The ability to understand and respond to the human dimension of change is ultimately the determining factor in implementing and sustaining successful change.The effective change agent also understands the difference between implementation and maintenance of innovation. The experience of King's College (Pennsylvania) is an example of successfully…

When governing boards address problems piecemeal and develop present-tense solutions, it is thinking operationally, not strategically. A shift to strategic planning involves analyzing the board's use of meeting time, asking bold questions about the institution's purpose, and committing to change. A well-planned retreat can begin the changeover.…

Reviews status of and climate for women in higher education today and presents case for creating strong, carefully constructed and integrated institutional network of women's committees as one way to foster institutional change and create more diverse and responsive educational and work environments which actively support, nurture, and empower…

Challenges common to businesses and universities include the following: (1) improving customer satisfaction; (2) broadening the skills of employees and students; and (3) achieving consistency of goals and reward structures. (Author)

Review of Information Age literature found not enough evidence that information industries will reenergize economies or provide high-quality jobs. Virtual organizations are hard to identify. Women do the bulk of low-skill, low-paying telework jobs, reinforcing sex roles and class divisions. Remote workers are often vulnerable and cut off from…

Makes recommendations for providing better services to people with developmental disabilities, including clarifying the support that people with developmental disabilities need and providing that support; making a fundamental shift toward community based programs; eliminating rigid and complex rules; creating the future; and making a commitment to…

Based on the author's experience with the Atlas Community Project, this article identifies six different types of knowledge needed to mount a comprehensive reform effort: technical, resource, local, process, strategic, and organizational. Efforts to promote comprehensive changes do not necessarily make the reform processes markedly more successful…

Compares definitions and core elements of learning organizations promulgated by Peter Senge, Victoria Marsick and Karen Watkins, Nancy Dixon, Michael Marquardt, Mike Pedler, and others. Discusses leadership implications and the need for employees to create a new learning infrastructure incorporating new leaders, critical thinking, and envisioning.…

Changes in society, work, and employment relationships require reconceptualization of career development. New models for portfolio/contract organizations will enable management to focus on core competencies and matching of skill portfolios with contract requirements. (SK)

Discusses trends in outsourcing, provision of goods and services to an organization that were previously delivered in house. Addresses outsourcing in the public sector, advantages and disadvantages, implications for human resource development, and the shift to the new "psychological contract" between employers and employees. (Contains…

Examines the implementation of quality programs in four organizations; the communication used to introduce the programs and to encourage employees to participate; and employees' perceptions of the programs, implementation activities, and change agents. Presents four key themes that emerged: creating and communicating vision; sensemaking and…

Examines contributions of academia to widespread underperformance and failure in information technology investments. Cites the dominance of economic-technological considerations over human-organizational ones. Concludes that interdisciplinary collaboration and dialog are needed to integrate the knowledge and expertise of information technology and…

Discussion of emerging higher educational organizational structures focuses on the increasing importance of distance education. Considers the emerging organizational landscape, three types of network organizations, six organization archetypes, organizational forms that support distance education, and implications for higher education planners. (DB)

Critically examines the emerging dominance of vocationalism in education, supported by discourses of globalization and the "Risk Society." Analyzes "knowledge games" in vocational education and practices that seek to train workers to perform as economic/productive units in the marketplace. Urges development of creative,…

Argues for reconceptualizing leadership. Reviews existing dualisms and possible substitutes for leadership. Rejects these in favor of organizational leadership as a distributed, rather than focused, phenomenon. Evolving divisions of labor in organizations are the prime mover for tracking emerging patterns of distributed leadership. (Contains 59…