TQM principles and their relevance to higher education: the question of tenure and post‐tenure review

Total quality management (TQM) programs have been popularized for changing the culture and performance of service and manufacturing firms. These ubiquitous techniques have also been applied to educational settings to improve administrative processes but have found little success in improving the quality of faculty teaching, research, and service. Some colleges and universities have faced difficulties implementing TQM in these areas because of strong tenure systems in place. This article will review the history of tenure and post‐tenure review, the theory of TQM, the role of TQM in higher education, and finally how TQM can be implemented and even supported by tenure and post‐tenure programs. The article concludes with suggestions and changes educational institutions can adopt so tenure, post‐tenure review and TQM can work compatibly together.