Performance Evaluation of SAMA Schools of 4th District of Islamic Azad University Based on the Organizational Excellence Model of European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) from Viewpoints of Staff and Managers

Journal of Industrial Strategic Management

مقاله 3، دوره 3، شماره 1، خرداد 2018، صفحه 28-42   

نوع مقاله: Original Article

نویسنده

farzaneh vasefian^*

علوم تربیتی. دانشکده تحصیلات تکمیلی دانشگاه ازاد اردستان هیات علمی

چکیده

The purpose of the current research is evaluating performance of SAMA schools of 4th district of Islamic Azad University based on the organizational excellence model of European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) for quality management from viewpoints of staff and managers. The research is applied and has a descriptive-survey method. Using a stratified random sampling, 100 respondents were selected. Measurement tool was EFQM questionnaire and pro-forma. The reliability coefficient of the questionnaire was estimated to be 0.96 using Cronbach's alpha. In order to study the subject of research, ten questions were raised. Data analysis was performed using EFQM, EXCLE, and SPSS software. The results of the study showed that the total score of the performance evaluation of SAMA schools of 4th district of Islamic Azad University was 633 based on the questionnaire and 614 based on pro-forma approach. Score percentage of each of these nine factors, according to the tools of questionnaire and pro-forma, respectively were: Leadership 79%, 76%, policy and strategy 67%, 65%, staff 69%, 67%, resources and partners 67%, 65%, processes 71%, 69%, customers' results 69%, 67%, staff results 47%, 46%, community results 73%, 71%, and key performance results 45%, 45%. The results of the research, in both methods, showed that the most strengths of the organization relate to the leadership area and the most area needs improvement relates to the results of the customers.

کلیدواژه‌ها

*Performance Evaluation؛ * SAMA Schools؛ * EFQM؛ * Self-Assessment

اصل مقاله

Introduction

 

  It is crystal clear that dynamism and vitality of the education and training of a country is one of the most important indicators of its development and flourishing. In developed societies, paying attention to the education and training system and higher education are among the important assessing criteria and concerns of statesmen in achieving a fortunate society with material and spiritual richness. Conducting deep researches on the causes and implications of the success of the world countries reveals that the guidance of education and training director creating robust and stable structures to empower and enhance the quality of schools and universities based on systematic approaches is of crucial importance.

  A topic preoccupying the minds of educational managers and planners is to modify and improve the quality of schools' education and performance (Moller & Sonntag, 2001). Concepts such as self-assessment, strategic planning for improvement, excellence and empowerment, comprehensive quality management, process standardization, process reengineering, statistical data control and other management engineering tools have now shown their applicability in eminent schools of the world and have introduced numerous patterns of the ideal examples (Rezaei ,2009).

  Among the most fundamental questions raised in the process of promotion and empowerment, we can refer to: " What is the ultimate goal of school excellence?", and more importantly, " How and using which tools can we diagnose root issues, simultaneously with identifying school's performance indicators, and lead the schools to excellence through identifying areas needing improvement? The evolution and improvement of schools should incorporate a structured source and its intelligent and efficient intellectual system should surround all the areas relating to the schools and make excellence internalize in schools (Rezaei, 2009).

   SAMA organization, having two decades of experience of activity in this domain, has more than 600 schools in the country and is responsible for training and education of more than 50 thousand students (Mehr ta Mehr,2013). SAMA schools of 4th district of Islamic Azad University, as an educational public organization, are confident that it can achieve its excellent purposes through looking at its landscape, conducting organizational mission and using an appropriate assessment pattern. Therefore, the current research seeks to evaluate the performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University based on the organizational excellence model of European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) for quality management from viewpoints of staff and managers in terms of quality, empowerment and its functions in the schools. After identifying the strengths and also areas needing improvement to achieve excellence, a list of prioritized programs will be proposed.             The results can help the management of the institution to explain its future quality programs. In addition, identifying opportunities for improvement in enhancing the quality of management and gaining the satisfaction of the school clients' is very important

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review of the Related Literature and Research Questions:

 

  Performance assessment is critical and exploratory estimation of the activities of an organization. Any organization must have a periodic assessment of its performance in order to obtain good results. Performance evaluation is both preventive and diagnostic. Improving the performance of the organizations creates a massive force that can provide support for the growth and development program and create opportunities for organizational excellence. Governments, organizations, and institutions are pushing for advancement in this regard. It is impossible to continuously improve the performance without studying the progress and goal-achievement extent, identifying challenges and gaining feedback of policies and areas need improvement. All of the aforementioned points are impossible unless measurement and assessment are applied. Organizational excellence model is an approach that identifies and determines the direction of activity of managers to improve performance. It also authorizes and establishes links with staff, customers, stakeholders and society through organizational circles and processes and makes them satisfied. The Excellence Model is a managerial structure that causes improvement and enhancement through relying on fundamental principles and paying attention to the main criteria of quality management and self-assessment system (Moullin, 2002). Organizational excellence model is one of the proposed patterns of developed educational countries for achievement of qualitative and comprehensive development goals. This model, derived from process management, is a non-prescriptive framework based on nine criteria. Five of these criteria are "enablers" and the other four are known as "results." Enabler measures include things an organization does to achieve its expected results. The results criteria include those that an organization gains and show the effectiveness of enablers. Results are the fruit of enablers and the latter is improved through receiving received feedback (European Foundation for Quality Management, 2006).

 

 

Results                                                                                                                   Empowered-makers

 

Key Results

Employee results

Customer Results

Community Results

Processes, Products and Services

Employees

Strategy

Partnership and Resources

 

Leadership

 

 

 

 

 

Figure (1) Learning, Creativity and Innovation of the EFQM Model (Jelodari Mameghani, 2010(.

 

 

 

The basic concepts of excellence are those that this model is based on and, in fact, are the basis of the model (Tavakoli & Beheshtipour, 2010). These concepts are based on the central beliefs of the companies and top organizations of the 21st Century. Those organizations which have believed in these concepts in practice, have created organizations remained in the business history. On the one hand, research shows that these concepts are consistent with the views of the thinkers of management science about the goals that an organization must achieve. In other words, the achievement of excellence requires a comprehensive commitment of organization management to these fundamental concepts and their utter acceptance.

