IMPACT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ON TOTAL QUALITY MANGEMENT
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IMPACT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ON TOTAL QUALITY MANGEMENT
ABSTRACT
In the service sector, an organisation’s success or failure is determined by how well it meets the requirements and desires of its customers. The primary goal of this study is to investigate the impact of human resource management on overall quality management.
This study employed a deductive approach to analyse the purpose, with qualitative and quantitative questionnaires administered to personnel and patients at U.I.T.H.
The survey was designed to elicit feedback on how they felt about the quality of services provided by the hospital. In light of this, the study aims to determine employee and patient perceptions of HRM’s adoption of TQM.
A sample size of 100 respondents, including both inpatients and outpatients, was chosen to collect information about their perceptions of service quality in the UITH as a result of the impact of human resource management on total quality management.
Similarly, a sample of 50 staff members from the institution was chosen to collect data on employees’ attitudes regarding the implementation of comprehensive quality management through human resource management.
A biassed sample of one hundred patients, consisting of fifty in and out patients, was chosen until the target sample size was obtained, which was determined by the patients’ condition and disposition.
Meanwhile, fifty employees were chosen at random from the staff population. Simple random sampling selects cases (staffers) until the desired sample size is reached.
The conclusion of the study suggests that there is a positive linear association between sex of patients has effect on their perception towards the quality of service received. The correlation coefficient (r=0.098) is modest. Although the association is small, it is positive. HRM on Total Quality Management improves patient service levels by 1% (r2 = 0.010), which is significant at p < 0.05.
The examination of the empirical findings revealed that, regardless of the employee’s cadre, their impression of the impact of HRM on TQM remains same. It was also revealed that an employee’s area of speciality influenced their assessment of the impact HRM has on TQM.
Patients’ perceptions of the impact of HRM on TQM remain unchanged regardless of whether they are inpatients or outpatients. The majority of patients agree that the hospital’s service quality has improved since the implementation of TQM through HRM.
It was also revealed that the mortality rate has significantly decreased when comparing mortality rates from previous years to rates obtained with the implementation of TQM using HRM.
Following an examination of the survey results, some recommendations for the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Service Improvement programme will be made to assist the organisation in better managing its brand and maintaining and improving the quality of its services.
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The concept of quality has been around for a long time, yet its definition has altered and evolved. In the early twentieth century, quality management entailed evaluating products to verify they met specifications. Quality took on a more statistical character in the 1940s, during World War II.
Quality was evaluated using statistical sample techniques, while the production process was monitored using quality control charts. With the support of so-called “quality gurus,” the concept expanded in the 1960s.
Quality came to be considered as something that affected the entire organisation, not just the manufacturing process. Because all functional areas were accountable for product quality and shared the consequences of poor quality, quality was viewed as a concept that affected the entire organisation.
According to Wilkinson (2008), the definition of quality in enterprises shifted drastically in the late 1970s. Previously, quality was considered as something that needed to be inspected and corrected.
However, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, several US businesses lost market share to foreign competitors; for example, in the auto industry, manufacturers such as Toyota and Honda rose to prominence.
Toshiba and Sony were among the leaders in the consumer products market. These overseas competitors were manufacturing lower-cost products of significantly superior quality.
The word used to describe today’s new concept of quality is total quality management, or TQM. As you can see, the prior strategy was reactive, aiming to remedy quality issues after they occurred.
Employees in a service organisation, particularly those who have regular client interactions, typically represent both the organisation and their products or services to the customer at the point of contact. The overall service experience will be evaluated based on the quality of service provided and the satisfaction of the customer.
Employees who are empowered in an organisation might present either a positive or negative image to clients. Given that a pleased consumer and employee are valuable assets to the organisation
it is the responsibility of management to implement a system that will eventually generate either satisfaction or discontent from their customers and employees.
Employees have an important part in determining whether a consumer will appreciate the experience or seek better alternatives from competition.
