Abstract:

The principles of TQM could be successfully applied in management of Greek universities, improving the quality of services provided thus reducing bureaucracy and costs, supporting innovations, reducing hyper centralization and outdated obsolete procedures. The objectives of the university could be achieved by implementing measures that encourages the effective planning, organization, leadership, control, recruitment and allocation of financial and physical resources. The university could be directed effectively according to this management philosophy. However, with aim to face quality issues at universities, careful systematization of individual subsystems that influence the implication of quality is required. In order to achieve this goal, university is presented as a system that receives incoming entities, accomplishes specific procedures and produces outputs with respect to its continuous interaction with its environment. Organizations and businesses are considered as external customers since they employ graduated scientists and they are interested in the university’s research work. The society and family are external customers because the graduated scientists will work within the society’s borders while family wishes to improve its social position, supporting financially student’s studies. University’s quality is characterized by its external customers who are considered as the end users and not by internal customers of the process system given the fact that internal customers are aiming to satisfy end users and not their personal benefits. The product of the process is defined by the university’s outgoing which is the scientific work of the capable and responsible scientists, the innovative research and post-graduated / doctoral students. The main objective of this paper is based on a systemic representation of the university in order to propose recommendations concerning the application of TQM principles to the system that could be implemented complementary to the Law 4009/2011. According to a systemic concept, in this paper, problems are underlined; estimates and findings were made with regarding to the university’s policy, the management of these institutions, the features of higher education in Greece, the relationship between professor and students, the relations of management with professor and students, the relations of university with society and the development of human resources towards the direction of changing the management of the system. Law 4009/2011, concerning the hierarchical structure, procedures, quality assurance in education and the internationalization of higher education in Greece, at Chapter I contains articles related to quality assurance and certification in higher education. However, according to this Law, the general framework of the Authority's Quality Assurance is presented but it does not put forward the internal guidelines of the operation of the system. Continuous Improvement, The application of this principle determines the quality of services provided in these institutions. The improvement of the university ought to be a strategic goal. In Greek universities, students are facing serious problems that undermine the quality of service provided. Other principles that are applied in the educational process in this paper are: Customer Focus, Prevention Vs Detection, Management by facts, Employee participation, Teamwork, Management Commitment.

Keywords:

Systems approach, educational process, TQM principles, Greek universities, management.