This document contains a series of materials that were developed to help adult educators involve all stakeholders (adult learners, funders, administrators, legislators) in assessing internal and external cultures (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) of an adult education organization (AEO) and then using the information gained to…

A review of the theoretical and empirical literature was conducted to identify, in a systems framework, organizational processes and dimensions associated with effective functioning. Potential methodologies for use in controlled organizational experimentation were also explored. Literature was reviewed according to an empirically derived…

A case study describes how a rural local education agency (Allegany County, Maryland) developed a comprehensive staff development system. It presents some contextual and theoretical background information, summarizes the problem as perceived by key actors, and then describes a series of activities resulting in the development of the comprehensive…

For academic leaders who must encourage and enable faculty self-development the authors list 47 activities designed to reinforce, motivate, and enable self-development. For faculty members they list 95 activities, the strategy being to change environments, to risk new exposures, alter habitual patterns, and undertake new challenges. (JT)

A summary of the State Committee report on Finnish adult education outlines principles and guidelines on which planning for program development should be based. Nine topics include: objectives, concepts, policy aims, functional background, system evaluation, organizational development, pedagogic development, financial and social support, and…

A discussion of regional community development through self-help programs in rural developing areas presents the need for a diversified system of institutions to ensure a developmental process based on qualitative rather than quantitative criteria. Available from: Editorial and Business Offices, Piazza Cavalieri di Malta, 2, 00153 Rome, Italy. (EA)

Quality circles have proliferated in organizations throughout the 1980s, but their success depends on careful planning and monitoring, and on an awareness of social psychology and group dynamics. This presentation accordingly evaluates some of the assumptions of the literature on quality circles and suggests ways in which social psychology…

In order to provide the best management model for the effective and efficient operation of community colleges, it is useful to look briefly at management theories. The three principle theories in use in corporate management are: (1) theory X, involving an autocratic supervisor allowing for minimal group influence; (2) theory Y, in which…

Upon the breakup of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1984, one of its component parts, Pacific Bell, utilized a number of organizational and communication strategies in responding to the change. The company formed the Telesis Management Institute in 1985 with the mandate to provide educational directions and navigate the changes in…

The argument underlying the ongoing paradigm shift from logical-positivism to constructionism is briefly outlined. A model of evaluation planning, implementation, and management (the P-I-M model) is then presented, which assumes a complementarity between the two paradigms. The P-I-M Model includes three components of educational evaluation: a…

Two different operational concepts of "vision" are compared and analyzed in terms of their applicability to educational organization. The military model is vertical, hierarchical, conducive to immediate and specific action, and unambiguous responsibility. However, its inflexibility discourages communication and creativity. The Native American,…

The Choctaw Tribe is the first and only tribe to develop a health delivery system to take over an existing Indian Health Service inpatient facility. The takeover was accomplished in January 1984 under the Indian Self-Determination Act through a contract with the Indian Health Service. The Choctaw Health Delivery System includes a 35-bed general…

Presented in this manual is a one-week training program designed to help women's organizations (campus-based centers and other organizations) address needs related to power and leadership, organizational development, program and budget planning, and negotiation and communication skills. The guide is divided into eleven sections dealing with the…

This ERIC Digest discusses the issue of the school district management audit--a comprehensive examination of an organization in order to assess efficient use of resources and program effectiveness. Several aspects of the management audit issue are covered in question-and-answer format: (1) What is a management audit? (2) What areas are covered by…

After a review of the literature on cognitive "cause maps" in organizational decision-making, this study describes a midwestern elementary school from the perspective of individual sensemaking, captured through individual cognitive maps of cause-effect relationships. Data were collected with an adaptation of Bougon's (1983) Self-Q…