Total Quality Management in Education Directorates in Saudi Arabia: Contrasting Provincial Case Studies

Abstract

This article is part of the PhD research which conducted in Saudi over the period of three years beginning in 2009. The article addresses the issue of total quality management (TQM) implementation in Saudi provincial directorates in two contrasting case studies, a female directorate in the north of the country –Aljouf province– and a male directorate in the Eastern province, through the views of senior managers. In order to explore the local conditions and challenges of implementing TQM, 40 interviews were conducted alongside unstructured observations in both directorates and institutional and policy document analysis. The journey of the two provincial Directorates towards TQM had few common features and many differences. Having embarked earlier on TQM initiatives - even before the ministerial compulsion - the Eastern Directorate had already gone through some of the issues and challenges encountered by the Aljouf Directorate at the time of this research. The study also revealed profound differences in the two institutional cultures under focus and in the ways managers felt that TQM was impacting on their professional practice and environment. The study reports their perceptions of the implementation process and compares the two contexts on such challenges as training opportunities, reward systems, workplace relations, and mismanagement practices. The article concludes on a discussion of core issues identified, particularly the level of embeddedness of organisations in local cultures and socioeconomic contexts, the centrality of actors in reform processes and the question of the universality of management approaches such as TQM.

Keywords: Qualitative case study, Saudi Arabia, Total quality management, managers, ministry of education