Problem-based learning focuses on small groups using authentic problems as a means to help participants obtain knowledge and problem-solving skills. This approach makes problem-based learning ideal for teaching lean manufacturing, which is driven by a culture of problem solving that values learning as one key output of manufacturing production.…

A guide for organizational development specialists, this model for productivity improvement proceeds through six stages: awareness of needs, entry of specialist, data collection, problem identification, action planning, and implementation of solutions. Examples of specific activities for each stage are provided. (SK)

Provides an improvement strategy summary for organizational performance analysis, including use of financial performance indicators and reality testing results, analysis of behavior and nonbehavioral causes, solutions to causes in priority order, and determination of required training. (LAS)

Notes that unless a legitimatization or acceptance of organizational development within the role structure of school organization takes place, the chances of system-wide impact of applied behavioral technology on school organization will be limited. (AM)

The Sports Institute for Research/Change Agent Research (SIR/CAR) model and method for research in organizational history are used to analyze the growth and development of the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (CIAU) from its inception in 1906 through its breakup in 1955 and its reestablishment in 1961. Four stages of growth are identified:…

One of the original premises of the Documentation and Technical Assistance Project (DTA) was that the ideal school organization manifests self renewal and adaptability. This conception of organization has been sharpened through the years by the Oakland, California, branch of the DTA. In this paper, the aspects of self renewal and adaptability…

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.…

Local school districts must strengthen their innovative capacity in order to respond effectively to the problems facing them. Success depends on both an organization's technical capacity to match problems with appropriate solutions and its political capacity to move an innovation through the process from adoption to incorporation. Research shows…

This volume offers a theory-based approach intended to create organizations that are both adaptable and stable, sensitive to the needs of constituents, and able to achieve goals productively. It is addressed to those who are interested in identifying and releasing organizational potential. The book begins with a practical working model of the…

Six critical areas of community college organization and management are addressed in a direct and practical fashion. John W. Lee offers strategies for coping with the paradoxical decline in the quality of learning and the associated increase in instructional productivity. The translation of traditional intraorganizational into interorganizational…

Organizational development (OD) is a systematic approach to (1) identifying the needs, problems, and objectives of an organization; (2) providing feedback needed for decisions regarding design and implementation of change strategies; (3) implementing and monitoring actions; and (4) evaluating their effects. Decisions in all phases of OD are…

Participatory management (PM) is discussed in this step-by-step guide that shows how PM can be made to work effectively on a daily basis in academe. Suggestions are offered for helping higher education administrators consult efficiently with representatives of campus groups--faculty, other administrators, advisory board members, policy council…

This module discusses the theory and practice of school improvement and outlines a nine-step systematic problem-solving process for developing an action plan addressing school improvement goals. The first section describes a general model for the study of the school as a social system, as developed by Getzels and Thelen (1960). The second section…

Stresses the need for research libraries to develop conscious, explicit processes for organizational change through an understanding of organizational development. Internal restructuring, parallel organization for problem solving and guiding change, organizational culture and organizational politics, strategic organizational change, training, and…

Examining the effectiveness of an organizational development plan, this study notes the changes in school climate in two Pennsylvania schools--a junior high and a middle school. Having selected the schools for their troubled educational environments, the authors gathered data for 2 years from interviews with students and staff, from a formal…