Develops an analytical methodology for service organizations by examining four key cultural and managerial developments: understandings of markets and marketing held within the school; organizational responses to the market; use of analytical tools; and development of appropriate marketing strategies. Shows variations in schools' development of a…

Analyzes the organizational context of emergent market forms in education, focusing on policymakers' management of a mixed economy of provision. To examine the effects of different mixed economies, this article draws upon efficiency and equity concepts and applies them to recent field research in the United Kingdom. Currently, there is far too…

The recent trend toward development of a radical, market-oriented educational policy with seemingly contradictory pressures for centralization and decentralization has been well-documented. Based on a case study of a large urban (British) college, this paper considers implications, suggesting that contemporary policy thrusts have spawned…

Devolution is rapidly becoming a tangled web of misunderstandings, distortions, and lies. It is time to unravel some of the complex issues, undisclosed interests, and manipulation masquerading under the devolution rubric. Most current redefinitions of schooling are probusiness and serve "big-town" interests. Schools should not reorganize…

Describes Audenshaw High School in Manchester, England, the first school to achieve grant-maintained status under the 1988 Education Reform Act, as an example of future school administration in the United Kingdom. Examines five aspects of budgeting that this change has entailed, highlighting funding problems and opportunities. (10 references) (MLH)

Five reviewers of "School Choice and Competition: Markets in the Public Interest?" (Routledge, 1998), by Philip Woods, Carl Bagley, and Ron Glatter, critique this comprehensive study of three educational quasi-markets in Great Britain. Areas such as social stratification, overall student achievement, diversity, and innovation appear to…

Discusses a study that surveyed heads of locally maintained, grant-maintained, and private sector (British) primary schools concerning their management styles. Questionnaire and interview data suggest that autonomous primary schools are characterized by collective decision making and high job satisfaction levels. Private sector school heads'…