A quest for waste reduction at institutions of higher learning: Investigating the integration of Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma methodologies with total quality management
Abstract
Abstract
Institutions of higher learning are required to rethink strategies to eliminate ‘institutional waste’. The sector is facing numerous challenges with resource restrictions. Factors such as the impact of the Fees-must-fall campaign in South Africa and the global tendency of government initiatives to increase student enrolment targets, while subsidies, on a continual basis, are on the decrease, places institutions in higher education under enormous financial distress. This article argues that the majority of institutions’ quality management systems in South Africa and abroad are underpinned by the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM). There is a dearth of research on the implementation of Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma in higher education. This article investigates the integration of Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma as mechanisms to reduce waste in the higher education sector. It reflects on how this integration can enhance a university’s core business and institutional functions through processes of continuous quality assurance, the latter is characteristic of the principles of TQM.
References
REFERENCES
Allen RS and Kilmann RH. 2001. The role of the reward system for a total quality management based strategy. Journal of Organizational Change Management 14 (2): 110 – 131.
Anyamele SC 2005. Implementing quality management in the university: the role of leadership in Finnish universities. Higher education in Europe, 30 (3): 357–369.
Antony J, Krishan N, Cullen D and Kumar, N. 2012. Lean Six Sigma for higher education institutions: challenges, barriers, success factors, tools/techniques. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 61 (8): 940–948.
Bandyopadhyay JK and Licman R. 1990. Six Sigma approach to quality and productivity improvement in institutions of higher education in the United States. International Journal of Management, 24 (4).
Brits HJ. 2010. A model for the integration of quality management, planning and resource allocation at institutions of higher learning in South Africa. Ph.D. thesis, North-West University.
Cheng J. Six Sigma and TQM in Taiwan: an empirical study of discriminate analysis. Total Quality Management and Business Excellence. 20 (3): 311-326.
Cruickshank M. 2003. Total quality management in the higher education sector: a literature review from an international and Australian perspective. TQM & Business Excellence, 14 (10): 1159–1167.
Deming WE. 1993. The new economics: for industry, government, education. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Drake D, Sutterfield JS and Ngassam C. 2008. The revolution of Six Sigma: an analysis of its theory and application. Academy of Information and Management Sciences Journal, 11 (1): 29–44.
Easton GS and Jarrell, SL. 1998. The effects of total quality management on corporate performance: an empirical investigation. Journal of Business, 71 (2): 253–307.
Essop A. 2016. Fees must fall – but not at the expense of quality higher education. The Conversation. Available at: http://theconversation.com/fees-must-fall-but-not-at-the-expense-of-quality-higher-education-62520. Aaccessed 11 March 2017.
Foster ST. 2007. Managing quality: integrating the supply chain. Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson Education International.
Goffnett SP. 2004. Understanding Six Sigma: implications for industry and education. Journal of Industrial Technology, 20 (4): 2.
Hargrove SK and Burge L. 2002. Developing a Six Sigma methodology for improving retention in Engineering Education. Paper delivered at 32nd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 6-9 November 2002, Boston.
Higgs P and Smith J. 2006. Rethinking truth. Cape Town: Juta.
Jenicke LO, Kumar A and Holmes MC. 2008. A framework for applying Six Sigma improvement methodology in an academic environment. The TQM Journal, 20 (5): 453–462.
Kiley K. 2011. Inside higher education. Where universities can be cut. Available at: http://www.insidehighered.com/print/news/2011/09/16unc (accessed on 28 August 2013).
Koch JV. 2003. TQM: Why is its impact in higher education so small? The TQM Magazine. 15 (5): 325–333.
Kwak YH and Anbari FT. 2004. Benefits, obstacles and future of six sigma. Technovation: The International Journal of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Management, 26 (5/6): 708–715.
Liston C. 1999. Managing quality and standards. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Loder CPJ ed. 1990. Quality assurance and accountability in higher education. London: Kogan Page.
Maguad BA. 2007. Lean strategies for education: Overcoming the waste factor. Education, 128 (2): 248 – 255.
Mazumder QH. 2014. Applying Six Sigma in Higher Education quality improvement. 21st ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. June 15-18, 2014. Indianopolis.
Meirovich G and Romar EJ. 2006. The difficulty in implementing TQM in higher education instruction. Quality Assurance in Education. 14 (4): 324–337.
Mehrotra D. 2010. Applying total quality management in academics. Available at: http://www.isixsigma.com/library/content/c020626a.asp/action=print Accessed 2 January 2015.
Motwani J and Kumar A. 1997. The need for implementing total quality management in education. International Journal of Educational Management, 11 (3): 131 – 135.
Oakland JS. 1998. Total quality management. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.
Pryor MG, Alexander C, Taneja S, Tirumalasetty S and Chadalavada D. 2008. The application of Six Sigma methodologies to university processes: the use of student teams. Journal of Case Studies in Accreditation and Assessment. 2:123-136.
Raifsnider R and Kurt D. 2004. Lean Six Sigma in higher education: Applying proven methodologies to improve quality, remove waste and quantify opportunities in colleges and universities. White Paper: Xerox Corporation.
Revere L and KBlack K. 2003. Integrating Six Sigma with Total Quality Management: a case example for measuring medication errors. Journal of Healthcare Management, 48 (6): 377–391.
Rust RT, Moorman C and Dickson PR. 2002. Getting return on quality: revenue expansion, cost reduction, or both? Journal of Marketing, 66:7–24.
Saunders IW and Walker M. 1991. TQM in tertiary education. The International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management. 8:91–103.
Shah A. 2009. The impact of quality on satisfaction, revenue, and cost as perceived by providers of higher education. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 19 (2): 125–141.
Simons N. 2013. The business for Lean Sigma in Higher Education. ASQ Higher Education Brief, 6 (3). Available at: http://asq.qic/display-item/index.html?item=35964 Accessed 12 April 2017).
Taitkonda L. 2007. Applying Lean principles to design, teach and assess courses. Management Accounting Quarterly, 8 (3): 27-28.
Van Vught F. 1996. The Humboldtian university under pressure: new forms of quality review in western European higher education. In Inside academia – new challenges for the academic profession, eds. PAM Maassen and F Van Vught, 163 – 140. Utrecht: Cheps.
Vroeijenstijn AI. 1995. Improvement and accountability: navigating between Scylla and Charybdis. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Willis TH and Taylor AJ. 1999. Total quality management and employers’ perspective. Total quality management, 10 (7): 997–1007.
Youssef MA, Libby P, Al-Khafaji A and Sawyer G. 1998. TQM implementation in academe: A framework for further investigation. International Journal of Technology Management, 16:584–593.
Copyright (c) 2018 Hans Jacob Brits
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
This journal is an open access journal, and the authors and journal should be properly acknowledged, when works are cited.
Authors, copyright holders, may use the publishers version for teaching purposes, in books, theses, dissertations, conferences and conference papers.
A copy of the authors' publishers version may also be hosted on the following websites:
- Non-commercial personal homepage or blog.
- Institutional webpage.
- Authors Institutional Repository.
The following notice should accompany such a posting on the website: This is an electronic version of an article published in SAJHE, Volume XXX, number XXX, pages XXX “XXX", DOI. Authors should also supply a hyperlink to the original paper or indicate where the original paper (http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/SAJHE) may be found.
Authors publishers version, affiliated with the Stellenbosch University will be automatically deposited in the University Institutional Repository SUNScholar.
Articles as a whole, may not be re-published with another journal.
The following license applies:
Attribution CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
