This examination of the organizational development model of change as it applies to management development within a complex organization of higher education includes some practical results from applying this model and insights into how to manage a public or private organization. (MBR)

Presents four stages frequently associated with the stages of an organization's life cycle: experimentation, growth, maturity, and decline or stability. The author also demonstrates that the impact of employment and thus training related to organizational life cycles suggests a need for understanding the technical preparation required for…

Surveyed 107 college faculty members to study their involvement in consultation activities. Results suggested professors consulted most often with large businesses and did more training than organizational development. Respondents reported courses in research methods and professional association workshops were helpful to their consulting work.…

A conceptual model is developed in this article to aid in understanding the vast number of variables involved in the educational process. Only through the careful study of many of these variables and the interactions among them will we gain a needed understanding of the methods for increasing the effectiveness of the educational organization.…

Problems of conducting organizational development evaluations identified by 101 organizational development practitioners were clustered into categories of methodological, administrative, and miscellaneous problems. (Author/MLF)

Results indicated an absence of single dimensions that distinguish between successful and unsuccessful organizations; however, three general areas serve to differentiate organizations in the two categories. Available from: NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science, P.O. Box 9155, Rosslyn Station, Arlington, Virginia 22209, $4.75 single copy.…

Examples of successful implementation of sociotechnical design of workplaces indicate that workplaces can be redesigned to achieve a closer match between employee values and organizational work roles. Organizational effectiveness does not seem to be sacrificed as a consequence of such action. (Author/JDS)

Three years ago, the staff at Bethel (Connecticut) Middle School made a commitment to establish the school as a professional learning community (PLC). As they delved into the PLC concept, they realized that the first step was to take a close look at how they used time during the school day. Specifically, they needed to determine how to best…

Organization development is an approach to planned change that is used in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. However, relatively little is known about OD in universities. This paper examines the challenges associated with the use of OD in universities that may not be present in the private sector and other non-university settings. Five…

This paper starts by exploring the definition of knowledge and knowledge management; examples of acquisition, creation, packaging, application, and reuse of knowledge are provided. It then considers the partnership for knowledge management and especially how librarians as knowledge professionals, users, and technology experts can contribute to…

This book traces the history of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching from its founding in 1906 through 1979. A 1999 foreword by the current president of the Foundation notes the influence of the book and briefly updates the foundation's history. The foreword reiterates the book's judgment that the foundation's policies typically…

This book presents summaries of 16 papers presented at a conference on increasing the amount and usefulness of research on alumni relations. Following an introductory paper, "On the Art and Science of Surveying Alumni" (Donna Shoemaker), the papers are: (1) "Targeted Research Gets Results. Comprehensive Research on Alumni Relationships: Four Years…

This paper argues that establishing a research agenda to study the changing nature of postsecondary institutions as organizations is best done by examining their organization-environment interface, and it suggests an agenda based on historical perspective; a contingency model, or framework, of the organization-environment interaction; and a…

Early childhood professional organizations in Canada and the United States have evolved since leaders of the Kindergarten Department of the National Educational Association (NEA) met in Toronto in 1891. This meeting led to the creation of the International Kindergarten Union (IKU), now known as the Association for Childhood Education International…

The action evaluation process at a mediation agency in Dayton, Ohio, that offers the services of trained volunteers is described. Action evaluation is an integrated research and intervention methodology for helping to define, promote, and assess success in an endeavor, while using evaluation as a bridge between research and practice in ways that…