第 56 卷 第 2 期
2021 年 4 月
JOURNAL OF SOUTHWEST JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY
Vol. 56 No. 2
Apr. 2021
ISSN: 0258-2724 DOI:10.35741/issn.0258-2724.56.2.51
Research articleSocial Sciences
I
NVESTIGATION OF THE
R
OLE OF
O
RGANIZATIONAL
C
LIMATE IN
E
NHANCING
Q
UALITY
M
ANAGEMENT
P
RACTICES OF
H
IGHER
E
DUCATION
组织气候在提高高等教育质量管理实践中的作用
Shorouk Mohamed Farag Mohamed Aboudahr *, Mua’azam Mohamad School of Education, Universiti Utara Malaysia
06010, Sintok, Kedah Darul Aman Malaysia, shrоuq.abоudaher@gmail.com, muааzam18@gmail.com
Received: January 21, 2021 ▪ Review: February 22, 2021 ▪ Accepted: April 5, 2021 ▪ Published: April 30, 2021
This article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
Abstract
This study attempts to find the organisational climate's role in enhancing quality management practices in Egypt higher education. Data collected with surveys consist of three sections ( Demographic, Organisational climate, and Quality Management Practices) adapted from prior study to be appropriate with higher education. Across the faculty of Sadat university, 252 lecturers completed surveys to examine relationships among variables within the instruments and explore possible differences by demographic variables. Smart PLS was used to analyze the data. While SPSS 26 was used to identify the Profile of respondents and identify lecturers' perception. The study results revealed that all the predicting variables have a significant positive relationship with quality management practices. Results also suggested that the need to pay attention to the university's organisational climate is important to improving quality management practices. The study also recommended that the need to raise awareness among those in charge of the educational process of applying the practice of quality management in universities and its benefits to the educational process.
Keywords:Organizational Climate, Quality Management Practices, Higher Education.
摘要 本研究试图找到组织氛围在增强埃及高等教育质量管理实践中的作用。通过调查收集的数据包括 三个部分(人口统计学,组织气候和质量管理实践),这些部分根据先前的研究进行了改编,以 适合高等教育。在萨达特大学的整个系中,有252名讲师完成了调查,以检验仪器内部变量之间 的关系,并通过人口统计学变量探讨可能的差异。智能偏最小二乘用于分析数据。而使用统计功 能强大的统计软件平台26来识别受访者的资料并确定讲师的看法。研究结果表明,所有预测变量
与质量管理实践均具有显着的正相关关系。结果还表明,需要注意大学的组织氛围对于改善质量 管理实践很重要。该研究还建议,需要提高负责教育过程的人们的认识,使他们在大学中应用质 量管理实践及其对教育过程的好处。
关键词: 组织氛围,质量管理实践,高等教育
I.
I
NTRODUCTIONGlobally, quality management practice has often been an interest of debate among academic scholars regarding its implementation in a higher education institution. Undoubtedly, for the general public, a conducive learning environment and quality education remain a cornerstone for sustainable development in education, serving as an uninterrupted link to human capital development [1]-[3]. Quality Higher Education is highly required to look at its contribution to national economic growth and its potential to create value for international students. Hence, this requires that quality assurance is transparent and that the practice of quality enhancement is synchronized within a given system aiming to benefit from quality management [4]-[5]. [6] alluded that quality is the core priority of any organisation's top management, which is utilized as a mechanism for competitive business practice and a strong channel to employee satisfaction.
[7] posited that most organisations rely heavily on quality. It has grown into a strategic method for achieving superior performance and productivity. It is recognised as the most essential competitive and business activity. As a result, top management support is critical and the most significant element in quality management regarding having a consistent path to employee satisfaction [8]. To address present hurdles, several countries worldwide are now heading toward higher education[9]. Hence, to be relevant within the labor market dynamics, HEIs must update their courses and degree programs [10].
Responding to this need, HEIs and governments are increasingly concerned about maintaining high-quality educational standards. To ensure that it is effective in colleges, universities, and other educational institutions, it must be reviewed regularly and funded by the government [11]. Furthermore, [12] emphasised that quality management practice's success depends on the university's organisational climate. In the case of Egypt, it has developed a sustainable development strategy known as 'Egypt Vision 2030'. That is initiated as a framework by the Egyptian government to achieve this vision comes the importance of developing the higher education system to suit its
output with developmental needs to achieve the vision of Egypt in 2030, most especially quality management to enhance the climatic condition in the university [13]-[14].