   One of the important goals of the Excellence Model of EFQM is to achieve a degree of integration with the fundamental concepts of excellence and the model framework of organizational excellence. The highest level of quality is raised in the learning process (Amirian, 2007). Quality in education makes the learning process enjoying. Functional components of students may be threatened by factors such as competition for score or encouragement; these factors make learning difficult to achieve. We need to use qualitative experiences to create independent learners. Many researches have been conducted to evaluate the performance of organizations using the organizational excellence model. Osseo & Longbottom (2002), in a case study at the Kingdom Institute of Education, entitled " The need for education and training in the use of the EFQM model for quality management in UK higher education institutions", reported the self-assessment results of this institution : Leadership 37%, policy and strategy 38%, staff 36%, resources and partners 37%, processes 39%, average of enablers 38%, customer results 38%, staff results 27%, community results 36%, key performance results 35% and average results of 34%. Dahlgaard (2009) concluded in a case study entitled "Towards a human-oriented methodology for improvement and change", seeking to understand the importance of the non-core dimension of the organization, that is the human dimension of comprehensive quality management and change management, that paying attention to the human dimension in TQM and organizational change provides new opportunities for paving the way for furthering excellence. Podobnik & Dolinsek (2008) concluded that the development of management commitment, planning for self-assessment, formation of teams for training and self-assessment, determination of corrective actions, implementation of corrective actions, are among the important stages of a self-assessment process based on the EFQM model. Castkap & Sharp (2003) concluded in a study on measuring the system work culture using the EFQM model in Ukraine that most of the organizations present in this study require systematic work culture as a necessary enabler. Systematic work culture is of special crucial importance in changing organizations.

   Eghbal (2006) concluded in a research project entitled "Assessing Performance of Human Resource Management in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, based on the model of Organizational Excellence” concluded that the most strengths of this organization are related to the field of policy and strategy and the area needing the most improvement is the field of staff results.

  Mirzapour et al (2010), in a study on the level of application of the components of the EFQM organizational excellence model in Islamic Azad University, believe that there is a significant difference between the level of application of the criteria of EFQM organizational excellence model in Shahrekord Azad University. The level of EFQM model application in Shahrekord University is as follows: leadership 59%, policy and strategy 63/75, staff 58,8%, participation and resources 60%, processes 57/8%, staff results 62/2% results of customers 56.5%, results of community 60%, key results of performance 57.3%. In sum, it should be said that Azad University of Shahrekord gained the score of 589 from 1000 scores of EFQM model. The criteria of enabler gained 298 and the criteria of results gained 291.

  According to the studies, a general question and ten sub-questions, including nine criteria (leadership, staff, policy and strategy, partnerships and resources, processes, staff results, customer results, community results and key performance results) were raised in the form of nine questions and in another question, the weak or improvement-needing points of performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University from the viewpoints of staff and managers were studied.

Material and methods

 

  The research method is descriptive-survey. The statistical population of the study consists of all the educational and administrative staff and principals of primary and high schools of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University and its number is 384. Based on the sample size and stratified random sampling method, 100 individuals were selected as samples. In this study, two methods of questionnaire and pro-forma have been used.

1-Questionnaire Approach

  The questionnaire approach has been extracted based on the standard self-assessment questionnaire from EFQM model. It has 50 questions and includes the following criteria:

Criterion1, Leadership: This criterion has 5 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

Criterion 2, Strategy: This criterion has 4 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 3, Staff: This criterion has 5 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 4, Partnership and Resources: This criterion has 5 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 5, Processes, Products and Services: This criterion has 7 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 6, Customer results: This criterion has 9 questions and 150 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 7, Staff results: This criterion has 5 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 8, Community Results: This criterion has 3 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 9, Key Results: This criterion has 7 questions and 150 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

2-Pro-Forma Approach

  Developing a pro-forma and evaluation indicators were designed with the approval of five experts based on the organizational excellence model. Having in mind the fact that there are 9 evaluation criteria in this model; some relevant questions have been designed for each criterion:

  Criterion 1, Leadership: In this section, 6 pro-forma have been designed, such as written description of tasks, structure and number of meetings of the school council with the parents and school leadership programs. The total score of this criterion is 100.

  Criterion 2, Strategy: 7 pro-forms have been designed for this criterion. They are related to main strategies of educational centers. One of the key aspects of assessment is evaluating of school programs and its performance appraisal programs. The total score of this criterion is 100.

  Criterion 3, Staff: In this section, quantitative information about staff was evaluated. The calculation of the human forces of schools, staff age distribution and staff training needs are the key aspects of evaluation in this criterion. The total score is 90, the total number of questions is 6 and the rating of each question is 15.

  Criterion 4, Partnership and Resources: In this section, the entrants of schools are assessed to evaluate their participation in resource utilization. Calculation of school statistics and data, level of use of educational technology and calculation of educational budgets are among the key aspects of evaluation in this section. The total score is 90, the total number of questions is 6 and the rating of each question is 15.

  Criterion 5, Process: In this section, processes of SAMA educational units were evaluated. Examining the documentation of the school processes and the extent of the processes documented are the key axes of assessment in this section. The total score is 140, the total number of questions is 12 and the rating of each question is 11.66.

  Criterion 6, Staff results: In this section, the results of the qualitative human resources information of the SAMA training units are assessed to evaluate the motivation of the staff.                   Calculation the satisfaction level of staff from the school and level of encouragement and appreciation level of staff are the key aspects of assessment in this section. The total score is 90, the total number of questions is 3 and the rating of each question is 30.

  Criterion 7, Customer Results: This criterion has 5 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it. In this section, the results of customer perceptions of schools and their needs and expectations, including customer surveys, are evaluated. The total score is 200, the total number of questions is 4 and the rating of each question is 50.

  Criterion 8, Community Results: In this section, the results of the actions and practices of SAMA schools and their feedback in the community are evaluated. Calculating students 'admissions and students' admissions to the university are key points in this section. The total score is 60, the total number of questions is 2 and the rating of each question is 30.

  Criterion 9, Key Results: In this section, key indicators are financial and non-financial and are used to assess the operational performance of the school. These indicators help to monitor, anticipate and improve key achievements in school performance. Calculating school profits, student dropout rates, etc. are key issues in this section. The total score is 150, the total number of questions is 9 and the rating of each question is 16.6.

  The reliability of the questionnaire was estimated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.96 at alpha level of p <0.01, indicating a high reliability of the instrument. By introductory studies in schools, as well as reviewing the views of scholarly experts, the scientific validity of pro-forma approach was approved. To this end, a number of schools were observed by two observers. The compared information showed that 90% of the ideas of these two groups were the same. Validity of the questionnaire and pro-forma is content validity and this was approved by five academic experts. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software to describe the data and EFQM software for inferential data ranking.

