As the sophistication of technology has increased, so has public demand for quality. This expectation of quality has occurred across a broad range of products and systems, including education. To meet the demand for quality, many products and systems (including educational ones) have become increasingly complex. Within education there are also…

Assesses the contributions of T. B. Greenfield's "Alternative Theory" to a comprehensive theory for school administration in practice and scholarship. Considers Greenfield's standpoint in relation to rational, natural, and open systems perspectives. (DMM)

A systems approach can be viewed as an attempt to answer the question, "What objectives are we to accomplish, by which procedures, and with what available resources?" The necessity for a systems approach is evident in many areas, and particularly explicit examples can be found in military history. A management system has been defined in…

This paper discusses the philosophy of systems and systems thinking, considers some systems theories, and presents a conceptual model that represents the progression from systems theory to methodology and the implementation of synthesized theories. Following this discussion, the author examines the task of using a systems approach to develop and…

This document serves to display several of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) tools as they relate to California State University, Fullerton, which is serving as a pilot implementation site for the California State University and Colleges System for the application of currently available NCHEMS products. Full…

Provides a basic definition of the systems approach and explains the school as an open social-technical system composed of five subsystems--goals and values, technical, psychosocial, structural, and managerial. Contrasts the systems approach with earlier management theories that emphasized particular subsystems and ignored others. (JHZ)

Examines administrative subsystems in relation to special education. Discusses a series of questions administrators should ask in their efforts to provide services for students with special needs. (Contains 19 references.) (SK)

Paper differentiates managerial performance from management capacity and management style. Methods of structured communication and problem-solving are proposed, in the context of an overall educational working structure, arising out of systematic principles, and oriented towards individualized, integrated and broadly based learning. (Author)

Systems concepts suggest that school administrators should not only carry out plans, but also act as managers who do planning, design strategies, and operate in terms of all systems, balancing and managing their interaction. (Author/WM)

Education is criticized both for failure to accomplish its objectives and for the inappropriateness of those objectives. Perhaps there is a need for an educational system that is not directed toward specific, predetermined goals. It seems that educators have adapted the engineering and management applications of general systems theory. Instead of…

The author presents a model for the evaluation of administrative performance that includes three interrelated systems (the macroorganizational, the microorganizational, and the administrative evaluation systems). He describes the competency/performance approach to administrator evaluation and enumerates variables conditioning administrative…

Resource acquisition is a general process active in all social organizations. The relative success of organizational resource mobilization determines whose goals and values will be met. Several factors impinge on resource mobilization, including suborganizational levels, technological sophistication, professionalization, and unionization.…