[15] stated that the importance of Quality Management QM adoptions is: increased employee confidence, continuous development, better quality from the customer's viewpoint, bridge of faculty staff's functions, and better teamwork. According to [16], QM practices also include innovation, financial potential, innovation opportunities, better control of processes in the design, planning, distribution field, bigger flexibility, high-quality services, and market position strength. Many companies have recognised and successfully adopted QM, giving them a competitive advantage in international and local markets by offering high-quality services or products to meet consumer needs [17-18]. Moreover, implementing QM practices also helped the various institutions improve their image, employee satisfaction, and quality awareness [19]. Also, an organisation can enhance its internal operations more effectively by implementing quality management practices. As a consequence, this is recognised as a must to succeed in the global market. Changes in production and decision-making processes, employee training and growth, engagement, and involvement are all part of quality management [20].
Despite the changes accompanying educational institutions in Egypt and their course towards adopting the philosophy of practicing quality management, many challenges and obstacles prevent reaching the desired goals of practicing quality management. The organisational climate prevailing in Egyptian universities is considered one of the most prominent of these factors. The organisational climate that expresses the various prevailing relationships of leadership characteristics, decision-making, and funding sources would support and facilitate the practice of quality, leading to continuous improvement and development in higher education institutions. [21] highlighted that organisational climate is one of the supporting factors in all stages of quality management practice due to its ability to
influence and direct individuals' behavior towards achieving goals and objectives. Also, [22] revealed that a suitable organisational climate at universities helps faculty members perform their job better.
[23] posited that organisational climate dimensions have a direct impact on employee engagement and efficiency. While [24] alluded that organisational climate can either be a motivator for employees to put forward their best effort to accomplish the institution's purpose, it can be a deterrent to employees' willingness to work. Therefore, organisations are keen to study their climate and work to develop and improve it as part of their endeavor to achieve advanced levels of quality. The organisation's effectiveness depends on the nature of the prevailing organisational climate. Previous studies that dealt with the organisational climate in educational institutions such as [25]-[28] revealed a strong relationship between performance and the organisational climate. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relationship between the organisational climate and quality management practices to identify the level of the organisational climate in the university for it to be developed by officials in line with the university's vision to achieve an advanced level of quality management practice that can only be achieved through creating an appropriate organisational climate that helps motivate employees.
II.
L
ITERATURER
EVIEWThe literature on organisational climate suggests that successful implementation of quality management practice mostly depends on a work climate conducive to innovation [29]. Such an organisational climate provides the essential framework and atmosphere within which the learning process nurtures and enables quality management to take place, flourish and feed upon itself. [22] argued that at the universities, an enabling organisational climate could facilitate faculty members' performance. According to [12], organisation climate plays a significant role in achieving employee satisfaction and growth in higher education institutions. That indicates that organisations are interested in learning more about their own internal environment and work to develop and improve them to achieve advanced levels of quality of the organisational climate prevailing in them [30]. [31]asserted that the significance of organisational climate has developed due to its dynamic role in the successful performance or failure of the organisation. Organisational climate
has a significant impact on employees' attitudes, motivation, satisfaction with work, and, consequently, their behavior and performance [32]. The organisational climate can be conceptualised through the perception of employees in institutions' supervision, communication.
[33] performed a study to determine the role of private high school directors in improving organisational climate and teacher morale in Amman, Jordan’s capital. The sample of the study consisted of 227 teachers who were randomly chosen. The results showed that there was a moderately significant relationship between leadership and organisational climate. Furthermore, [34] in his study aimed at identifying the organisational climate in the faculties of specific educational institution in Mansoura and Damietta, finding out the problems faced by the students and teachers who are teaching in dealing with the college administration and determining the impact on the quality of the educational performance using a questionnaire. The study concluded that the students noted that the college does not help them. The result also shows that faculty members see the college environment as too official in terms of work without paying attention to social relations, which affects the quality of educational performance.
