ABSTRACT
In
the service industry, the success or failure of the organisation depends on how
they fulfill consumers’ needs and wants. The main purpose of this study is to
determine the impact human resource management on total quality management.
This study in an assessment of the purpose used deductive approach in which
qualitative and quantitative surveys were carried out on the employees and
patients in the U.I.T.H. The survey was intended to get their responses on what
they feel about the quality of services they get from the hospital. In this
light, the study sets to identify the perception of employees and patients
about the implementation of TQM by HRM.
A sample size of 100
respondents comprising both in and outpatients was chosen from whom information to measure their perception
about services quality in the UITH as a result of impact of human resource
management on total quality management were captured. Similarly, a sample of 50
staffers of the institution was also selected to elicit data on the views of
employees towards the implementation of total quality management through human
resource management. A biased sample of one hundred patients, i.e. fifty in and
out patients was selected until the desired sample size is reached depending on
the condition and disposition of the patients. While fifty staffers were randomly
selected from the staff population. Simple random sampling involves selecting
cases (staffers) until the desired sample size is reached.
The
result of the study indicates that there is a positive linear relationship between
sex of patients has effect on their perception towards the quality of service
received. The co-efficient of correlation(r=0.098) is weak. Though, the
relationship is weak but it is positive, HRM on Total Quality Management raises the level service received by patient variance
is being explained only 1% (r2 = 0.010), though significant at
<
0.05.
The
analysis from the empirical findings showed that irrespective of cadre of the
employee, it does not affect their perception about the impact of HRM on TQM.
It was also discovered that the area of specialty of employee had effect on
their perception on the impact HRM has on TQM. Patients, irrespective of their
status i.e. inpatients or outpatients has no effect on how they perceive the
impact of HRM on TQM. Most patients agree to the fact that service quality has
improved in the hospital when compared to previous years before the
implementation of TQM through HRM. It was also discovered that the mortality
rate had drastically reduced when comparing mortality rates from previous years
to rates obtainable since the implementation of TQM through HRM. From the
analysis of the survey results, some recommendations for University of Ilorin
Teaching Hospital Service Improvement
program will be made to help the organization manage its brand better
and to sustain and improve the quality of its services.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS PAGE
Title
page
i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
Table
of contents vi
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background of the study 1
1.2
Statement of the problem 5
1.3
Objectives of the study 6
1.4
Justification of the study 6
1.5
Hypotheses of the study 7
1.6
Significance of the study 8
1.7
Scope of the study
9
1.8
Limitation of the study 11
1.9
Study Plan 14
CHAPTER
TWO 16
LITERATURE
REVIEW
16
2.0 Introduction 16
2.1
An Overview of Total Quality Management 16
2.2
Human Resource Management in Various
Organisations 21
2.3
The HR Department in Total Quality Management 27
2.4
Theoretical Framework 33
2.5
Conceptual Framework 38
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
3.1
Study Area 42
3.2
Description of Research Population 42
3.3
Description of Research Sample and Sampling
Technique 43
3.4
Research Instrument 43
3.4.1 Interviews 44
3.4.2 Questionnaire 44
3.5
Reliability and Validity of Instrument 45
3.6
Method of Data Collection 46
3.7
Study Variables and Measurements 47
3.8
Data Processing and Analysis 47
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
4.1
Introduction 49
4.2
Descriptive Analysis 49
4.2.1
Descriptive Analysis of Employees Responses 49
4.2.2
Descriptive Analysis of Patients Responses 49
4.3
Qualitative Analysis of HRM Strategies in
Achieving TQCarried out in the UITH56
4.4
Quantitative Analysis 68
4.4.1
Quantitative Analysis of Responses from Employees 68
4.4.2 Quantitative Analysis of Responses
from patients 72
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY,
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1
Summary 74
5.2
Conclusion 76
5.3
Recommendation 77
REFERENCES 80
APPENDIX
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The
concept of quality has existed for many years, though it’s meaning has changed
and evolved over time. In the early twentieth century, quality management meant
inspecting products to ensure that they met specifications. In the 1940s,
during World War II, quality became more statistical in nature. Statistical
sampling techniques were used to evaluate quality, and quality control charts
were used to monitor the production process. In the 1960s, with the help of
so-called "quality gurus," the concept took on a broader meaning.
