Quality Management: Deming's 14-point Theory

Dr.W.Edwards Deming (1900-1993) is considered to be the Father of Modern Quality Management. He was widely deemed with leading the Japanese quality revolution and addressed that to achieve the highest level of performance requires more than a good philosophy and how an organization must change its behaviour and implement new ways of carrying out their business activities.

Dr Deming’s approach was thoroughly summed up in his famous 14-point philosophy. In this blog Deming’s 14-Point philosophy will be widely explained as to how this philosophy can be accurately applied to an academic environment.

Deming’s 14 Point Theory.

•   Create Constancy of Purpose for Improvement of Product and Service.

This aspect of Deming’s theory identifies how a management must change from a concentration on the short run to establishing for the long run. This requires adherence to innovation in all areas, not only from the managers but the employees as well, to provide an enhanced quality service to the customers.

In an academic environment, classes in schools and colleges sometimes have a feebly defined objective on the outcomes of their academic process which reflects negatively on the student, and on the college itself, as they are not sure on what is expected of them in this area. This must be avoided in order to aid the students to boost their confidence towards their academic approach and provide them with a stable idea on what the students expect from themselves.

• Adopt the New Philosophy.

This point encourages the implication of maintaining a high standard of quality throughout the organization, by creating a specific quality vision and urging every personnel of the organization to implement on it.

Colleges and schools must implement on new philosophies to obtain the new objectives. With the rapid growth of technology, academic entities must make use of information technology to minimize errors and carry out procedures faster. Management should also take necessary steps to reduce barriers between students and their staff and create an atmosphere of alliance and cooperation, so that the staff and students can work together and produce the best possible results.

For example, in Asia Pacific University (A.P.U), the students are provided with access to adequate tools and resources which include libraries and well maintained labs, in addition to this, teachers at A.P.U administer the students with suitable training and sufficient time to enable the students to work to the best of their abilities. Thus, maintaining the high standard of education which the university boasts.

•  Cease Dependence on Mass Inspection.

Reliance on inspection to acquire and manage quality should be avoided on the whole to improve the performance in an academic environment, as it incurs various costs and it arrives at a junction where it is too late to make modifications and change in its improvement. Students should be aided to become more self-reliant and determinant to take authority for their own academic performances. Over dependency on the teachers would hinder their ability to apply and analyse, which in turn affects their primary improvement on their academic performance.

This point can improve the academic environment by encouraging the students to self-assess themselves in the form of group work, peer assessment and self-learning, rather than going to their teachers with every small dilemma they face in the academics. Thereby, enhancing the students’ ability to face challenges in their studies and making them more analytical in their approach.

•   End the Practice of Awarding Business on Price only.

The focus solely should not be on minimizing costs, quality should be the main factor. Colleges should move towards a single supplier for materials, these materials could be the curriculum, the books, and the IT supplies and so on. The college should choose the supplier who delivers the best quality goods at a reasonable price and then buy goods only from this supplier. This reduces variations in quality and helps develop a relationship of trust and eminence with the supplier. For example, new teachers should be handpicked from specific training institutes, which have an excellent record of producing quality teachers with sufficient experience.

•   Improve constantly the system of production and service.

      There should be continuous improvement of quality in every activity so as to produce a recurrent rise in productivity and a significant decrease in costs. Colleges should ask themselves the following questions; are their customers happy? Are the faculty members happy? Are others associated with the college happy? If the answer to any of the above is no then the college must immediately do what is necessary to resolve this problem. To help decide where to look for things to improve, colleges can use surveys, suggestion boxes. Classroom techniques should be improved, teaching techniques should be updated and all vital departments of the college should be under close observation to constantly improve them. For Example study other successful colleges to see if you can make any improvements and better the system of providing the service.

•  Institute Training and Retraining.

    Modern methods of training and education should be instituted for all students and staff for their expansion and development. To ensure that all the teachers know their job thoroughly, they must be trained adequately. With training, the teachers will become more productive which in turn will improve the results of the students which make the college more productive and consequently result in enhanced quality of education. So it is clear that money spent on faculty and staff training has long-term payback; therefore it is very important that colleges have a training department to help train and develop staff. Sample is faculty should be well educated, not only in the art of teaching, but also in class management and discipline, so it will help if they are trained in lecture delivery and effective communication.

• Institute Leadership.

      According to Deming’s theory, the job of leaders is not just to supervise but also to help subordinates do a better job by leading effectually and act as a role model for them. It is also a part of the leader’s job to train the people being supervised to develop the quality of their work. Improvement of quality will automatically improve productivity as the main objective of teachers is to help students mend their performance. In this case, teachers have a new role as classroom managers. Teachers should become leaders rather than managers/supervisors and serve as role models. They can achieve this by authorizing the students by creating an atmosphere where the students feel comfortable to express themselves without fear of reprimand. For example, one way a teacher can empower students is by giving them a sense of responsibility. This can be done by appointing a class representative or by appointing group leaders for group assignments. 

