Public Policy and Administration Research www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online) Vol.3, No.6, 2013 26 Total Quality Management in Education Directorates in Saudi Arabia: Contrasting Provincial Case Studies Dr. Jaber Alruwaili Ministry of Education, Aljouf Directorate, PO box 66, Suwair - Sakaka, Saudi Arabia E-mail: jab0603@gmail.com Abstract This article is part of the PhD research which conducted in Saudi over the period of three years beginning in 2009. The article addresses the issue of total quality management (TQM) implementation in Saudi provincial directorates in two contrasting case studies, a female directorate in the north of the country –Aljouf province– and a male directorate in the Eastern province, through the views of senior managers. In order to explore the local conditions and challenges of implementing TQM, 40 interviews were conducted alongside unstructured observations in both directorates and institutional and policy document analysis. The journey of the two provincial Directorates towards TQM had few common features and many differences. Having embarked earlier on TQM initiatives - even before the ministerial compulsion - the Eastern Directorate had already gone through some of the issues and challenges encountered by the Aljouf Directorate at the time of this research. The study also revealed profound differences in the two institutional cultures under focus and in the ways managers felt that TQM was impacting on their professional practice and environment. The study reports their perceptions of the implementation process and compares the two contexts on such challenges as training opportunities, reward systems, workplace relations, and mismanagement practices. The article concludes on a discussion of core issues identified, particularly the level of embeddedness of organisations in local cultures and socioeconomic contexts, the centrality of actors in reform processes and the question of the universality of management approaches such as TQM. Keywords: Qualitative case study, Saudi Arabia, Total quality management, managers, ministry of education 1. Introduction Community-based organizations, including educational institutions, are now moving faster toward transformations such as re-engineering management, installing total quality management (TQM), crisis management etc. Consistent with the foregoing, the Ministry of Education (MoE) in Saudi Arabia has put much effort and adopted a number of strategies into education policies, those for educational management in particular. However, although the Saudi Arabian government has made immense efforts to promote the education system by the generosity of its budget, the outcomes are not meeting officials’ hopes and aspirations. This has been noted by a number of professionals in the country (e.g. Alssaloom, 2005; Al-Eisa, 2009). Given the above, it is very important to be aware of current administrative patterns in Saudi Arabia, so as to clarify the conditions in which the education system operates and where stakeholders and decision-makers seek to implement TQM properly. In order to fulfill this aim, the article will address the following question:  What are the factors which might hinder or facilitate the implementation of TQM?  How does the use and implementation of TQM generate different perceptions and expectation in contrasting contexts? 1.1 Why TQM in Saudi Arabia? When the US suddenly became intensely interested in quality at all levels and sectors, the driving force was that it was losing the productivity race to world-class competitors (Rhodes, 1994). What is the connection between this and the attractiveness of TQM to educational policy makers and planners in Saudi Arabia? It is difficult to find a straightforward answer within the ministerial archives and files. It may have been driven by the demands of international agencies, national political pressure and fierce universal competition. For example, according to Donn and Almanthri (2010), the 2008 meeting of G8 1 and BMENA 2 reported that a strong quality assurance framework and culture should be encouraged to ensure sustained high performance in education institutions, schools in particular. In parallel but nationally, the eighth Saudi Development Plan advocated official accountability in education and a move to develop it at less cost and higher quality in the shortest possible time in order to deal efficiently with the challenges posed by global scientific development and successive technical advances (Ministry of Economy and Planning, 2009). As a result of the educational bureaucracy’s failure to deal with present demands for change and innovation (e.g. 1 A group of eight countries (the G8): France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Russia. 2 The wider Middle East and North Africa (BMENA).