Quality began to be viewed as something that encompassed the entire
organization, not only the production process. Since all functional were
responsible for product quality and all shared the costs of poor quality,
quality was seen as a concept that affected the entire organization.
Wilkinson (2008), the
meaning of quality for businesses changed dramatically in the late 1970s.
Before then, quality
was still viewed
as something that
needed to be
inspected and corrected. However,
in the 1970s and 1980s many U.S.
industries lost market share to foreign competition for examples in the auto
industry, manufacturers such as Toyota
and Honda became major players. In the consumer goods market, companies such as
Toshiba and Sony led the way. These foreign competitors were producing
lower-priced products with considerably higher quality.
The
term used for today's new concept of quality is total quality management or TQM. You can see that the old concept is reactive, designed to correct quality problems after they
occur.
Employees in a service
organization and particularly, those who have frequent contacts with the
customer usually serve as representatives of both the organization and their
products or services to the customer at contact point. The quality of the
service and the satisfaction the customer may derive will be an assessment of
the entire service experience.
Employees who are
empowered in an organization can either portray a positive or negative picture
to the customers. Considering that, a satisfied customer and employee are of
important value to the organization; it therefore, becomes the duty of the
management to put in place a system that would ultimately generate either
satisfaction, or dissatisfaction from their customers and employees.
Since the employees
have a major role to play in determining, whether a customer would enjoy the
experience or turn to their competitors for better solutions.
This according to
Baruch (1998), forces organizations to re-think their strategy” because as Zeithaml (2006) points out,
companies today recognize that they can compete more effectively by
distinguishing themselves with respect to service quality and improved customer
satisfaction.
Developments in clinical
procedures, technologies, laws have called for hospitals to search
for new strategies and structures. Decreasing markets, increasing demands, and changed customer
attitudes, regulations, as well as the growing
global competition
in recent years, make up the causes
of change in the markets hospitals
are competing on.
Product and
service
quality are ranked high, private
and
public
companies providing quality certificates and total
quality
management
deriving from this
development. Wilkinson
(1998). Others have expressed
the quality development as the end of mass and the start of a new production paradigm, based upon flexible specialization Piore and Sabel (1984).
In view of the prevailing trend, increased service quality and a higher degree
of liability towards customers no longer remain
a mere possibility but are essential
if market shares are to be retained and further developed.
According to Oakland (1993), quality management is driven by the competitive environment
and is universal for all types of organizations:” Whatever type of organizations you are working
in
–
a hospital, universities,
bank,
insurance
company, airline company, students,
or
whatever
company you
are working in – competition is common: Competition among
customers, resources etc. Very few organizations do not see quality as a most important element in the battle for competitive advantages.”
The management interest in quality is not new but using quality as a key element in the battle for competitive advantages
is of recent date. Oakland (1989) claims that after the industrial
revolution, and
the computer revolution in the beginning of the 1980’s,
we are now in the midst of a quality revolution. Surveys
conducted
by
various
organizations
have
revealed
an
increase in quality movements. These include the movement best known as total quality
management; this has been
widely acknowledged as a major
innovation in management theory. The approach to or the philosophy of total quality management is, however,
not obvious. Even
Deming
acknowledged that he did not know what it meant precisely Boje (1993). There are a number of reasons for this ambiguity. The first problem is to define the concept
quality. Secondly, the large variation
in activities, practice, and techniques renders
it hard to define what total quality
management really means. Knutton (1994) claims that even though the introduction of total quality management may be similar in different organizations, organizations may well have very different
ways of working with total quality management.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
When service
interaction are not properly controlled and handled, or not even handled at
all, the outcome is poor perception or service quality and customer
dissatisfaction, Hence the need for properly managed total quality management
frame. Hence what role has human resource management to play in the
implementation of total quality management and improving the service quality in
the university of
Ilorin teaching hospital?
