The complexities of managing research projects: an ongoing study of developing a quality framework and measuring perceptions of service quality at UniSA.

Introduction

Australian education continues to be faced with a number of challenges as it strives to provide the nation with advanced knowledge and innovative research and development (Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee, 2004). As a consequence of increased challenges and pressures, universities acknowledge that they belong to a 'market' that is becoming increasingly competitive. One area of university operations that has historically been overlooked in the "quality" forum is that of research. Currently, the Government measures are performance or "outputs" based, considering only successful higher degree research student completions, staff and student research publications and staff research income. There is, however, no opportunity for the research partner/client to provide "input" about the level of satisfaction with the experience.

In order to understand better the expectations of clients and to attain a superior competitive position, the University established an ISO9001 Quality Management system. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of an approach to improving research management by measuring and streamlining the processes that support research project activity. It is not the intent of this paper to provide the prescriptive methodology used to survey clients.

The first section defines the principles, requirements and intent of ISO, while the second section explores how ISO9001 is applied and implemented at UniSA and, importantly, reveals how a formal management system has been key in driving improvement strategies through the development of quality performance measures in relation to the services provided to its external research clients.

What is ISO?

In the pursuit of competitive advantage, it is increasingly important to identify the demands and values of current and potential clients (Menzer, Flint, Kent, 1999). As we enter the 21st Century, it is imperative that we consider the complexities of our environment such as technology, globalisation, competition, change, speed of change and complexity itself (Tetenbaum 1998) as these factors contribute to the challenges of our organisational existence. If organisations, including University Research Offices accept these complexities and challenges, we must then address them by seeing knowledge, or the attainment thereof, as a prerequisite for sustainability. How do we best address these conditions and challenges and achieve competitive advantage? How do we give rise to a sustainable future?

It would be naive to suggest that ISO9001 is the complete answer; however, for UniSA, it does provide a formal management system and framework for identifying client requirements, setting organisational objectives, assigning responsibilities, managing human and material processes and monitoring the output of the system, including client satisfaction, with a view to continual improvement. This being the case, the formalised system enables controlled interaction with the environment in which we operate.

The ISO9000 model contains eight management principles designed to enable continual improvement. They are:

1. Client focus

2. Leadership

3. Involvement of People

4. Process Approach

5. Systems approach to management

6. Continual improvement

7. Factual approach to decision making

8. Mutually beneficial suppler relationships

Complementing these underlying principles is a series of requirements that need to be met in order to be certified (or registered, as it is often referred to in North America). They are:

1. Management Responsibility--Responsibility for the system rests with the 'top management' of the organisation, thus at a strategic level.

2. Resource Management--Sufficient human and physical resources are available to carry out the processes.

3. Product Realisation--There are controlled processes in place to support and manage products/service provisions.

4. Measurement, Analysis and Improvement--Strategies are in place that allow the system to be measured objectively and which allow for collecting information about how the system is performing in relation to client requirements.

Unlike many of the ISO standards, ISO9001: 2000 is a "generic" standard--that is it can be applied to any organisation, regardless of size or type. The model's four requirements function similarly to the PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT (PDCA) improvement process that was popularised by W. Edwards Deming. It is a process approach; therefore, its framework.

(Figure 1.1) illustrates how client requirements drive the input and how client satisfaction drives the output. The process approach emphasises the importance of understanding and fulfilling the requirements of the client, the need to consider processes in terms of added value obtaining results of process performance and effectiveness, and continual improvement of processes based on objective measurement (Joint Technical Committee QR-008, 2000).

[FIGURE 1.1 OMITTED]

As illustrated, the process based quality management system shows the significant role that clients have in defining requirements as inputs. The continual improvement of a quality management system is derived from monitoring the satisfaction of clients, by evaluating information relating to their perception, as it is this that determines whether an organisation has met the requirements of their client (AS/NZS ISO, 2000). By deploying this framework and abiding to the requirements of ISO9001:2000, UniSA has developed processes, policy and procedures to ensure the following results:

1. Client/Industry Partner requirements are defined and documented ensuring alignment between client expectation and UniSA's perception of that expectation.

2. Project Management processes are developed to ensure the clients' requirements are fulfilled.

3. Client feedback is obtained at the end of every research and consultancy project as well as via an annual survey as described in the Service Quality Perceptions part of this paper.

4. Objective measurement of client feedback and process effectiveness is used to assist with decision making, leading to continual improvement and superior competitive positioning.

Because quality is critically linked to an organisation's success (Buzzell & Gale, 1987; Gronroos, 1990; Howat, Milne & Crilley, 1996), UniSA has developed a framework which includes a suite of tools and systems for managing its research and consultancy projects. The aim of these is to foster process consistency and to learn more about our clients.

To be able objectively to measure client satisfaction one must have a consistent approach. To this end, the Research and Innovation Services Office has developed policy and procedures for the project management of research and consultancy, along with mechanisms for the continual review and improvement of its processes. This approach is consistent with Johnson's (1993) concept of ISO quality, suggesting that ISO9000 is focused on meeting client needs with a system that is appropriate, planned, controlled, documented and fully understood. Additional information may be found at http://www.unisa.edu.au/res/busadmin/default.asp

At a functional level, a reliable approach to the management, tracking and recording of research and consultancy projects has been achieved through the development of a web-based project management system called the Project Quality System (PQS). The PQS enables projects to be managed from proposal stage through to project completion as its process tracks and records client details, intellectual property opportunities, risk assessment, capacity approval, budget entry, and client feedback. It is this latter component, client feedback, which is most important as it enables us to assess how the services that we are delivering services are valued by our clients.

Service Quality Perceptions--The Clients' Perceptions

The initial question to be addressed therefore is "What do our clients value or want in their interactions with UniSA's research services?"

Beginning in 2001, a portfolio of service attributes was identified by conducting two focus groups with external clients. The service quality issues shaped the development of a self -administered questionnaire (see Appendix A), that was subsequently, piloted with a sample of clients from the PQS database. The self-administered questionnaires use a tailored service specific version of SERVQUAL, a conceptual service quality model able to facilitate the monitoring of clients service quality expectations and performance (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry, 1985 and 1988).

The adaptation of SERVQUAL is dependent on two variables: expected service and perceived service. The two variables are compared so that the "perceived service quality" is interpreted from the differences in degree and direction between perceptions and expectations. For example the service quality attribute for "employee enthusiasm" in 2003 had an importance rating of 5.1 and a performance rating of 4.9, resulting in a service quality gap of-0.2. The smaller the gap the better the alignment between the two variables--expected service and perceived service.

The inaugural survey study of external clients, conducted in March 2001, netted a response rate of approximately 40%. Subsequent factor analysis on the 2001 data set led to improvements to the questionnaire, which included the identification of three industry specific dimensions of service quality. These were categorised as "product/service delivery," "human resources" and "assurance and reliability."