Abstract：The writer aims at advocating the proper applying TQM in education by comparing the resemblances and differences of TQM in industry and TQM in education and discussing the feasibility of the proper application by providing various issues related to TQM.

Key words：TQM：Total Quality Management industry education teacher student

中圖分類號：G540 文獻標(biāo)識碼：A 文章編號：1009-8283(2009)03-0128-02

1.Background Information

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management philosophy developed by Deming based on his experiences in US industry before and during the Second World War. It is originally developed for industrial purposes. But it is now attracting increasing attention in the field of education. The success of Total Quality Management in industry has made it being used in education promptly. According to some investigation，some people who have some experience and some convincing data，it is proved to be true that Total Quality Management can not been totally used in education without any change.

While higher education institutions are the home for learning and creating knowledge through their research function，it is ironic that they have been lagging behind other organizations in embracing and implementing TQM. This inertia in the adoption of TQM seems to be due to certain structural and traditional characteristics of higher education institutions. There are also some special challenges that are not encountered in other organizations. Some of these characteristics which cause difficulties in TQM implementations are discussed in this article. Quality in higher education is treated from different perspectives in other articles in the literature.

However，to me，no matter some people say so or a lot of people say so，it still does not mean that TQM is everything or it can be totally or properly applied in Education. As we know now，to a certain aspect，it is a kind of method's transferring from industry to academy. There are not only a lot of relations but still a lot of differences between TQM in industry and TQM in education. Only after we know these resemblances and differences deeply and clearly，can we use TQM totally and properly in education and can we make it work well in education.

2.Statement of TQM in Detail

TQM in Industry

As we know that in a factory，before the raw material is produced into the product，it needs such a process：entering the factory --- being operated by workers --- passing through the quality control --- dispatching to the customers. In this process，one thing needs mentioning is that the items which fail the quality control are either discarded or reworked. But we should know that it needs a lot of time and money no matter the process is discarding or reworking. It can also mean that much more time and resources already invested in them will be wasted seriously. As a result，because of the overall cost，customers are passed on to the higher prices in turn to make up the waste. Then it will make the products less competitive because of the higher prices. As last，sales may fall. Even more serious things will emerge.

So，in such situation，being an industry，Crosby (1984) suggest that manufacturers explore the following strategies：what we should focus on is not the quality of the product，but the quality of the production system you use to produce it；consider every component of the system hence the name \"total\"；find the root causes of the failures and cure them at source. By following these strategies，the number of defective items will be reduced，the waste of items to be reworked will be eliminated，the system is sure to produce the quality product automatically，and a subsequent saving on the cost of time and money will make the products more competitive in the consumer market. At last，the sale rises again.

However，this is not the end of the matter. According to Deming(1986)，even when the root causes of failure have been eliminated，over emphasis on the quality control still has a number drawbacks：Mass inspection of every item may take a long time and it is also not necessary to assure quality accordingly since there is not time to inspect each item very closely. Quality control inspectors must be employed and paid even though they do not add value to the product. As a result，of these changes，overall costs still go down still further. Thus，the quality control becomes a diagnostic tool which assures the quality of the production system not of the individual items and not of the individual worker and they are still on the risk of their sales in the consumer's market. So for Deming the emphasis must be on continually improving the process of production to achieve ever higher quality standards. Quality for Deming is，therefore，a positive concept meaning how useful and valuable a product is to the person who purchases it，rather than a negative concept，being simply the absence of defects.

TQM in Education

As we also know that in education，before the student is produced into a seemly useful' person，it also needs such a process：entering the school--- being operated by the teachers --- passing through the quality control (sitting for any kinds of examinations) --- serving for the society. In this process，we can find that the students need sitting for an examination (quality control) before entering further education or training or the workforce. One thing is the same as it in industry is that the students which fail the examinations (quality control) either enter the workforce as unskilled workers，with a lack of academic credentials，or they re-sit the examinations they have failed. But we should know that this process also needs a lot of time and money. Allowing students who fail their examination to enter the workforce is a waste of time and money already invested in their education，but to compel students to re-sit their examination takes even more time and money. As a result，because of the rise of the overall costs of studying at an institution，it will be less competitive in the education market. As last，sales may fall. Even more serious things will emerge.

So，in such situation，being an education，we also need to follow Crosby's model (1984) which suggest that manufacturers explore the following strategies：what we should focus on is not the results of students' examination but on the quality of the teaching system you use to teach them；consider every component of the system hence the name \"total\"；find the root causes of the examination failure and cure them at source. By following these strategies，the number of examination failures will be reduced；the waste of time and money will go back over the syllabus；the teaching system will then produce students who pass their examinations automatically. And a subsequent saving on the cost of time and money will make schools more competitive in the education market.

However，this is also not the end of the matter. According to Deming (1986)，even when the root causes of examination failure have been eliminated，over emphasis on the examination results (quality control) still has a number of drawbacks：examining every student on everything may take considerable time and it is also not necessary to assure quality accordingly since there is not time to examine each student too closely. Teacher also may spend considerable amount of time setting and making examination scripts，even though this exercise does not contribute directly to student learning. As a result，of these changes，overall costs still go down still further. According to Deming then，schools no longer need to rely on examination to assure quality，we must pay the quality of teaching system sufficient attention. The examination can be a examining a representative sample of students in depth，and the results may even be more accurate. It can also save time and money. Thus，the examination result becomes a diagnostic tool which assures the quality of the teaching system not of the individual student. So for Deming the emphasis must be on continually improving in the curriculum itself in order to satisfy the educational needs of the students to make the students have more creativity，more thinking skills and more independent learning to be more competitive in the education field. Teaching to achieve ever higher quality standards，education quality can be understood from Deming is，therefore，a positive concept meaning how useful and valuable a student is to the society who needs it，rather than a negative concept，being simply the absence of defects (no examination failures)，because no examination failure means nothing sometimes.

Conclusion and Suggestion

By using Deming's model and according to some suggestion from Lachlan E.D. Crawford's article：Total Quality Management in Education：Problems and Issues for the Classroom Teacher，it can show to some extent that we could apply TQM properly to education. But that does not mean enough that TQM could be totally used in our education.. That means what we should also keep in mind is that there are also some differences between education and industry before we apply TQM properly：The school is not a factory；the students are not the product；their education is the product；the customers are not only students themselves，but their parents，their future employers；and the society.

Education institutions have been facing challenges for some time，and are expected to face more in the future. With many industrial business organizations having become more efficient as a result of the adoption of TQM，education have also been affected by this trend，although not to as great an extent. As we all know that the cost on education has been increasing steadily. These are some of the factors that are creating pressure on education to change and become more efficient.

Only after we have a very clear mind that there are both resemblances and differences between TQM in industry and TQM in education，can we apply it properly to education and can it make our education more efficient.

References：

Walton，M. (1986). The Deming management method. New York，NY：Perigee.

Lachlan，E.D Crawford，Paul Shutler. (1999). Total quality management in education：Problems and issues for the classroom teacher. International Journal of Educational Management，Vol 13，Issue 2.

M. Sadiq Sohall，Jegatheesan Rajadural. (2003). Managing quality in higher education. The International Journal of Educational Management.

Sirvanci，Mete B. (2004). Critical issues for TQM implementation in higher education. The TQM Magazine，Vol 16.