Jean Claude Ah-Teck and Karen E. Starr
Reflecting the Mauritian government's “quality” agenda and its focus on school leadership, this paper reports the findings of research exploring Mauritian principals’ views about…
Abstract
Purpose
Reflecting the Mauritian government's “quality” agenda and its focus on school leadership, this paper reports the findings of research exploring Mauritian principals’ views about the use of total quality management (TQM) for school improvement. While aspects of this research have been reported elsewhere, the purpose of this paper is to focus on school leaders’ use of data and evidence in making decisions for school improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reports on qualitative aspects within a mixed methods research with data collected by means of semi-structured interviews conducted with a purposive sample of six principals. The analysis of the data were an exercise in grounded theory building.
Findings
The paper expands the knowledge of principals as quantitative data users arguing that qualitative information based on professional discourses, human judgements and lived experiences should be equally valorised if TQM is used for making informed educational decisions.
Research limitations/implications
The research relied on principals’ views as the unique source of data. The perspectives of the other stakeholders would offer a richer description of leadership reality in Mauritian schools.
Practical implications
The paper suggests a more participatory decision-making model for effective change that could rightfully engage all stakeholders through various complementary quantitative and qualitative processes. It further recommends that alongside the core systemic qualities of TQM, there are ethical, moral and cultural dimensions of leadership that could enhance the teaching and learning environment.
Originality/value
While confirming some extant research, the paper brings new thinking to understanding the critical role of principals within the TQM scenario of data-driven decision making.
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Australia has to find solutions to a critical shortage of school principals, and to this end, governments are spending millions of dollars on the development of leadership…
Abstract
Australia has to find solutions to a critical shortage of school principals, and to this end, governments are spending millions of dollars on the development of leadership standards and professional learning programs. This article focuses on the ‘disengagement’ problem and examines the disincentives for aspirants to undertake the role and for incumbents to continue in the role. Various responsive measures are critiqued, and alternative proposals that arise out of discussions with principals are discussed.
Jean Claude Ah‐Teck and Karen Starr
This article aims to report the findings of a research project exploring Mauritian principals’ receptivity to the main tenets inherent in Total Quality Management (TQM). The…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to report the findings of a research project exploring Mauritian principals’ receptivity to the main tenets inherent in Total Quality Management (TQM). The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) framework (aligned with, and an outcome of, the TQM movement) provides a set of criteria for organizational quality assessment and improvement in the business, healthcare and education sectors. Given the imperative to improve the quality of schools in Mauritius, this study was designed to investigate the usefulness of the widely accepted MBNQA framework in the Mauritian context.
Design/methodology/approach
A nationwide questionnaire survey of school principals explored the nature and strength of the Baldrige theory of relationships between leadership, systems and processes of primary and secondary schools and the ensuing outcomes. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted.
Findings
The findings indicate that Mauritian school leaders play a critical role in influencing school outcomes directly and indirectly through the inner workings of the schooling system.
Research limitations/implications
The research relied on principals’ views as the unique source of data about school leadership. The perspectives of the other stakeholders within schools, including teachers, students and parents, should also count and would offer a richer description of leadership reality in Mauritian schools.
Originality/value
This is the first ever study assessing empirically the notion of “quality” in primary and secondary schools in Mauritius at the national level. It contributes new perspectives about leadership for school improvement.
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Richard C. Becherer, Mark E. Mendenhall and Karen Ford Eickhoff
Entrepreneurship and leadership may flow from the same genealogical source and the appearance of separation of the two constructs may be due to differences in the contexts through…
Abstract
Entrepreneurship and leadership may flow from the same genealogical source and the appearance of separation of the two constructs may be due to differences in the contexts through which the root phenomenon flows. Entrepreneurship and leadership are figuratively different manifestations of the need to create. To better understand the origin of entrepreneurship and leadership, research must first focus on the combinations or hierarchy of traits that are necessary, but perhaps not sufficient, to stimulate the two constructs. Factors that trigger a drive to create or take initiative within the individual in the context of a particular circumstance should be identified, and the situational factors that move the individual toward more traditional leader or classic entrepreneurial-type behaviors need to be understood.
I. Hoffman and J.S. Koga
Provides a bibliography of CD‐ROM for librarians, covering casestudies, costs, product evaluation guidelines, databases, CDI,downloading/copyright and CD vs. online, for use when…
Abstract
Provides a bibliography of CD‐ROM for librarians, covering case studies, costs, product evaluation guidelines, databases, CDI, downloading/copyright and CD vs. online, for use when making decisions about the adoption of CD‐ROM.
