Introduction
An application of TQM
concepts in education
V.H.Y. Lo and
D. Sculli
The authors
V.H.Y. Lo is Lecturer and D. Sculli Senior Lecturer, both at
the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems
Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Abstract
Discusses an application of total quality management
(TQM) concepts in education. Applies the concepts to a
quality management programme for industrial and
engineering managers. Covers both the aspects of syllabus
design and the operation and monitoring of the pro-
gramme with this application. The application is based on
the ISO 9000 quality assurance management system.
Proposes that the concepts and ideas presented will help
educators ensure that the objectives of the programmes
will actually be pursued.
Training for Quality
Volume 4 · Number 3 · 1996 · pp. 16–22
© MCB University Press · ISSN 0968-4875
16
Many books and articles over many years have
expressed concern for the constant improve-
ment in the quality of education and in the
utilization of related resources. There is evi-
dence of much time spent on improving a
particular dimension of the educational expe-
rience, such as teacher quality, instructional
supervision, and the preparation of instruc-
tion materials. However for the most part,
these efforts can only be described as piece-
meal, failing, perhaps because of a lack of
modern teaching resources, to consider the
need for integration of the entire educational
endeavour.
In the past decade or so, Hong Kong’s
industry has shifted from a labour intensive
manufacturing-centred one to a more tech-
nology based industry with the services sector
becoming the dominant component. Most of
the labour intensive industries, the manufac-
ture of toys in particular, have moved to the
Pearl River Delta of Southern China, while
Hong Kong has gradually restructured
towards a financial and services centre.
During this transitional period, Hong Kong
has experienced a great demand for highly
trained and educated workers.
Political uncertainty, owing to the change
of sovereignty in 1997, has led to a consider-
able loss of professionals through emigration,
with professional industrial and engineering
managers experiencing a critical shortage.
These economic changes plus the loss
through emigration have made it necessary for
the Hong Kong Government to undertake a
considerable expansion programme in tertiary
education, with university places being almost
doubled over a three to four year period.
During the last decade or so, the world has
also seen considerable developments in the
pursuit of quality; the concepts of total quality
management (TQM) have evolved and stan-
dards such as the ISO 9000 series have been
established. These quality concepts cover a
wide range of operations, ranging from final
product inspection to the inspection of pur-
chased parts and raw materials, and even
personnel selection. Intense global competi-
tion for orders, profits, jobs, and resources is
taking place in all types of organization. The
most severe challenge facing any organization
today is how to meet demand for higher quali-
ty products and services. To be able to cope
with these needs, it is essential that industrial
 An application of TQM concepts in education
V.H.Y. Lo and D. Sculli
managers and engineers receive training and
education in quality management.
There is ample evidence that shows the
vigorous development and the implementa-
tion of TQM in business oriented organiza-
tions (see Lo and Sculli[1]). The manufactur-
ing companies have obviously had a head
start, mainly because of keen competition in
the more tangible issues of product quality
and delivery times. This competition has now
extended to other realms of the economy and
includes organizations in the services and
public sectors. All this has increased demand
for industrial and engineering managers, and
at the same time has increased the severity of
the shortage problem.
But quality management is obviously not
so new, and courses in quality management
