The relationship between total quality management implementation and leadership in the Saudi higher education: a review and conceptual framework

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation of total quality management (TQM) at the Saudi Arabian universities and the best leadership practice in order to improve quality and ranking of Saudi Arabian universities. Total quality management is one of the effective tools to minimize the cost and to improve the outcomes; many universities and colleges around the world have applied TQM as a tool to enhance the quality of higher education, Due to the increase of recent competition in different sectors including the higher education (HE) (e.g., expansion of new universities and research centres in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain), many Middle Eastern universities are trying their best to increase their efficiency and effectiveness in higher education by adopting TQM principles. Data will be collected from two major universities with regards to staff and students, primarily through semi-structured interviews, will be supplemented by observations and document analysis.