 

 

 

 

 

Results 

 

   In this section, we first describe and analyze descriptive data and then answer the questions through the interpretation of the results.

a) Criteria Score Based on Questionnaire Approach:

 

Table (1) Percentage and Score of Evaluation of Human Resources Management Performance in SAMA Schools Based on Questionnaire Approach in Each of the Criteria

Criterion	Obtained Score	Percentage	Maximum Score
Leadership	79	79	100
Policy and strategy	67	67	100
Staff	69	69	100
Resources and Partners	67	67	100
Processes	71	71	100
Customer Results	69	69	100
Staff results	71	47	150
Community Results	73	73	100
Key Performance Results	67	45	150
Total Score	633		1000
Total Score	353		500
Total Scores of Result Domain	280		500
Criterion Average		65.22

  The results of Table (1) show that the highest score was obtained in the field of leadership with 79% and the lowest score is related to key performance results with 45. Enabler’s field has 353 points and the field of results has 280 points

Table (2) Obtained Scores and Percentage in the Field of Enablers Based on the Questionnaire Approach in Each of the Criteria

Criterion	Percentage of Obtained Score
Leadership	22
Policy and strategy	19
Staff	20
Resources and Partners	19
Processes	20
Total	100

  The results of Table (2) show that the highest score was obtained in the field of leadership with 22 and the lowest score is related to Policy and Strategy and Resources and Partners with 19%.

Table (3) Obtained Scores and Percentage in the Field of Results Based on the QuestionnaireApproach in Each of the Criteria

Criterion	Percentage of Obtained Score
Customer Results	25
Staff results	25
Community Results	26
Key Performance Results	24
Total	100

 

  The results of Table (3) show that the highest score was obtained in the field of Community with 26 and the lowest score is related to Key Performance Results with 24%.

b) Criteria Score Based on Pro-Forma Approach

 

 

 

Table (4) Percentage and Score of Evaluation of Human Resources Management Performance in SAMA Schools Based on Pro-Forma Approach in Each of the Criteria

Criterion	Obtained Score	Percentage	Maximum Score
Leadership	76	76	100
Policy and Strategy	65	65	100
Staff	67	67	100
Resources and Partners	65	65	100
Processes	69	69	100
Customer Results	67	67	100
Staff results	69	46	150
Community Results	71	71	100
Key Performance Results	65	45	150
Total Score	614		1000
Total Score	342		500
Total Scores of Result Domain	272		500
Criterion Average		63.44

 

  

 

The results of Table (4) show that the highest score was obtained in the field of leadership with 76% and the lowest score is related to key performance results with 45%. Enabler’s field has 342 points and the field of results has 270 points.

Table (5) Obtained Scores and Percentage in the Field of Enablers Based on the Pro-Forma Approach in Each of the Criteria

Criterion	Percentage of Obtained Score
Leadership	22
Policy and Strategy	19
Staff	20
Resources and Partners	19
Processes	20
Total	100

   The results of Table (5) show that the highest score was obtained in the field of leadership with 22 and the lowest score is related to Policy and Strategy and Resources and Partners with 19%.

 

 

Table (6) Obtained Scores and Percentage in the Field of Results Based on the Pro-Forma Approach in Each of the Criteria

Criterion	Percentage of Obtained Score
Customer Results	25
Staff results	25
Community Results	26
Key Performance Results	24
Total	100

    The results of Table (6) show that the highest score was obtained in the field of Community with 26 and the lowest score is related to Key Performance Results with 24%.

c)    Comparison of the Organization Records Based on Two Approaches of Questionnaire and Pro-forma

Table (7) Comparison of the Organization's Records Based on Two Approaches of Questionnaire and Pro-forma

Criterion	Questionnaire Approach	Pro-forma Approach
Leadership	79	76
Policy and Strategy	67	65
Staff	69	67
Resources and Partners	67	65
Processes	71	69
Customer Results	69	67
Staff results	71	69
Community Results	73	71
Key Performance Results	67	65
Total Score	633	614

    The results of Table (7) show that in both methods the highest score obtained was related to Leadership and the lowest score obtained was related to Policy and Strategy and Resources and Partners

Table (8) Comparing the Total Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	65.22
Pro-forma	63.44

 

   The results of Table (8) show that the percentage of total score of self-assessment is 22.56 in questionnaire and 63.44 in pro-forma.

Reviewing research Questions:

  Question 1: What is the score of criterion of leadership in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM? (

Table (9) Comparing the Leadership Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	79
Pro-forma	76

    The results of Table (9) show that the score of leadership is 79 in questionnaire approach and 76 in pro-forma approach.

   Question 2: What is the score of criterion of Policy and Strategy in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM? (

 

 

Table (10) Comparing the Policy and Strategy Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	67
Pro-forma	65

   The results of Table (10) show that the score of Policy and Strategy is 67 in questionnaire approach and 65 in pro-forma approach.

  Question 3: What is the score of criterion of Staff in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (11) Comparing the Staff Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	69
Pro-forma	67

   The results of Table (11) show that the score of Staff is 69 in questionnaire approach and 67 in pro-forma approach.

  Question 4: What is the score of criterion of Resources and Partners in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (12) Comparing the Resources and Partners Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	67
Pro-forma	65

   The results of Table (12) show that the score of Resources and Partners is 67 in questionnaire approach and 65 in pro-forma approach.

  Question 5: What is the score of criterion of Processes in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

 

Table (13) Comparing the Processes Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	71
Pro-forma	69

   The results of Table (13) show that the score of Processes is 71 in questionnaire approach and 69 in pro-forma approach.

Question 6: What is the score of criterion of Customer Results in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (14) Comparing the Customer Results Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	69
Pro-forma	67

 The results of Table (14) show that the score of Customer Results is 69 in questionnaire approach and 67 in pro-forma approach.

   Question 7: What is the score of criterion of Staff results in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (15) Comparing the Staff Results Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	71
Pro-forma	69

 

   The results of Table (15) show that the score of Staff Results is 71 in questionnaire approach and 69 in pro-forma approach.

  Question 8: What is the score of criterion of Community Results in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (16) Comparing the Community Results Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	73
Pro-forma	71

  The results of Table (16) show that the score of Staff results is 73 in questionnaire approach and 71 in pro-forma approach.

  Question 9: What is the score of criterion of Key Performance Results in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (17) Comparing the Key Performance Results Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	67
Pro-forma	65

  The results of Table (17) show that the score of Staff results is 67 in questionnaire approach and 65 in pro-forma approach.

   Question 10: What are the strong and improvement-needing points in the field of human resource management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (18) Strengths Determined in the Human Resource Management Assessment

Strength	Related Criterion	Percentage
Managers effectively support the organization and its values and extend them to the whole organization and act accordingly	Leadership	0.87
Organizational support activities are continuously controlled, documented and improved. The organization evaluates the staffing issues on a regular basis and takes the necessary action based on the results	Process	0.82
Organizational leadership and policies are based on an understanding of the internal performance, analysis of its capabilities and understanding of the needs, expectations and satisfaction of learners, stakeholders and the external environment.	Strategy	0.81
Managers are available to staff and support the effective efforts of individuals and groups in person and on time	Leadership	0.79

   The results of Table (18) show the strengths which relate to the areas of leadership, process, staff results and strategy.

