Abstract

The purpose of this meta-analysis paper is to give a clear presentation of the Total Quality Management (TQM) characteristics and concepts applicable to the higher education context. The paper presents the TQM concepts analysed by the founders of the TQM literature. Followed by the meta-analysis of the influence of TQM awards to quality management principles and characteristics. Those TQM awards are attractive to many organizations, including higher education. Consequently, their criteria can reshape the quality management concepts and implementation in organizations when they are granted such awards. This paper uses qualitative meta-analysis as a method of conducting a thorough secondary qualitative analysis of primarily qualitative results. In this systematic review procedure, the literature is reviewed as not only an objective means to combine the results of previous studies but also to compare, classify, and deduce conclusions of theTQM major concepts and the applicability of this model to higher education including successful and failing cases. All of the TQM concepts constituting of the TQM characteristics discussed by the TQM founders and also those TQM characteristics developed by the TQM awards’ criteria are analysed from the perspective of the higher education TQM scholars in order to present the applicability or inapplicability of those concepts or characteristics to higher education.

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