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Pakistan’s First National Conference on Quality Assurance in Education (EQ2003) 1

© Pakistan Institute of Quality Control www.piqc.com.pk

EQ’2003

Pakistan’s First National Conference on Quality Assurance in Education

May 10-11, 2003 , at PCSIR Auditorium, Ferozepure Road, Lahore

Best TQM Practices Guardian’s Satisfaction Index

(A Case Study)

Author

Lt. Col. Dr. Nawar Khan College of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering

National University of Science & Technology (NUST) Rawalpindi, Pakistan



ABSTRACT

Education institutions, as part of service industry, have to adopt the TQM universal philosophy of continuous improvement to enhance its status to World Class Excellence. Education providers’ have to work on outward- looking policy of finding the expectations and needs of the guardians/parents of the students. As a result, the education system is to be modified to fulfill their requirements.

Improvement in education system and its work environment is a continuous process through feedbacks from all the associates. Assessment of satisfaction level of the stakeholders (guardians/parents) is carried to find out the education provider’s performance level.

Guardians/parents are the most concerned of all the stakeholders who have their precious assets (wards), economic, reputation and desires at the disposal of education providers. Finding out their satisfaction will give a clear message to the visionary head of the education institutions to reframe their policy, modify their system of induction, processing, testing and support services. A case study of “Guardian’s Satisfaction Index for an Engineering Education Institution” is presented in this paper. This is the first formal TQM practice in an Engineering Institution which has resulted in generation of an excellent ‘Action Plan’ for future improvement. Other Engineering Institutions of the country can follow such best practices to find out guardians/parents satisfaction Index and work on improvement plan to achieve World Class excellence status.



BEST TQM PRACTICES – GUARDIAN’S SATISFACTION

INDEX (A CASE STUDY)

by

Lt. Col. Dr. Nawar Khan College of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering

Rawalpindi

KEYWRDS: TQM Practices, Education Institutions, Survey, Satisfaction Index,

World Class, Excellence.

INTRODUCTION The importance of customer is well recognized by all types of businesses including education institutions of the world. All enterprises take care of their customers because their existence is dependent upon them. Customers are not an interruption to their work; rather they are the purpose of it. Businesses are not doing them favour, rather customer are doing favour by providing service opportunities. In fact, customers are not outsider to any business but are part of the holistic chain. It is the customers which provide the success for any business.

Service industry, including education sector, provides greater employment opportunities than manufacturing (VINCENT & JOEL, 1995). TQM philosophy of continuous process improvement is of great value in service industry like others (BESTERFIELD et al. 1999). Education institutions have its peculiar working system and environment. It has different culture, system, method, procedure and attitude toward customers. The more they work effectively and efficiently, the more they attracts new customers and retain the old customers and gives them great satisfaction.

TQM PHILOSOPHY TQM is a business philosophy in which every one in an institution strives to continuously improve on the path leading to the success and excellence. TQM is not a rigid set of rules and regulations, but an assurance system of improving processes (WIELE et al. 1995 & WIELE et al. 1996). The aim of every process is to get maximum customer satisfaction and make them a repeated buyer of the service. Most organizations follow a predictable path in their TQM adaptation of ‘Awakening’, ‘Activeness’, ‘Breakthrough’ and ‘World Class’.

THE CUSTOMER

Customer (particularly the external one) is the most important of all the stakeholders because the ultimate success of education institutions rest on their choice. No doubt, success generates from customer’s need, expectations and desires. The service takes many shapes before presenting it to the eager customer. For every enterprise customer is a special person



who direct the quality of their service. Customer satisfaction must be measured periodically to judge the level of achievement of the service providers. Excellent institutions can not afford to loose their customers, particularly, in a very competitive environment. Institutions keep a close check on the customer’s complaints. Reduction and elimination of complaints can occur if systematic root cause analysis is done and actions are taken. For this purpose periodic survey is done to measure customer’s satisfaction.