1.
What are the perceptions of employees towards
the impact of human resources management on total quality management in the
hospital?
2.
What are the perceptions of patients towards
the impact of human resources management on total quality management in the
hospital?
3.
What are the perception of patients towards the
quality of services they receive in the hospital as compared to the before the
implementation of TQM?
4.
Have the human resources management strategies
implemented in the hospital led to improvement in service delivery in the
hospital?
5.
What strategic role did the human resource
management play in the implementation?
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
aim of this research is to ascertain the extent to which total quality
management has being attained through human resource management in the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.
The specific objectives
of the study are to:
1.
To determine the importance of
Total quality management in University
of Ilorin teaching hospital.
2.
To examine the impact of human
resources management on employee through the use of Total quality management.
3.
To study the role play by human
resource management in the implementation of TQM.
4.
To investigate the impact of TQM on
patients in University
of Ilorin Teaching
hospital.
5.
To make suggestion on Human resources
management patterns with the view of improving employee’s performance.
1.4
JUSTIFICATION FOR THE STUDY
The research work focused on the impact of human resources management on
total quality management in the university
of Ilorin teaching
hospital. Although Oakland (1993, p.2-3) defines total quality management as the way for the management to improve
effectiveness, flexibility, and competitive advantages for the organization as a whole
because it complies with the internal
and external customer requirements and the role of human resources in Nigeria
hospital. With the help of total quality management in University of Ilorin
teaching hospital it improves the quality and efficiency of service rendered.
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
OF THE STUDY
The University of Ilorin
Teaching Hospital is a fully fledged teaching hospital that provides healthcare
services to both people within the state and its environs.
The hypothesis of the study includes;
Ho: Area of specialization of
employees has no effect on perception towards the impact of human resource management
on total quality management.
Ho: Cadre of employee has no
effect on perception towards the impact of human resource management on total
quality management.
Ho:
Number of years in
service has no effect on perception towards the impact of human resource
management on total quality management.
Ho: Sex of employees has no effect
on perception towards the impact of human resource management on total quality
management.
Ho: Type of patient has no effect
on their perception towards the quality of service received.
Ho:
Sex of patients has no effect on their
perception towards the quality of service received.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE
OF 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.
This thesis has aimed to contribute to the understanding of the human resource
management and implementation aspects of total quality management. More specifically, the aims were those of analyzing the data collected and examining the
perception of both employee and patients towards total quality
management and of generating knowledge on the human
resource management task with regards to an
implementation of total quality
management.
Moreover, researchers have been using
1.7
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
In
healthcare institutions, the general offering in a particular industry
is averagely similar, even though they may engage in different approaches to
achieving a differentiation from the others, to be able to gain more market
share and customers in the industry. 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 of services than their
competitors’, which makes the basis of their competition to be defined by their
services.
The nature of services
as being intangible, heterogeneous, perishable, produced, and consumed at same
time makes it peculiar to deliver, and challenging to organizations to achieve
a differentiation from the others.
Following therefore all
the qualities of service, and with respect to the health sector, a hospital
cannot inspect its services and products to weed out unsatisfactory ones before
they are presented to the customer Ashis K Sen. (2008). Employees therefore
become the voice and face of the organization, but it is not enough that they
are trained to provide quality service; the whole system (organization) must be
geared towards the attainment of providing quality services at all times.
According to Looy (2003)
with reference to the specific nature of service delivery, “empowerment becomes
a very important issue to organizations producing services.” In that, the
customers and the employees are engaged simultaneously in the production of the
service. This inseparability is what is considered by the organization in
choosing how best to serve its customers. The inability of the management to
control the service encounter makes the employees responsible for the quality
of service delivered to the customers. In order for the management to trust
that total quality management is attained, the management has to give the
employees the authority and necessary support to succeed, Support systems must
be in place, good management policies, technology, and information must be
relevant and timely.
