Yes / This article explores the connections between Bradford-born author J.B. Priestley and the University of Bradford, using evidence from archives held in Special Collections at the University. The discussion includes the award of an honorary doctorate to Priestley in 1970 and the opening of the J.B. Priestley Library in 1975.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Technology: Marketing, Durban University of Technology, 2012. / Due to the competitive environment, the changes in the higher education landscape and limited financial resources, higher education institutions are forced to evaluate and review their marketing strategies in order to recruit suitably qualified students. This study will examine the impact of the current promotional tools at public higher education institutions in the Tshwane metropolitan region. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the promotional tools used by public higher education institutions in the Tshwane Metropolitan Region from a student perspective. Furthermore, the study strived to establish whether the demographics of the students played a role regarding the value they attach to choice factors when selecting a higher education institution. Prospective students will benefit from the study because promotional tools were identified to make informed decisions about their institution of choice. The study also identified the effect of the existing promotional tools used as sources of information by students and identified the most appropriate promotional tools to enable proper allocation of the promotional budget. An empirical study was conducted using a questionnaire adapted from Wiese (2008) study. Likert scale was used to structure questions. Non-probability sampling was used to select first year students from two public institutions in the Tshwane Metropolitan Region. Data was captured into a software package and analysed using SPSS Version 18. Descriptive statistics summarised the results of the research questions, namely; socio demographical profile of respondents, factors influencing students’ decision making process, the information sources used by students and the effectiveness of promotional tools. The results of this study showed that students preferred higher education institutions to use personal communication tools for student recruitment. Interestingly, students rated social media as one of the most important communication methods. Furthermore, emphasis on the core product and specific aspects of the tangible product and augmented product was found. It was also noted that students from diverse backgrounds and provinces used different sources of information during their search for enrolment at a higher education institution. The study limitations were that the survey was only restricted at two higher education institutions in the Tshwane metropolitan region. It was noted that marketing practitioners at higher education institutions may renew their existing promotional tools (open days and career exhibitions) to gain competitive advantage.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a Masters Degree in Technology in Public Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa. 2015. / While research has been conducted, with regard to job satisfaction all over the world, no research has been done on the various factors affecting job satisfaction of academic employees, with specific reference to the National University of Lesotho (NUL). Therefore, the understanding of these factors are clearly defined and explained, in order to help university administrators to improve academic performance and attract well-qualified academics into the university. Factors affecting job satisfaction of academic employees at the NUL include, working conditions, relationship with colleagues, and access to resources, job security, recognition and advancement. The sample consisted of 156 respondents, who were selected using the Supercool Random Generator Software and were required to complete a questionnaire, with an interviewer present to assist. Respondents were asked to complete a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. A mixed approach of both quantitative and qualitative techniques was used, while the analysis of primary data was done using SPSS, version 21.0. The results were presented by figures from Microsoft Excel and gross tabulation tables. The findings of the study indicated that there was a positive significance to the NUL academic staff regarding salaries, as a factor influencing their job satisfaction. The results also indicated that there are insufficient financial resources to support teaching, learning and research at the NUL. However, the results further revealed that, besides all the dissatisfaction shown by academics, in terms of aspects, such as benefits, allowances, lack of equipment, as well as poor institutional management, there were good relations between departments, and they work as a team. Therefore, the findings from this study can assist university administrators and academics to increase the job satisfaction levels of employees.

The purpose of this research was to provide a descriptive and critical analysis of the function of evaluation teams in regional accreditation of senior colleges and universities--how evaluators perceive their roles, how they spend their time on site, and how they make decisions. The objectives of the study were (1) to determine the extent to which regional accrediting visits do what they are purported to do in regional policy and procedure statements, and (2) to determine the strengths and weaknesses in the onsite evaluation process as perceived by regional evaluation team members. The methodology involved a three-step process: (1) a content analysis of regional policy statements regarding the evaluation visit, (2) a survey of evaluators from five of the six regional associations, and (3) a review and comment on the draft findings by professional staff of the participating regional commissions. An overall response rate of 82 percent was obtained from the sample of 349 evaluators--without the use of follow-up mailings. Regional cross tabulations of evaluator responses, together with Chi-square statistics and standard errors of the percentages, provided the basis for the analysis. Major conclusions of the study were: (1) The lack of clear specification of the purpose of the evaluation team visit rendered it difficult to determine whether the purported purposes of the visit were being met. (2) The major strengths of the evaluation visit lay in the expertise and dedication of the volunteer evaluators, and in the willingness of the commissions to adapt their procedures to changing needs and new technologies. The major weakness in the evaluation visit was the lack of an evaluation framework or model to guide the work of the evaluation team. The researcher's recommendations included (1) the regional commissions should clearly specify the intended purposes of the evaluation visit in light of the overall purposes of regional accreditation, and (2) the regional commissions should utilize a coordinating group such as the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation and the evaluation expertise within academe to develop a framework, or genre, to guide team members in accomplishing the purposes of the visit.

The purposes of the study were to identify the dimensions of the quality of doctoral programs, to develop a qualitative index based on these dimensions, and to examine the validity of the index. A total of ten objective variables and 200 doctoral programs in the disciplines of physics, electrical engineering, biochemistry, and sociology were examined in this study. Alpha common factor analysis rotated using varimax was the statistical technique employed to identify the dimensions of quality. Factor analysis identified two dimensions of the quality of doctoral programs in physics, electrical engineering, biochemistry, and sociology. The first dimension was the size-related input dimension dominated primarily by variables such as the number of graduate students, the number of faculty, the amount of departmental research spending, and the size of the library. The second dimension was the outcomes dimension dominated by variables such as the student success rate of gaining academic/research positions in Ph.D.-granting universities, faculty research productivity, faculty grantsmanship, and the student success rate of gaining professional employment outside academia. When one or both dimensions were used as bases for ranking programs, the method that used both dimensions (the composite QI) was better in producing plausible rankings of programs. The main advantage of using both dimensions was that the second dimension acted as a suppressant (or control) to the first factor causing the index to produce a more plausible estimate of quality.

Internal branding in universities has been acknowledged in marketing literature as an important area of research. In the context of higher education institutions, employees play a crucial role in the branding process. Research within the current spectrum of internal branding indicates some ambiguities surrounding internal branding in higher education. Yet very few studies are available in the field of internal branding within universities to explore employee behaviour in brand support. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to examine, from the academic staff’s perspective, the relationships between internal branding in universities and employee brand support and also the relevant underlying mechanisms (specifically, the mediating effects of internal branding aspects, i.e., 1. brand-centred training and development activities and 2. internal brand communications) in a Thai university context. This study employed a mixed methods approach with a dominant quantitative component, involving semi-structured interviews (with 19 respondents) and a pilot survey (with 95 respondents) to collect data for the development of measurement scales. Afterwards, the main survey (with 347 respondents) was conducted in order to test the research hypotheses and the proposed conceptual model. In addition, information from the semi-structured inteviews is used to explain the relationships found in this study after hypothesis testing. Based on a review of the existing literature in a range of fields (including higher education management, brand management, organisational identity, organisational culture and behaviour, corporate communication, human resource management, marketing management, government policy and leadership), this study proposes a conceptual model of the positive relationships between internal branding activities in universities (internal brand communications and brand-centred training and development activities) and employee brand support. In addition, the transformational leadership characteristics of the immediate leader (idealised influence or charisma; inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration) are also included in the model as determinants of internal branding activities and employee brand support. Brand-centred training and development activities and internal brand communication activities are proposed as mediators of the relationships in the model. The proposed conceptual model is developed on the basis of marketing control theory (Jaworski, 1988) combined with transformational leadership theory (Burns, 1978), social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) and Lewin’s (1947) change theory. From the statistical findings, together with upport from the literature and the in-depth interviews during the exploratory stage, this study finds positive relationships between brand-centred training and development activities, internal brand communication activities, the transformational leadership characteristics of the immediate leaders and employee brand support. However, an unexpected outcome is that the relationship between internal brand communication activities and employee brand support is not significant. This outcome indicates that the brand-centred training and development construct fully mediates the relationship between internal brand communication activities and employee brand support. Therefore, in order to create employee brand support behaviours among academic staff, institutions cannot rely solely on their internal communication activities. This finding highlights a crucial role for brand-centred training and development activities in building employee brand support in the context of higher education. In addition, the study finds that, given transformational leadership characteristics, an immediate leader of academic staff not only affects their brand support behaviour, but also either initiates or influences internal branding activities in the institution, thereby creating employee brand support among academic staff. Therefore, institutions which want to build employee brand support from the academic staff should ensure that the immediate leaders of their academic staff’ should manifest transformational leadership characteristics. Finally, this investigation is expected to be of value in advancing current knowledge about internal branding in universities and also be useful to higher education management and public policy-makers who want to encourage academic staff to support their university’s brand.