[35] conducted a study that aimed at determining the relationship between communication as one of the dimensions of organisational climate and quality of education in schools from teachers' point of view. It used a quantitative approach and a random sample of 50 teachers from 5 schools. It found no significant relationship between the scholarly communication of the leaders and learning and the quality of education. Although, despite the work from prior studies, there is still a gap to be further investigated. Among these gaps are lecturers' perceptions of organisational climate and its relationship with higher education quality in Egypt. That has urged researchers to explore the significant relationship and depth of these variables with organisational climate ability to enhance quality management practice in Egypt higher education. Based on the literature review, the following hypotheses have been established:
H01: There is no significant difference in lecturers' perception of organisational climate based on work experience in Egypt higher education.
H02: There is no relationship between resource adequacy and quality management practices in Egypt higher education.
H03: There is no relationship between collaboration and quality management practices in Egypt higher education.
H04: There is no relationship between organisational climate and quality management practices in Egypt higher education.
III.
M
ETHODOLOGYThis study utilised a quantitative technique by using a cross-sectional design to collecting data to test the hypothesis. The population of the study consisted of 25 faculties at Sadat University in Egypt. The data led from a two-step pilot and field study. To determine the minimum sample size for the two steps of data, the study's sample size obtained the advantage of G * Power software [36]. Conventional settings are as follows: f2 = 0.15, ∝ = 0.05, power = 0.80 [37], while predictors = 2 represents two antecedents (organizational climate and quality management practices). The least sample size needed is 82 to get 80% statistical power. Since the number of survey respondents has far surpassed 82 (252 respondents), the PLS analysis was considered required to be conducted with adequate power potentials, and Spss was used for descriptive analysis.
Furthermore, this study used a questionnaire consist of three sections. The first section presented demographics (gender and work experiences). The second section presented organisational climate construct, which involves four dimensions: affiliation,7 items, professional interest, 7 items, participatory decision making, 6 items and resource adequacy, and 4 items. The last section for quality management practices involved 5 dimensions: training and education, 4 items, teamwork, 4 items, strategic planning,7 items, customer focus,6 items and continuous improvement, and 3 items—all the constructs of the study measured by using A five-point Likert-type scale.
IV.
R
ESULT OFS
TUDYTable 1 is the study respondents’ demographics, showing that the respondent was predominantly female (65.5%). Most of the participants have work experience between 11-15 years (37.7%).
Table 1.
General information of the respondents (N=252)
Classification Frequency Percentage (%) Gender Male 87 34.5 Female 165 65.5 Work Experience 1-5 years 50 19.8 6-10 years 75 29.8 11-15 years 95 37.7 16-20 years 32 12.7
Table 2 reveals the results of one-way ANOVA the p-value is less than 0.05. That denotes a significant difference among the mean score of the dependent variable for any of the groups. Through F= 2.078, P= 0.05˃ (0.000), it further indicated a significant difference in the perception of organisational climate based on work experience in Egypt higher education. Therefore, the hypothesis, which stated that there is no significant difference, was rejected.
Table 2.
One-way Anova for difference perception of university lecturers in organisational climate based on work experience
Sum of Squares DF Means Squares F Sig Between Groups 75.697 49 1.545 2.078 0.000 Within Groups 150.156 202 0.743 Total 225.853 251
A. Measurement Model Assessment
To evaluate the measurement model, the literature recommends the scholars follow two steps as suggested by [38] first, convergent validity (CV) through average variance extracted (AVE), composite reliability (CR). The convergent validity assesses whether or not the items of the variables represent the same fundamental construct. [39]-[40] recommended standards for loadings are set at above 0.5, and the AVE should be more than 0.5, and the CR should be above 0.7. Table 3 shows that the study has conceptualised OC and QMP as second-order constructs. Consequently, the study followed the approach suggested in the prior study in PLS that is the continual indicator approach to model the second-order factors in the PLS analysis.
Table 3.
