A number of professors from American business schools have, over the last few years, taken sessions on finance as part of management development courses run by the training centre…
Abstract
A number of professors from American business schools have, over the last few years, taken sessions on finance as part of management development courses run by the training centre of a major UK company. There is one consistent view expressed forcibly by these American visitors. Compared with equivalent managers in the States, there is a serious lack of basic financial knowledge among the non‐accountant group. Furthermore, in the opinion of UK teachers who have had contact with this company, the general calibre and level of awareness of financial matters of their managers is significantly higher than the average UK group.
Too many UK executives place financial knowledge in the ‘nice to know’ category rather than as a vital component in management training, says Alan Warner. Here, he puts the case…
Abstract
Too many UK executives place financial knowledge in the ‘nice to know’ category rather than as a vital component in management training, says Alan Warner. Here, he puts the case for joint development ventures involving managers and their accountancy‐trained colleagues.
The concept of profit centres with its image of dynamism and efficiency is popular‐and potentially harmful. Alan Warner—lecturer in financial management and programme director at…
Abstract
The concept of profit centres with its image of dynamism and efficiency is popular‐and potentially harmful. Alan Warner—lecturer in financial management and programme director at Ashridge Management College‐describes the circumstances in which it can be applied with detrimental results.
There is no perfect model of strategic management which exists for all companies for all time, and top management should pick, from the shopping list of the last thirty years'…
Abstract
There is no perfect model of strategic management which exists for all companies for all time, and top management should pick, from the shopping list of the last thirty years' thinking, the ideas which suit their time and situation.
There have been great advances in our understanding of how universities effectively undertake community engagement, with research focused upon understanding community partner…
Abstract
There have been great advances in our understanding of how universities effectively undertake community engagement, with research focused upon understanding community partner perspectives and outcomes (see Andrée et al., 2014; Srinivas et al., 2015; Sweatman & Warner, 2020), and democratic civic engagement (see Hall et al., 2013; Saltmarsh et al., 2009). This chapter builds on these studies to critically examine one university’s capacities to coordinate institutional-level change that supports and advances community-engagement scholarship. A small, rural, undergraduate university in Nova Scotia, Canada, called Acadia University was used as the case study site for this examination. Using an action research case study design, we gathered data from multiple sources within and outside of the University over a three-year period. Through this investigation Acadia’s community-engagement ethos was studied to understand if the University has the assets, resources, knowledge and motivation to create, implement and sustain democratic community engagement initiatives with community partners. From this data, key findings were categorized into three major themes: power and positionality of the University, institutional supports and barriers to engagement, and institutional assessment of community engagement initiatives. This chapter discusses these themes in depth using data from this study and current literature to unpack the practicalities and particularities of an institution committing to a deep, pervasive and integrated community engagement culture. Overall, this study found that Acadia’s community engagement ethos, as it moves towards democratic engagement while navigating systematic internal and external constraints, is diverse and complex. This study contributes to the legitimization of community engagement scholarship more broadly.
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Kara S. Finnigan, Alan J. Daly and Jing Che
The purpose of this paper is to examine the way in which low‐performing schools and their district define, acquire, use, and diffuse research‐based evidence.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the way in which low‐performing schools and their district define, acquire, use, and diffuse research‐based evidence.
Design/methodology/approach
The mixed methods case study builds upon the prior research on research evidence and social networks, drawing on social network analyses, survey data and interview data to examine how educators in low‐performing schools and across the district use evidence (including which types and for what purposes), as well as the relationship between network structure and evidence use for school improvement.
Findings
Educators had narrow definitions of, and skepticism about, evidence, which limited its acquisition and use for school improvement. The authors found a lack of diffusion of evidence within schools and districtwide as a result of sparse connections among and between educators. Evidence was used in an instrumental, yet superficial, manner leading to weak interpretation of evidence and resulting in limited understanding of underlying problems and available solutions.
Research limitations/implications
The paper suggests the importance of using social network analyses to examine the diffusion of evidence, as well as the need to better understand how evidence is defined and used.
Practical implications
It is necessary to pay greater attention to how educators acquire evidence, as well as the ways in which it is used to impact school‐based decisions in low‐performing schools and districts. Moreover, the work suggests the influence of the district office on school‐level reform.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the research on low‐performing schools and accountability policy by examining the larger districtwide context and integrates social network, survey, and interview data.
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Enakshi Sengupta and Patrick Blessinger
The field of service-learning (SL) remains obscure as it has been variously defined and often misunderstood by many. There is a confusion in the academic literature and in…
Abstract
The field of service-learning (SL) remains obscure as it has been variously defined and often misunderstood by many. There is a confusion in the academic literature and in practice as to what exactly service-learning means, and this confusion has been exacerbated by the way it has been misunderstood and implemented in various institutions. The aim of this volume dedicated to international case studies on service learning is to gain deeper insight into the multifaceted nature of this subject and the perplexities associated with it. The authors of this volume have adopted a holistic approach and have captured various interventions and approaches to find out the most accurate path toward gaining a complete picture of how service-learning impacts students with its emphasis on problem-solving, experiential learning, and community engagement. The volume will shed light on how successfully service-learning has been adopted to the existing curriculum with the emergence of a new breed of students who are aligned with the needs of the community and undertakes collaborative work to solve real-world issues.
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Higher recruitment and retention levels, lower sickness absence and improved staff morale are only some of the positive outcomes of a strategy adopted by Hertfordshire County…
Abstract
Higher recruitment and retention levels, lower sickness absence and improved staff morale are only some of the positive outcomes of a strategy adopted by Hertfordshire County Council that received recognition in a work‐life balance award. An on‐line survey conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry’s work‐life balance campaign and reed.co.uk, which surveyed more than 350 applicants in the public sector, revealed that half of them picked flexible working as the benefit they would most look for in their next job. A third said they would choose flexible hours rather than have an extra £1,000 salary a year.