could be found as a single subject paper in
tertiary education curricula and in teacher
training programmes in Hong Kong even as
far back as the early 1980s. However, most of
the present middle-aged industrial and engi-
neering managers did not receive in-depth
training in quality management when they
were at university. In those days it was also
unusual to find systematic curriculum and
teaching operations planning, and, as a result,
the courses did not always meet the expecta-
tions of participants. The authors believe that
the integrated TQM concepts which are
applicable to manufacturing and service
industries can, with judicious planning, be
applied to education. The remainder of this
paper describes an attempt to do this.
TQM in curriculum design
Johnson (see Ausubel[2]) put forward the
notion that a curriculum is an attempt to
communicate the essential principles and
features of an educational proposal in such a
form that it is open to critical scrutiny and
capable of effective translation into practice.
The approach contains a type of end-means
model. The model starts from a definition of
the performance measure or attainment
which students should reach at the end of a
course, and then proceed to attempt to design
a course that will maximize the particular
measures of performance.
Curriculum building theory is a relatively
recent phenomenon and comes after the
curriculum reform movements of the 1950s
and 1960s. It is obviously difficult to
introduce coherent programmes without a
17
Training for Quality
Volume 4 · Number 3 · 1996 · 16–22
systematic planning methodology. In fact,
many of the current approaches to curriculum
design can still be described (see Knox[3]) as
the cafeteria approach, where unrelated mod-
ules are put together.
The making of effective decisions on what
a training programme should contain requires
the setting up of some systemic model to
facilitate the planning and review of the pro-
gramme. This admits the reality that it is
impossible to design an effective curriculum
at a first attempt; continuous monitoring and
design adjustments are required to develop
and even maintain the quality of a curriculum.
Once this is accepted, the decisions on the
selection of what to teach and how it should
be taught can then be made by following the
logic flow of the model adopted. A workable
model for curriculum design is presented in
Figure 1.
There are quite a number of different
models which can be developed by judicious
adjustment and modification of the model in
Figure 1. The proposed model is based on the
customer/purchaser model underlying ISO
8402[4] and ISO 9000[5]. However, a number
of modifications and improvements have been
made using the work of Johnson[6] as guide-
lines for the modifications. This mainly
involved the use of engineering terms instead
of the terms often used in curriculum studies.
This ensures that such terms will be readily
understood by engineers and industrial man-
agers.
The development and improvement of
course contents is an obviously vital factor for
a training programme. Four national quality
awards are used to supply the starting criteria:
The American Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Award[7], The Canada Award for
Business Excellence-Quality[8], The Aus-
tralian Quality Awards[9], and The European
Quality Award[10].
As we are dealing with an educational
programme, the objectives should be practical
in nature (fit adequately within the time frame
available) and should generally be in line with
those of the authoritative bodies. The objec-
tives should also be able to satisfy any special
needs of local industry, perceived or other-
wise.
The design begins by making a general list
of topics which, if well covered, will result in
good management practices in an organiza-
tion. A team comprising academics and
practising managers formed the course
 An application of TQM concepts in education Training for Quality
V.H.Y. Lo and D. Sculli Volume 4 · Number 3 · 1996 · 16–22

