Hoechst Celanese, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical and chemical companies, used an Innovation Model as a framework for integrating the technology, business, and human factors needed to solve problems and create business successes. The model involved three elements (expertise, skills, and motivation). An experiential course in principles…

Recent experiences of manufacturing and commercial service industries provide insights to college facilities managers for combining downsizing with quality improvement. The Service Excellence Model emphasizes creation of shared responsibility, focus on core service processes, empowerment of cross-functional process-improvement teams, performance…

Describes a pilot project that had faculty from four universities develop portfolios of their professional service activities. Discusses issues and insights emerging from early project experience, including importance of collaboration, realistic estimation of time and effort required for documentation, tension between this innovation and…

Examines the possibilities of creating family-care centers. Suggests that in addition to focusing on the child's security, healthy development, and high quality of life, a family center focuses on the family's economical and psychological security, and the relationships that promote the psychological well-being of family members. Discusses the…

Examines superintendents', principals', and teachers' coping strategies for dealing with externally imposed problems or disruptive change in four Manitoba school divisions. Identifies seven major coping strategies and analyzes them in terms of strategic choice theory versus environmental determinist theory. Contains 30 references. (SV)

Examines six information centers that have used innovation as the pathway to success. Topics include three factors that affect information centers' roles in organizations: the economy, globalization, and technological advances; the need for a clearly defined mission and strategy; customer needs assessment; decentralization; training end users; and…

Presented are 35 activities that center around television and newspaper weather reports. Geography, weather, and other disciplines are included as well as various grade levels. Available resource materials are listed and their uses explained. Parent, administrator, and other faculty member involvement is emphasized. (KR)

A survey of 171 full-time faculty at a Manitoba community college identified some factors affecting participation in staff development activities. College teaching experience and perception of administrative climate were the most important determinants, suggesting administrators play a key role through funding and reward structure. (Author/MSE)

Describes the implementation of open admissions at Bronx Community College (New York), and its impact on faculty. Identifies immediate results, including growth in enrollments and faculty, and the reallocation of academic resources to remediation. Considers subsequent financial problems, faculty retrenchment, and enrollment declines. Discusses the…

The process and results of team building by Emporia State University's centralized advising center are examined from the perspectives of president, enrollment management, centralized advising, and faculty. The effort demonstrates that administrative, state, and team commitment can produce positive results in freshman retention, higher graduation…

Librarians from different types of libraries discuss creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship in 17 articles. Some of the areas discussed are: organizational aspects influencing creativity; creativity and leadership; innovation in public and technical services; strategies for developing library support; library and information science…

Drawing on concepts from an institutional theory of organizations, this study describes policy, teacher union, and academic actors who shaped and promoted school-based management in the national arena, their interests, and the network that linked them. School-based management was at least partially the product of institutional environment. (SLD)

Advice is offered for making college alumni reunions successful fund-raising events, illustrated with ideas used by several institutions. Suggestions include long-range planning, leadership by complementary cochairmen, recruitment of committed volunteers, flexible structuring of class committees, continual coaching of volunteers, and establishing…

Factors in organizational climate and structure that enhance innovation include need to respond to emerging market trends and discomfort with the status quo. Inhibitors include negative language used regarding new ideas and lack of strategic organizational direction. As in industry, higher education can use these to involve employees in change:…

Discusses the idea of a national electronic library as a possible solution to current economic trends in the information industry. Topics addressed include commercial entertainment ventures; the decreasing buying power of library acquisition budgets; the need for free access; government's role; cooperation; serials publications; licensing…