The changing educational landscape requires new organizational frameworks to understand how schools and universities make sense of and respond to broader institutional forces like accountability, diversity, and the market. In this article, we draw on recent innovations in organizational theory to propose a model that identifies two general…

The purpose of this article is to inform researchers about and encourage the use of longitudinal designs to further understanding of human resource development and organizational theory. This article presents information about a variety of longitudinal research designs, related statistical procedures, and an overview of general data collecting…

This new book presents case studies from the US, the UK and Japan. Packed full of vignettes from cases studies and subscribing to a socio-cultural approach rather than the often tacit assumption that knowledge and "technology transfer" is a logistical problem, this excellent volume illuminates the often misunderstood process of knowledge…

Post-Compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning across the United Kingdom brings together the perspectives of researchers, policy-makers and practitioners from across England, Wales and Scotland to produce a rich, up-to-date and highly textured source of evidence about this under-researched sector. The contributors analyse how each country's…

This article is intended to spark a discussion between two research communities--scholars who study learning and scholars who study educational organizations. A secondary purpose is to encourage researchers to look beyond schools to examine learning in other types of educational organizations. The authors outline a framework to guide research on…

How should universities manage their research function? Today, research-based knowledge is viewed widely as fundamental to economic advancement. As a result, universities everywhere are facing pressure to rethink their research activities. A general model of the research process is presented here. Linkages are drawn between that process, other…

This paper proposes a methodology for selecting organizational decision strategies, including a new "heuristic" decision-making model. References included. (MD)

Reviews transaction-cost approaches to organizational analysis, examines their use in microeconomic theory, and identifies some important flaws in the study. Advocates transaction-cost theory as a powerful tool for organizational and strategic analysis when set within the famework of more general organizational theory. Includes 61 references. (MLH)

This paper examines the selection, interaction, and systems approaches to fit in structural contingency theory. The concepts of fit evaluated may be applied not only to structural contingency theory but to contingency theories in general. (MD)

Examines the moderating effect of organizational decline on the relationship between technical and structural complexity. Results imply that decline may weaken the relationship between internal context and structure in organizations. Includes 3 tables and graphs, 51 references, and an appendix. (MLH)

This editorial recommends that social science researchers of organizations develop a database from a sample of organizations in the United States. Quality of data has been lacking because of small samples and uncomparable studies. Generalizations about how organizations function can be made if a large database is developed. (CJH)

Research was conducted to evaluate how organizationsl systems that are publicly accused of wrongdoing attempt to justify themselves. The pattern of events surrounding smoking and health was examined over a 30-year period. Includes four figures, two tables, and references. (MD)

The attributional perspective on leadership, which suggests the social construction of organizational realities attributes to leadership the activities and outcomes of organizations, was supported by the results of three archival studies and a series of experimental studies. Tables, figures, and 64 references are provided. (DCS)

Correlations between centralization and effectiveness were obtained from 26 independent samples in the organization science literature. Hypotheses were developed and statistically tested. The hypotheses that were supported are reflected in a final theory of the centralization-effectiveness relationship. (75 references) (MLF)

Clarifies the meaning of organizational decline by delimiting it from related constructs (turbulence, stagnation, and environmental decline). Investigates certain organizational attributes associated with turbulence and decline in 334 higher education institutions over a six-year period. Results suggest that organizational attributes associated…