An investigation of the role of leadership in the implementation of TQM in Medical Universities of Iran

In the developing countries, management is one of the big challenges in the running of academic organisations. Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management approach that aims for long term success.
Since the mid 1980s “quality” has been a major issue in higher educational institutions. Universities are under a lot of pressure from a range of stakeholders. After successful implementation of TQM in higher educational institutes in developed countries it is now the right time for implementation of TQM in developing countries. This paper aims to discuss the role of top management (leadership) in the successful implementation of TQM in Iranian Medical Sciences Universities (MSUs). The Baldrige quality model was chosen as the framework for the research. Two MSUs were identified and a questionnaire was delivered to different groups within the Universities. The relationships between the leadership category and other categories were identified. The findings indicated that top management (leadership) is highly related to the other categories and hence by improving this category there will be a positive impact on other categories. The results also revealed that the employees' opinions on the senior leaders in terms of the commitment, participation, and adoption of the TQM were low and needs to be addressed.