Application of Total Quality Management in Teacher Unions in Turkey

Quality is not a novel notion. It has been on the agenda of mankind since King Hammurabi of Babylon, who introduced a set of regulations governing the quality standards in the construction industry. It has lately been seen more vital than ever and TQM can be regarded as the accumulation or result of quality improvement experiences. Much has been said and many works have been written on TQM since 1980¿s; nevertheless, no common definition has been made for it. It can simply be defined as a management philosophy whose motto is ¿customers first¿. Judging the revival of Japanese organizations from the ashes of Second World War, thanks to the quality revolution, many service and manufacturing organizations have seen TQM as a means to survive and improve. Services of educational institutions have also been influenced by the trend of TQM and have launched programs adopting the new philosophy. Turkey was one of the many other countries which initiated TQM applications in its educational institutions though it was long after countries such as the USA and England.