Figure 1 Schematic model

Marketing
• Sponsor
• Recognition
Selection criteria
• Experience
• Academic
Advisory
committee

Potential
World quality Qualification students
management judgement
criteria

Qualified

Resource
Curriculum management/
development Implementation Programme
design for industrial
Objectives • Matrix • Quality manual • Quality record
• Quality procedure • TQM training managers
transformation
• Work instruction

Third-party certification (ISO 9000)

Evaluation
• Evaluation • Management review • Internal audit Supporting
• Corrective action • Non-conforming product system

Quality philosophy Local situation

(TQM) (market survey)

Foundations of the model

(Johnson's model)

curriculum design and development process
advisory committee. The non-academic
members of the committee comprised repre-
sentatives from the manufacturing and service
industry, the government Department of
Industry, the professional bodies (Hong Kong
Quality Assurance Agency and Institute of
Quality Assurance), and even some potential
students.
An initial list of 145 course evaluation
criteria and 170 quality management related
topics was put forward by the course co-
ordinator. In order to get a general picture of
what industrial and engineering managers
need in terms of quality management train-
ing, a modified/combined list of 29 quality
18
management needs criteria was established as
the first step towards curriculum develop-
ment. This list was used to identify the quality
management topics which would lead to a
well-accepted quality management
programme for industrial and engineering
managers. The list was eventually reduced to
19 criteria and 25 topics as shown in Table I.
Scores ranging from 0 to 9 were then assigned
to each criterion/topic entry in accordance
with the perceived relevance. A high score
implies that the corresponding topic becomes
an element of the training programme. The
results are summarized in the form of a matrix
(see Table I) that shows the relationship
between the chosen criterion and the possible
 An application of TQM concepts in education
V.H.Y. Lo and D. Sculli
quality management activities/topics which
would satisfy the criterion. A final committee
presentation was arranged to discuss the
matrix scores, enabling members to under-
take face-to-face discussion to clarify any
doubts and refining of the information. This
committee meeting, in effect, used its collec-
tive expertise as a form of quality control.
Quality assurance management system
We now move from design to ensuring that
the programme is actually doing what it was
meant to do, i.e. programme quality assur-
ance management. Windham[11] concludes
that systematic instructional designs together
with a management approach are the best
combination for improving the quality of
education. In this regard, the authors believe
that course quality assurance management
can be achieved through the use of the ISO
9000 system.
An administration and supervision based
management system was devised which mainly
follows the ISO 9001[12] and ISO 9002[13]
standards set by International Organization
for Standardization. The selection of ISO
9001 or 9002 depends on whether the insti-
tute wants to include the design part in the
certification scope. ISO 9001 and 9002 pro-
vide the basic list of essential requirements for
building a quality assurance management
system. This system can be built via a docu-
mented system which establishes and main-
tains an effective operation during the “deliv-
ery” of the training programme. Compliance
with this set of documents should provide the
necessary consistency, irrespective of admin-
istration and location.
A set of documented manuals was devel-
oped to ensure that core activities are carried
out as planned. Guidance notes for the appli-
cation ISO 9000 to education and training
issued by BSI 1992[14] were also used as a
reference in producing the documented man-
uals. Examples of areas of concern include
course materials and programmes, time-
tabling, registration/attendance recording
procedures, requirement for handouts, and
workshop facilities. The manual is in fact
composed of three sub-manuals or levels: the
Quality Assurance Manual, the Operation
Quality Procedure, and the Work Instructions.
The Quality Assurance Manual is, in fact, a
set of documents which state the quality
policy and describe the quality system used by
19
Training for Quality
Volume 4 · Number 3 · 1996 · 16–22
an organization. A quality manual may relate
to the totality of an organization’s activities or
some sub-systems of its operations. The title
and scope of the quality manual developed
reflects the operations of and terminology
used by an educational institute. It contains
the 18 features as required by ISO 9002.
Other special features of the manual include:
• an amendment record sheet to indicate the
version status;
• a general quality policy statement of the
educational institute;
• responsibilities , authorities, and the inter
relationships of personnel who manage,
perform, verify and review all work affect-
ing quality;
• a cross reference list of the manual con-
tents and the elements of ISO 9002;
• the name of the education institute on
every page;
• manual title, i.e. the Quality Assurance
Manual;
• manual issue number and date of issue for
version control;
• signature of person authorized to issue the
manual;
• organization of the institute for quality
issue;
• the quality system procedures and instruc-
tions indices.
The operation quality procedures and work
instructions specify the way to perform the
activities related to all operational aspects of
the programme, as required by clauses num-
ber 19 and 20 of ISO 9002 and ISO 9001
respectively. When a procedure is document-
ed, the term “written procedure” or “docu-
mented procedure” is preferred. A written or
documented procedure will usually contain
the purpose and scope of an activity: what
shall be done and by whom; when, where, and
how it shall be done; what materials, equip-
ment and documents shall be used; and how it
shall be controlled and recorded. The set of
agreed headings were produced after thor-
ough discussion by the working team. Nine
headings were finally adopted: purpose,
scope, reference, definition, responsibility,
qualification and training, procedures, record
and appendix; all procedures were written
under these headings.
A work instruction is, in fact, a written
direction which describes how a job should be
performed and which normally involves a
single operator. Usually no fixed format is
 An application of TQM concepts in education Training for Quality
V.H.Y. Lo and D. Sculli Volume 4 · Number 3 · 1996 · 16–22

Table I Topics and criteria

TQM activities/topics

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 2122 2324 25

Motivation, recognition, participative management

Work improvement team, QCC, taskforce, kaizen

Quality awareness, world trends, local situation

Quality policy, quality vision, mission

Data collection, data management

Quality management philosophy

Communication skill, methods

System approach, close loop

Evaluation and assessment

Operations management
Survey and data analysis

JIT (kanban, zero stock)

