Quality research in the school sector: A job (re)design perspective for total quality management

The objective of this exploratory study is to address whether and how Total Quality Management (TQM) is influenced by top down, such as job design, or bottom up, such as job crafting, organizational practices, by examining the issue from two viewpoints: that of managers and that of employees. In particular, the leader-follower dichotomy is analyzed in the school sector, where school managers on the one hand, and teachers and secretarial employees on the other, aim at achieving quality in the educational service offered through a focus on excellence in teaching and learning, application of latest technology, and strong and purposeful leadership. An exploratory in-depth semi-structured interview-based approach in 14 secondary schools of Southern Italy has been employed to understand a rapidly evolving phenomenon as the current education organizational context. The results suggest that the organization of work, whether top down or bottom up, assumes critical importance in pursuing total quality. Behaviors such as job design by managers or job crafting by employees modify the behavioral approach and determine an orientation towards TQM by different types of workers.