TQM in Education: Changing the Culture of Schools

Schroeder TQM in Education: Changing the Culture of Schools Abstract The literature on TQM is replete with examples of failed implementation due to unsuitable organizational culture. However, to date there have been only limited attempts to rigorously delineate the type of culture associated with successful TQM implementation. The proposed research seeks to directly address this issue by theoretically and empirically defining the type of organizational culture which supports, rather than hinders, implementation of TQM and by documenting longitudinal changes in organizational culture during TQM implementation. Since public school districts are increasingly criticized for having cultures that inhibit organizational change and renewal, this research investigates transformation to TQM in US K-12 schools. A three-stage approach will be used to develop an ideal culture for TQM in schools. In the first stage, academics and school leaders will review the literature and convene a panel to theoretically define the ideal school culture for TQM implementation. A multi-disciplinary team will consider organizational change, culture, and TQM from the literatures of Organization Theory, School Administration, Educational Psychology, and Quality Management in constructing multiple methods for measuring the level of TQM culture in schools. In the second stage, the school culture of a sample of relatively successful, long-term implementers of TQM will be measured to determine their degree of alignment with the theoretically determined culture of TQM. The beginning culture of a second sample of new TQM adopters will be measured and a set of hypotheses will be formed about the cultural changes needed if TQM is to be successfully implemented in these sites. Stage three will continue the process of tracking TQM implementation and school culture in both samples. As the co-variance of culture and TQM are studied longitudinally, tentative conclusions and an enriched theory will emerge about the process of changing organizational culture to be more TQM-supportive, thereby improving the likelihood of successful organizational transformation.