Can TQM be implemented in higher education?

A focus on the success of the university in adding value to its inputs, whether those inputs are students or research resources, has several consequences. It does not, of course, diminish the desirability of having an academic faculty made up of brilliant individuals. It does, however, increase the need for people across the university to work together as teams in a systematic manner. Attempts to measure and increase `value added´ in teaching and research activities lead naturally to a fact-based approach to running the university. This paper seeks demonstrate that TQM as developed and practiced by manufacturing and commercial organisations is not ideally suited to higher education