Measurement model
Construct Items Loading C.Alpha CR AVE
Or g an iz ati o n al Cli m ate OCA1 .740 .853 .887 .533 OCA2 .729
OCA3 .681 OCA4 .593 OCA5 .636 OCA6 .840 OCA7 .845 OCP1 .815 .854 .889 .538 OCP2 .770 OCP3 .822 OCP4 .760 OCP5 .701 OCP6 .645 OCP7 .588 OCD1 .711 .843 .876 .546 OCD2 .557 OCD3 .653 OCD4 .763 OCD5 .853 OCD6 .852 OCR1 .802 .823 .877 .641 OCR2 .731 OCR3 .837 OCR4 .828 QMT1 .914 .816 .881 .654 QMT2 .903 QMT3 .731 C on Qu ali ty M an ag em en t P ra cti ce s QMT4 .655 QME1 .864 .857 .900 .693 QME2 .859 QME3 .842 QME4 .762 QMC1 .887 .889 .920 .697 QMC2 .853 QMC3 .829 QMC4 .838 QMC5 .693 QMI1 .867 .847 .907 .765 QMI2 .903 QMI3 .854 QMS2 .871 .905 .928 .687 QMS3 .861 QMS4 .807 QMS5 .901 QMS6 .617 QMS7 .882 QMS2 .871
Note: QMC6 and QMS1 were deleted to pass the convergent
validity requirement.
In the second step, discriminant validity (DV) refers to verified, which indicates how a construct dissimilar from other constructs within the model. The study applied the Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) ratio of correlations procedure. The latter assumes that a construct with enough discriminant validity should share higher variance with its indicators than other model constructs. Stated clearly, the AVE square should be higher than the values of its correlations with other model constructs [41]. Meanwhile, HTMT indicates the average of the Heterotrait-Hetero method correlations, which are the correlations of the indicators throughout constructs that measure various phenomena concerning the average of Monotrait-Hetero method correlations, which are the correlations of the indicators of a single construct. In this regard, the value of HTMT should be lower than one. In this study, the variables met the criterion put forth by HTMT. Each AVE square root is higher than the correlations among the constructs with reflective items, while the HTMT ratios for a pair are <0.85, as presented in Table 3. Therefore, the entire constructs are independent of each other, and the results established and confirmed discriminant validity.
Table 4.
Discriminant validity
OCA OCD OCP OCR QMC QME QMI QMS QMT
OCA 0.73
OCP 0.651 0.533 0.773 OCR 0.728 0.638 0.58 0.798 QMC 0.692 0.619 0.712 0.666 0.835 QME 0.697 0.698 0.556 0.551 0.529 0.832 QMI 0.46 0.44 0.349 0.454 0.389 0.451 0.875 QMS 0.721 0.613 0.622 0.64 0.7 0.539 0.348 0.829 QMT 0.583 0.586 0.493 0.499 0.492 0.5 0.351 0.466 0.809
B. Structural Model Evaluation
Evaluating the structural model involves evaluating R2, beta, and the corresponding t-values [39]. R2 refers to the amount of variance explained by the dependent variables [42]. The study following [38] recommendation to confirm the significance of path coefficients, with 500 bootstrapping procedure resamples utilised for the hypothesised relationships.
Table 4 summarises the findings of the structural model analysis (hypotheses testing). The R2 value of 0.807, according to Cohen (1988), the value of R2 =0.807, is higher than the 0.35. hence R2 is (substantial). Furthermore, the study’s analysis indicated that RA (β =0.178, ρ˂0.01). Also, DM (β =0.262, ρ˂0.01). And OC (β =0.341, ρ˂0.01). Hence all the relationship of the hypothesis was positive and significant with QMP. Thus H1, H2, and H3 were supported.
Table 5.
Results of the structural model analysis (hypotheses testing)
Relationship Std Beta Std Error T-Value P-Value R2 H1 RA→QMP .178 .053 3.371 p ˂0.01 .807 H2 DM→QMP .262 .062 4.224 p ˂0.01 H3 OC→QMP .341 .057 6.015 p ˂0.01 Notes: **p ˂ 0.01; *p ˂ 0.05.
QMP stands for Quality management practices, OC stands for Organizational Climate, RA stands for Resource adequacy, and DM stands decision making.
V.
D
ISCUSSIONThe primary purpose of this study is to determine the role of organisational climate to enhance quality management practices in Egypt higher education. The study's finding indicated a significant difference in the perception of academic staff in organisational climate in Egypt higher education based on work experiences. Thus, H1 rejected and showed identical results with prior studies such as [43]-[45], which found
a significant difference among employees toward the education sector's organisational climate based on years of experience. The overall findings of H1 regarding the considerable difference of years of experience on the academic response to the organisational climate in higher education in Egypt confirm that the increase in the number of years of experience in university education has given lecturers a more extraordinary ability to appreciate the importance of the organisational climate and its ability to improve quality management practices.
