Satisfying The University's Customers Through Total Quality Management Instruction: A Case Study

Authors

  • Don G. Wardell

Abstract

In academics, as well as in industry, we must achieve quality instruction by exceeding the needs of our customers. Perhaps the most important of these customers are the future employers of our students. The majority of these employers are beginning to implement programs of total quality management (TQM) programs. As the suppliers of their human resources, universities must seek to provide graduating students who are well versed in the use of TQM. We describe initial attempts at the University of Idaho's College of Business and Economics to teach our students the principles of TQM. All students in the college are being introduced to the principles through a beginning production/operations management class, and many are gaining greater understanding through a quality management class. Resources such as the Application Guidelines for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award are used to provide a frame of reference for ensuing course materials. Initial work is also being done to integrate TQM principles into other courses such as services marketing and human resource management. Although we are in the early stages of implementation, preliminary results look promising.

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Published

1992-03-09