Table (19) Areas Needing Improvement in the Human Resource Management Assessment

Areas Needing Improvement	Related Criterion	Percentage
The customer groups in the organization are distinguished to reflect the views of different groups and types of customers	Customer Results	0.56
In the organization, staff' efforts are valuable in improving the success of the organization and are rewarded with respect to factors such as experience and skill.	Staff results	0.57
The organization has an approach that assures that the allocation and use of financial resources is in line with organizational goals and values and ensures the firm's sustained success.	Resources and Partners	0.61
You have data that shows that the results of your customers are better than competitors or equivalent organizations.	Customer Results	0.62
Information about the organization's operational performance, partners and suppliers' performance and customer satisfaction can be quickly accessed.	Staff results	0.62

 

  The results of Table 19 show the areas in need of improvement that relate to customer results, staff results and partners and resources.

Discussion

 

In the current research, 10 questions were investigated using two approaches of pro-forma and questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire approach showed that the highest score was obtained in the field of leadership with 79 and the lowest score is related to key performance results, Strategy and Policy and Resources and Partners with 65. In addition, the total score of self-assessment was evaluated 633 based on the questionnaire and 614 based on the pro-forma approach. In addition, records of the organization were compared based on two approaches of pro-forma and questionnaire. The results showed that the criterion of leadership gained 79 and 76 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the leadership criterion got 79 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 76 points – or percent- from the maximum 100 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had a considerable progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the strengths of performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 87 in questionnaire approach and 79 in pro-forma approach. The findings of this approach are in line with numerous findings such as that of Dehnavieh et al in self-assessment bases on EFQM model in Shahid Hasheminejad hospital (leadership, 80.6%).

  The results showed that the criterion of leadership gained 67 and 65 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the leadership criterion got 67 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 65 points – or percent- from the maximum 100 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had a considerable progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the strengths of performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 81 in pro-forma approach. Findings of this criterion are in line with that of Mirzapour et al about rate of application of components of organizational excellence model in Shahrekord Azad University (Policy and Strategy, 63/75%) and that of Nabitz and Walburg entitled" The EFQM excellence model: European and Dutch experiences with the EFQM approach in health care " (Policy and Strategy, 57%).

  The results showed that the criterion of Staff gained 69 and 67in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the Staff criterion got 69 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 67points – or percent- from the maximum 100 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had an insignificant progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the areas needing improvement in performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 62 in questionnaire approach and 57 in pro-forma approach. Maybe this lack of progress originates from the lack of managers' attention to staff' efforts to improve the success of the organization and also to factors such as work experience and skills and not rewarding based on them. Findings of this criterion are in line with the research of Mirzapour et al about the rate of application of organizational excellence model components in Shahrekord Azad University (Staff, 58.8%) and that of Dehnavieh et al in self-evaluation based on EFQM model in Hasheminejad Hospital (Staff, 77.7%).

  The criterion of Resources and Partners gained 67 and 65 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the leadership criterion got 67 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 65 points – or percent- from the maximum 100 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had an insignificant progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the areas needing improvement in performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 62 in questionnaire approach. Perhaps the reasons for the reduction of points in this area are the lack of utilization of financial resources and its allocation to organizational goals and values, which will not guarantee the success of the organization. Findings of this criterion are in line with the research of Mirzapour et al about the rate of application of organizational excellence model components in Shahrekord Azad University (Resources and Partners, 60%), that of Vernero and Nabitz conducted to achieve the dimensions of excellence and self-assessment in an Italian hospital based on EFQM model (Resources and Partners, 59%) and that of Muller and Sonntag in assessing Health service organizations based on the EFQM model in 17 US healthcare organizations (Resources and Partners, 69%).

  The results showed that the criterion of Processes gained 71 and 69 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the Processes criterion got 71 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 69 points – or percent- from the maximum 100 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had a considerable progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the strengths of performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 82 in questionnaire approach. Findings of this criterion are in line with the research of Dehnavieh et al in self-assessment bases on EFQM model in Shahid Hasheminejad hospital (Processes, 76.9%).

  The results showed that the criterion of Customer Results gained 69 and 67 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the Customer Results criterion got 69 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 67 points – or percent- from the maximum 100 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had a considerable progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the strengths of performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 62 in questionnaire approach and 56 in pro-forma approach. Findings of this criterion are in line with the research of Dehnavieh et al in self-assessment bases on EFQM model in Shahid Hasheminejad hospital (Customer Results, 75.5%) and based on Galvo Mora et al (2015) The empowered employees, well designed and managed processes, and communication are critical for problem-solving and team-working.

  The results showed that the criterion of Staff results gained 71 and 69 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the Staff results criterion got 71 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 69 points – or percent- from the maximum 150 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had a considerable progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the strengths of performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 81 in questionnaire approach.

  The results showed that the criterion of Community Results gained 67 and 65 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had a considerable progress in this regard. Maybe, this fact originated from school neighborhood participation, appropriate governing in terms of personnel change, and suitable behavior of educational staff with corresponding organizations and good reputation of SAMA schools. This finding is in line with that of Muller and Sonntag (2001) in assessing Health service organizations based on the EFQM model in 17 US healthcare organizations (Community Results, 69%). based on results Diez et al (2018, 1) The longer the period of time for which schools had had quality certification, the greater the perception of quality among the teaching staff, regardless of the EFQM model used and based on results Balzer et al (2016) implementing EFQM model within an institution is a serious undertaking that is most impactful if it involves long-term, strategic planning.

  The criterion of Key Performance Results gained 67 and 65 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the leadership criterion got 67 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 65 points – or percent- from the maximum 150 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had an insignificant progress in this regard. Perhaps, the reason for the reduction of points in this area is the lack of attention paid by SAMA schools directors to the results and criteria of key performance. Findings of this criterion are in line with the research of Mirzapour et al (2010) about the rate of application of organizational excellence model components in Shahrekord Azad University (Key Performance Results, 57.3%) and On based on results Ren et al (2017) the lack of institutional interactions, socially constructed norms that influence graduates, perceptions and ambiguous directions of educational policies significantly affect university graduates, employment.

  Results of reviewing the strengths of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University showed that the most amount of strengths belong to Leadership and Processes (with 87% in questionnaire approach and 79% in pro-forma approach) and the areas needing most amount of improvement are Customer Results (with 62% in questionnaire approach and 56% in pro-forma approach).

