Argues that middle managers are key to developing successful departments and schools. Discusses results from a pilot project on role changes that shadowed eight department heads in Catholic secondary schools in Birmingham and Manchester, England. Although department heads spent most time on core activities (teaching, coaching, and managing their…

Discusses measurement in human performance technology, emphasizing identifying countable behaviors and accomplishments and considering the time dimension. Topics include validation; accountability; decision making; criteria to evaluate; dangers of percentages and ratios; standards; increments or decrements in performance; learning; on-the-job…

Expectations for the principalship have mushroomed during the past 20 years. Principals are key reform agents and held mercilessly accountable. Candidates are in short supply. Capable principals are great assets, not heroic beings. Leadership is not centrally vested and must be distributed more broadly. (Contains 36 references.) (MLH)

Discusses personnel management and personnel evaluation. Highlights include personnel manager traits; performance improvement; effective leadership; supervisory styles; examining staff skills, including human skills, technical skills, and conceptual skills; increasing productivity; and identifying problem areas in job performance and possible…

A study concerning performance indicators in five New Zealand higher education institutions had staff in administration, libraries, and an academic department identify appropriate measures of performance for mechanistic activities. For some activities, particularly at senior levels, mechanistic measures are found inappropriate and impractical;…

Discusses the employee assistance program (EAP), a benefit increasingly provided by United Kingdom employers that claims to reduce the effects of stress on individuals and organizations, provide a management tool to improve workplace performance and productivity, and respond to critical incidents. Describes EAPs, their history, development and…

Provides background information on the relationship of business interests and social studies education. Examines the aspects of vocational preparation that social studies education could address based on a study identifying factors of exemplary employees possibly related to their strong performance. Reports on the results based on categories of…

A survey of 222 large-city administrators indicated that 76.7% approved of co-worker friendships but fewer supported friendships across the vertical hierarchy. Despite risks (gossip, romances, distraction), there was strong agreement on rewards: mutual support, improved work environment and communication, support for diversity. Ways to encourage…

This study investigated effects of a self-operated auditory prompting system on work performance of two supported employees with severe disabilities in community employment settings. Musical tapes embedded and interspersed with the auditory prompts increased work performance for each employee. Future research for implementing such systems in…

Discusses issues associated with the virtual office. Summarizes advantages and disadvantages from employees' and employers' perspectives. Uses the behavior engineering model (Thomas Gilbert, 1996) as a framework to analyze different factors related to performance, and suggests the application of other concepts from human performance technology and…

In a sample of nearly 1,800 adolescents in work experience programs, job quality had the greatest positive impact on work attitudes and job satisfaction and was associated with negative job behaviors. Good supervisory relationships were linked to positive attitudes and behaviors. However, school supervision of work did not appear to influence…

The funding of Finnish Universities has been based on a "management by results" strategy since 1991. This paper analyses the effects of this strategy on university management and administration. Empirically the study is based on material collected from four multidisciplinary universities. Theoretically it is based on organization theory…

Identifying factors that help or hinder new executives in "getting up to speed" quickly and remaining with an organization is vital to maximizing the effectiveness of executive development. The current study extends past research by examining extraversion as a moderator of relationships between leader-member exchange (LMX) and performance,…

The work of the human resource development (HRD) practitioner is continuously evolving. Human resource development is now expected to make a strategic level contribution and contribute to individual and organizational effectiveness. Human resource development practitioners are increasingly required to network and build relationships to obtain…

Recent research on reported work stress indicates stress may not always be deleterious for an individual or organization. Research in this area, however, has not yet examined a variety of work outcomes, the mechanism by which stress leads to such outcomes, and the moderators of this effect. The present study hypothesized that two types of reported…