Focusing on improvement is different than focusing on quality, quantity, customer satisfaction, and productivity. This paper discusses Open System Theory, and suggests ways to change large systems. Changing a system (meaning the way all the parts are connected) requires a considerable amount of data gathering and analysis. Choosing the proper…

Discusses the strategic management of knowledge assets for competitive advantage in enterprises. Presents an integrative, systematic approach that can be followed in order to improve the business value of the knowledge assets of an enterprise. (Author/AEF)

Leveraging Internet technologies, distance education is enjoying a renaissance of sorts. With its newfound popularity comes greater resource as well as higher expectations and great scrutiny. If distance education programs are to support their dramatic growth and outlive the hype, they must demonstrate performance results. Performance, however,…

Describes the impact of an open, participatory, consensus-based planning process with faculty and staff at Parkland College in Illinois. Indicates that the planning process has been enthusiastically endorsed by both faculty and staff and has resulted in an increase in the number of full-time teaching positions and a decrease in the number of…

The Synergistic Model of Organizational Career Development is an attempt to combine best practice principles from two domains: organizational development and individual career planning. The model assumes three levels of intervention within an organization: philosophical, strategic, and practical. Interventions at any of the levels may be directed…

Scenario planning can help institutions change the mental models used in planning to achieve a focus on the long-term future, rather than on the immediate future. While institutional survival depends upon the ability to detect and adapt to critical changes in the environment, all institutions face a wide range of potential future scenarios. By…

The Synergistic Model of Organizational Career Development is a new model of organizational career development that combines the best of career development practice and organizational development into a unified, coherent model. The model has three levels of organization: philosophical, strategic, and practical. Expanding circles are used to…

This document contains four papers from a symposium on strategic human resource development (HRD). "The GEICO Challenge Session: A Model for Integrating Human Resource Development and Strategic Planning" (Clyde T. Conine, Jr., Bill P. Criswell) reports on a study that delineated the nature of the integration of HRD into the strategic…

This document contains four papers from a symposium on integrating learning and performance in human resource development (HRD). "Action Imperatives that Impact Knowledge Performance and Financial Performance in the Learning Organization: An Exploratory Model" (Gary L. Selden, Karen E. Watkins, Thomas Valentine, Victoria J. Marsick)…

This document contains a series of materials that were developed to help adult educators involve all stakeholders (adult learners, funders, administrators, legislators) in assessing internal and external cultures (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) of an adult education organization (AEO) and then using the information gained to…

This paper presents the results of a research study conducted in fall 1999 to examine the challenges facing higher educational institutions in migrating to distance learning. The study consisted of five case studies conducted at higher educational institutions in Pennsylvania. At each institution the researchers interviewed the president and other…

This paper describes the processes involved in selecting peer institutions for appropriate benchmarking using national databases (NCES-IPEDS). Benchmarking involves the identification of peer institutions and/or best practices in specific operational areas for the purpose of developing standards. The benchmarking process was borne in the early…

Inquiry, exploration and valuing were elements of the appreciative inquiry process used in this year's Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) Leadership Advisory Council to discern the strengths of Extension and its personnel and to help envision a vital future that builds on those strengths. Before the meeting, participants…

This study attempted to determine whether strategic planning would enhance a higher education institution's fiscal condition. It also systematically evaluated the extent of institution-wide strategic planning among private four-year postsecondary institutions in the United States. A definition of strategic planning and a conceptual framework based…

Many educational reforms that have focused on fragmentary improvement and remedial treatment did not lead to long-term effectiveness. This paper examines a new direction for educational reforms in Hong Kong and other international contexts. The new direction should include the following 10 tendencies: (1) toward multiple school functions from…