According to Baruch (1998), this causes organisations to reconsider their approach.” As Zeithaml (2006) points out, corporations today recognise that they may compete more successfully by distinguishing themselves in terms of service quality and better customer satisfaction.
Developments in clinical processes, technologies, and laws have prompted hospitals to seek out new methods and structures. Decreasing markets, rising demands, shifting customer attitudes, regulations, and increased worldwide competition in recent years have all contributed to changes in the markets in which hospitals compete.
Product and service quality are excellent, with private and public enterprises issuing quality certificates and implementing overall quality management as a result of this progress. Wilkinson (1998).
Others have seen quality development as the end of mass production and the beginning of a new production paradigm based on flexible specialisation, citing Piore and Sabel (1984).
Given the current trend, better service quality and a higher level of customer liability are no longer optional; they are required if market shares are to be retained and expanded.
According to Oakland (1993), quality management is driven by the competitive environment and is universal for all sorts of organisations. Whatever form of organisation you are working in
– Competition is frequent in hospitals, universities, banks, insurance companies, airline companies, students, and any other firm where you work. Very few organisations do not regard quality as a critical component in the pursuit of competitive advantages.”
Management’s interest in quality is not new, but employing quality as a fundamental component in the pursuit of competitive advantages is. According to Oakland (1989), we are currently in the midst of a quality revolution, following the industrial and computer revolutions of the early 1980s.
Surveys undertaken by several organisations revealed an increase in quality movements. These include the trend now known as total quality management, which is largely regarded as a significant advance in management theory.
However, the strategy or concept of total quality management is not immediately clear. Even Deming said that he had no idea what it meant precisely Boje (1993). There are several causes for this ambiguity.
The first issue is to define the concept quality. Second, the wide range of activities, practices, and approaches makes it difficult to define what overall quality management really implies.
According to Knutton (1994), while the implementation of total quality management may be comparable in different organisations, organisations may have quite varied approaches to total quality management.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
When service interactions are not adequately monitored and handled, or are not handled at all, the result is a poor sense of service quality and customer discontent, highlighting the importance of a well managed comprehensive quality management framework.
So, what role does human resource management play in the implementation of overall quality management and increasing service quality at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital?
1. What are employees’ impressions of the impact of human resource management on overall quality management in the hospital?
2. What are patients’ impressions of the impact of human resource management on overall quality management in the hospital?
3. How do patients perceive the quality of services they receive in the hospital now compared to before TQM was implemented?
4. Have the hospital’s human resource management initiatives improved service delivery?
5. What strategic role did human resource management play during the implementation?
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The goal of this study is to determine the extent to which comprehensive quality management is achieved through human resource management at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.
The study’s particular aims are:
1. To assess the relevance of Total Quality Management in the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.
2. To investigate the influence of human resource management on employees through the application of Total Quality Management.
3. To investigate the role of human resource management in the implementation of TQM.
4. To investigate the influence of TQM on patients at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.
5. To give suggestions on human resource management patterns with the goal of increasing employee performance.
1.4 Justification for the Study.
The study focused on the impact of human resource management on overall quality management at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital. Although Oakland (1993, pp.2-3) defines total quality management as a method for management to improve effectiveness, flexibility, and competitive advantages for the organisation
as a whole by complying with internal and external customer requirements, as well as the role of human resources in Nigerian hospitals. Total quality management at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital increases the quality and efficiency of services provided.
1.5 Hypothesis of the Study
The University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital is a full-fledged teaching hospital that provides healthcare services to residents of the state and surrounding areas.
The hypothesis of the study includes:
Ho: Employees’ areas of specialisation had little effect on perceptions of the effectiveness of human resource management on overall quality management.
Ho: Employee cadre has little effect on perceptions of the impact of human resource management on overall quality management.
Ho: The number of years of employment has no effect on perceptions of the effectiveness of human resource management on overall quality management.
Ho: The gender of employees has no effect on perception of the impact of human resource management on total quality management.
Ho: Type of patient has no effect on their perception towards the quality of treatment obtained.
