TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT'S CONTRIBUTION TO ATTAINING LEADERSHIP IN UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

Currently there are many changes in different domains are undergoing in our contemporary Iraqi society, which necessitated modern administrative systems in the field of education. Education as an element of social development is a cornerstone that needs to be developed strategically in order to fulfil its goal with today's challenges and one of the modern development in the field of administrative development that has been taken away from TQM (Total Quality Management). TQM is a modern management philosophy consisting of administrative methods, innovative ventures and specialized technical competence aimed at improving the performance, its improvement and continuous development. This means that it is a transformation of human, material and financial resources in an attempt to satisfy the needs and the wants of the society. One has to appreciate the fact that TQM drive to improve and develop itself is not a short term effort but a long term commitment and does involve all administrative, functional and technical levels. The cooperation, loyalty, precision regarding duties from the very beginning and the comprehensive perspective are the factors on which the commitment of this rule is based. An introduction of a total quality management system in a university per se is not an end but a springboard for the superior performance and leadership qualities of the university. The use of TQM system; however, shows that although quality includes procedures only, is no longer enough for quality. Quality implies radical transformation of organizational culture: the cluster of dominant values, thoughts and behavior in the institution. This is a transformation of an organization as it applies to whether or not its application has supporters or opponents. Implementation process plays a crucial role to achieve a success or failure of the system. As such, the selection of the best programs is not the secret to the success of some organizations; rather, the secret could be that of adopting programs in keeping with their organization’s culture, objectives, the needs of its service beneficiaries and its staff.. These organizations participate in program development and execution to the fullest extent. Due this, universities are always working to keep the educational system better and change whenever it is necessary because of the challenges to the new and developments in education at a local, regional and global level to enable their institution to operate successfully. The goal is to reach the educational objectives using an efficiency and effectiveness of a most high degree. Therefore, a reformulation of their mission, goal and priority is needed in order to commit to the implementation of the TQM system in educational institutions. It also requires identification of the most important beneficiaries of their services, and those services’ employees, that is, students. In the educational sector, the TQM system requires integration in full scale, which necessitates commitment from senior management to the quality, so that the TQM system is kept undergoing refinement.