Postgraduate Diploma in Quality Management

Purpose

The purpose of the Postgraduate Diploma in Quality is to allow for the development from a production and service environment (practitioner/technician) to a quality professional, specialising in using a range of specialised quality tools and techniques to identify, analyse and address complex and abstract problems in the workplace.

As managers, they will be able to innovatively contribute to the development, maintenance and continual improvement of quality management systems that conform to national and international statutory and regulatory requirements and quality based best practises. For that purpose, they will apply to select, use and transfer quality economics and appropriate self-assessment models to develop creative responses to problems and issues, and to introduce change within the quality system.

The qualification will develop the ability to manage risks related quality issues to ensure the effective management of organisational change and organisational quality to establish and promote quality and customer focus at all levels of the organisation.

The qualified quality professional will be able to function independently within a quality system context and in an integrated organisational systems context, providing supervision and leadership to quality practitioners/technicians in an integrated management systems context.

Qualifying learners should typically be able to

• Demonstrate personal competencies to effectively interact in the world of work as well as in a continuously changing global context in a quality context.
• Demonstrate deep learning through the attainment of knowledge, skills and applied competencies in integrated quality management and total quality.
• Conduct innovative research within a global context for sustainable development of the organisational quality systems following local, national and international needs and quality trends.
• Use science and technology effectively within their field of study and the demands of the world of work.
• Engage as responsible citizens in the community and a global setting within a variety of cultural and social contexts, demonstrating quality stewardship and conforming to best practices.
• Explore and advance career and entrepreneurial opportunities in their field of work and study in a national and international context.

Rationale

The qualification will fulfil the current need for knowledge enhancement for qualified quality professional practitioners/managers in South Africa. Such practitioners/managers perform work at a quality based organisational and integrated systems levels within the process, product and service-related industries irrespective of size; and require a broader and deeper body of knowledge in the main field of study.

This qualification will also fulfil the current need for qualified quality professionals that perform work at a quality management level. It will develop quality practitioners and managers that can design, implement, maintain and improve quality systems in the field of specialisation to the extent of maintaining or achieving national/international certification or accreditation as is appropriate.

The National Development Plan has identified Quality Management as one of the critical fields as a driver for economic growth. This qualification will develop the knowledge of the quality practitioner in implementing, maintaining and improving the quality management system they are responsible for, adhering to applicable national and international standards, statutory and regulatory requirements, in an integrated business environment.

The qualification will articulate with the Master's Degree in Science in Quality within the faculty explicitly, and with Project Management, General Management and similar qualifications at the Master's Degree level in other faculties. Currently, learners with qualifications in Water Technology, Food Technology, Industrial Engineering, Laboratory Technology, organisational development specialists, process analysts and many similar fields of study are made responsible for driving the implementation and improvement of recognised standards-based quality management system in their area of specialisation. Such incumbents are not knowledgeable of the specialised quality tools methods techniques and standards to be incorporated in the development, implementation, maintenance and improvement of the proposed quality management system.

The qualification integrates the latest developments in quality, including new quality philosophies, quality tools and techniques, and new (sector-specific) quality technologies in a multi-disciplinary and integrated management systems environment in the workplace across all economic sectors. This integration is done through the development of an integrative process approach to work, developing innovative problem-solving skills to establish organisational breakthrough opportunities in response to internal and external opportunities and threats.

Completion of the qualification will also allow for learners and graduates to register for different membership grades with the Southern African Society for Quality (SASQ).

Nationally the quality field of work is in dire need of suitably qualified and well-trained quality practitioners and managers to ensure the appropriate and correct development, implementation, maintenance and review, and proper improvement of the quality management systems of the organisation (or part thereof) in an integrated system context.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

The institution gives Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), as stipulated in the RPL policy, to prevent the repetition of offerings already obtained which correspond with the current offering pursued at this institution. Prior-learning and or experience relevant to the field of quality management will be evaluated and considered for access to the Postgraduate Diploma in Quality Management. Such learners may apply at the office of the registrar for RPL or admission via the Senate's discretionary route. Related documentation should be submitted in a portfolio, which will be assessed by the department with the purpose to determine whether the prior learning and experience articulate with the knowledge mix of the Postgraduate Diploma in Quality Management. The faculty handles such cases on an individual basis.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is

• Advanced Diploma in Quality Management, NQF Level 7.

