Do quality and business excellence models improve quality and operational results in educational organizations? A repeated cross-sectional analysis

Abstract

Improving quality and operational practices in education organizations and developing a culture of continuous improvement are crucial yet challenging endeavors because of the complex nature of education organizations. While quality management practices can clearly improve the quality of these organizations in several aspects, empirical research for quality management in educational organizations is sparse because of the lack of suitable frameworks for assessing quality. In this paper, we present the first large-scale empirical study of implementing quality management practices in educational organizations in the United States. It is based on seven years of objective data for quality assessments by external professional reviewers as part of the U.S. government’s Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) program. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the reliability and robustness of the Baldrige model as an effective quality assessment for educational organizations. Controlling for the applicant’s year, our findings show that Information and knowledge management is a key influencer and predictor of Customer satisfaction and focus, and Management of process quality is a key influencer and predictor of Quality and operations results. This study also provides effective insight and recommendations for how to improve quality systems and achieve business excellence in educational organizations using the Baldrige model. The findings will therefore help managers and administrators to make informed decisions about key factors that impact quality in educational organizations.