Project management

Presentation skill
Company culture

Train the trainer

Taguchi method
Benchmarking

Quality audit
Quality cost
Seven tools

Scheduling
Team work

ISO 9000
Chosen criterion for good quality

management
1 Quality values throughout
the organization
2 Quality education and training
3 Process performance and methods
to control
4 Design and introduction of
improved products and services
5 Implementation of improvement
plans
6 Management involvement
7 Analysis and use of data for
decision making
8 Senior executive leadership
9 Measurement of organization’s
commitment to quality
10 Comparison with competitors
11 Company’s information system
12 Reinforcement and assessment
of “ownership” at all levels
13 Relationship of quality planning
to business planning
14 Promote high standards in
public aspects
15 Recognize employees’ contributions
16 Knowledge of customer
requirements and expectations
17 Measures of customer satisfaction
18 Encouragement for employee
contribution
19 Quality data management
6 3
9 9
9 9
9 9
1 3
6 6
9 9
1 3
6 3
9 3
9 6
1 6
3 6
3 1
3 1
9 9
9 6
1 9
9 9
6 6
3 3
6 9
9 6
3 6
1 3
9 3
9 6
9 3
9 9
9 6
1 1
1 3
9 9
1 6
9 9
9 9
1 3
3 3
9 6
9 6
9 1
9 1
9 9
6 9
9 6
3 9
1 1
1 3
1 6
9 9
6 6
1 9
9 9
3 1
1 3
6 6
1 1
Total
QFD
9 1 6 9 9 1 9 9 6 3 9 6 3 1 9 3 3 1 1 134
3 9 9 6 1 6 3 9 6 1 9 3 1 9 6 3 9 1 1 134
9 3 6 1 6 6 9 3 1 9 1 3 3 1 1 3 1 9 9 127
9 6 3 9 9 1 9 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 9 1 1 6 9 124
1 3 9 9 6 9 1 1 1 9 1 1 9 1 9 9 9 3 1 123
9 3 6 6 9 9 1 3 6 9 3 1 3 3 9 3 3 3 1 121
9 9 1 6 1 1 9 1 3 3 6 6 1 1 1 6 6 1 1 117
3 6 6 3 1 1 6 6 9 3 9 6 1 7 3 1 1 1 1 105
3 9 6 6 6 6 9 1 6 1 1 1 9 6 3 6 1 1 1 105
3 9 1 1 9 6 9 1 1 3 1 9 6 1 1 3 1 1 1 101
9 1 6 9 1 6 1 1 1 6 1 1 6 1 1 3 1 6 1 99
6 6 9 1 1 9 1 9 6 1 1 6 3 6 1 1 1 1 1 97
3 1 3 3 9 9 3 9 6 9 1 1 3 6 1 1 1 1 1 96
1 1 1 9 1 6 3 3 9 1 9 3 1 9 1 1 1 1 1 94
3 9 9 1 1 1 1 9 1 1 3 3 6 3 1 6 1 1 1 90
3 3 1 1 9 1 1 1 3 1 1 9 1 6 1 1 1 1 1 86
3 6 1 1 9 3 1 3 6 3 1 3 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 86
9 1 9 3 1 1 1 3 1 3 9 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 77
3 9 1 9 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 6 1 3 3 1 1 1 74

Total 112 110 107 103 102 101 98 95 93 93 90 83 78 74 74 70 68 67 67 65 62 58 44 41 35 1990

