Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) skills are receiving increased attention in the current workforce and in lifelong learning. In learning and labor contexts, successful teamwork is however not always guaranteed, due to several reasons, such as an unequal level of individual participation. Training in CPS for all groups is therefore needed.…

In configuration problems, such as the construction of a weekly study schedule, decision makers must assemble a combination of parts under a set of constraints. Interactions may be present between the parts, and more than a single objective function may exist, such as minimizing the number of days on campus and maximizing the interest level of the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge base on the ways in which assistant principals view their roles, and on the potential challenges involved in a distributed leadership model. Design/methodology/approach: The study employed a narrative capture method, in which assistant principals from two large urban school…

Socrates argued that the unexamined life is not worth living. For the past decade, the authors--along with many colleagues, organizations, and commercial firms--have been immersed in the booming, buzzing confusion that is the community landscape of higher education. They have communities that build software (e.g., Jasig, Kuali, Moodle, Sakai),…

Education reform has been on a new path over the last 15 years; a path that leads to more accountability, more choice for students and parents, highly qualified teachers, as well as, best practices in instruction. In an effort to move along the path of reform and as a result of previous reform, the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA reviewed the field…

Resource allocation decisions are a fundamental class of problems common throughout a business and therefore are found throughout business school curricula. Entrepreneurs must allocate capital, financiers must allocation cash, and production managers must create the best mix of multiple-use resources. Within this context, a business school's…

The use of quantitative decision making tools provides the decision maker with a range of alternatives among which to decide, permits acceptance and use of the optimal solution, and decreases risk. Training line administrators in the use of these tools can help school business officials obtain reliable information upon which to base district…

Cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-benefit analysis are two related yet distinct methods to help decision makers choose the best course of action from among competing alternatives. For both types of analysis, costs are computed similarly. Costs may be reduced to present value amounts for multi-year programs, and parameters may be altered to show…

A mathematical model, using the vector maximization technique, is developed to study the underlying structure of a set of cost/benefit alternatives. (Author)

Consideration of a wide variety of options in maximizing income and controlling expenditures is recommended for Australian universities. Although marketing, fund raising, investment, and other income-producers are possibilities, tight control of expenditures is seen as the most effective retrenchment strategy. (MSE)

The first two publications in this series dealt generally with school building problems in developing nations. This third part offers more direct guidance. Described in some detail are organizational fundamentals and tools that depend on universal similarities in building practice and have, therefore, been recommended for use internationally. A…

A theoretical analysis of embedded organizations (parts of a larger organization) is developed and eight propositions relative to the use of modifying responses by such organizational units are offered. Research was conducted on the responses of two colleges within a university to their respective growing/declining resource environments over an…

The Bay Area and The World (BAATW) Project and the Bay Area Global Education Program (BAGEP), two formal structures that form part of a coalition to make citizens more aware of the world's interdependence, are discussed. The historical background of these organizations and the initiation of the coalition are recounted. A listing is provided of the…

Describes research at Leicester Polytechnic Institute (UK) which examined possible applications of decision support system tools in libraries; in particular, this research explored the role of decision support systems in relation to the development of resources allocation modelling. (five references) (MAB)

The use of analytical models and quantitative methods for both short- and long-range problem solving offer library managers an excellent opportunity to improve and rationalize decision-making for strategic and organizational planning. The first step is to identify the problems confronting the library and understand its current capabilities.…