Views centralization/decentralization from four perspectives: historical, as an outgrowth of professionalism, in the culture of higher education, and management theory. Suggests that some form of centralized control will always be necessary if continuing education is to function in a larger organization, but smaller units may be the wave of the…

The author describes the operations of the Manchester Teachers' Centre which serves a city-wide clientele of all types of educators. He discusses the advantages of this larger type of center. (SJL)

This essay on the issues of management of technical services in the small library suggests that goals of the organization, and not size, are what differentiates large technical services departments from smaller ones. Discussion covers determining organizational goals, providing access to collections, bibliographic utilities, and resources…

Examines the phenomenon of mergers in higher education in Australia, the United States, and Western Europe in terms of: (1) governance, management, and administration; (2) economics; and (3) academic activities. Finds similarities related to structural-cultural factors, process orientation, and economic factors. (DB)

Training needed to implement technological and organizational change in small- and medium-sized enterprises is restrained by lack of systematic organization, negative effects of organizational and personnel structures, and different interpretations of managerial tasks. Article suggests that managers should strive to create the necessary…

Describes the methodology of White's survey of the perceived quality of library education programs, and examines the validity of using the results to rank library schools. The correlation between perception rankings and number of graduates per school are presented and discussed as a possible biasing factor in White's results. (CLB)

The University of Warwick's Breakthrough Technologies program links with small and medium-sized businesses to stimulate awareness of innovations. The Manufacturing Excellence Initiative provides postgraduate training for company staff that focuses on best practices and change management. (SK)

Large corporations are in a unique position to employ the disabled, but they sometimes lack the motivation to do so. The author discusses elements of a corporate policy for the disabled, ways of formulating and disseminating it, assignment of responsibility, changes in management attitudes, and the special case of the multinational company.…

The authors argue that organizational development (OD) has evolved as one response to the need for strategies and approaches to planned change. The "stream analysis" approach presented here can be used to understand and plan the change process. This approach can facilitate insight into the state of the change process, before and after…

Examines the history of the North Central Association's Commission on Schools, highlighting seven common misconceptions and citing the historical record to correct them. Discusses the commission's origins, accreditation achievements, accreditation methodologies, relationship to government agencies, dues, and staff size. (MAB)

The extent and distribution of charitable contributions by corporations were studied. In addition to a history of giving from 1936 to 1981, information is presented on corporate contributions in 1977 in terms of the distribution of companies (1) by size of contributions, (2) by contributions as percentage of net income, (3) by industry, and (4) by…

Concentration on the role of educators in curriculum development has ignored the power of the producer/publishers. Canada's elhi (elementary/high school) publishing is dominated by very large multinational publishers. Learning materials in language arts, social studies, and science reflect the business interests of the multinational publishers in…

The organization of social research is discussed. Attention is directed to the following concerns: the forces that foster organizations of research into centers and institutes and the informal organization of research into collaborative efforts; the forms taken by research organizations in the present and the advantages/disadvantages of each form…

Discusses key trends of nonprofit child care organizations, based on a survey of 100 of the nation's largest nonprofit organizations. (BB)

Ways to study and evaluate different types of college environments are discussed, and sources of practical information about specific types of colleges are presented. Three main types of approaches used to measure college environments concern student behaviors (amount of time spent studying), student perceptions (the college is highly…