Quality management as a tool for educational organizations in the 21st century

The present work intends to motivate the actors of the educational system, so that they are committed to developing a model of quality management system for educational organizations of the XXI century, since the quality management system has documentary support In order to achieve the objectives, this work identifies the tools that are considered generators or indicators of the quality of services offered by an organization, the article analyzes the management style a manager must have and the leadership to continue implementing a model quality management.

This paper intends to motivate the players in the educational system, to be gained to develop a model system for quality management for the twenty-first century educational organizations, as the system of quality management has documentary support for achieving the goals, this study identifies the tools that generate or are considered indicators of the quality of services offered by an organization, the paper analysis the management style must have a management and leadership to continue introducing a model quality management.

INTRODUCTION

The objective of education is to promote learning, from this perspective, we would have to ask ourselves: what is meant by learning? According to the wikipedia dictionary, it tells us: Learning is the process through which new skills, abilities, knowledge are acquired, behaviors or values as a result of study, experience, instruction and observation.

Another very interesting concept is the one offered by the dictionary of business women which tells us that learning is: Changes in the behavior of an individual derived from experience, now, if we review these concepts well, we can interpret that the incorporation of new elements, could lead us to educational excellence, what we would have to assume as guarantors of the functioning of educational institutions is the change of the established paradigms and the challenges that we must face so that the organizations of the 21st century offer quality in the processes administrative and pedagogical.

At the end of the 20th century, there was a lot of emphasis on quality improvement, which, without a doubt, will last for a long time. Being its main exponent W. Edwards Deming, offering very significant contributions and welcomed by many organizations, which were successful in the implementation of these ideas.

That is why it is necessary to be clear about the real change that we want to achieve, of course we must take into account the main role that the teacher has in this whole process. There are very important reasons why the principles of quality improvement could be used effectively. One of the reasons corresponds to the educational sector. It is necessary to understand that no organization can function if it is not organized, that is why educational institutions can and should appropriate this term. For this we must ask ourselves the following question: Are educational institutions organized?

The answer to this question is very simple, the organizational system of educational institutions needs to be reformulated, we must understand that an educational center is a system open to the community, and that society has a direct impact on it, which is not just about the actors who make life within the institutions, it is a series of characteristics and one of them corresponds directly to the teacher who has the great responsibility of guiding society along the best path, which is why we must improve the objectives of our education.

Process quality and ISO 9000 standard

Organizations are as efficient as their processes are, defining as a process all the activities that interrelate with each other; From another perspective, processes are the way things are done in the organization, depending on the case of production and delivery of goods or provision of a service.

Taking the concept of Deming (1989) which raises "the requirements of actions and mental schemes oriented to Quality within this process of change and in which quality becomes rather a philosophy of life, a way of being and to be". (p.93).

Quality is a basic tool for an inherent property of anything that allows it to be compared to anything of its own kind. It is here where we can illustrate this concept with the experiences given in Venezuela, related to public educational institutions, (at that time in its I and II stages of basic education), which have been successful in incorporating in their organizational structure the term of quality and better still having adopted the quality management system, finally obtaining the ISO 9001: 2000 certification. As cited by the Registry of Systems for the Certification of Firms with Evaluated Capacity ISO 9000 (2005): State Basic Unit “Dr. José María Vargas ”,“ María Teresa Toro ”State Educational Unit,“ Cecilio Acosta II ”State Educational Unit and“ Lino Clemente ”State Educational Unit (p.2022).

Quality is a very controversial topic, especially when one of the most used concepts is analyzed, quality is the set of characteristics inherent in the provision of a service to satisfy the needs and expectations of the client and other interested parties.

As a consequence of the aforementioned, we must understand how complex the concept is, since if the quality management system is the set of activities and functions to achieve quality, we must think about what the entire actions mean. That is to say, not a single detail can escape, the quality must extend to every process, so that everyone is responsible for the quality of what they do, taking all steps to satisfy the needs of the organization's internal and external client..

Based on what has been said, it could be thought that quality is a strategy used to improve competitiveness, being responsible for guiding all organizational processes and, of course, continuous improvement.

Therefore, it is necessary to understand that, according to the organization, a design must be made according to the social and cultural realities, political-economic environments, or structure of the sector in which the company or organization carries out its activity.

When implementing a quality management system, the need to know and establish the organizational culture, make a diagnosis of how the processes are carried out and probably make significant changes, should be taken into account, to examine all possible options that allow offering the More timely solutions to the strategy to be implemented, always aligned with the institutional vision and mission. It is also necessary that the school does not disassociate itself with the community of which it is part, since change depends on the ability to adapt to the present context.