Or

• Relevant Bachelor's Degree, NQF Level 7.

Or

• Relevant Bachelor of Technology, NQF Level 7.

This qualification consists of the following compulsory modules at National Qualifications Framework Level 8 totalling 120 Credits.

Compulsory Modules, Level 8, 120 Credits

• Integrated Management Systems, 12 Credits.
• Strategic Quality Management, 24 Credits.
• Quality Improvement Techniques (CQI), 24 Credits.
• Advanced Philosophies and Theories of Quality, 16 Credits.
• Economics of Quality, 20 Credits.
• Research Methodology: Quality Research Project, 24 Credits.

1. Apply, evaluate and demonstrate, including and understanding of the principles, definitions, standards, requirements and applications and theories of quality systems, advanced statistics and review of quality management systems, applying quality economics and appropriate self-assessment models.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of advanced statistical tools and techniques in quality, and apply these tools and techniques on a management level to resolve quality-related problems and introduce change within a quality system.
3. Identify, analyse, evaluate and critically reflect on and address complex familiar and unfamiliar quality-related problems and be accountable for the decisions and actions of others in varied and ill-defined quality contexts.
4. Act in a management capacity context to take decisions and act ethically and professionally within a quality improvement team context and individually.
5. Access, process and manage quality data and information to independently validate the source as well as evaluate and disseminate/report the information, communicating ideas and opinions in well-formulated arguments using appropriate quality, professional and occupational discourse.
6. Identify, evaluate and address learning needs in a self-directed manner to facilitate collaborative learning processes and continues professional development.
7. Develop and enhance own learning strategies to sustain independent learning, professional development and interaction.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1

• Identify and apply statistical techniques with specific workplace-related problems.
• Compile management reports and facilitate problem-solving in a process context by using instruments.
• Compile sampling plans and productions processes.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2

• Apply advanced statistical tools and techniques in quality on a management level to resolve quality-related problems and to introduce change.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3

• Demonstrate an ability to solve familiar and unfamiliar quality-related problems and be accountable for the decisions and actions of others.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4

• Demonstrate understanding of business philosophies, strategic planning processes and goal formulation.
• Formulate and align quality policies, policies and quality plans with organisational strategies and goals.
• Map business and quality processes to demonstrate the integrated nature of organisational systems.
• Identify process pressure points using quality tools and identify appropriate corrective measures and implement to achieve goals.
• Defend, appraise and judge ethical values and approaches to management principles and professional practice, with regards to decisions and actions made to assess the validity and appropriateness of the actions taken in the work environment.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 5

• Maintain processes of data and information gathering within both familiar and unfamiliar quality contexts.
• Evaluate and disseminate/report the information.
• Communicate quality ideas and project results through professional and occupational discourse.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 6

• Identify, tailor, evaluate and address self-directed learning needs to facilitate collaborative learning processes of both the manager/professional and his/her peers within the quality industry.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 7

• Identify and evaluate the continuous professional development of learning needs to facilitate collaborative learning processes of both the technologist and his/her peers within the quality industry.

Integrated Assessment

The assessment undertaken is to determine the learners' applied competence and successful completion of learning in the qualification will be through a combination of formative and summative strategies. This assessment could include the reference to formative and summative assessment; the ratio of assignment work to academic examinations; the role of work-integrated learning; other forms of integrated learning; and its assessment.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment's purpose is to inform learners about their progress continuously throughout the semester. Self and peer assessment (with the aid of relevant analytical assessment tools) will contribute to formative assessment. Marks collected from this evidence may be recorded for promotional purposes or used for the sole purpose of learner and lecturer reflection, growth and development. Formative assessment supports the learner developmentally and to provide feedback to all involved in the learning process of how teaching and learning can be improved. Throughout the qualification, formative assessment strategies will ensure the achievement of Exit Level Outcomes.

These modes of assessment will include (but not limited to)

• Assignments,
• Class exercises,
• Presentations, and
• Syndicate groups.

Summative Assessment

Summative assessment will involve assessment opportunities that take place at the end of a learning experience. The institution gathers information about a learner's level of competence upon completion of a unit, module or qualification. Results are in marks as per the level of competence achieved, concerning level descriptors, specific outcomes and assessment standards.

The institution uses this type of assessment for promotional purposes and does take the form of (including, but not limited to):

• Examinations (theoretical and practical), and
• Tests.