KEY SERVICE INDICATORS

Key service indicators of customer satisfaction are those chosen by the institutions. It indicates quality of their services and the way it is delivered. For service institutions that accompany a product, the range of indicators depends on the nature of the service. Quality experts (VINCENT & JOEL, 1995, EVANS & LINDSAY, 1999, BESTERFIELD et al. 1999, SADIQ, 1995 & DAHLGAARD, 1998) have suggested some important parameters for consideration as following:

1. Timeliness of the service. 2. Dependability.

3. Tangible 4. Friendliness / courteousness of employees

5. Safety / risk of the service. 6. Responsiveness to requests.

7. Competence. 8. Appearance of the physical facilities.

9. Approachability of the service provider.

10. Location and access.

11. Respect for customer feelings / rights.

12. Empathy.

13. Honesty. 14. Reliability.



These indicators, if appropriately address, and converted in to actions can meets the customer needs and expectations. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION INDEX

Customer’s satisfaction is defined as the liking and contentment of the customer with fulfillment of his / her expectations/need of the services provided by the institution. It is a measure of success of the institution in achieving its aim of providing quality services to its customers. Customer satisfaction index is derived from customer feedback/survey. This is quantification of the subjective information provided by the customer. It is derived to establish the efficiency and effectiveness level of education providing institutions. SURVEY There are many types of surveys that can be carried out. A few are listed as following:-

a. Post Purchase Survey. This is conducted after a product is purchased or service is availed by the customer. A response card is issued with the product/ service to customer. They fill and return the card to the service provider.

b. Post Installation Survey. It is for sophisticated products that required installation by the manufacturer or distributor.

c. Customer Satisfaction Survey. This survey measures the customer satisfaction level with a view to improve the quality of service provided.

CONDUCT OF A SURVEY

A survey should measure the customer satisfaction on various attributes of a service (DAHLGAARD, 1998). The case in study is an education service institution, that is, an Engineering Institution which provides educational and administrative facilities to the customer provided products (wards) (SADIQ, 1995). The following service attributes have been studied:

a. Standard of Education. b. Faculty / Teaching Staff. c. System of Examination. d. Results and Reports. e. Laboratories & Libraries. f. Classrooms & Laboratories. g. Residential Facilities. h. Fees / dues. j. Transport Facility. k. Sports Facility. l. Recreational / Extra Curricular Activities.

The most important part of the case study, after data collection and analysis, is to generate action plans and allocate resources to improve the processes.



DATA COLLECTION

Survey was used as a data collection tool. Data collection is required in order to assess satisfaction level of customers and identify problems of service delivery process. Recommendations are compiled for process improvement. One survey is conducted at the start of a BSc Degree Engineering course to get information of the ‘customer needs/ expectations’. Second survey is conducted after completion of the BSc Degree Engineering course to find out satisfaction index. However, continuous feedback is obtained during the course from students, faculty & parents to improve the process of service provision. THE CASE STUDY

The College is providing Engineering education in four disciplines at BSc Engineering level. Degree Engineering ‘X’ has recently graduated from this institution. This study was conducted to assess level of satisfaction of their guardian/ parents on the education and allied facilities provided. In order to obtain feedback, a comprehensive questionnaire was formulated (attached as Annex A). The questionnaire was delivered to the parents / guardians of the students and their feedback was obtained. MAJOR AREAS OF STUDY The study concentrated on two major aspects as following:-

a. Educational Aspects

1. Standard of education.

2. Faculty / teaching staff.

3. System of examination.

4. Results and reports.

5. Laboratories & library.

b. Administrative Aspects

1. Classrooms & laboratories.

2. Residential facilities.

3. Fees / dues.

4. Transport facilities.

5. Sports facilities.



6. Recreational / extra curricular facilities.



Each area was further sub divided into different heads as following:-

a. Educational Aspects

(1) Standard of Education

(a) Planning / selection of courses.

(b) Impact of education in practical field.

(c) Percentage of theory and practical portion.

(d) Use of training aids.

(e) Overall standard of education.

(2) Faculty / Teaching Staff

(a) Level of competence.

(b) Attitude.

(c) Preparation for lectures.

(d) Delivery of lectures.

(e) Teacher’s response to questions.

(f) Concept building.

(g) Adherence to class timings.

(3) System of Examination

(a) Examination schedule.

(b) Examiner’s attitude.

(c) Examination timings.

(d) Fairness / transparency of examinations.

(e) Facilities in examination hall.

(4) Results and Reports

(a) Parent – teacher meetings.

(b) Communication of results to parents/ guardians.

(c) Feedback from parents/ guardians.



(5) Laboratories / Library

(a) Standard of test equipment.

(b) Proficiency of laboratory staff.

(c) Facility of internet café.

(d) Quality and quantity of books in library.

(e) Issue / receipt system.