Conclusion

 

The main of the current research is evaluating performance of SAMA schools of 4th district of Islamic Azad University based on the organizational excellence model of European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) for quality management from viewpoints of staff and managers. The results of the research, in both methods, showed that the most strengths of the organization relate to the leadership area and the most area needs improvement relates to the results of the customers

 

Limitations and Further Researches:

 

  This research has been conducted in the 4^th district of Islamic Azad University and cannot be extended to other districts of Islamic Azad University.

  This research has been conducted in SAMA schools and its results cannot be used for other schools.

  This research has only used EFQM model.

  It is suggested that the present study be carried out in all the SAMA schools throughout the country.

  It is suggested that the present study be carried out in all the schools of the country- in addition to vocational schools.

  EFQM model has been used in present study to assess the SAMA school’s performance.  However, there are other models and scholars who are interested to conduct research in this field, can use other models and questionnaires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

  It is crystal clear that dynamism and vitality of the education and training of a country is one of the most important indicators of its development and flourishing. In developed societies, paying attention to the education and training system and higher education are among the important assessing criteria and concerns of statesmen in achieving a fortunate society with material and spiritual richness. Conducting deep researches on the causes and implications of the success of the world countries reveals that the guidance of education and training director creating robust and stable structures to empower and enhance the quality of schools and universities based on systematic approaches is of crucial importance.

  A topic preoccupying the minds of educational managers and planners is to modify and improve the quality of schools' education and performance (Moller & Sonntag, 2001). Concepts such as self-assessment, strategic planning for improvement, excellence and empowerment, comprehensive quality management, process standardization, process reengineering, statistical data control and other management engineering tools have now shown their applicability in eminent schools of the world and have introduced numerous patterns of the ideal examples (Rezaei ,2009).

  Among the most fundamental questions raised in the process of promotion and empowerment, we can refer to: " What is the ultimate goal of school excellence?", and more importantly, " How and using which tools can we diagnose root issues, simultaneously with identifying school's performance indicators, and lead the schools to excellence through identifying areas needing improvement? The evolution and improvement of schools should incorporate a structured source and its intelligent and efficient intellectual system should surround all the areas relating to the schools and make excellence internalize in schools (Rezaei, 2009).

   SAMA organization, having two decades of experience of activity in this domain, has more than 600 schools in the country and is responsible for training and education of more than 50 thousand students (Mehr ta Mehr,2013). SAMA schools of 4th district of Islamic Azad University, as an educational public organization, are confident that it can achieve its excellent purposes through looking at its landscape, conducting organizational mission and using an appropriate assessment pattern. Therefore, the current research seeks to evaluate the performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University based on the organizational excellence model of European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) for quality management from viewpoints of staff and managers in terms of quality, empowerment and its functions in the schools. After identifying the strengths and also areas needing improvement to achieve excellence, a list of prioritized programs will be proposed.             The results can help the management of the institution to explain its future quality programs. In addition, identifying opportunities for improvement in enhancing the quality of management and gaining the satisfaction of the school clients' is very important

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review of the Related Literature and Research Questions:

 

  Performance assessment is critical and exploratory estimation of the activities of an organization. Any organization must have a periodic assessment of its performance in order to obtain good results. Performance evaluation is both preventive and diagnostic. Improving the performance of the organizations creates a massive force that can provide support for the growth and development program and create opportunities for organizational excellence. Governments, organizations, and institutions are pushing for advancement in this regard. It is impossible to continuously improve the performance without studying the progress and goal-achievement extent, identifying challenges and gaining feedback of policies and areas need improvement. All of the aforementioned points are impossible unless measurement and assessment are applied. Organizational excellence model is an approach that identifies and determines the direction of activity of managers to improve performance. It also authorizes and establishes links with staff, customers, stakeholders and society through organizational circles and processes and makes them satisfied. The Excellence Model is a managerial structure that causes improvement and enhancement through relying on fundamental principles and paying attention to the main criteria of quality management and self-assessment system (Moullin, 2002). Organizational excellence model is one of the proposed patterns of developed educational countries for achievement of qualitative and comprehensive development goals. This model, derived from process management, is a non-prescriptive framework based on nine criteria. Five of these criteria are "enablers" and the other four are known as "results." Enabler measures include things an organization does to achieve its expected results. The results criteria include those that an organization gains and show the effectiveness of enablers. Results are the fruit of enablers and the latter is improved through receiving received feedback (European Foundation for Quality Management, 2006).

 

 

Results                                                                                                                   Empowered-makers

 

Key Results

Employee results

Customer Results

Community Results

Processes, Products and Services

Employees

Strategy

Partnership and Resources

 

Leadership

 

 

 

 

 

Figure (1) Learning, Creativity and Innovation of the EFQM Model (Jelodari Mameghani, 2010(.

 

 

 

The basic concepts of excellence are those that this model is based on and, in fact, are the basis of the model (Tavakoli & Beheshtipour, 2010). These concepts are based on the central beliefs of the companies and top organizations of the 21st Century. Those organizations which have believed in these concepts in practice, have created organizations remained in the business history. On the one hand, research shows that these concepts are consistent with the views of the thinkers of management science about the goals that an organization must achieve. In other words, the achievement of excellence requires a comprehensive commitment of organization management to these fundamental concepts and their utter acceptance.

   One of the important goals of the Excellence Model of EFQM is to achieve a degree of integration with the fundamental concepts of excellence and the model framework of organizational excellence. The highest level of quality is raised in the learning process (Amirian, 2007). Quality in education makes the learning process enjoying. Functional components of students may be threatened by factors such as competition for score or encouragement; these factors make learning difficult to achieve. We need to use qualitative experiences to create independent learners. Many researches have been conducted to evaluate the performance of organizations using the organizational excellence model. Osseo & Longbottom (2002), in a case study at the Kingdom Institute of Education, entitled " The need for education and training in the use of the EFQM model for quality management in UK higher education institutions", reported the self-assessment results of this institution : Leadership 37%, policy and strategy 38%, staff 36%, resources and partners 37%, processes 39%, average of enablers 38%, customer results 38%, staff results 27%, community results 36%, key performance results 35% and average results of 34%. Dahlgaard (2009) concluded in a case study entitled "Towards a human-oriented methodology for improvement and change", seeking to understand the importance of the non-core dimension of the organization, that is the human dimension of comprehensive quality management and change management, that paying attention to the human dimension in TQM and organizational change provides new opportunities for paving the way for furthering excellence. Podobnik & Dolinsek (2008) concluded that the development of management commitment, planning for self-assessment, formation of teams for training and self-assessment, determination of corrective actions, implementation of corrective actions, are among the important stages of a self-assessment process based on the EFQM model. Castkap & Sharp (2003) concluded in a study on measuring the system work culture using the EFQM model in Ukraine that most of the organizations present in this study require systematic work culture as a necessary enabler. Systematic work culture is of special crucial importance in changing organizations.

