Using the European Model of Total Quality Management to assess the Performance of Organizations. Case Study on Educational Services

Improving quality represents for all organizations and especially for those in services one of the most important strategies for enhancing performance and competitiveness. In the current social and economic context, the evaluation of the performance of organizations must be approached holistically. Performance means a special result, obtained in a certain field, which expresses the quality of the adjustment of the organization to the conditions in the environment. Currently, it is necessary to rethink the whole approach to the ways of evaluating performance. The continuous quest for meeting and even surpassing clients’ expectations, the involvement of all employees in the organization and the permanent improvement of quality represent important dimensions of Total Quality Management (TQM). As any strategy, TQM comprises a series of activities which lead to meeting all the quality objectives, by optimum use of available resources and of the strengths of the organization. The European model of excellence (the EFQM model established by the European Foundation for Quality Management) provides a set of criteria which can be applied to any enterprise and subsidiary so as to assess performance obtained through TQM. The EFQM model represents a non-prescriptive framework which recognizes the existence of numerous different approaches allowing organizations to obtain sustainable excellence. This framework contains basic concepts specific to The European Quality Award (EQA). Our study presents the use of the European model of TQM as a reference point for management and of the improvement of the quality of services rendered by educational organizations, giving practical applicability and utility to the theoretical concepts presented. It proves that by applying the European model of excellence to assess the performance of educational organizations, a real diagnosis can be performed, which contributes to the elaboration of strategies for improving the quality of training and educational services, adapted to the realities of each school.