In 2024 my website had almost 40.000 visitors and 88.000 views.
Most visitors are from the US (10.700). Second is China with 4567 views. The Netherlands are sixth with 1692 visitors.
The publication/citation page with all my articles was visited (only) 229 times… I need to advertise it more???
In post #80 I mentioned the interesting research that Eltjo Bazen was working on in the framework of his master program Quality Management at SUAS. The title was: Additions to the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG) and their Underlying Visions of Quality
Eltjo has chosen an interesting topic for his master’s thesis. He wondered what motivates Quality Assurance Agencies (QAA) that have to apply these guidelines to make additional additions to the existing list. This led to the rich research question: What vision(s) of quality appear(s) from the additions to the ESG, made by QAAs in their European Quality Assurance (EQA) activities of higher education, how widely is/are this/these vision(s) spread and how well do they fit to the ESG and its underlying vision of quality?
As a theoretical foundation, he first provided a definition of the most important terms used, such as quality, quality assurance, and describes the theoretical Concept of the Four Quality Paradigms (CFQP) by Van Kemenade & Hardjono, which he uses for his analysis.In his research design, he begins by asking himself, in line with Steven Spear, what his assumptions are. Then a literature review is conducted, which shows that this topic has not been researched. Subsequently, he conducted desk research and sent a questionnaire to the QAAs, leading to a list of 38 added criteria. In the next step, these were presented to experts in interviews to examine what pattern of values lies behind these additions, using the CFQP.
Perhaps somewhat disappointingly, it appears that no thematic or regional pattern can be discovered. Moreover, it turns out that – just as in the original ESG – the empirical and reference paradigms also dominate in the supplemented guidelines. Nevertheless, Eltjo can conclude that the QAAs that add guidelines, are more focused on the emergence paradigm than the original criteria, such as the guideline to have policies for the third mission of higher education institutions and for the SDGs. This may mean that QAAs are more aware of the ‘wicked’ environment in which higher education institutions find themselves. After the results, an interesting discussion follows, and the author returns to his assumptions. Serious consideration has been given to shortcomings of the research, such as a possible insufficient understanding of the four paradigms among the interviewees. A number of interesting suggestions are made for further research. Finally, the thesis contains a practical list of recommendations for QAAs and for the process of revision of the ESGs that has recently started. The outcomes of the thesis should be included in this.
This is the more the case, since the master thesis of Eltjo was rewarded with a nine (on a ten point scale)! Congratulations with your result, you made me proud of you!
From 18th of November till 27th seven times a workshop was given to 79 caregivers of White and Yellow Cross Care Foundation. The topic this time was giving, receiving and asking feedback. But moreover the ultimate goal is to co-create a feedback culture within the organisation.
To make that happen these trainings were the first step. In the morning theories were presented about feedback and the participants were trained in practical exercises to be able to actually do so. In the afternoon teams worked together to discuss their current feedback culture and the one they desired.
The course was highly appreciated as one can see from the results of the questionnaire that the participants filled in. Actually, the feedback to the trainer about their satisfaction of his work.
Three staff members are trained to give this training in future, to organise an onboarding course on this topic and a refresher course, maybe next year.
My brother inn law has a saying that I always keep in mind: Work Hard, Play Hard. So after the trainings I also tried to relax and enjoy myself. This time I was lucky to be invited by Louis and Mandy Wever to a meeting of their Rotary Club. I received a very warm welcome and had a very interesting and pleasant evening. Thanks Louis and Mandy for inviting me…
From 13th till 16th of November 2024 several topics have been addressed in a training and workshops for the National Institute of Professional Advancement (NIPA) on Sint Maarten. The main issues discussed were Quality and Innovation and Adapting to changing student needs (n=7). One day was dedicated to an Internal Audit training (n=14). The activities were executed in a cooperation between Velland Transition Value Consultancy in the person of Mademi Velland and Van Kemenade ACT.
The workshops and training were appreciated, as you can see in the graphs below.
Especially the audit training was successful.
Today my ‘letter to the editor’ of TQM & Business Excellence is published. Earlier, I researched the presence of the four quality paradigms in the International Journal of Integrated Care and TQM Journal. In both cases the emergence paradigm was underrepresented. Apparently, the complexity theory still did not really find its way to quality management. This article concludes that it is worrisome that the Concept of the Four Quality Paradigms is (often) misunderstood and that the emergence paradigm is so little researched. You can read the article here. A podcast based on the three mentioned articles can be found here.