That is why, without a doubt, the changes that current society is going through, especially with globalization, the digital age, and not least communications, are constantly challenging the school, therefore, it is almost mandatory that the traditional school it is maintained over time, and it survives these constant changes, seeing the need to adapt to the current context and open up to new learning.

The term of the knowledge era is known to many, but few schools offer the necessary conditions for students to become part of this era, and a good way to carry out these changes is through leadership, which must be thoughtful, critical, tolerant, analytical, conciliatory, negotiator, collaborative, among others, but above all, motivate so that all members are engaged in the improvement system, incorporating new ideas, which will allow them to be an innovators.

It is of utmost importance, the role played by the educational professional training institutions, since they are in charge of generating good leaders who are capable of meeting the expectations described above.

Actually, to achieve a positive social impact, leadership is essential in any strategy to be carried out, in the same way, to manage resources and to carry out control, in the best sense, of the processes in which all people are involved. For the above, leaders in organizations must develop the mission and vision, as well as the values necessary to achieve success, since this behavior allows achieving the proposed goals, achieving excellence.

The main factor that determines the success or failure of the implementation of a quality system is the perception that the group has of the management of the institution, understanding this, as all the people who have the responsibility of leading a group or being responsible for the actions to be carried out.

Hence the recommendation, that Management must establish a quality culture based on Total Quality principles, spread it among all the people in the organization and support and promote its management. The leader must be an agent of change in the educational paradigm, this is to support new proposals, both in the how, how, for what, of teaching, either with new methodologies or technologies. The leader must start using the crisis in his favor, since educational failures are symptoms that something that worked a long time ago is no longer valid and must be rebuilt and systematized.

The leader must dream and be very creative, teaching his employees that they are to get where they want to go, with work, dedication and perseverance. He must be a visionary capable of selling his dreams, he must instill in his employees the idea that they are the trainers of "the women and men of tomorrow". We must teach that all human beings, despite being unique, have a brain capable of thinking to do great things, that we can develop intellectual potential and develop powerful abilities that allow us to literally be more intelligent.

The leader must possess the ability to awaken in all his employees, the potential they have inside.

Another point that is necessary and important is the policies and strategies to be used, the organization must establish its mission and vision through a strategy clearly focused on all stakeholders and supported by relevant policies, plans, objectives, goals and processes. Organizations achieve their maximum performance when they manage and share their knowledge within a general culture of learning, innovation and continuous improvement. All people should participate, as far as possible, both in defining the strategy and in the plans and objectives to be achieved.

Based on everything raised, we must incorporate the term "quality is assured", being appropriate to speak of the ISO 9000 standard, because they offer organizations the opportunity to actively participate in the current market, as it provides a series of requirements In reliable and universally recognized specifications, so that any organization achieves quality, the implementation of a quality system under ISO 9000 standards can generate multiple benefits, among which are, according to González (1998):

It is an internationally recognized certification. It generates and strengthens trust between client and suppliers. It serves to encourage company workers to achieve continuous improvement. It allows them to capture and develop in new markets, both national and international. By creating a standardized system, they are optimized the operations and processes that the company carries out, allowing to increase its efficiency. It eliminates waste and inefficiencies in the system, resulting in a significant reduction in costs. It contributes to achieving the quality levels demanded by customers. It provides credibility and strengthens the company image. (p. 22).

In addition to all the aforementioned benefits, the standard allows the consolidation of the philosophy of total quality, strengthening the culture of quality in the organization, as well as the improvement of management systems by joining efforts to avoid unnecessary or divergent efforts.

Now, ISO What is it ?, They are the initials that identify the International Standardization's Organization, translated “International Organization for Standardization”. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland, its mission is to develop and promote common standards worldwide. It is currently made up of more than 100 countries.

The scope of each of the ISO 9000 standards for the establishment of the quality system (9001-9002-9003) is given by the type of company that will adopt the quality system. The standard to use is selected according to the process that covers the operations of the company.

Thus, the companies that within their production process elaborate the design of a product or service, produce it, install it and provide after-sales service will apply the ISO 9001 standard for the implementation of a quality system. This standard is recommended for apply it in educational institutions. This Quality System will include a set of Reference Standards that will establish requirements to be met by all relevant aspects that affect the quality of training of students from a primary education institution to the Higher level, from the functional organization of the themselves to operating procedures for specific tasks.

The quality of the 21st century must be aimed at serving people, that is, their clients (internal and external), optimizing benefits and well-being, but first of all the people who work for and in the organization must have their needs met, remembering our friend Maslow.

The quality system must guarantee that things will always be done the same way, regardless of who or when it is done; therefore it must be supported by documentation that formalizes the continuous improvement process. When a quality assurance system is incorporated, elements such as the quality manual and the procedures manual are being integrated. The Quality System that we are describing can be a good management tool, it all depends on the attitude of the Management.

