Total quality management and performance of public universities in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of total quality management on the performance of the institutions of higher learning. The study established that continual improvement enhance the organizational development through improved organizational capabilities, strategic intent, flexibility to react quickly to opportunities and training. The study further established that staff involvement affected the organizational performance through motivation and commitment, innovation and creativity, staff accountability, employee eagerness to participate and employee understanding. The results also showed that systems approach affected the performance of the organizations through integration and alignment of the processes, focusing efforts on key processes, ensuring consistency, effectiveness and efficiency, lowering the costs and shortening cycles through effective use of resources and improved results on the organizations. The customer focus affected the organizational performance by increasing revenue and market share, effectiveness in use of resources, improved customer loyalty and ensuring that the customer needs expectations are communicated. The findings revealed that leadership affected the performance of the organization through motivation of employees, evaluation of activities, providing clear vision and creation of provision of shared values, fairness and ethical role model. The factual approach to decision making affected the organizational performance through informed decisions, ability to demonstrate effectiveness through reference to past records, ability to change opinions and accurate and reliable data. The study recommended that the management of the institutions of higher learning should adopt continual improvement to be the strategy for improving their capabilities and quick reaction to opportunities and training, the management of the institutions of higher learning should involve their employees the more as a strategy to enhance the performance of the institutions, the management of the institutions should adopt technology especially information systems so as to integrate the processes in the institutions for ease of coordination and the management of the institutions should use factual approach the more to manage change in the institutions