Ho: Patients’ sex has no bearing on their assessment of the level of treatment received.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The case study showed how the human resource department had played different roles as facilitator, internal contractor, and hidden persuader at different stages of the implementation of total quality management in the U.I.T.H.
They assisted the top management in aligning human resource polices and quality policies, creating and communicating the total quality management concept, preparing the organization as well as the staff for the implementation of total quality management
generating quality awareness among the employees across the levels, functions, and departments, developing management support to quality action teams, organizing quality workshops,
formulating quality friendly policies, systems and procedures, changing the conventional mind set of employees, organizing total quality management training programs, devising different communication exercises, encouraging team building activities, promoting employee involvement through suggestion schemes, quality circles, and other participative types of forum.
The purpose of this thesis was to contribute to our understanding of human resource management and the execution of overall quality management.
More specifically, the goals were to analyse the obtained data and examine the perceptions of both employees and patients towards total quality management, as well as to generate information on the human resource management work in terms of total quality management implementation.
1.7 Scope of the Study
In healthcare facilities, the basic offering in a specific industry is averagely similar, even if they use different techniques to differentiate themselves in order to get more market share and clients.
According to Grönroos (2001), “that almost any health institution can provide an individual with healthcare services, but not every health institution manages to treat customers in a way that they are pleased with.”
Service providers therefore seek to differentiate themselves from their rivals by offering customers higher quality services than their competitors’, which defines the basis of their competition.
The nature of services as intangible, heterogeneous, perishable, generated and consumed at the same time makes them difficult to offer and challenging for organisations to differentiate themselves.
Following all service attributes, and in the health sector, a hospital cannot inspect its services and goods to weed out poor ones before they are offered to the consumer (Ashis K Sen., 2008).
Employees thus become the organization’s voice and face; yet, training them to offer excellent service is insufficient; the entire system (organisation) must be geared towards providing quality services at all times.
According to Looy (2003), in connection to the special nature of service delivery, “empowerment becomes a very important issue to organisations producing services.” In this case, both customers and staff are involved in the service’s development.
This inseparability is what the organisation considers when deciding how to best serve its clients. The inability of management to control the service encounter makes staff accountable for the level of service provided to consumers.
To trust that complete quality management is being achieved, management must provide employees with the authority and support they require to succeed. Support mechanisms must be in place, as well as good management policies, technology, and information that is relevant and current.
Patients require reassurance not only about the quality of treatment they receive, but also that they are valued for entrusting their care to a certain health institution.
Customers of a health institution rely on the services provided by the hospital, whether they are admitted, receiving outpatient consultations, purchasing drugs from the hospital’s pharmacy, or receiving medical social services.
They expect the employees in charge of dealing with their issues to provide high-quality service in order to increase their satisfaction. When service interactions are not adequately monitored and handled, or are not handled at all
the result is a poor sense of service quality and customer discontent, highlighting the importance of a well managed comprehensive quality management framework.
1.8 Limitations of the Research
This investigation is limited to the activities of a single hospital due to time constraints. This project will focus on the successful application of Total Quality Management in the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.
The limitations of this study will include the researcher’s limited time available to conduct an exhaustive inquiry and the expensive expense of procuring necessary materials. Another barrier that limits operations is the hospital staff’s unwillingness to release critical information.
The study is further restricted to the scope and impact of human resource management on the implementation of comprehensive quality management. As a result, the study’s findings are not applicable to other hospitals.
1.9 Definition of Terms
i. Total Quality Management (or TQM) is a management concept originated by W. Edwards Deming. The goal of TQM is to eliminate errors in the manufacturing or service process, boost customer happiness, streamline supply chain management, modernise equipment, and guarantee personnel receive the greatest level of training. Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia (April 19, 2010).
ii. Quality is one of the most misunderstood terms in management. What is the distinction between a high-quality pair of shoes and a high-quality bank account? It is useless to make statements regarding the quality of a product or service without considering its intended use or purpose.
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