A Review of Quality Management Research in Higher Education Institutions

The purpose of this study is to determine the state of research in quality management in higher education institutions based on a review of the academic literature. The aim is to provide universities with the best evidence for informing their focus and models for quality improvement. The findings indicate there is very little research on quality management, despite quality’s role growing in importance as universities strive to compete in an increasingly underfunded market for students and research funds.

The review explains the common quality topics discussed and the measure of agreement on dimensions of quality that research finds. In addition journal analysis provides information on popular outlets, research methodologies and country focus. The findings show that the three most common topics are quality management implementation issues, quality management models, techniques and tools, and quality management dimensions. The key quality management enabling dimensions found are: people management, process management and information and analysis, while results dimension is predominantly focused on an understanding of stakeholders’ requirements and feedback on their perceptions of performance. We find in this literature that students are discussed as both end customers as graduates and participants in the learning process who have views on their experience. The paper concludes with recommendations for the development of quality management for universities, and a future research agenda