(f) Attitude of library staff.

b. Administrative Aspects

(1) Classrooms & Laboratories

(a) Size of classrooms.

(b) Standard of furniture.

(c) Environment and other facilities.

(d) General cleanliness.

(2) Residential Facilities

(a) Conditions of rooms.

(b) Provision of recreational facilities.

(c) Conditions of furniture.

(3) Fees / Dues

(a) Tuition fee charged.

(b) Mode and easiness of payment.

(c) Charges paid and education imparted.

(4) Transport Facilities

(a) Condition of transport.

(b) Allocation of routes.

(c) Loading of vehicles.

(d) Standard of driving.

(e) Conduct of drivers.



(5) Sports Facilities

(a) Standard of sports gears.

(b) Standard of competitions.

(c) Opportunities provided to students.

(6) Recreational / Extra Curricular Activities

(a) Club activities.

(b) TV rooms / anti rooms / bars.

(c) Excursion / picnic trips

(d) Industrial tours.

SURVEY SCALE.

All the major areas of case study were measures on a five point scale of 1 to 5 (COOPER & EMORY, 1995). Percentage satisfaction for a particular question shall represent the rating on this scale. The scale is shown as following:-

GRAPHICAL PRESENATATION

Feedback received from the parents/guardians has been shown graphically in Annex ‘B’ through ‘P’: OVERALL RESULT

Overall result of the case study is shown in tabulated as well as graphical form as following:

Areas of Study Weightage factor (%)

Scaled Index

Standard of Education 15 10.19 Faculty / Teaching Staff 15 10.14 Examination System 10 6.84 Results 10 4.70

Unsatisfactory Very Good Good Satisfactory Needs Improvement

5 4 3 2 1



Laboratory & Library 13 8.13 Class Rooms 8 4.67 Residential 8 5.72 Fees & Dues 5 4.51 Transport 5 3.20 Sports 6 3.67 Extra Curricular Activities 5 3.02 Total 100 64.79

CONCLUSION TQM philosophy of continuous process improvement is of great value in service industry like others. Excellent customer’s service is a mean of existence for an education institution. Customer satisfaction can be achieved through fulfilling their needs and expectations. It should be the endeavor of every institution to continuously improve their processes of service provision. Service also has an intangible value that everyone demands. It takes time and resources to build image and reputation for a service, but can be lost in a moment. An approach of formal survey to assess needs and expectation at the start of a course & satisfaction index at the end of it shall result in accomplishing the aim of the education institution to reach world class status. Other Engineering education institutions can follow such a system of formal assessment of customer satisfaction. REFERENCES COOPER. R .D. & EMORY, C. W. (1995). Business Research Methods. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc USA. BESTERFILED, D.H., MICHNA, C.B., BESTERFIELD, G.H. & SACRE, B.M (1999). Total Quality Management, Pearson Education, Inc Singapore DAHLGAARD, J.J. (1998). Quality Management in Higher Education. In: Proceedings of Pakistan’s Fourth International Convention on Quality Improvement Lahore: Ibrahim Publisher pp. 143-158 EVAN, J. R. AND LINDSAY W.M. (1999). The Management and Control of Quality, Ohio, South-Western College Publishing

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION INDEX OF DEGREE-20

Customer Dissatisfaction

35%

Customer Satisfaction

65%



SADIQ, NAEEM. (1995). ISO 9000 As a Quality Management System for an Educational Institution. Proceeding of Pakistan’s Ist International Convention on Quality Control, Karachi, Ibrahim Publisher pp. 121-129 VINCENT, K.O. AND JOEL E.R. (1995). Principle of Total Quality, London Kogan Pages WIELE, T. V.; DALE, B.; WILLIAM, R.; KOLB, F.; LUZON, D. M.; SCHMIDT, A. and WALLACE, M. (1995). State-of-the-Art Study on Self Assessment. The TQM Magazine 7 (4) WIELE, A. V.; WILLIAM, A. R. T.; DALE, B. G.; CARTER, G.; KOLB, F.; LUZON, D. M.; SCHMIDT, A. and WALLACE, M. (1996). Self Assessment-A Study of Progress in Europe’s Leading Organizations in Quality Management Practice. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management 13 (1) 84 – 104

Annex ‘A’

QUESTIONNAIRE Scoring Key 1 - Unsatisfactory, must be changed immediately 2 - Needs Improvement 3 - Satisfactory 4 - Good 5 - Very Good

Note: Please insert tick mark (a) in the appropriate box. EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS

Standard of Education 1 2 3 4 5

a. How satisfied are you with the overall planning / selection of courses & subjects taught?

b. How effective is the education gained in the practical fields / jobs after completion of studies?

c. Was the percentage of Theory & Practical portions appropriate? (Existing – Theory: 65%; Practical: 35%)

d. How would you grade the use of latest training aids during studies?

e. How do you grade the overall standard of education of BSc Engineering in the College?

f. Any other suggestion / opinion for improving education standard?