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Karen Seashore Louis and Viviane M. Robinson
The purpose of this paper is to examine how US school leaders make sense of external mandates, and the way in which their understanding of state and district accountability…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how US school leaders make sense of external mandates, and the way in which their understanding of state and district accountability policies affects their work. It is posited that school leaders’ responses to external accountability are likely to reflect a complex interaction between their perception of the accountability policies, the state and district contexts in which those policies are situated and their own leadership beliefs and practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use both principal and teacher survey data to explore the question of how perceptions of external policy are associated with instructional leadership behaviors. Cases of seven principals are employed to flesh out the findings from the survey analysis.
Findings
It is concluded that external accountability policy may have a positive impact on instructional leadership – where they see those policies as aligned with their own values and preferences, and where they see their district leaders as supportive of school‐driven accountability initiatives. In these cases, school leaders internalize the external accountability policies and shape them to the particular needs that they see as priorities in their own school. Where one or the other of these factors is weak or missing, on the other hand, leaders demonstrate more negative attitudes to external accountability and weaker instructional leadership.
Originality/value
This analysis draws on a unique, large‐scale data base and uses a mixed methods approach to answer the question.
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As CD‐ROM becomes more and more a standard reference and technicalsupport tool in all types of libraries, the annual review of thistechnology published in Computers in Libraries…
Abstract
As CD‐ROM becomes more and more a standard reference and technical support tool in all types of libraries, the annual review of this technology published in Computers in Libraries magazine increases in size and scope. This year, author Susan L. Adkins has prepared this exceptionally useful bibliography which she has cross‐referenced with a subject index.
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E‐Teaching as the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education is of growing importance for educational theory and practice. Many universities and other…
Abstract
E‐Teaching as the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education is of growing importance for educational theory and practice. Many universities and other higher education institutions use ICT to support teaching. However, there are contradicting opinions about the value and outcome of e‐teaching. This paper starts with a review of the literature on e‐teaching and uses this as a basis for distilling success factors for e‐teaching. It then discusses the case study of an e‐voting system used for giving student feedback and marking student presentations. The case study is critically discussed in the light of the success factors developed earlier. The conclusion is that e‐teaching, in order to be successful, should be embedded in the organisational and individual teaching philosophy.
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The blood service sector faces issues with obtaining and retaining loyal donors at one end of its supply chain, a marketing issue, and being efficient and effective in blood and…
Abstract
Purpose
The blood service sector faces issues with obtaining and retaining loyal donors at one end of its supply chain, a marketing issue, and being efficient and effective in blood and related product delivery to customers at the other end of its supply chain, a supply chain management issue. The purpose of this paper is to present an investigation of these issues and propose the adoption of techniques and technologies from the food processing and retailing sector to address them.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory case study with the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service is used to investigate research questions stemming from extant literature.
Findings
This study finds that a national blood service can achieve better stock management and resource optimisation and better communication with “input” and “output” stakeholders by implementing information flows and integration throughout the supply and marketing chain. It also finds that a national blood service can convince non‐donors to donate and increase donor relationships and loyalty by ensuring internal marketing takes place with its employees who can then inform external stakeholders through their first‐contact relationships.
Research limitations/implications
This study is exploratory, thus empirical research is limited.
Practical implications
This paper validates primary issues in recruiting and retaining blood donors and making blood supply chains more efficient and effective, and proposes the adoption of techniques and technology from other process sectors to overcome these issues. Thus, European national blood services should benefit from implementing suggestions in this research.
Originality/value
This paper adopts a multi‐disciplinary approach across the marketing and supply chain management disciplines to explore issues usually associated with medical and pure sciences.
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Paige VonAchen, Karen Smilowitz, Mallika Raghavan and Ross Feehan
The purpose of this paper is to present a case study describing a collaboration with Last Mile Health, a non-governmental organization, to develop a framework to inform its…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a case study describing a collaboration with Last Mile Health, a non-governmental organization, to develop a framework to inform its community healthcare networks in remote Liberia.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors detail the process of using the unique problem setting and available data to inform modeling and solution approaches.
Findings
The authors show how the characteristics of the Liberian setting can be used to develop a two-tier modeling framework. Given the operating constraints and remote setting the authors are able to model the problem as a special case of the location-routing problem that is computationally simple to solve. The results of the models applied to three districts of Liberia are discussed, as well as the collaborative process of the multidisciplinary team.
Originality/value
Importantly, the authors describe how the problem setting can enable the development of a properly scoped model that is implementable in practice. Thus the authors provide a case study that bridges the gap between theory and practice.