   Eghbal (2006) concluded in a research project entitled "Assessing Performance of Human Resource Management in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, based on the model of Organizational Excellence” concluded that the most strengths of this organization are related to the field of policy and strategy and the area needing the most improvement is the field of staff results.

  Mirzapour et al (2010), in a study on the level of application of the components of the EFQM organizational excellence model in Islamic Azad University, believe that there is a significant difference between the level of application of the criteria of EFQM organizational excellence model in Shahrekord Azad University. The level of EFQM model application in Shahrekord University is as follows: leadership 59%, policy and strategy 63/75, staff 58,8%, participation and resources 60%, processes 57/8%, staff results 62/2% results of customers 56.5%, results of community 60%, key results of performance 57.3%. In sum, it should be said that Azad University of Shahrekord gained the score of 589 from 1000 scores of EFQM model. The criteria of enabler gained 298 and the criteria of results gained 291.

  According to the studies, a general question and ten sub-questions, including nine criteria (leadership, staff, policy and strategy, partnerships and resources, processes, staff results, customer results, community results and key performance results) were raised in the form of nine questions and in another question, the weak or improvement-needing points of performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University from the viewpoints of staff and managers were studied.

Material and methods

 

  The research method is descriptive-survey. The statistical population of the study consists of all the educational and administrative staff and principals of primary and high schools of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University and its number is 384. Based on the sample size and stratified random sampling method, 100 individuals were selected as samples. In this study, two methods of questionnaire and pro-forma have been used.

1-Questionnaire Approach

  The questionnaire approach has been extracted based on the standard self-assessment questionnaire from EFQM model. It has 50 questions and includes the following criteria:

Criterion1, Leadership: This criterion has 5 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

Criterion 2, Strategy: This criterion has 4 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 3, Staff: This criterion has 5 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 4, Partnership and Resources: This criterion has 5 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 5, Processes, Products and Services: This criterion has 7 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 6, Customer results: This criterion has 9 questions and 150 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 7, Staff results: This criterion has 5 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 8, Community Results: This criterion has 3 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

  Criterion 9, Key Results: This criterion has 7 questions and 150 points from the total 1000 points belong to it.

2-Pro-Forma Approach

  Developing a pro-forma and evaluation indicators were designed with the approval of five experts based on the organizational excellence model. Having in mind the fact that there are 9 evaluation criteria in this model; some relevant questions have been designed for each criterion:

  Criterion 1, Leadership: In this section, 6 pro-forma have been designed, such as written description of tasks, structure and number of meetings of the school council with the parents and school leadership programs. The total score of this criterion is 100.

  Criterion 2, Strategy: 7 pro-forms have been designed for this criterion. They are related to main strategies of educational centers. One of the key aspects of assessment is evaluating of school programs and its performance appraisal programs. The total score of this criterion is 100.

  Criterion 3, Staff: In this section, quantitative information about staff was evaluated. The calculation of the human forces of schools, staff age distribution and staff training needs are the key aspects of evaluation in this criterion. The total score is 90, the total number of questions is 6 and the rating of each question is 15.

  Criterion 4, Partnership and Resources: In this section, the entrants of schools are assessed to evaluate their participation in resource utilization. Calculation of school statistics and data, level of use of educational technology and calculation of educational budgets are among the key aspects of evaluation in this section. The total score is 90, the total number of questions is 6 and the rating of each question is 15.

  Criterion 5, Process: In this section, processes of SAMA educational units were evaluated. Examining the documentation of the school processes and the extent of the processes documented are the key axes of assessment in this section. The total score is 140, the total number of questions is 12 and the rating of each question is 11.66.

  Criterion 6, Staff results: In this section, the results of the qualitative human resources information of the SAMA training units are assessed to evaluate the motivation of the staff.                   Calculation the satisfaction level of staff from the school and level of encouragement and appreciation level of staff are the key aspects of assessment in this section. The total score is 90, the total number of questions is 3 and the rating of each question is 30.

  Criterion 7, Customer Results: This criterion has 5 questions and 100 points from the total 1000 points belong to it. In this section, the results of customer perceptions of schools and their needs and expectations, including customer surveys, are evaluated. The total score is 200, the total number of questions is 4 and the rating of each question is 50.

  Criterion 8, Community Results: In this section, the results of the actions and practices of SAMA schools and their feedback in the community are evaluated. Calculating students 'admissions and students' admissions to the university are key points in this section. The total score is 60, the total number of questions is 2 and the rating of each question is 30.

  Criterion 9, Key Results: In this section, key indicators are financial and non-financial and are used to assess the operational performance of the school. These indicators help to monitor, anticipate and improve key achievements in school performance. Calculating school profits, student dropout rates, etc. are key issues in this section. The total score is 150, the total number of questions is 9 and the rating of each question is 16.6.

  The reliability of the questionnaire was estimated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.96 at alpha level of p <0.01, indicating a high reliability of the instrument. By introductory studies in schools, as well as reviewing the views of scholarly experts, the scientific validity of pro-forma approach was approved. To this end, a number of schools were observed by two observers. The compared information showed that 90% of the ideas of these two groups were the same. Validity of the questionnaire and pro-forma is content validity and this was approved by five academic experts. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software to describe the data and EFQM software for inferential data ranking.

 

 

 

 

 

Results 

 

   In this section, we first describe and analyze descriptive data and then answer the questions through the interpretation of the results.

a) Criteria Score Based on Questionnaire Approach:

 

Table (1) Percentage and Score of Evaluation of Human Resources Management Performance in SAMA Schools Based on Questionnaire Approach in Each of the Criteria

Criterion	Obtained Score	Percentage	Maximum Score
Leadership	79	79	100
Policy and strategy	67	67	100
Staff	69	69	100
Resources and Partners	67	67	100
Processes	71	71	100
Customer Results	69	69	100
Staff results	71	47	150
Community Results	73	73	100
Key Performance Results	67	45	150
Total Score	633		1000
Total Score	353		500
Total Scores of Result Domain	280		500
Criterion Average		65.22

  The results of Table (1) show that the highest score was obtained in the field of leadership with 79% and the lowest score is related to key performance results with 45. Enabler’s field has 353 points and the field of results has 280 points

Table (2) Obtained Scores and Percentage in the Field of Enablers Based on the Questionnaire Approach in Each of the Criteria

Criterion	Percentage of Obtained Score
Leadership	22
Policy and strategy	19
Staff	20
Resources and Partners	19
Processes	20
Total	100

  The results of Table (2) show that the highest score was obtained in the field of leadership with 22 and the lowest score is related to Policy and Strategy and Resources and Partners with 19%.

