Distance learning technology continues to grow and undergo significant changes in higher education settings. Applying strategic planning methods from organizational behavior and operations management can act as a useful guide for the implementation of a sustainable distance learning program. Strong planning can help ensure the distance learning…

Universities consist of students, faculty and staff, interacting through multiple layers of organization and on a variety of time scales. They are complex adaptive systems (CAS) yet the bulk of scholarship on higher education analyzes them using conventional social science methods, with little work that tries to understand them using complexity…

This study explores the strategic thinking and strategic planning efforts in a department, college and university in the Southeastern United States. The goal of the study was to identify elements of strategic planning processes that meet the unique organizational features and complexities of a higher education institution. The study employed a…

Universities are becoming increasingly complex and multifunctional and there is an urgent need for a systematic approach to institutional planning which is capable of treating a total program, rather than a fragment. In this report, the need for planning, elements of comprehensive planning, and a methodological approach to university planning are…

Noting limitations of applying corporation techniques to universities, the author develops a model of decision-making which utilizes marketing techniques within a structure designed to encourage, sensitively record, and facilitate the efficient implementation of policy politically determined by the collision of various interests in continuing and…

This document presents four articles each suggesting that a systems approach is the most practical way of dealing with the complex problems of university planning and administration. The articles are: Students, Systems and Education as Experience; Specifications for a Management Information System for Universities; Systems Analysis and University…

This dissertation is based on the ideas that: (1) metaphor is essential to the conception of and life in organizations; (2) the dominant organizational metaphor of life within universities, particularly from an administrative perspective, is Newtonian/mechanical; and (3) a metaphoric perspective grounded in chaos theory might be helpful in…

Educational resources are scarce and should be used efficiently. To do this, decision-makers in higher education need clearly defined objectives, creatively elaborated alternatives, and information about the costs and effectiveness of those alternatives. This paper describes a new management tool which is designed to provide better information…

Completion of a four-month study of Oakland University's administrative systems needs is reported. It is recommended that the university undertake a major developmental effort to design and install new systems, with particular emphasis on payroll/personnel, general accounting, and student records. Following the development of these systems, a new…

An environmental scanning system was developed by the admissions office of a graduate school of management in a small southeastern university. The school's strategic planning committee felt that it would be beneficial to acquire information concerning issues, trends, and possible events that might impact upon the school in the future and to…

The school-to-work transition in Korea was examined in a comprehensive study that included an overview of the realities of the school-to-work transition in Korea and a survey of 694 Koreans aged 15-29 years who had completed high school. The sample included 366 respondents who were in enrolled in a two-year college or higher level of postsecondary…

This document traces the development of Australia's technical and further education (TAFE) system, which offers a wide range of courses providing education and training for employment at the operative, trade, and paraprofessional levels, as well as general education and literacy programs. The following are among the topics discussed: (1) general…

Issues in developing the institutional structures to deliver cross-sectoral education and training were examined in a study of five Australian single-sector higher education institutions with various institutional arrangements with the vocational education and training (VET) sector and five dual-sector universities. Data were collected from the…