New Review

Here's a tidbit from my literature review for my dissertation on the impact of quality managment principles and techniques on instructional design efforts. It is a review of "Quality Management Builds Solid eTraining" by Rachel Echard and Dr. Zane L. Berge, published July 2008 in the Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education (Vol. 9, No. 3, Art. 1).

The seminal source for this study is an article in the Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education (TOJDE) by Echard and Berge (2008), Quality Management Builds Solid eTraining. The article purports to “explore the manifestations of quality management processes on sustaining distance training in a business environment” (from the article abstract). The authors pontificate at great length with regard to business needs, distance training, and quality management. However, the connection among the three elements is tenuous at best in this writing. Snippets of real information are carelessly sprinkled amidst copious amounts of posturing and opinion with little if any data to support the assertions. The International Organization for Standardization, known colloquially by its acronym “ISO” is incorrectly identified by the authors as “International Service Organization.” Later in the article, they negate its relevance based on the opinions of John Seddon, an ardent Systems Approach proponent, in his newspaper article (2000). His position, more lucidly expressed in his book Systems Thinking in the Public Sector (2008), is that traditional quality management, especially as expressed in ISO 9000 principles, is about control in the management of production. He, contrarily, espouses “encouraging managers to learn about the ‘what and why’ of current performance” (2000), a true Systems Approach position but not necessarily relevant to quality management and certainly no reason to summarily dismiss ISO 9000 as less relevant than any other Quality Management approach. ISO 9000 is neither more nor less controlling than Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, etc.


Ultimately, the inspection of quality management in this article is merely the frosting. The actual cake itself is a “benchmark distance training system…composed of four interconnected links: capabilities, performance measures, change management, and support” (p. 1). The attempt at connecting this system with quality management techniques and principles is poorly executed. Three of the authors’ citations are omitted from the list of references. Two citations have different dates than those given in the references. The majority of the references a not scholarly in nature but more commercial in derivation, i.e., the websites they were taken from are designed to sell something.

All this negative review seems to beg the question, “Then why include it in the literature review?” The answer lies in the title, which begs the questions “Does quality management really build solid etraining? How? Why?” As poorly organized as this article may seem, it provided the spark that has ignited this research.

References:
 
Echard, R.D. & Berge, Z.L. (2008). Quality management builds solid etraining. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 9(3), Article 1.
 
Seddon, J. (2000, Nov 19). The quality you can't feel. Observer. Retrieved from http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4093041-102271,00.html
 
Seddon, J. (2008). Systems Thinking in the Public Sector. Axminster, UK: Triarchy Press.