Table (3) Obtained Scores and Percentage in the Field of Results Based on the QuestionnaireApproach in Each of the Criteria

Criterion	Percentage of Obtained Score
Customer Results	25
Staff results	25
Community Results	26
Key Performance Results	24
Total	100

 

  The results of Table (3) show that the highest score was obtained in the field of Community with 26 and the lowest score is related to Key Performance Results with 24%.

b) Criteria Score Based on Pro-Forma Approach

 

 

 

Table (4) Percentage and Score of Evaluation of Human Resources Management Performance in SAMA Schools Based on Pro-Forma Approach in Each of the Criteria

Criterion	Obtained Score	Percentage	Maximum Score
Leadership	76	76	100
Policy and Strategy	65	65	100
Staff	67	67	100
Resources and Partners	65	65	100
Processes	69	69	100
Customer Results	67	67	100
Staff results	69	46	150
Community Results	71	71	100
Key Performance Results	65	45	150
Total Score	614		1000
Total Score	342		500
Total Scores of Result Domain	272		500
Criterion Average		63.44

 

  

 

The results of Table (4) show that the highest score was obtained in the field of leadership with 76% and the lowest score is related to key performance results with 45%. Enabler’s field has 342 points and the field of results has 270 points.

Table (5) Obtained Scores and Percentage in the Field of Enablers Based on the Pro-Forma Approach in Each of the Criteria

Criterion	Percentage of Obtained Score
Leadership	22
Policy and Strategy	19
Staff	20
Resources and Partners	19
Processes	20
Total	100

   The results of Table (5) show that the highest score was obtained in the field of leadership with 22 and the lowest score is related to Policy and Strategy and Resources and Partners with 19%.

 

 

Table (6) Obtained Scores and Percentage in the Field of Results Based on the Pro-Forma Approach in Each of the Criteria

Criterion	Percentage of Obtained Score
Customer Results	25
Staff results	25
Community Results	26
Key Performance Results	24
Total	100

    The results of Table (6) show that the highest score was obtained in the field of Community with 26 and the lowest score is related to Key Performance Results with 24%.

c)    Comparison of the Organization Records Based on Two Approaches of Questionnaire and Pro-forma

Table (7) Comparison of the Organization's Records Based on Two Approaches of Questionnaire and Pro-forma

Criterion	Questionnaire Approach	Pro-forma Approach
Leadership	79	76
Policy and Strategy	67	65
Staff	69	67
Resources and Partners	67	65
Processes	71	69
Customer Results	69	67
Staff results	71	69
Community Results	73	71
Key Performance Results	67	65
Total Score	633	614

    The results of Table (7) show that in both methods the highest score obtained was related to Leadership and the lowest score obtained was related to Policy and Strategy and Resources and Partners

Table (8) Comparing the Total Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	65.22
Pro-forma	63.44

 

   The results of Table (8) show that the percentage of total score of self-assessment is 22.56 in questionnaire and 63.44 in pro-forma.

Reviewing research Questions:

  Question 1: What is the score of criterion of leadership in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM? (

Table (9) Comparing the Leadership Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	79
Pro-forma	76

    The results of Table (9) show that the score of leadership is 79 in questionnaire approach and 76 in pro-forma approach.

   Question 2: What is the score of criterion of Policy and Strategy in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM? (

 

 

Table (10) Comparing the Policy and Strategy Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	67
Pro-forma	65

   The results of Table (10) show that the score of Policy and Strategy is 67 in questionnaire approach and 65 in pro-forma approach.

  Question 3: What is the score of criterion of Staff in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (11) Comparing the Staff Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	69
Pro-forma	67

   The results of Table (11) show that the score of Staff is 69 in questionnaire approach and 67 in pro-forma approach.

  Question 4: What is the score of criterion of Resources and Partners in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (12) Comparing the Resources and Partners Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	67
Pro-forma	65

   The results of Table (12) show that the score of Resources and Partners is 67 in questionnaire approach and 65 in pro-forma approach.

  Question 5: What is the score of criterion of Processes in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

 

Table (13) Comparing the Processes Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	71
Pro-forma	69

   The results of Table (13) show that the score of Processes is 71 in questionnaire approach and 69 in pro-forma approach.

Question 6: What is the score of criterion of Customer Results in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (14) Comparing the Customer Results Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	69
Pro-forma	67

 The results of Table (14) show that the score of Customer Results is 69 in questionnaire approach and 67 in pro-forma approach.

   Question 7: What is the score of criterion of Staff results in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (15) Comparing the Staff Results Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	71
Pro-forma	69

 

   The results of Table (15) show that the score of Staff Results is 71 in questionnaire approach and 69 in pro-forma approach.

  Question 8: What is the score of criterion of Community Results in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (16) Comparing the Community Results Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	73
Pro-forma	71

  The results of Table (16) show that the score of Staff results is 73 in questionnaire approach and 71 in pro-forma approach.

  Question 9: What is the score of criterion of Key Performance Results in the management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (17) Comparing the Key Performance Results Score Based on Two Methods

Assessment Method	Percentage of Total Score
Questionnaire	67
Pro-forma	65

  The results of Table (17) show that the score of Staff results is 67 in questionnaire approach and 65 in pro-forma approach.

   Question 10: What are the strong and improvement-needing points in the field of human resource management of SAMA schools based on the Organizational Excellence Model of (EFQM)?

Table (18) Strengths Determined in the Human Resource Management Assessment

Strength	Related Criterion	Percentage
Managers effectively support the organization and its values and extend them to the whole organization and act accordingly	Leadership	0.87
Organizational support activities are continuously controlled, documented and improved. The organization evaluates the staffing issues on a regular basis and takes the necessary action based on the results	Process	0.82
Organizational leadership and policies are based on an understanding of the internal performance, analysis of its capabilities and understanding of the needs, expectations and satisfaction of learners, stakeholders and the external environment.	Strategy	0.81
Managers are available to staff and support the effective efforts of individuals and groups in person and on time	Leadership	0.79

   The results of Table (18) show the strengths which relate to the areas of leadership, process, staff results and strategy.

Table (19) Areas Needing Improvement in the Human Resource Management Assessment

Areas Needing Improvement	Related Criterion	Percentage
The customer groups in the organization are distinguished to reflect the views of different groups and types of customers	Customer Results	0.56
In the organization, staff' efforts are valuable in improving the success of the organization and are rewarded with respect to factors such as experience and skill.	Staff results	0.57
The organization has an approach that assures that the allocation and use of financial resources is in line with organizational goals and values and ensures the firm's sustained success.	Resources and Partners	0.61
You have data that shows that the results of your customers are better than competitors or equivalent organizations.	Customer Results	0.62
Information about the organization's operational performance, partners and suppliers' performance and customer satisfaction can be quickly accessed.	Staff results	0.62

 

  The results of Table 19 show the areas in need of improvement that relate to customer results, staff results and partners and resources.

