The University of Santo Tomas Viewed from the Lens of Total Quality Management - Implications to Total Quality Education

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda

Examining how the University of Santo Tomas implements Total Quality Management (TQM), the paper analyzes its approach through the VICTORY-C model, covering Vision, Involvement, Continuous Improvement, Training and Education, Ownership, Reward, Yearning for Success, and Customer Focus. It compiles and categorizes the university’s best practices in light of TQM principles, then derives implications for total quality education. The study frames higher education as a learning organization needing customer-centered excellence.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

TQM and Higher Education Challenges

Continuous Improvement and Quality Culture

The VICTORY-C Model in the University of Santo Tomas

Vision, Involvement, and Customer Focus

Best Practices Categorized by TQM Principles

Implications for Total Quality Education

Asia Pacific Education Review Copyright 2004 by Education Research Institute 2004, Vol. 5, No. 1, 88-99. The University of Santo Tomas Viewed from the Lens of Total Quality Management: Implications to Total Quality Education Allan B. de Guzman Josefina R. Torres University of Santo Tomas Philippines Considered as a major management approach for improving organizational performance and competitive advantage, Total Quality Management (TQM) poses a challenge to dynamic institutions to adopt a systemic philosophy that places emphasis on customer needs and a commitment to a culture of excellence. Higher education institutions (HEIs) as learning organizations are expected to respond proactively to this challenge by examining closely how their educational centerpiece operates in an environment of quality. This inquiry aims to determine how the oldest university in Asia implements TQM as regards its Vision, Involvement, Continuous Improvement, Training and Education, Ownership, Reward, Yearning for Success, and Customer Focus (VICTORY-C) . Moreover, it documents the best practices of the institution under study, categorized in the light ofTQM principles and identifies implications for total quality education. Key Words: best practices, Total Quality Management, VICTORY-C model The university is to provide a haven where the search for truth may go on unhampered by utility or pressure for results. Robert Hutchins Universities, like public schools, face multiple and diverse problems, among them, that of resources (Bullough, Kauchak, Crow, & Hobbs, 1997) . The success and advancement or progress (Kreitner, 1998; Saylor, 1996) of today’s universities depend on their responsiveness and resiliency (El-Khawas, 2001); their ability to preserve and strengthen quality (Thorens, 1996), and to effect reconstruction efforts (Castillo, 1987) and to pursue quality, equality and equity, institutional diversity, regional development, flexible curricula, stable financing, Allan B. de Guzman, Director, University of Santo Tomas Center for Educational Research and Development and Associate Professor, College of Education and Graduate School. Josefina R. Torres, Associate Professor, UST College of Education. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Allan [B. de](B. de) Guzman, UST Center for Educational Research and Development Room 201 Thomas Aquinas Research Complex, España, Manila Philippines (1008) . Electronic mail may be sent to[ustcerd@yahoo.com](ustcerd@yahoo.com). evaluation and innovation, governability, social relevance and internationalization (Gomez, 1999; Holtta & Malkki, 2000) . The changing context of higher education requires thereorganization of the processes of decision-making, reward systems, and planning (Galbraith, 1999) to enable the system to be more internally efficient, which, according to Trow (1994), is “soft managerialism”. Hard managerialism is redirecting of program efforts through the adoption of new management systems which call for a high degree of openness in school sectors and a kind of systems thinking characterized by alignment of delivery and attunement of values and value systems. Traditionally, universities operate through their transmission, preservation, and enrichment functions. Today, a plurality of university functions has gradually emerged. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), as cited by Caraca, Conceicao, and Heitor (2000), advanced the viewpoint that universities are expected to (1) provide post-secondary education; (2) develop research and produce new knowledge; (3) provide society with essential skills; (4) pursue highly specialized training; (5) strengthen the competitiveness of the economy; (6) operate as a selection Total Quality Management filter for highly demanding jobs; (7) contribute to social mobility; (8) provide services to the community; (9) serve as a paradigm of social equality; and (10) prepare leaders for

FAQs

What framework does the paper use to examine the university’s TQM implementation?

It uses the VICTORY-C model, covering Vision, Involvement, Continuous Improvement, Training and Education, Ownership, Reward, Yearning for Success, and Customer Focus.

How does the paper connect TQM to higher education improvement?

It argues that higher education institutions should respond proactively by examining how their educational core functions within a quality-focused environment.

What is the paper’s main contribution regarding best practices?

It documents the institution’s best practices, categorizing them according to TQM principles and identifying implications for total quality education.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda