Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to find out and understand the different competence development needs of managers and their ways of learning. The examined managers work in middle management in Finnish information and communication technology sector (ICT) and paper business sector. Design/methodology/approach: The research was qualitative by…

In this article, the authors focus on what is called "middle leadership" in schools in England and "middle management" in New Zealand. Their concern is that despite almost two decades since the introduction of site based management in both countries that devolved significant responsibility for the leadership of learning to…

This article explains the development of, and presents a theoretical framework for, harnessing the roles of the academic middle manager in strategic innovation in Dutch higher education, thereby increasing higher education's ability to learn, innovate and develop a competitive advantage. The framework is developed from theoretical models of role…

Organizational culture is a primary component of functional decision making in universities. In order for administrators, faculty, and staff to effectively coordinate an efficient academic environment for health education, continuing cultural assessment and change are necessary. The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of culture at…

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to show what the leaders themselves regard as the working ingredients in their mutual work situation that help to facilitate personal development. Design/methodology/approach: In the paper data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 14 leaders at low and middle management levels in different lines…

Within academic medical centers, psychiatry, pediatrics, and certain other specialties of internal medicine carry a disproportionate responsibility for teaching but are least able to support teaching and research through clinical income. This article reviews the educational, research and clinical missions of an academic psychiatry department and…

Much of the writing on higher education in recent years has tended to assume that the new management push in higher education is both universal and irreversible. This paper, however, presents evidence from Portugal to challenge that assumption. While elements of the new managerialism are clearly evident in the perceptions and attitudes of…

There is emerging consensus that the United States faces major higher education challenges, including: (1) America's fall from first to tenth place internationally in the percentage of the population with higher education degrees at a time when the country faces increased global economic competition in a knowledge-intensive economy; (2) Education…

The purpose of this article is to exemplify and enhance the place of modelling as a qualitative process in educational research. Modelling is widely used in quantitative research as a tool for analysis, theory building and prediction. Statistical data lend themselves to graphical representation of values, interrelationships and operational…

A quality circle (QC) is a group of workers from the same work area who voluntarily meet on a regular basis to identify, analyze, and solve various work-related problems. While management support has been a variable frequently cited as critical to the success of QCs in organizations, very little research has empirically documented the relationship…

Analyzed career paths of middle managers in bank. Study of matched pairs found that men (n=25) advanced faster and reached middle management through fewer promotions and positions than did women (n=25). Men had significantly more work experience outside of banking. In banking careers, men held more jobs in lending, whereas women occupied more…

Middle managers taking postgraduate courses identified the extent to which learning organization principles were practiced in their organizations. The process used indicates a role higher education can play in introducing learning organization concepts in graduate study. (Contains 42 references.) (SK)

Directors of early childhood education programs often end up in the role of middle managers when it comes to being in charge of the budget. They often find themselves neck deep in fiscal dilemma. In this article, the author provides ideas on how directors can change the way they do business and have the income to address some of the issues of…

This paper describes a framework for assessing mentoring quality, which is then used to evaluate a mentoring programme conducted in a large military EFL school in the Middle East. The analysis presented here provides "mini confirmations" of some of the findings in the literature such as the great variability of mentor quality within one…

The authors discuss how to train middle managers who do not exhibit any knowledge deficiencies, but who still need some form of development to put a sharp edge on their performance. They suggest that trainers use (1) self-reflective learning, (2) action learning, or (3) double-loop learning. (CH)