Human Performance Technology (HPT) is the applied study and practice of improving organizational performance through training and non-training interventions. For practitioners working in this area that identify themselves as an HPT practitioner, organizational training and performance (OTP) specialist, or instructional designer--offering the right…

Support for producing systematic reviews about health systems is less well developed than for those about clinical practice. From interviewing policy makers and systematic reviewers we identified institutional mechanisms which bring systematic reviews and policy priorities closer by harnessing organisational and individual motivations, emphasising…

This paper sets out to develop a robust theory in a largely atheoretical field of study. The increasing importance of entrepreneurship in delivering the "Third Mission" calls for an enhanced understanding of the university entrepreneurship phenomenon, not solely as a subject of academic interest but also to guide the work of practitioners in the…

Structuration theory helps to explain the role of human agency in the reciprocal relationship between social systems and structures, which Giddens called the "duality of structure." The theory explicates how power struggles emerge and are negotiated and, depending on the restructuration, can help to resolve conflict or lead to deteriorations and…

Connecting discipline scholars with the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) is accepted as an essential part of professional academic practice across the higher education sector irrespective of discipline. To connect meaningfully with teaching practice, SoTL needs to be translated by the discipline scholar and narratives related to the…

Training programs purporting to develop emotional intelligence (EI) are widely available, yet to date few empirical studies have appeared in the literature providing support that training results in demonstrable changes to EI, and more significantly whether these changes can then be traced to more positive individual or organizational outcomes.…

Purpose: Through a conversation with a practitioner, aims to understand the definitions given to the learning organization and how they relate to a model of organizational learning. Design/methodology/approach: Provides a brief overview of a conversation concerning organizational learning vs the learning organization. Findings: Organizational…

This chapter uses the conceptual framework of a learning organization to make a case for how a theory might enrich organizational practice in the field of higher education.

Suggests that organizational effectiveness research has made considerable progress in empirically deriving a systematic framework of theoretical and practical utility in Australian higher education. Offers a taxonomy based on the competing values framework and discusses use of inter-organizational comparisons and profiles for diagnosis in…

A conceptual model offering four perspectives on organizational life (structural, human resources, political, symbolic) is outlined, and it application to the formal organization of a newly-established urban higher education center is described. Use of the model was found to enhance analysis of problems and understanding of organizational…

Argues that existing models of change management in education are more appropriate for understanding small-scale innovations than larger reforms. Uses results from two studies of schools engaged in major transformations to illustrate some differences between previous and current findings. Presents an alternative model of organizational learning…

Traditional organizational theory mandates that organizations predict and stay in control in order to avoid chaos. This book proposes that members of organizations work at developing a new frame of reference for understanding organizational life. The book combines insights from the new science of complexity with insights from psychoanalysis and…

A theoretical model of collective learning has been developed based on complex systems theory. The need for collective learning is illustrated by an empirical study of an "unsuccessful" organizational-renewal project in a Swedish Telecom firm. The conclusion, using chaordic systems thinking as a diagnostic framework, is that its interior…

This synthesis report examines the 30-year history of educational change to identify differing perspectives, strategies, and adoptable principles. Three influential perspectives in educational change have been: (1) the rational-scientific perspective positing that change is created by dissemination of innovative techniques; (2) the political…

This paper presents a practice-based theory of administrative, supervisory, and organizational decision-making, which views the organizational decision-making process as a social enterprise. It also describes how to facilitate organizational change by promoting faculty involvement and shows how to increase the potential success of reform efforts.…