Influence of Organizational Culture on TQM in Tertiary Institutions in Asia

Abstract

Total Quality management (TQM) approach has been proven to enhance quality in
the educational field.TQM is a vision for continuous improvement, which tertiary
institutions can easily achieve through school administrators’ full commitment.
However, several studies show the demand for a supportive organizational culture
that could function as a kind of control for administrators to influence the kind of
values that an institution develops for a successful TQM implementation. The
purpose of the study is to determine the influence of organizational culture on total
quality management among school administrators in seven selected tertiary
institutions in Asia. This paper presents how Organizational Culture can influence
TQM and highlights the relationship between these two factors. The respondents
were 295 school administrators in 12 colleges and universities in seven selected
countries in Asia. The study used a quantitative approach using descriptive-
correlation. Survey findings suggest that four OC elements can influence the
successful implementation of TQM in education namely; “involvement,”
“consistency,” adaptability,” and “mission.”. School administrators must
continuously practice positive organizational culture traits as evidenced by this
study. These traits have strong influence to attain total quality management in
education. Further, they must provide clear and transparent avenues to consult
subordinates and colleagues on whatever decisions they may undertake.