A Total Quality Management (TQM) Model for Educational Programme (6Ps Model)

The 6Ps Model provides a holistic and integrated approach to manage the quality of educational programme in higher education.  It begins with the environmental scanning of external factors, an analysis of stakeholders' needs and internal capabilities and resources of the university with the objective of determining the “Purpose” in satisfying stakeholders satisfaction and outcomes.

The facilitators and learners are the “People” at the centre of the process. The facilitators comprises both content and context experts. The content experts need to consider the characteristics of the learners so that relevant programme and place can be created for effective teaching and learning. While the context experts provide services to support the teaching and learning.

The “Programme” needs to be developed with the “purpose” and “people” in mind. Learning outcomes, curriculum, teaching and learning strategies and assessment have to be constructively aligned for effective learning and the achievement of the learning outcomes.

The “Place” provides the relevant learning space (physical and virtual), learning environment (social and psychological) and learning resources (materials, technology, etc.) to facilitate effective teaching and learning.

The “Process” encompasses internal and external quality assurance, evaluation and feedback, benchmarking, continuous improvement and review.

The last "P" is "Promotion" which involves the marketing, branding, pricing and advertising of a programme.

Bridging Strategic Management and Change Management

Change is a pervasive and constant feature of modern business life. It can be said to be the single most important element of successful business management today. Ignoring or trivialising a changing trend can be costly. To remain relevant in increasingly aggressive markets, organisations and individuals have to embrace and adopt a positive attitude to change. In all business environments, managers and employees are required to identify, lead and undergo unprecedented levels of change in order to sustain advantage in an increasingly competitive and inter-connected world.

The imperative to change the way organisations do business may be great but the success rate of change management isn't great. About 75 percent of all organisational change programmes failed, largely because employees felt left out of the process and end up lacking the motivation, skills and knowledge to adopt the new systems and procedures.(1) A global survey of 500 companies by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed nine out of ten obstacles to corporate change were linked to the capabilities, attitudes or behaviours of people.(2) The same survey also found that the top ten success factors for change placed emphasis on people. Therefore, the barriers to successful change are usually people related.

This calls for a holistic approach to plan strategically and to manage change successfully in dealing with both internal and external changes. Strategic management and change management have to be an integral part of the organisation’s strategy, people, system and culture. This requires executives to know and understand their organisation’s mission, core competencies, and capabilities. They should be able to identify the external factors and their impacts on their organisation, and be able to develop strategies and implement them through a systematic framework of sustaining change. The iterative process for strategic change management is illustrated below.

(1) Herding Cats: Human Change Management”, Mark J. Dawson and Mark L. Jones,  PricewaterhouseCoopers.

(2) “PwC: People are the Key in Change Management”, Business Times, 20 May 2004.

 

ISO 9001:2008 Internal Auditor Training Course

The 2-day ISO 9001:2008 Internal Auditor Training Course was facilitated by Mr. Johnson Ong Chee Bin on 9 & 10 May 2013. The course equips participants with the knowledge and skills in PDCA auditing process, interviewing skills and audit report writing.     

At the end of the course, participants are able to:

• Understand the ISO 9001:2008 quality management system and its requirements
• Understand the Quality Management Principles and the Process Approach
• Understand the importance of internal auditing within a quality management system
• Understand the responsibilities of an internal auditor and the role of internal audit in the maintenance and improvement of the quality management system
• Apply the PDCA approach to auditing, interviewing skills and audit report writing to achieve a successful and effective quality audit.

4th AUN-QA Training Course for Accomplishing Programme

The 4th “AUN-QA Training Course for Accomplishing Programme Assessment” was organised for members and non-AUN members by AUN Secretariat. The 4-day workshop was held from 22 - 25 April 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The 4-day course aims to introduce the AUN-QA system and enhance quality assurance practices. It is held for professionals who are in charge of quality assurance at programme and/or institutional level from universities inside and outside ASEAN.

The content of the workshop encompasses:

• Introduction of quality assurance in higher education
• AUN quality assessment process
• Self-assessment at programme level
• Study visit to Chulalongkorn University

The workshop was facilitated by Mr. Johnson Ong Chee Bin together with facilitators from the National University of Singapore. The workshop was attended by 42 participants from Brunei Darrusalam: Institut Teknologi Brunei and Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia: Brawijaya University, Universitas Indonesia, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia Islamic University, Prasetiya Mulya Business School, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta; Malaysia: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Philippines: Ateneo De Manila University; Thailand: Bangkok University, Burapha University, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, , King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Khon Kaen University, Mahasarakham University, Suranaree University of Technology, Walailak University Vietnam: University of Agriculture and Forestry.

The 1st ASEAN-QA Actual Quality Assessment

After more than 2 years of preparation by the participating universities in the ASEAN-QA project, the 1st ASEAN-QA actual quality assessment was kick-off at the International University, Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from 1 to 3 April 2013.

The study programme, Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunications was assessed by an international team of assessors led by Mr. Johnson Ong Chee Bin from the ASEAN University Network (AUN). The other peer assessors were Dr. Iring Wasser from Agency for Engineering, Informatics, Natural Sciences and Mathematics (ASIIN), Germany and Prof. Ir. Dr. Ahmad Faizal Mohd. Zain from Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia.   

ASEAN-QA project is coordinated and conducted by the University of Potsdam (Center for Quality Development in Higher Education - ZfQ) within the frame of the DIES programme, which is jointly coordinated by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK). Partners of the ASEAN-QA Project are the ASEAN University Network (AUN), the Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development in Southeast Asia (SEAMEO RIHED) and two regional networks of QA agencies: in Europe and Southeast Asia: the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and the ASEAN Quality Assurance Network (AQAN). 

For more information about the site visit, please go to http://www.asean-qa.de/blog/posts/177/Official-Start-of-the-ASEAN-QA-Site-Visits/1.html

The Happiness DNA Workshop - 20 & 21 May 2013, Singapore

The Customer Happiness DNA

In the emerging happiness economy, leading happiness-centric organisations have espoused values in nurturing a culture in delivering happiness to their employees, customers and the community. 

Is your organisation ready to deliver happiness to your employees and customers? This question was discussed and answered at the recent 2-day Customer Happiness DNA workshop held at the National University of Singapore for Professional & Executive Staff and Non-academic staff. The workshop focused on the concept of the customer happiness DNA, which is a holistic approach for aligning and internalising an individual’s attitude, heart and habits to deliver happiness in customer experience.

At the workshop, participants learned to:

• Appreciate the raising importance of customer happiness in an experience-centric economy; 
• Understand the types and dimensions of customer happiness; 
• Understand the impact of attitude on customer happiness; 
• Understand, manage and add emotional value to customer happiness; and 
• Apply the customer happiness DNA to deliver happiness in customer experience

Johnson leading the laughter yoga exercise 

Warming up 

Teh tarik laughter 

Teh tarik laughter 

The handphone laughter 

Ho ho ha ha ha 

Child-like play

What some participants say about the workshop?

"I have understood the impact of attitude on customer happiness and how to apply
the happiness DNA to deliver happiness in customer experience."

"I have learned how to have happiness in my life and how to live better."

"From this course, I have learned how to be happy when dealing with difficult customers."

"Knowing what actually bring about true happiness."