This management can be seen as a model, and sustain it with the principles of total Quality, since it provides a global conception of what continuous improvement means, likewise this model should be used as a tool for systematic reflection, only In this way, it will be understood that it is not a norm, that reflection is what will give the vision of the opportunities offered by continuous improvement.

The school as a system

The school is an open system to the environment that surrounds it and to its expectations, therefore, the school has as its reason for being, to produce what the environment (environment, society) is interested in and needs. Schools, like many other institutional systems, tend to favor conformity to preserve balance. By studying the concept of school as an institution in constant innovation, as one that is influenced by the needs of society, and as responsible for forming identities; School is conceived from a more intrinsic point of view, where it is understood from different "dimensions", which must be considered to define it as an "organization".

In order to understand the internal structure of the school, one looks at it from a “systematic approach”, which seems interesting, because we live in an environment full of systems and orders that govern another, in this case the school is a complex and ordered system, which perhaps makes it superior to others. Here is the interesting part, since the administrative system must be considered as a means to unite other subsystems of the organization and to integrate activities in order to achieve management objectives. Now, the question is, if the school is an institution of order, and there are sets of subsystems that form a system to understand it as an organization, why does the school not achieve the success that is proposed in future projects or goals? Could it be that the systems feedback process is not effective?.

It is there where we must assume that educational institutions must adapt to new demands and become an open and very dynamic system, based on the fact that not only is individual performance important, but also that they are coordinated in an appropriate way. What not only include pedagogical resources, but also human resources, only then will you be able to understand and solve the challenges that arise. Unfortunately the educational reality is different, there are reforms in the educational system, but it continues with the mistakes of the past, it is observed that teachers continue with past patterns.

Process design

A process can be defined as a set of activities linked together that, starting from one or more inputs, transforms them, generating an output (result).

How does the organization design, manage and improve its processes to support its policy and strategy and to fully satisfy, generating increasing value, its customers and other stakeholders? Starting from the idea presented above, the design of processes can be conceptualized as one that involves a series of stages and decisions must be made in each of them, since they belong to different disciplines, either administratively or technologically, in the social, in the environmental and in the educational case in the pedagogical, which means that the designer of the processes has to outline for each application and design a different one.

Organizations act most effectively when all their interrelated activities are systematically understood and managed, and decisions regarding current operations and planned improvements are tailored based on reliable information that includes the perceptions of all their stakeholders.

Process management

Process management is nowadays one of the most relevant administrative concepts within organizations, since to the extent that these are properly managed, the results will be directly proportional to said management. Directing and controlling the processes according to the requirements established for the products, services, processes and raw materials are a guarantee of achieving the goals that are set daily by the organizations.

The raison d'être of any company must be able to identify the target market and incorporate differentiating elements into its products and services are the challenges that organizations must overcome in a globalized market. The aforementioned alone does not guarantee the maximization of the value of the companies. Having the right staff, duly paid and accompanied by other attributes such as training, work environment, stability, recognition of work well done and others that promote the well-being of employees, will help the objectives defined by senior management succeed.

However, if the aforementioned conditions were met, there is no guarantee that the objectives will be achieved, since this must be done in an environment that generates services designed to meet customer expectations. For this reason, processes are the fundamental factor in ensuring that companies achieve their goals or objectives.

By virtue of all the above, I present some phrases that I consider of interest to the reader that reinforce the importance of managing the processes:

“Managing is essentially REACHING goals. There is no management without GOALS ”. Vincent Falconi.

"The basis of the company's management is its processes, due to its ability to contribute in a sustained manner to the results, provided that the company designs and structures its processes with its customers in mind." R. Zaratiegui.

It is important to emphasize that process management, as well as other administrative tools or technologies, should not be used alone within organizations, because they support or help to consolidate a management model. They have a reason for being or a justification to be applied, if they are used individually or are not subject to a management model, they become simple fads that are quickly forgotten or stop being used.

For this reason, it is essential that the organization first establish a management model that supports, among others, the consolidation of process management.

There are different models such as ISO 9001, 9004, the European excellence award, EFQM, the Colombian award for quality in management (PCCG), the Malcom Baldrige, among others are platforms on which process management can acquire a dimension that can last and improve over time, even with dramatic changes within companies, such as mergers, integrations, decisions or personnel changes in senior management.

The administration of the process management system must be based on technology, thus satisfying and responding to the needs of customers. This technology offers innovative solutions to the world since they are applications specially developed to model, direct, control and optimize processes. One of its main benefits is that they facilitate the integration and quality of the processes by being able to manage them as a chain and not as independent processes. Another of its advantages is that it allows its control and monitoring in all.processes.

Once the concepts are defined and clear, we can perfectly define the management of the processes, this perceives the organization as an interrelated system of processes that contribute to increasing customer satisfaction. An organization can be seen as a process system.