In matters concerning
health services, patients not only need reassurance on the quality of service
received, but also that they are valued for committing their stakes with a
particular health institution. Customers of a health institution rely on the
services delivered to them by the hospital whether they are on admission,
receiving outpatient consultations, purchasing drugs from the hospital’s
pharmacy or receiving medical social services, they count on the employees
responsible for handling issues relating to them, to deliver high service
quality in other to increase their satisfaction. When service interaction are
not properly controlled and handled, or not even handled at all, the outcome is
poor perception or service quality and customer dissatisfaction, Hence the need
for properly managed total quality management frame.
1.8 LIMITATION
OF THE RESEARCH
This
research is limited to the activities of one hospital; this is consequent to
the constraint on the duration of this research. This project will cover the
concept of effective use of Total quality management in the University of Ilorin
Teaching Hospital.
The limitation of this study will include; limited time
available on the part of the researcher to carry out an extensive investigation
and high cost of acquiring needed material. Another constraint which serves as
limiting factors is the unwillingness of the staffs in the hospital to release
the vital information.
The
research is further delimited to the extent and impact of human resources
management on the implementation of total quality management. Hence the result
of the research cannot be generalized to other hospitals.
DEFINATION OF TERMS
i.
Total
Quality Management: Total Quality Management (or TQM) is a
management concept coined by W. Edwards Deming. The basis of
TQM is to reduce the errors produced during the manufacturing or service
process, increase customer satisfaction, streamline supply chain management,
aim for modernization of equipment and ensure workers have the highest level of
training. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (April 19, 2010).
ii.
Quality is one of the most commonly
misunderstood words in management. What is a high- quality pair of shoes or a
high-quality bank account? It is meaningless to make statements about the
degree of quality of a product or service without reference to its intended use
or purpose. Ballet shoes
would obviously have
different requirements from
those used in mountaineering, but
both pairs of
shoes may have
the same level
of quality -
they are equally suitable for the
purpose for which they were manufactured. Quality can therefore be defined as
the extent to which a product or service meets the requirements of the
customer. Before any discussion on quality can take place, it is therefore
necessary to be clear about the purpose of the product or service. In other
words: what are the customer's requirements?
iii.
Patients: A
patient is any person who receives medical attention, care, or treatment. The person is most often ill
or injured and in need of treatment by a physician
or other health care professional,
although one who is visiting a physician for a routine check-up
may also be viewed as a patient. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (April 19, 2010).
iv.
Hospital: A hospital, in the modern
sense of the word, is an institution for healthcare
providing patient treatment by specialized staff and
equipment, and often, but not always providing for longer-term patient stays. From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (April 19,
2010).
v.
Human Resource Management Human Resource Management is the organizational function that deals with issues related to
people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organization
development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication,
administration, and training. (www.humanresources.about.com/od/glossaryh/f/hr_management.htm).
Human resources management is commonly practiced as a part of the overall
organizational quality planning and implicitly, intended for internal customer
satisfaction, across organizational team working, training and career
development, and quality of working life.
vi.
Outpatients: A patient who is not an inpatient
(not hospitalized) but instead is cared for elsewhere -- as in a doctor's
office, clinic, or day surgery center. The term outpatient dates back at least
to 1715. Outpatient care today is also called ambulatory care. (www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=4700)
vii.
In – Patients: An inpatient on the other
hand is "admitted" to the hospital and stays overnight or for an
indeterminate time, usually several days or weeks (though some cases, like coma
patients, have been in hospitals for years).(From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia).
1.9 STUDY PLAN
This
research work is in five chapters, chapter one deals with the background
information of the study, statement of the problem, research questions,
objectives of the study, research hypothesis significance of the study scope
and limitation of the study, definition of terms and study plan.
Chapter
Two consists of the literature review, theoretical framework and conceptual
framework.
Chapter
Three is deals with the research methodology, the study area, population of the
study, sample and sampling technique, instrumentation, validity and reliability
of the instrument, method of data collection,
Chapter
Four deals with data presentation and analysis, qualitative and quantitative
analysis.
Chapter
Five has the summary, conclusions and recommendations.
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