Faculty / Teaching Staff 1 2 3 4 5

a. What was the level of competence of teachers? b. How was the teacher’s attitude towards students? c. What was the standard of preparation of lectures / practical? d. How would you gauge the delivery of lectures for easy



understanding of students? e. How was teacher’s response to questions raised by students? f. How effective was the teaching staff in preparing

practical/basic engineering concepts of the students?

g. Did teaching staff adhere to the class timings? h. Any other suggestion / opinion for improving teaching

standard?

System of Examination 1 2 3 4 5 a. Were the examinations conducted as per schedule?

b. How would you grade the examiner’s attitude during examinations / viva voce?

c. Was the scope of paper appropriate as per stipulated time? d. How fair and transparent is the system of examination? e. How was the environment / facilities in examination hall

such as timely provision of extra answer sheets, binding material and availability of drinking water etc?

f. Did questions in the paper satisfy the application of knowledge?

g. Were the questions in the paper taught thoroughly during the classes?

h. Any other suggestion / opinion for improving examination system?

Results & Reports 1 2 3 4 5

a. How satisfied are you with parent / teacher meetings/interaction?

b. Were the number of occasions provided for parents and teachers meetings sufficient?

c. How efficiently and timely were the results delivered to parents?

d. How effective was College in getting feedback from parents regarding results of students?

e. Was the system of informing parents about student’s performance unusual?

f. Are the results true outcome/reflection of student’s efforts? g. Any other suggestion/opinion for improving results & reports

system?

Laboratories / Library 1 2 3 4 5

a. How was the standard of test equipment & other material available in laboratories?

b. How was the quality and quantity of electronic and mechanical components provided to the students?

c. How do you grade the proficiency and behaviour of laboratory assistants/attendants?



d. How do you gauge the facility of Internet Café keeping in view its connection speed, number of workstations, availability timings etc?

e. How do you grade the quality and quantity of books available in the library?

f. How efficient was the computer database available in the library for storage & location of books?

g. Was the student satisfied with issue & receipt system of books in the library.

h. How was the attitude of library staff? j. What was the standard of cleanliness, silence, sitting places

and electricity etc?

k. Any other suggestion / opinion for improving these facilities? ADMINISTRATIVE FACILITIES

Class Rooms / Laboratories 1 2 3 4 5 a. Was the size of class rooms / laboratories sufficient to

accommodate all the students?

b. What was the condition of furniture including writing board, tables, chairs, almirahs and lockers etc?

c. Was the environment conducive (e.g. light arrangement, ventilation, cooling & heating arrangement etc)?

d. Was the sound system installed effective for delivery of lectures?

e. How was the standard of cleanliness within and outside the class rooms, including washrooms?

f. Any other suggestion / opinion for improving class rooms / laboratories?

Residential Facilities 1 2 3 4 5

a. Are you satisfied with the charges including living and dinning charges?

b. How was the general condition of the room? c. What was the standard of hygiene in the hostel? d. How do you grade provisional recreational facilities such

as TV room, ante room, games etc?

e. Were the gas, water and electricity sufficiently available? f. What was the condition of furniture (beds, tables, chairs,

almirahs etc) in the room?

g. Any other suggestion / opinion for improving hostel facility?

Tuition Fees / Dues 1 2 3 4 5

a. Keeping in view the education standard, is the amount of tuition fees and allied charges justified?

b. Was the method of payment of fees efficient and convenient? c. How do you grade the charges recovered in this College as



compared to other educational institutions having comparable standard of education?

d. Any other suggestion / opinion for improving fees system? Transport Facility (If Availed) 1 2 3 4 5

a. What was the condition of transport used for pick and drop service of students?

b. How was the distribution of routes and number of students allocated per route / service?

c. Was the loading of vehicle used for transportation reasonable?

d. How do you grade the standard of driving of drivers? e. How do you grade the conduct / behaviour of driver and his

staff with students?

f. Any other suggestion / opinion for improving transport facility?

