Britain's higher education institutions (HEIs) face fundamental and unprecedented competitive pressures due to lower government funding (Cm 5735, "The Future of Higher Education," Department for Education and Skills, 2003) and a government agenda focused on a "widening participation agenda". We employ the resource-based view (RBV) of strategy…

It is an adage that holds true in almost any context--practice makes perfect. In golf, like in many other sports, experience is a central factor in success as well. Children who take up golf early have a distinct advantage when they hit high school and begin competing for the attention of college coaches, and the national junior tournaments are…

Harry Stack Sullivan maintained that competition between friends in early adolescence would generally destroy their friendship. Working with early adolescent samples in Canada, Costa Rica, and Cuba, we found that hypercompetitiveness--a form of competition involving the need to prove one?s own superiority--was linked with conflict between friends,…

Recent data (T. J. Perfect, C. J. A. Moulin, M. A. Conway, & E. Perry, 2002) have suggested that retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) depends on conceptual memory because the effect is not found in perceptually driven tasks. In 3 experiments, the authors aimed to show that the presence of RIF depends on whether the procedure induces appropriate…

The United States is currently undergoing a dramatic economic transformation, shifting from an economy based on physical inputs to one based on intellectual inputs, or human creativity. In this article, the author discusses a creative economy that must be expanded beyond science, technology, and design to include all applications of creativity and…

Stories play an integral role in our lives. They provide a context for us, a backdrop against which to measure our efforts. We learn through these stories or narratives--about the world, our ancestors, and our geographic region. We learn about values, beliefs, and ideas (good and evil). Stories can also reinforce moral standards important for…

In 1995 the political authorities of French-speaking Belgium introduced a major reform in the structure of the kindergarten and primary curriculum. It prescribed cycles of study and forbade grade repetition within the stages, which last for 5 years and 4 years, respectively. In addition, the reform aimed to increase equality of results at…

A key to controlling competitive anxiety under pressure is to develop an effective attentional strategy to use before competition. This article: (1) examines the causes and psychological mechanics of pre-competitive anxiety; (2) provides athletes with an easily understandable mental strategy for practical use; and (3) provides coaches with…

This article analyzes collaboration in a computer-supported learning environment based on the professional practices of mediation and dispute resolution. In so doing, it explores the nature of collaborative learning in a setting marked by competition as much as cooperation. Interviews with students suggest that the processes of collaborative…

The rise of neo-liberal universities over the last 15-20 years has been characterised as an inevitable effect both of globalisation and the associated dominance of capital. In this article we will analyse that rise, seeking to understand how it has come about and its impact on intellectual work. In the final pages of the article we turn towards…

Each year the TECA (Technology Education Collegiate Association) Eastern Regional conference is held in Virginia Beach, Virginia. TECA is made up of four regions of the United States. The eastern TECA region has the largest membership. From up and down the eastern U.S., students and faculty from colleges' and universities' technology education…

This article provides a comparative analysis of the systems used for the "accreditation" of degree-granting institutions in the USA (accreditation) and the UK (audit). The authors begin by outlining the similarities and differences between the two processes. They point out that audit is not the subject of political controversy in the way…

Research indicates that competition can be an important context whereby youth gain positive outcomes such as intrinsic motivation and engagement in the environment. However, other studies indicate that sports activities may also relate to negative outcomes such as aggression and cheating. One of the challenges for educators and youth development…

A solid global strategy must be part of every organization's DNA. For Dell, this means expanding into new countries where it can use its direct model to provide value to customers and create more productive, healthier communities. It also means hiring employees who think and act globally and have a commitment to learn how to work with cultures…

In the context of tertiary education, the paper explores the nature of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) negotiation process and obligation framework, with examples, considers whether GATS is needed to support a country's "export education" and what a country could do to protect its tertiary education system from the…