Quality management in higher education

In Nirwan Idrus' article RI education system needs a revolution on Sept. 2, he refers to changes in higher education in Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. He states that, "One of the major impacts of these changes in those countries was improving quality, efficiency, effectiveness and access" but while commenting on the changes, he lauds the introduction of "quality management" into higher education. The technique which he advocates has the label Total Quality Management (TQM).

It is one in a long series of failed management panaceas. For example, in higher education in Australia, the introduction of TQM has produced high levels of dissatisfaction among academics, to the extent that morale is very low in most Australian universities. When morale is low, the "quality, efficiency and effectiveness" so revered by Idrus actually declines. If Idrus doubts this, I would direct his attention to the 400 submissions the West review of higher education in Australia. Furthermore, I would direct his attention to the origins of TQM.

Why should anyone in Indonesia pay attention to a doctrine developed in Japan by an American named Deming? For over 15 years, observers in Western societies have viewed TQM and other Japanese techniques, such as Just in Time, as the key to highly efficient and, therefore, highly productive organizations.

Generations of MBA students around the world have been force- fed ideas about the economic pay-off of TQM techniques. Given the problems facing Japan and other countries in Asia, how is it that TQM has not rescued these countries from their tragic economic circumstances?

Total quality management is merely one in a long series of Western managerial ideologies that have been imposed upon Asian societies. Think again Dr. Idrus.

S. AUNGLES

Jakarta