Sports Facility 1 2 3 4 5

a. How efficient was the sports management in conducting different games?

b. How adequate were the sports facilities for all the students? c. What was the condition of sports gears / items provided to the

students?

d. How do you grade the general standard of different sports competitions / inter company matches?

e. How were the opportunities provided to each student for participation in different games?

f. Any other suggestion / opinion for improving sports facility?

Recreational / Extra Curricular Facilities 1 2 3 4 5 a. How do you grade the standard of different clubs functioning

in the College?

b. How would you grade the club activities towards grooming of students?

c. How satisfied were the students with the facility of TV room, ante room and bars etc?

d. How were the visits planned outside the college for excursion, picnic and industrial tours?

e. Any other suggestion / opinion for improving recreational / extra curricular facilities?

ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS/OPINIONS

__________________________ (Signature)

Name and signature of Parents:______________________

Name of Student:______________________



Anx ‘B’

Annex ‘C’

Study Areas Weightage factor (%) Standard of Education 15 Faculty / Teaching Staff 15 Examination System 10 Results 10 Laboratory & Library 13 Class Rooms 8 Residential 8 Fees & Dues 5 Transport 5 Sports 6 Extra Curricular Activities 5 Total 100

WEIGHTAGES15%

15%

10%

10%13%

8%

8%

5%

5%

6%5%

Std of Edn

Faculty / TeachingStaffExam System

Results

Lab & Lib

Class Rooms

Residential

Fees & Dues

Tpt

Sports

Extra Curricular



Annex ‘D’

Annex ‘E’

Annex ‘F’

Annex ‘G’

FACULTY / TEACHING STAFF

21%

28%

43%

8%Very Good

Good

Satisfactory

NeedsImprovementUnsatisfactory

RESULTS0%

21%

55%

14%

10%Very Good

Good

Satisfactory


STD OF EDN

15%

70%

15% 0%

Very Good

Good

Satisfactory

Needs Improvement Unsatisfactory

EXAM SYSTEM

42%

22%

36%

0%Very Good

Good

Satisfactory




Annex ‘H’

Annex ‘J’

LABS & LIB

14%

50%

36%

0%Very Good

Good

Satisfactory


CLASS ROOMS

12%

50%

28%

10%Very Good

Good

Satisfactory




Annex ‘K’

Annex ‘L’

Annex ‘M’

RESIDENTIAL

22%

45%

22%

11%

Very Good

Good

Satisfactory


FEES & DUES

31%

69%

0%0%

Very Good

Good

Satisfactory


TPT

25%

17%48%

2%

8%Very Good

Good

Satisfactory




Annex ‘N’

Annex ‘O’

EXTRA CURRICULAR0%

38%

46%

8%8% Very Good

Good

Satisfactory


SPORTS21%

31%

39%

2%7%Very Good

Good

Satisfactory




Annex ‘P’

Areas of Study Scaled Index (%)

Standard of Education 68

Faculty / Teaching Staff 68

Exam System 68

Results 47

Laboratory & Library 63

Class Rooms 58

Residential 72

Fees & Dues 90

Transport 64

Sports 61

Extra Curricular Activities 60

Average 65

SUMMARY OF INDL INDICES

68 68 68

47

63 5872

90

64 61 60

0

20

40

60

80

100

Std of

Edn

Facu

lty / T

each

ing Staf

f

Exam

Syste

mRes

ults

Lab &

Lib

Class R

ooms

Reside

ntial

Fees

& Dues Tp

t

Sports

Extra Curr

icular

Per

cent

ageP

E R C E N T



About Author

Dr Nawar Khan is a professional Mechanical Engineer. He has graduated from the University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar in 1981. He did his MSc Mechanical Engineering (Specialized in Production Engineering) from the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore in 1995. Dr Khan has completed his Ph.D under split Ph.D program of MoST from the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore and De Montfort University, Leicester UK in 1999. His field of specialization is Total Quality Management (TQM), particularly the ‘QUALITY AWARDS’. He is author of a number of nationals and international research publications. He is also Certified Quality Assurance Lead Auditor. He is fellow of IEP and life time member of PEC. Presently he is serving as Associate Professor at the College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, NUST Rawalpindi.

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