each questionnaire will be
attached with instructions that clearly explain
the purposes of the study and the
questionnaires will be returned to the
researcher as expected. In addition, the
respondents will be informed about the
objective of completing the questionnaires,
the confidentiality of their responses and that
the data would only be utilized for the
purpose of this study.
3.5 Data Analysis
The data analysis will be conducted using
SPSS to retrieve accurate number of
respondents with respective answers that
will be answered by respondents. ANOVA
and T-tests also relevant to be used in this
study as to identify whether there is
differences opinions between respondents
based on variable demographic factors.
Besides that, pearson’s correlation will be
used to see significant relationship between
the beneficiary satisfaction and quality
service provided by SMK Taman Sri Andalas.
3.6 Conclusion
This chapter will describe the research
design that will be used in this study. It
explains on the population, sample and
sample selection, data gathering instrument,
data collection method as well as the data
analysis process. It is hoped that this
chapter has provided a clearer pictu