• Drive out fear.

Fear is a barrier to improvement; it should be driven out by reassuring effective two-way communication that will eliminate fear among teachers and students in colleges. Fear can be of many types, it could be fear of change, fear of failure, fear of top management. Fear should be driven out by creating an environment that encourages people to speak freely so that everyone can benefit for the college system. Unfortunately, many schools operate on fear of punishment and low grades. Fear leads students to obey, but does not motivate them to be excited about work or learning. 

Students should not be afraid of voicing their criticisms and complaints. On the faculty and staff side, fear can play an important role. If a high price must be paid for failure, few people will be keen to risk experimenting with a promising new innovation, thus keeping the course improvement out of the system. For example, teachers should be given the liberty to try new methods of teaching without fear of failure, or embarrassment if the experiment fails.

• Break down barrier between staff areas.

Barriers result in self-development as each part tries to do what is best for itself rather than collaborating in order to achieve what is good for the college as a whole. Institutes are formed of different departments, all of which have their own benefits and objectives. Even different subject teachers act or think differently, it is management’s responsibility to ensure that they work as a team and provide a nourishing education for the students, certifying free flow of information and cooperation among the different departments.

 For example, barriers between teachers and students can be broken down by appointing student representatives who acknowledge the problems to the teachers on behalf of the student community. Barriers between the different teaching departments can be broken down by having regular staff meetings where teachers can discuss critical issues and improve overall quality of education.

•  Eliminate slogans, exhortations and targets.

      On targets, for teachers and students asking for excellence should be avoided as this creates an adverse atmosphere of pressure and can be counterproductive. Most reasons of low productivity have to do with the system and not the personnel, therefore management must improve the processes of effective teaching and quality deliverance so that the primary goals can be achieved. For instance, stating that 80% is the minimum acceptable score on an exam will not by itself achieve that goal; it may in turn result in growing workloads for students and the teachers as well, who may strive to acquire this target. Stating that goal and then providing excellent instruction, arranging for study teams, giving extra help where needed giving the students a much better chance for success. Example is if a teacher has unreasonable expectations of students, the students will most likely get demotivated by their teachers who try to overwork the students which may create a negative learning environment.

•   Eliminate numerical quotas.

      The traditional and standardized grading system should be thoroughly accessed before its implementation. Deming points out that the educational system would be improved immeasurably by closely analysing the grading process of the college. Classroom goals should not focus on numbers, as it is a proven fact that standardized test scores usually ignore more important measures of student knowledge. They cannot test critical thinking or problem solving skills or the decision making abilities of students. Therefore, it is essential that education systems should be based on the overall skills and class performance of the students. Students should be marked on the improvement in their presentation and the effort that they make rather than just the marks they score. For instance, if management instructs teachers to finish a lot of coursework in a short period of time, teachers will be required to take half measures on the quality of education just so that they can finish the course on time; therefore numerical intents should be eluded.

•  Remove barriers to pride of workmanship.

      Pride is a solid motivator. Both, students and teachers, should be given the liberty to express themselves and should not always be told what to do, and should not be reprimanded for experimenting or trying something new. When students do well in individual and group assessments, they should be commended and encouraged to keep up the good work. This motivates them to work harder and enhance on their respective skills. Students should not be valued and compared to one another. This negatively affects their attitudes; therefore pride may result as a negative influence on their progress. For example, if student representatives are consulted when making important decisions, they will feel like an integral part of the college and the teaching system which boosts their self-esteem, confidence and enhances their drive towards excellence.

• Institute a programme of education and retraining.

      Once more, what an organization needs is not just good people; it needs people that are improving with education. People will only improve if they continue to consistently expand their knowledge base. Education and self-education should be encouraged for every student and teacher; this will result in a positive outcome on their performance. 

     For example, courses should frequently be updated in keeping with the changing education system, students should study things that are applicable in the outside world, so the curriculum should be updated regularly and students and teachers should be encouraged to study and analyse courses that are related to the coursework. Groups and societies, like the business club or language clubs in the college should be encouraged to instill various set of skills in students.

•   Take action to accomplish the transformation.

      Lastly, management should encourage everybody in colleges or universities in charge of accomplishing transformation. The change begins at the top management and follows through right to the bottom. Teachers should lead the whole class in the drive for improving quality of every single activity by providing the proper encouragement, training, facilities, and time. Management, at every level but particularly at the very top, must undertake the responsibility to work towards a high standard of quality education and show pride in accepting the total quality philosophy. Followed by teachers and other staff to embrace the philosophy of increased quality education and implement on steps of acquiring high quality.