As mentioned above, it is necessary to have the leadership of the top management of the organization, this must be assumed with commitment, and favorable attitudes towards improvement activities and their results. Likewise, leaders must ensure that improvement teams have at their disposal all the necessary resources and the necessary training to undertake and complete their mission, responding to the demand of the school.

Every leader must pay attention, in the interactions that occur between people, allowing this, to obtain a range of possibilities for solving problems.

Within the systemic way of thinking there are many points of view which must be accepted as valid, based on the fact that a system is a set of interrelated elements that can be considered as a single entity and have a common goal. It should also be noted that the school is a social organization, that is, it is made up of people, which implies a degree of imperfection in the system.

To manage a process, it is important to be clear about the factors involved and what considerations must be borne in mind in each of them. To facilitate this concept, a conceptual map is presented below with the most important stages and what should be done in each one.

Graphic. Process management.

The most excellent way to plan the processes is by describing the positions of each worker, when doing this, the leader, the clients, the suppliers and the personnel that participate, understand the institutional vision, which favors the quality of the products or the service. Hence, it is recommended to use some methodology that helps to capture and manage all the concepts presented there and can maintain a "common thread" throughout the characterization.

Another way of understanding the management of the processes is to make the map of the processes that represents the particular or proper form of the organization, the design itself corresponds to the ingenuity and creativity of the person or group of people who carry it out. Therefore, there are multiple ways to draw the map, but without ever losing sight of the fact that its primary objective is to describe the interrelationships of these to obtain the products and services that are delivered to external customers.

So, speaking of the processes, it is mandatory to know what activities are required to be carried out to obtain the desired results, as well as the resources to be used, it is here that when using this transformation, it cannot be ignored what the added value means, which it is usually almost always forgotten and it is there that the other competitors take advantage. Therefore, Process Management consists of directing and controlling the processes to achieve the expected results or goals.

Conclusions

The implementation of a quality management system, in the organizational structure of educational organizations, indicates a commitment on the part of the managers, and that they must guarantee to offer the proportion of resources, means so that the activities related to the quality of the products or services are fulfilled.

Achieving a quality certification based on the ISO 9001: 2000 Standard is a valuable tool, since it generates trust in customer or user and supplier relationships, however achieving certification should not be the main objective of the implementation of a QMS, the important thing about becoming certified is knowing that things are being done well and staying on time.

Every organization must take into account that the most important factor is the human factor, which is why it must be offered constant training since knowledge reduces resistance to change.

The human resource or human capital will be the elemental factor, so that the quality management systems work with the least waste in the operations carried out in any company.

ISO 9000 is a tool that allows organizations to ensure quality to increase their productivity or service.

The Quality System will be oriented to excellence and continuous improvement of teaching and will seek to ensure that all variables that intervene in the training of students are controlled.

The school is the organizational system more subject to the patterns established by others (economic, social, political system, among others.) Therefore, the conformation of its structures is important to achieve goals in an educational organization. Hence, the concept of quality goes much further, if we understand that educational institutions are the starting point for the development and progress of a country. And how to start ?.

Developing sensitivity in management.

In the case of educational organizations, in order for them to implement a quality management system, governments must commit to assume the great challenges that quality improvement implies, it requires personal, governmental and economic effort, as well as it is necessary, establishing a quality management system as a norm in educational institutions. ”

Something very important in this process is that there is no quality if there is no human quality first of all in those who intervene, it is necessary to train people in an organizational climate of values and ethics.

The implementation of a Quality Management System generates the responsible actions of all the actors within the institutions, they also have part of the ethical process, the relationship in the structures and in the processes.

On the other hand, when observing the application of these terms, where the values of human resources are fundamentally combined with the values of material resources, we see the projection of quality, because ethics in an institution can argue, with the construction of the vision, mission, objectives and quality policies.

The article proposes an approach based on meaningful, successful, and verifiable experiences, to be assumed by the educational sector. Similarly, it is intended to motivate all readers and actors in the educational system, emphasizing the formation of human capital as the main factor, throughout life.

Based on the above, 21st century organizations would have enough tools to use in their organizational strategic plan.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alfonso S, Hidalgo C. (2002) ISO Program in Education Culture of Quality in Education, Manual of the Educational Manager, Universidad Metropolitana, CENDECO, Caracas, Venezuela.

Deming E. (1989), Quality Productivity Competitiveness: the way out of the crisis, Editorial Díaz de Santos, Madrid, Spain.

Fondonorma, (2005) Registry of the System for the Certification of Firms with Evaluated Capacity ISO 9000, Caracas, Venezuela.

González S. (1998). ISO 9000 Implementation of Quality Systems, 2nd edition, Vadell Hermanos, Editores, Caracas, Venezuela.