Although incivility and conflict have long plagued community colleges and other educational institutions, recent budget declines have made this situation more critical. In the past, those who disagreed could be bought off and organizations tended to hire layers of people to perform tasks that one person with a personal computer can perform today.…

If they are to be effective, organizations must acquire and create new knowledge in order to achieve their goals. Service organizations, such as schools, must employ the concept of organizational learning. Organizational learning is an intentional process directed at improving organizational effectiveness. The process involves four…

This document consists of three papers presented at a symposium on transfer of training moderated by Gene Roth at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD). "Validation of a Transfer Climate Instrument" (Reid A. Bates et al.) reports a study that attempted to validate Rouiller and Goldstein's (1993) eight-factor…

This book contains a collection of articles about the ways in which organizations do the key work of society, the ways in which the work of the organization will change, and the essential role of the organization in public, private, and social arenas. Following the preface and introduction, titled "Toward the New Organization" by Peter F. Drucker,…

During the mid- to late-1990s, the declining economy in Nova Scotia led to a reduction in the number of school boards and the closure or amalgamation of smaller schools. This paper presents findings from the first phase of a longitudinal case study that explored the amalgamation of five elementary schools in Gold Cove, Nova Scotia. The study uses…

A study examined structured on-the-job training (SOJT) within the organizational context of 8 Dutch firms exploring more than 500 individuals each. Between 7 and 19 individuals (trainees, trainers, supervisors, managers, and/or human resource development officers) were interviewed at each firm. The effectiveness of SOJT was found to be greatly…

Traditionally, teacher compensation has been viewed in isolation from other components of organizational reform. This paper examines changes in dominant models of schooling over time using an organizational lens. The six models include scientific management, humanistic/specialization, effective schools, content-driven, high standards/high…

The Newspapers section of this collection of conference presentations contains the following 24 papers: "Dropping the Paper: The Role of Women in Local Daily Subscription Cancellations" (Melinda D. Hawley); "The Effects of the 1990-1992 Recession in the Real Estate Industry in News Coverage in Real Estate Sections at Five Major U.S.…

While much attention has been paid to educational reform or restructuring efforts to improve the nation's schools, the fiscal aspects of reform have received little attention. The Education Commission of the States studied 20 school districts in 6 states (California, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, and South Carolina) to determine what impact…

This volume of 16 chapters by 15 contributing authors was conceived as a means of drawing together a body of basic information about the Great Lakes that is up to date, based on sound research, and interpreted by experts in the scientific, historical, environmental and political value of the Great Lakes to North America and the world. Chapters…

Findings of a study that examined the extent to which transformational forms of leadership contribute to teacher commitment are presented in this paper. Teachers' commitment to change is expressed as a function of personal goals, two types of personal agency beliefs, and emotional arousal processes. Alterable variables giving rise to commitment…

To discover what effects the political, religious, social, and economic climate had on naming children, 100 families (representing almost 700 individuals) were interviewed to identify patterns in first names given over three generations. The sample of 100 families includes people from different religious backgrounds and from different parts of…

The "spirituality in the workplace" movement serves a range of interests, including personal fulfillment on the job, a growing need to reconcile personal values with those of the corporation, and corporate desires to help individuals achieve more balanced lives. In addition to being the theme at a growing number of conferences, spirituality has…

This document contains four papers from a symposium on transfer of learning. "Factors Affecting Transfer of Training in an Industrial Setting" (Reid A. Bates, Elwood F. Holton III, Dian L. Seyler) identified seven transfer climate variables that predicted performance and three interpersonal variables that predicted performance ratings. Results…

This paper argues that in addition to being an important source of data for a project evaluator, project humor also provides a check on the evaluator's comprehension of background and events (i.e., if an evaluator does not understand a joke, he or she has probably not attained an insider's perspective). In addition, humor becomes a source of…