Four case studies show that a college president's image is constructed largely from actions and behaviors indicating to the faculty that presidents are, or are not, taking an appropriate role. The study explored ways in which faculty's interpretation of a president's actions affects faculty behaviors and perceptions of institutional functioning.…

The student affairs division at Nebraska Wesleyan University was studied from the perspective of organizational culture, focusing on two factors: organizational climate and the superior-subordinate relationship. Interviews with the director and division staff revealed the importance of mutual support to the division's success. (MSE)

Discusses teaching about the impact of weather and climate on societies and human activity. Suggests that this impact be demonstrated with study of the Dominican Republic during its formation. Presents several instructional strategies for consideration: focus on climate, historical events, and weather. Includes books to be used in each approach.…

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a process of continuous improvement where decisions are based on data. TQM works for those organizations that are prepared to make it work for them. Discusses seven common mistakes that many organizations make when implementing TQM. (MLF)

Discusses common problems that occur when trying to implement total quality management. Offers suggestions on changing the culture of an organization. (JOW)

Organizational flexibility is increasingly vital in business. The use of information technology allows people to work in whatever ways best enable them to contribute, through new patterns such as telecommuting. These new patterns require new approaches to personnel management. (JOW)

Discussed is the United Nations call for a climate treaty to be ready to sign in 1992. The international controls on the emissions of gases that threaten to warm the planet are at the core of the proposed treaty. U.S. policy and other policies are discussed. (KR)

The corporate management approach often promoted for college administration is criticized, and four major aspects of the approach considered antithetical to the collaborative ways of thinking and acting in educational organizations are examined: product orientation, instrumentalism, rationalization, and active intervention. Collegiality is…

Suggests that bankruptcy occurs when creditors withdraw their support from a firm's top management team. Five characteristics measuring the relative status of top teams tested on a sample of 57 large bankrupt firms and 57 matched firms revealed that membership in political elites and board connections were negatively associated with bankruptcy.…

A variety of administrative issues can arise when multi-investigator, interdisciplinary research increases on campus. As research facilitators, university research administrators are in a position to help their institution with necessary management adjustments. Interdisciplinary research brings special opportunities and challenges to the campus…

To implement Total Quality Management concepts successfully, colleges and universities must change their cultures significantly. In higher education, with its organizational characteristics and traditions, authority relationships between faculty and administrators must be recognized, and some changes in the role and attention of leaders must…

Traces John R. P. French, Jr.'s contribution to the development of person-environment (PE) fit theory. The text examines recent extensions of PE fit theory, including the introduction of response surfaces to examine the homogeneity of effects of PE fit on indicators of mental health across all levels of person or of environment. (GLR)

Rather than workplace wellness and stress management programs, the most important factors affecting job stress are personal power/control of job factors, reduced work load, and work teams. (SK)

Quantifies beliefs of high school students about links between skin cancer and global environmental effects. Some students confused the action of heat rays with that of ultraviolet rays and also thought that raised temperatures are culpable. Only one in 10 held the scientifically correct model: that ozone depletion via higher penetration of…

A survey of 50 male and 54 female German social service workers found their perceptions of working climate varied by gender and age. For both, career motivation decreased over time. Women were particularly affected by decreased quality of the working climate. Factors affecting perceptions included job pressure, dissatisfaction, poor collegial…