Title: Evaluating the effect of total quality management in higher education on core competencies of students

Authors: Hamidreza Talaie; Morteza Hajian; Mehran Ziaeian

Addresses: Department of Industrial Management, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, Arak University, Arak, Basij Square, Karbala Blvd., 3848177584, Iran ' Department of Management, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Azadi Square, 8174673441, Iran ' Faculty of Economics, Management and Accounting, Yazd University, Yazd, Safaieh, 8915818411, Iran

Abstract: Ever since the development of the global economy and the increasing significance of knowledge and information changed educational and skill-related requirements, the quality of capable and professional manpower equipped with the market's key potential has become vital. Accordingly, this study has examined the quality of educational services in higher education and its subsequent effects on creating and developing students' necessary skills while emphasising the implementation of total quality management. This research is quantitative by distributing 382 questionnaires among students of several universities in Isfahan, IR Iran. Data analysis was performed by applying the partial least squares technique (PLS-SEM). The obtained results showed that service quality dimensions in these universities were subject to weaknesses, while there was no specific superiority of one particular university over others. In the same way, students' overall qualifications were found far from satisfaction. Moreover, a positive and significant relationship was noticed between the quality of educational services and the creation of core competencies. Other results of this research can be mentioned as the role of moderator educational discipline (humanities or technical-engineering) and educational discipline (medical sciences or technical-engineering) in the relationship between quality of services and core competencies.

Keywords: quality of services; core competencies; total quality management; TQM; SERVQUAL model; higher education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2025.146638

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2025 Vol.45 No.2, pp.212 - 230

Received: 20 Apr 2022
Accepted: 12 Jul 2023
Published online: 10 Jun 2025 *

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