Supply chain quality management in education

• Autor(a) principal: Sarrico, Cláudia S.
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Rosa, Maria J.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/27554
• topic: Integration; Supply chain management; Quality; Education; Challenges; Practice; Empirical evidence; Hurdles

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss the concept of supply chain quality management (SCQM) in education. It then analyses a particular country case study in light of the concept, presenting empirical evidence of the challenges and good practices relating to it. Design/methodology/approach The empirical work is based on a country case study which includes data on four higher education institutions and nine secondary schools. Data are obtained from national and institutional documents, as well as from individual and panel interviews. The authors have used content analysis for both data and interview transcripts. Findings The authors find that whereas we can think of education systems as supply chains, there are important challenges to SCQM in education, namely, regarding information sharing, trust, integration and leadership. Conversely, the authors have found some ad hoc good practice which could be developed into more systematic SCQM practice. Research limitations/implications The study covers only a single case study, and a part of the education supply chain. Practical implications The work could inform policy makers as well as institutional leaders on practices that would improve the performance of the education supply chain. Social implications Education is a very important activity sector with a strong impact on the well-being of societies. Gains in education performance resulting from better SCQM in education would thus impact us all. Originality/value The paper offers a novel way of looking at the education system through the lenses of SCQM; if implemented it could significantly improve the performance of education systems.