20
 An application of TQM concepts in education
V.H.Y. Lo and D. Sculli
required for a work instruction and it can be
in the form of a simple flow chart, a diagram,
a check list, or even an example. The work
instructions are there to ensure that staff carry
out the particular job in the required manner.
For ISO 9000 certification an internal
audit is required which compares the actual
operations with documented procedures. The
system developed by the authors requires the
programme co-ordinators to carry out a
comprehensive set of planned and document-
ed internal quality audits. This is to verify,
through objective evidence, that quality activi-
ties comply with planned arrangements.
Audits determine the effectiveness of the
quality system in terms of the documented
(expected) system, i.e. provide quality assur-
ance. The results of the audits are document-
ed and brought to the attention of the person-
nel responsible for the auditing. The teachers
and administrators responsible can then take
timely actions to correct the deficiencies
found by the audit. The results of the audits
are also periodically reviewed by a higher level
Board of Academics from the institute. The
Board ensures that the audits themselves are
being properly performed and that all other
quality systems are being followed.
Concluding comments
The concepts of TQM are essential for the
development of documented quality manage-
ment systems such as the one previously
described. TQM as defined by
Feigenbaum[15] stresses the word “total”,
i.e. it must have an organization-wide impact,
involving all staff at all levels of the organiza-
tion. Customer-oriented quality activities are
the prime responsibility of the general man-
agement and those in charge of the main-line
operations. This organization-wide impact
must also be a visible feature of TQM applica-
tions in education. However, for many educa-
tional institutions much of the quality
improvement demand is, unfortunately, still
seen as belonging outside the traditional
syllabus design, instructional design, and
teaching training.
The use of TQM and ISO 9000 standards
in education is still relatively young. But, in
the authors’ experience, the potential contri-
butions are many: customer-oriented educa-
tional programmes, systematic programme
marketing, recruitment of academic staff, etc.
The approach can also contribute to time-
21
Training for Quality
Volume 4 · Number 3 · 1996 · 16–22
tabling, examination results processing,
teacher evaluation, the purchase of teaching
materials, and many other educational man-
agement activities.
Effective curriculum design requires strate-
gic plans, starting from the institute educa-
tional vision, mission statement, and educa-
tional policy. These must be well defined and
disseminated to all the personnel involved. All
functional departments will then be required
to develop their own operational plans which
are in line with objectives and strategies
defined. Thus, every employee of the insti-
tute, the principal, teachers, and even the
lower-level administration staff, must be
involved in establishing the necessary TQM
operational systems.
If virtually any industrial or service organi-
zation can adopt TQM and ISO 9000
standards, then why should educational
institutes be any different? Unlike the manu-
facturing or the service industries, where most
of the quality activities are end-product and
customer satisfaction oriented, performance
in education is often measured by some other
indirect means such as the size of the teaching
resources: amount of laboratory equipment,
number of computers, numbers of teachers,
etc. This is also reflected in a recent report
from a Hong Kong Government task force on
vocational education and training, which
concludes that the debate on education and
training has too often been concerned with
structures and delivery and too little with
content and outcomes.
This study is an attempt to apply the con-
cepts of industrial quality control and assur-
ance in the education environment. The
authors believe that many of the ideas pre-
sented can be applied to a variety of
programmes in many educational institutes.
It can be argued that developments in this
direction are inevitable, and that TQM con-
cepts will eventually be imposed from above
in form of contractual arrangements.
The last quarter of this century has seen
the opening of higher education to a figure
approaching 50 per cent of the population age
group. Before this, higher education was for
an élite few, who needed little supervision and
who often worked independently in libraries.
Difficult entry standards were the main, and
perhaps only, form of quality assurance.
Nowadays, the large population in higher
eduction requires well defined objectives,
programmes, and a monitoring system in
 An application of TQM concepts in education
V.H.Y. Lo and D. Sculli
order to ensure that students reach some
minimum standard.
Expenditure on education forms a large
part of most governments’ budgets, and while
the work described in this paper may be con-
sidered as somewhat preliminary, any attempt
to improve the educational efficiency and
quality can result in large tangible and intan-
gible economies.
References
1 Lo, V.H.Y. and Sculli D., “Regional review of TQM in
Hong Kong and Southern China”, Training for Quality,
Vol. 3 No. 2, 1995, pp. 5-8.
2 Ausubel, D., Educational Psychology – A Cognitive
View, Werbel & Peck, New York, 1978.
3 Knox A.B., Quality in Continuous Education, Jossey-
Bass, San Francisco, CA, 1987.
4 International Standard ISO 8402, Quality Vocabulary,
International Organization for Standardization,
Geneva, 1986.
5 International Standard ISO 9000, Quality Manage-
ment and Quality Assurance Standard – Guidelines for
Selection and Use, International Organization for
Standardization, Geneva, 1994.
6 Johnson, “Education theory – definitions and models
in curriculum theory”, Vol. 17 No. 2, 1967, pp. 127-40.
22
Training for Quality
Volume 4 · Number 3 · 1996 · 16–22
7 The United States Department of Commerce, National
Institute of Standards and Technology, Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award, Application Guide-
lines, 1993.
8 Minister of Supply and Services Canada, Canada
Awards for Business Excellence, Minister of Supply
and Services, Canada, 1992.
9 Minister for Industry, Australia, The Australian Quality
Awards – Application Guidelines, Enterprise Australia,
St Leonards, NSW, 1991.
10 European Organization for Quality, The European
Quality Award, European Foundation for Quality
Management, The Netherlands, 1992.
11 Windham, D.M., “The macroplanning of education”,
Comparative Education Review, Vol. 19 No. 2, 1995,
pp. 187-209.
12 International Standard ISO 9001, Quality Systems –
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Production, Installation and Servicing, International
Organization for Standardization, Geneva, 1994.
13 International Standard ISO 9002, Quality Systems –
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Installation, International Organization for Standard-
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14 BSI Quality Assurance, Guidance notes for the applica-
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McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1986.