An examination of quality management practices, human-oriented elements, and organizational performance in the Malaysian higher education institutions

The study of quality management practices (QMPs) and organizational performance (OP) in higher education institutions are gaining attention due to the demand for
excellence. However, there is no clear consensus on the comprehensive model for QMPs and OP. To examine this issue, grounded by the Systems Theory, this study proposes a framework by decomposing quality management practices, human-oriented elements (satisfaction, commitment, loyalty) and organizational performance. A total of 251 head of departments from twenty public universities in Malaysia
participated in this study. Data was collected through personal-administered survey questionnaires. The Partial Least Squares approach to Structural Equation Modelling
(PLS-SEM) was the main statistical technique employed in this study. The study exposes that QMPs were found to have a significant relationship with OP and Human-oriented
Element (Satisfaction) while Human-oriented Element (Commitment) was found not to have a significant relationship with OP. As expected, the hypotheses of
interrelationship amongst all the constructs of Human-oriented Elements (satisfaction, commitment, loyalty) were supported. For the mediation test, the finding indicated
that the QMPs and Human-oriented Element (Loyalty) had a positive and significant relationship through the mediating effect of Human-oriented Element (Satisfaction). The results also revealed that the Human-oriented Element (Commitment and Loyalty) were found not to mediate the relationship of QMPs and OP. Several plausible reasons were discussed. Based on the findings, the theoretical and practical implications as well as limitations and direction for further research are also discussed.