The second hypothesis, H2, in this study, was supported and found a significant relationship between Resource adequacy and Quality management practices. The result is inconsistent with the previous study [46]–[50], highlighting that sufficient resources in any institution are considered the main factor that could influence the achievement of quality management practices. According to [51], the lack of basic facilities obstructs quality management in institutions. Therefore, facilities and teaching aids in the university and classrooms will help lecturers present effective teaching, so it must be allocated sufficient funds to provide the necessary resources that help improve quality management practice, Providing sufficient resource resources to create an appropriate climate that helps achieve quality in Egypt higher education.
Furthermore, H3 demonstrated a significant relationship between decision making and quality management practices in Egypt higher education. Thus, the finding was supported. The result of the study in line with the study of [52]-[55]. In light of the finding, the study confirms that decision-making is one of the most important and influential factors in educational organisations. Therefore, the decision-making process is considered the essence of the administrative process because it is related to various other organisational processes such as planning, organising, monitoring, and directing; hence, it can even be considered the most important because it depends on its success all
administrative processes. Therefore, making the right decision is a real indicator of the contribution to achieving success and effectiveness in higher education.
The last hypothesis revealed a significant relationship between organisational climate and quality management practices in Egypt higher education. Consequently, H4 is supported. The study's finding is consistent with the study conducted by [56]-[58] and found that a positive organisational climate contributes to raising the level of quality management practices and performance. Moreover, the finding of the study showed that one of the factors that should characterise the quality management system in universities and these features could only be achieved in a positive organisational climate that involves participation in decision-making, in addition to the spirit of affiliation among the lecturers, with the provision of adequate resources suitable for work. The study also confirms that the availability of the previous factors in the university's organizational climate helps to enhance the practice of quality management and increase the ability of the university to achieve its goals.
In sum, the study proved the strength of the proposed hypotheses that revolve around contributing to an organisational climate in quality management practices in higher education institutions in Egypt. In addition to that, the study shows that improving the climate in the university is an urgent necessity to achieve quality management practice in higher education institutions, for the reason that organisational climate constitutes a working environment that helps the improvement and development of the student, lecturer and university administration.
VI.
C
ONCLUSIONThe purpose of this study is to bridge the existing gap in the relationship between organisational climate and quality management practices by defining the factor that improves the connection between organisational climate (OC) and quality management practices (QMP) among academic staff in Sadat university. That was conducted by providing an empirical indication of this relationship. The current study is estimated to improve the understanding of organisational climate (OC) and its ties with quality management practices(QMP) that will significantly contribute to the university's climate conditions. Moreover, by adopting this result, it would increase the university’s funding provided by the Ministry of Higher Education to provide better training and services by the university for
academics. It will also provide the appropriate infrastructure required to practice quality management, which leads to raising the level of students when better service is offered to them. It will likewise increase the loyalty and affiliation of employees to university institutions. This study demonstrates the importance of decision-making for the university leaders to consider increasing the participation of academics in decision-making, which would help develop the spirit and initiative to raise the appropriate organisational climate for quality management practice. Although, the significant importance of organisational climate to enhance quality management practices is still insufficient. This study supports the relationship between organisational climate and quality management practice in the Egyptian context. Consequently, this study attempt to fill the study gap on organisational climate factor (affiliation, professional interest, participatory decision-making, and resource adequacy) to improve quality management practice in Egypt higher education.
VII.
L
IMITATION OF THES
TUDYThe results of this study should be interpreted in light of its limitations. First, only the perceptions of the lecturers and one university were surveyed in this study. The perspective of the instructors, students, and other parties of interest was not taken into consideration. Thus, this could result in a potential bias in the research despite sufficient care to ensure that lecturers from all faculties in Sadat University were analysed. Consequently, it would be helpful if future researchers can examine the lecturers' perspectives and student instructors to compare any organisational climate differences. Therefore, the findings of this study cannot be generalised to all the universities in Egypt.