Discussion

 

In the current research, 10 questions were investigated using two approaches of pro-forma and questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire approach showed that the highest score was obtained in the field of leadership with 79 and the lowest score is related to key performance results, Strategy and Policy and Resources and Partners with 65. In addition, the total score of self-assessment was evaluated 633 based on the questionnaire and 614 based on the pro-forma approach. In addition, records of the organization were compared based on two approaches of pro-forma and questionnaire. The results showed that the criterion of leadership gained 79 and 76 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the leadership criterion got 79 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 76 points – or percent- from the maximum 100 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had a considerable progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the strengths of performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 87 in questionnaire approach and 79 in pro-forma approach. The findings of this approach are in line with numerous findings such as that of Dehnavieh et al in self-assessment bases on EFQM model in Shahid Hasheminejad hospital (leadership, 80.6%).

  The results showed that the criterion of leadership gained 67 and 65 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the leadership criterion got 67 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 65 points – or percent- from the maximum 100 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had a considerable progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the strengths of performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 81 in pro-forma approach. Findings of this criterion are in line with that of Mirzapour et al about rate of application of components of organizational excellence model in Shahrekord Azad University (Policy and Strategy, 63/75%) and that of Nabitz and Walburg entitled" The EFQM excellence model: European and Dutch experiences with the EFQM approach in health care " (Policy and Strategy, 57%).

  The results showed that the criterion of Staff gained 69 and 67in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the Staff criterion got 69 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 67points – or percent- from the maximum 100 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had an insignificant progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the areas needing improvement in performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 62 in questionnaire approach and 57 in pro-forma approach. Maybe this lack of progress originates from the lack of managers' attention to staff' efforts to improve the success of the organization and also to factors such as work experience and skills and not rewarding based on them. Findings of this criterion are in line with the research of Mirzapour et al about the rate of application of organizational excellence model components in Shahrekord Azad University (Staff, 58.8%) and that of Dehnavieh et al in self-evaluation based on EFQM model in Hasheminejad Hospital (Staff, 77.7%).

  The criterion of Resources and Partners gained 67 and 65 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the leadership criterion got 67 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 65 points – or percent- from the maximum 100 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had an insignificant progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the areas needing improvement in performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 62 in questionnaire approach. Perhaps the reasons for the reduction of points in this area are the lack of utilization of financial resources and its allocation to organizational goals and values, which will not guarantee the success of the organization. Findings of this criterion are in line with the research of Mirzapour et al about the rate of application of organizational excellence model components in Shahrekord Azad University (Resources and Partners, 60%), that of Vernero and Nabitz conducted to achieve the dimensions of excellence and self-assessment in an Italian hospital based on EFQM model (Resources and Partners, 59%) and that of Muller and Sonntag in assessing Health service organizations based on the EFQM model in 17 US healthcare organizations (Resources and Partners, 69%).

  The results showed that the criterion of Processes gained 71 and 69 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the Processes criterion got 71 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 69 points – or percent- from the maximum 100 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had a considerable progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the strengths of performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 82 in questionnaire approach. Findings of this criterion are in line with the research of Dehnavieh et al in self-assessment bases on EFQM model in Shahid Hasheminejad hospital (Processes, 76.9%).

  The results showed that the criterion of Customer Results gained 69 and 67 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the Customer Results criterion got 69 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 67 points – or percent- from the maximum 100 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had a considerable progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the strengths of performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 62 in questionnaire approach and 56 in pro-forma approach. Findings of this criterion are in line with the research of Dehnavieh et al in self-assessment bases on EFQM model in Shahid Hasheminejad hospital (Customer Results, 75.5%) and based on Galvo Mora et al (2015) The empowered employees, well designed and managed processes, and communication are critical for problem-solving and team-working.

  The results showed that the criterion of Staff results gained 71 and 69 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the Staff results criterion got 71 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 69 points – or percent- from the maximum 150 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had a considerable progress in this regard. This claim is corroborated by the fact that this criterion, in determining the strengths of performance of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University, got 81 in questionnaire approach.

  The results showed that the criterion of Community Results gained 67 and 65 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had a considerable progress in this regard. Maybe, this fact originated from school neighborhood participation, appropriate governing in terms of personnel change, and suitable behavior of educational staff with corresponding organizations and good reputation of SAMA schools. This finding is in line with that of Muller and Sonntag (2001) in assessing Health service organizations based on the EFQM model in 17 US healthcare organizations (Community Results, 69%). based on results Diez et al (2018, 1) The longer the period of time for which schools had had quality certification, the greater the perception of quality among the teaching staff, regardless of the EFQM model used and based on results Balzer et al (2016) implementing EFQM model within an institution is a serious undertaking that is most impactful if it involves long-term, strategic planning.

  The criterion of Key Performance Results gained 67 and 65 in approaches of questionnaire and pro-forma respectively. In other words, the leadership criterion got 67 points – or percent- in questionnaire pro-forma and 65 points – or percent- from the maximum 150 points –percent. It shows that SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University have had an insignificant progress in this regard. Perhaps, the reason for the reduction of points in this area is the lack of attention paid by SAMA schools directors to the results and criteria of key performance. Findings of this criterion are in line with the research of Mirzapour et al (2010) about the rate of application of organizational excellence model components in Shahrekord Azad University (Key Performance Results, 57.3%) and On based on results Ren et al (2017) the lack of institutional interactions, socially constructed norms that influence graduates, perceptions and ambiguous directions of educational policies significantly affect university graduates, employment.

  Results of reviewing the strengths of SAMA schools of 4^th district of Islamic Azad University showed that the most amount of strengths belong to Leadership and Processes (with 87% in questionnaire approach and 79% in pro-forma approach) and the areas needing most amount of improvement are Customer Results (with 62% in questionnaire approach and 56% in pro-forma approach).

Conclusion

 

The main of the current research is evaluating performance of SAMA schools of 4th district of Islamic Azad University based on the organizational excellence model of European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) for quality management from viewpoints of staff and managers. The results of the research, in both methods, showed that the most strengths of the organization relate to the leadership area and the most area needs improvement relates to the results of the customers

 

Limitations and Further Researches:

 

  This research has been conducted in the 4^th district of Islamic Azad University and cannot be extended to other districts of Islamic Azad University.

  This research has been conducted in SAMA schools and its results cannot be used for other schools.

  This research has only used EFQM model.

  It is suggested that the present study be carried out in all the SAMA schools throughout the country.

  It is suggested that the present study be carried out in all the schools of the country- in addition to vocational schools.

  EFQM model has been used in present study to assess the SAMA school’s performance.  However, there are other models and scholars who are interested to conduct research in this field, can use other models and questionnaires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

مراجع

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