Document Type : Original Article(s)
Author
Abstract
Introduction: Total Quality Management is a leadership and management philosophy and involves guiding principles stressing continuous improvement through people involvement and quantitative methods focusing on total customer satisfaction. Since libraries of medical sciences universities in Tehran (Iran, Tehran and Shahid Beheshti medical Universities) are the most important centers for acquisition, organization and dissemination of medical information, this study assesses the level of TQM readiness in these libraries. Method and Material : A descriptive – survey research method was employed. The participants of this study were 75 library heads in three medical sciences universities and the data-gathering instrument was a 30-item researcher- made questionnaire. Concepts that were considered in the questionnaire included: involvement, leadership, training and education, focus on customer, rewards and recognition, sense of belonging, organizational culture and continuous improvement. The data collected were analyzed by descriptive statistics and ANOVA test. Results: The results showed high scores about TQM fundamental concepts in Iran. In Tehran and Shahid Beheshti universities, the highest score was on "sense of belonging" (8.26, 8.49 and 8.58) and the lowest score was related to "rewards and recognition". No Significant difference was observed in the nine concepts between three universities. Conclusion: Considering the findings of survey, rewards and recognition system in the libraries studied should be modified and concepts related to focus on customers, involvement and leadership should further develop . Key words : total quality management – libraries, medical – organization and administration.
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