1.0 Title
As initially drafted, the working title of this research will be An Investigation on Total Quality Management in University of Zimbabwe
2.0 Background of the Study
Total Quality Management (TQM) refers to a set of management strategies that aimed at embedding quality awareness in every organisational process and function. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defined TQM as a management approach for an organization, centered on quality, based on the participation of all its members and aiming at long-term success through customer satisfaction, and benefits to all members of the organization and to society.
TQM has three paradigms: Total – entirety or wholeness, Quality – excellence or the highest and finest standard and Management – the process of administration. Combined, TQM as an integrative approach aimed at ensuring the consistent meeting and exceeding of customer requirements while emphasizing process management and control as primary means of continuous improvement. TQM is customer-driven, top-down, actions-based and proactive.
Basically, TQM applies in virtually all business sector and industry and the service industry is not an exemption. In particular, as universities and colleges face changes the concept of quality has become an integral component of the educational process. The academia has recently adopted TQM as an operational philosophy albeit the many oppositions. University of Zimbabwe is one specific entity that supports and applies the concept of TQM on their processes.
3.0 Research Aim and Questions
This research purports to conduct a case study on University of Zimbabwe and how they apply the concept of TQM on their processes, internal and external. How they address the quality of their function in terms of teaching, administration and providing quality education is integrated. In lieu with this, the study will seek to provide answers for the following specific questions:
1) Do University of Zimbabwe’s access, price and quality of education exceed the expectations of parents and students?
2) How does TQM apply in teaching at University of Zimbabwe? How does TQM apply in school administration?
3) How TQM improve the quality of the university? How can the quality of education be improved through TQM?
4) How TQM contribute to the quality of university administration? How TQM contribute to the quality of university life?
4.0 Research Plan
This research will use a multi-method approach to gather the needed data as it can be used for different purposes and it enables triangulation to take place. Survey strategy will be the first since surveys could gather a large amount of data from a sizeable population in a highly economical way. The researcher will survey both the faculty and the students. The questionnaire will be data gathering instrument used for the survey. The survey would be composed of two parts. The first part will contain information regarding the researcher and the purpose of the study; details about the respondents such as name, age and address. The second part of the questionnaire is the survey proper.
The second method that will be employed is the case study since case study is a strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence. The data collection methods employed may be various such as questionnaires, interviews, observation and documentary analysis.
Descriptive research will be used in the study as well. A descriptive research intends to present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study. It is also concerned with relationships and practices that exist, beliefs and process that are on-going, effects that are being felt or trends that are developing. In addition, such approach tries to describe present conditions, events or systems based on the impressions or reactions of the respondents of the research.
As the study involves an interpretative, naturalistic approach to the subject matter, this means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings that people bring to them. The primary source of data will come from the researcher-made questionnaire and interview questions. The primary data frequently gives the detailed definitions of terms and statistical units used in the study. The secondary sources of data will come from published articles, social science journals, theses and related studies on TQM and University of Zimbabwe.
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