This study used case studies to examine the leadership frames of female presidents of four-year, public and private, coeducational research institutions both from the Intensive and Extensive Carnegie classifications within the United States. The population (N=30) surveyed was sent the Leadership Orientation Questionnaire (Self) developed from the previous research conducted by Lee Bolman and Terrance Deal. The Bolman and Deal leadership frame theory condensed existing organizational theories into a four-frame perspective consisting of a structural, human resource, political, and symbolic frame. Bolman and Deal theorized that the ability to use more than one frame is considered to be critical to the success of leaders and intensify that leader's capacity for making decisions and taking effective actions. The Leadership Orientation Questionnaire (Self) contains five sections that include rating scales for personal demographics, the four frames, eight leadership dimensions, and management and leadership effectiveness. The research questions sought to identify the demographic characteristics and academic histories of the survey participants and the associations between these variables, the leadership frames represented among the survey participants, and how many, and which, of the four frames the survey participants use collectively. This study allowed its participants to examine their perceptions of their own leadership frames in order to analyze the frame that dominates the way certain universities communicate. Thirteen of the thirty presidents (43%) completed and returned the survey. Survey participants who had 20 or more years of experience were more likely to exhibit the human resource or symbolic frame as their dominant style; presidents whose years of experience numbered less than 20 years exhibited a mulitframe perspective in their decision-making process. Overall, this research found that the survey participants exhibited most often the human resource frame, followed by the symbolic, structural, and political frames.

M.Com. (Computer Auditing) / This study investigates the effects of the implementation and upgrade of financial Enterprise Resource Planning (hereafter ERP) systems, particularly the Oracle system, on financial reporting and audit. It also determines whether the independent external auditors play a vital role in the process of implementing internal controls in the implementation and upgrade of the Oracle system at a higher education institution (hereafter HEI). With the ever-evolving information technology, it is of utmost importance that the necessary controls be implemented. A sample of 18 Oracle system users from the HEI finance expenditure department and HEI independent external auditors is surveyed and the results of the survey are used to provide advice to organisational management on measures that should be implemented to ensure smooth systems implementation and post-implementation results. The empirical study indicates that the HEI had adequate measures and controls in place to ensure that the ERP implementation runs smoothly and threats are avoided, resulting in a successful implementation for competitive advantage in HEI.

The problem of this study was to investigate factors associated with the retention of present and of former faculty members at selected church-related colleges.

This utilized identification theory to determine if faculty identify with the university and recognize its mission. The study also explored how faculty differentiate between a traditional university and a metropolitan research university. Finally, the study explored whether the faculty consider the University of North Texas to be a Metropolitan Research University. UNT full-time faculty members (N=224) completed questionnaires to indicate their identification with the university and their recognition of the university mission. Analysis showed that faculty have not come to a consensus on the definition of a MRU and that they do not identify with UNT.