Introduction
With the increasing progress
of the human being, the
relationship between
governments and nations are
also changing. People now
wish to live in a society in which
the government has a more
effi cient and responsive role,
a government that is able to
present, in short and long terms,
more hopeful horizons to the
people and citizens. To improve
the service quality, governments
shall have a commitment to
responsiveness towards the
people for the realization of their
goals. They should not confi ne
their tasks to those that may not
result in the desired objectives
and end in the dissatisfaction of
the public and loss of resources
and time. In modern public
management, governments face
the question how the services
rendered may be faster, better,
and more cost effective and of
higher quality.
In the public sector, services are
provided within a bureaucratic
structure with specifi c duties and
functions and usually without
commitment to objectives
and only by emphasizing
the processes. At best, their
activities are performed within
a format of regulations as the
public sector employees do not
make an effort to satisfy people
and are not responsive to their
needs, i.e. they have no sense
for improving their performance.
The understandings in this
sector are totally different to
those in the private sector.
- In the public sector services are rendered to people and citizens without the control and direct supervision of managers.
- Once a service is provided in the public sector it can no longer be controlled nor retrieved.
- In the public sector the client’s understanding will be influenced by the behavior of the service provider.
- In the public sector services are rendered at the lowest level
For these reasons the quality of
services rendered in the public
sector differs from those offered
in the private sector. The most
essential difference is that the
service provider in the public sector thinks that the client has
no choice but to accept what
is being offered and therefore
he or she is not sensitive to the
type and quality of the services
offered, but in the private sector
the service provider is concerned
about the client’s satisfaction
and their future returns for
further services.
In recent years, and all over the
world, governments’ attention to
offering services of higher quality
to the people in order to gain
their confi dence is becoming
increasingly evident. They
wish to increase the people’s
satisfaction and thus raise the
level of their participation in
social activities. Studies reveal
that to clarify the concept of Total
Quality Management numerous
articles and books have been
written by experts and scholars.
Different ideas and opinions
have been expressed about
the diffi culties and problems
that face this sector and which
indicate that, because of cultural
differences, the establishment
of management systems in
different countries requires
local adjustments. In Iran too
because of the high degree
of control by the state on the
structure and composition of
human resources, absence of a
proper strategic human resource
management, lack of adequate
consideration of the law… the
administrative system is both
ineffi cient and ineffective. This
paper is the result of a study
carried out with the object of “Designing a Model for TQM in
the Iranian Public Sector.”
• Total Quality Management in
the Public Sector
TQM initially emerged in the
production units of the private
sector but gradually extended
to the public sector as well. In
recent years, many public sector
organizations have decided to
apply the quality management
system with a focus on customer
satisfaction.
Historically all the public sector
organizations in Iran have
been tied to the authorities and
government decisions. From the
point of view of a bureaucratic
management, governmental
organizations have traditionally
considered politicians as their
ultimate clients and their first
duty would therefore be to
ensure the satisfaction of these “masters” and the government’s objectives. They fail to realize
that meeting the satisfaction of
the politicians is not the same
as ensuring that the people
are satisfi ed with their work.
Weberianism in the public
sector is the same as Taylorism
in the private sector because
Weberianism in the public
sector, just as Taylorism in the
private sector, emphasizes
the separation of activities,
especially the separation
of planning from action.
Weberianism prevailed in the
public sector from the time when
the most common economic
agents were in the hands of the
officials.
Supporting quality in this state
of affairs (based on bureaucratic
and hierarchical theories) has a
goal to obtain and that is higher and higher financial profits and
therefore it does not give much
attention to the public and for
this reason this view is not very
realistic. The viewpoint that
stresses a reduction of political
forces and greater attention paid
to people’s satisfaction is in fact
based on the principle that the
client is at the centre of all efforts
and that all decisions must
be made in order to meet the
people’s satisfaction.
This thought holds that TQM
for organs in the public sector
is better than Weberianism
and it (TQM) is also better than
Taylorism in the private sector.
Viewpoints of traditional
public organizations
and viewpoints of public
organizations that follow a
TQM approach
TQM addresses a field and
a process that ensure the
necessary coordination for
meeting customer requirements
and even more. TQM
encompasses all sections and
subsidiaries of the organization.
It prepares the top strategic
management and organizes the
operations needed for meeting
the customers’ requirements. All
organizations that adopt TQM
attach great importance to the
management of data systems in
all processes and to eradicating
the obstacles that exist on the
way of Continual Improvement.
The government organizations
with traditional approach
are different to government
organizations that follow a TQM
approach, as follows:
- Those with a traditional approach are company-oriented and those with TQM are customer-oriented
- Those with traditional approach tend to think and plan haphazardly depending on the conditions of the time, but those with TQM approach plan longterm
- Government organizations are managed to meet customer needs, through assumptions, data on costs and guesswork, but those that follow a TQM approach, make decisions based on right and correct data
- Traditional organizations are managed by sustaining and enduring losses caused by inefficiency but TQM organizations identify and eradicate harmful operations
- Traditional organizations solve problems only in crises, but TQM organizations seek improvements at all times
- Traditional organizations always solve problems after they occur but TQM organizations try to prevent problems and avoid mistakes
- Traditional organizations have autonomous subsidiaries that have slight relations with the others, but TQM organizations have teams that consist of members of staff from all levels
- Traditional organizations tend to have limited communications and decision-makings, but TQM organizations use staff participation in all decisionmakings and communication processes
- In traditional organizations, the problems are not solved: they are either digested or the problem is wiped out and forgotten, but in TQM organizations problems are attacked and defects and faults are eradicated
- Traditional organizations consider the details and processes without considering the other parts of the organization, but in TQM organizations problems are considered to originate from the totality of the system
- Traditional organizations tend to consider their employees as ‘things’ that should be trained, educated, classified and expected to do certain jobs but TQM organizations respect their staff, have confidence in them and expect more of them.
Models and theories of TQM in
the public sector
The dimensions of TQM in the
public sector differ from those of
the private sector. In the private
sector the quality dimensions
include price, durability,
reliability, prompt delivery,
performance, after sales
services, appearance, fame and
reputation, and safety and social
effects, which are all assessed
by the customer.
But we should note that TQM
dimensions in the public
sector must go far beyond the
customer’s view on a product
as a thing. Proper studies on
TQM models in the public sector
reveal that TQM dimensions in
this sector differ from those of
the private sector. The tables
presented here outline some of
these models.
to be countinued
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