Are total quality management programmes in higher education worth the effort

This study was undertaken to assess total quality management (TQM) familiarity and utilization and to investigate the perceived effects of TQM programmes on overall organizational effectiveness. Two validated instruments on organizational characteristics were used to gather data, and follow‐up interviews were also conducted with one administrator and one stakeholder who were familiar with TQM programmes in each of the ten selected institutions of higher education. Provides, at best, circumspect support for the claims of TQM proponents that the technique improves participants’ morale, responsiveness to customer needs as well as the quality of teaching and research. Shows a positive impact of TQM programmes on employee perceptions of their own productivity and overall organizational effectiveness in most of the institutions surveyed. However, almost one‐third of the respondents indicated that TQM programmes have failed to achieve their stated objectives of improving quality and productivity. Implies that th...