The central purpose of this study was to compare the attitudes of faculty in applied sciences to the attitudes of faculty in liberal arts and other selected fields to determine if they differ significantly from each other in their perceptions of the effects of university-industry alliances on campus governance and operations. Secondary purposes were (a) to appraise the debate on alliances and the effects of alliances on academic values and (b) to contribute to the literature concerning alliances and their potential for improving higher education.

Although there are numerous instruments available for assessing classroom learning environments at the tertiary level, no instrument has been specifically designed and validated for measuring the business management education learning environment (Brennan & Ahmad, 2005). My aims were (1) to design, develop and validate an instrument, the Business Management Education Learning Environment Inventory (BMELEI), for assessing business management students’ perceptions of the psychosocial learning environments of university seminars and tutorials and (2) to relate learning environment to attitudes towards the subject and attitudes towards the case study teaching strategy. This study is distinctive in that it involved both quantitative and qualitative methods. The BMELEI and two attitude scales were administered to 480 final-year undergraduate and postgraduate business studies students in 30 classes at both Curtin University of Technology and Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia. The qualitative component of the study involved semi-structured interviews with 42 randomly-selected participants from the above universities. Factor analysis supported a six-factor structure (Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Involvement, Task Orientation, Cooperation and Equity) with scale alpha reliabilities ranging from 0.78 to 0.90 for the actual form and from 0.80 to 0.92 for the preferred form using the individual as unit of analysis. Students’ attitudes were found to be positively associated with classroom learning environment. / Also differences were found between students’ perceptions of the actual and preferred classroom environment, and between male and female students’ perceptions of the actual and preferred classroom environment. Findings suggested that students preferred a more positive and favourable classroom learning environment than they perceived as being actually present.

The aim of the research thesis was to identify whether or not the delivery of management education at base level, made a significant contribution to small enterprise solvency. Research by Williams (1986) indicated that over 60% of insolvent small enterprise (SE) owners gave one reason for insolvency as: ‘a lack of business/management experience or skill’. This implies that a significant percentage of SE insolvencies were avoidable, had the SE owner/managers acquired further business skill, knowledge or support. Literature suggests that increased business/management competencies may enable management blind spots within the internal activity structure of some enterprises, to be brought into focus and so controlled (Williams, 1984). This thesis undertakes research, to identify the contribution of various management education programs to SE solvency. The methodology used to test this contribution to business management knowledge, comprised surveys of management education facilitators and program participants, by education institutions from Government and private Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) and Government and private non-RTOs. The objective was to determine, through the use of quantitative surveys, if a significant difference could be established between educational facilities offered and small enterprise owner/manager requirements, with the intention to make this an initial exploratory research. The thesis examined perceptions of SE owner/managers participating in management education programs and whether there is a contribution to the solvency of businesses from an educational framework that gives SE owners who lack crucial business/management skills, direction towards specific information, knowledge and abilities. The intention was to bridge research gaps concerning levels of SE solvency and skill-education available using four major types of business educational organisations. The study included interviews with SE owner/managers participating in business programs to identify their perception of the contribution by courses to the solvency of their enterprises. The research examined whether there was a significant difference in certain clusters and competencies between researched management programs, to establish if completing any program affected positively, levels of SE solvency. Since the research focus was on the impacts of management education on SE solvency, another outcome was to profile the participants who reported positive and negative perceptions of the impact of SE management education courses on SE solvency. These results are documented in full in Appendix ‘C’. Positive perceptions The group of participants, that generally saw courses as having positive affects on SE solvency, had the following characteristics. Predominantly male with education levels above high school level up to VET registered certificate, aged between 26-47 years, wishing to build their solvency and management skills, and wanting to focus on assistance from mentors/consultants on goals and business plans. Negative perceptions Course participants who perceived negative attitudes to the impact of courses in SE solvency had characteristics below. Predominantly female with primary school or trade qualifications, bur not VET certified, up to 25 years old or between the ages of 48 and 55 years, and not interested in building business or management skills. The courses they attended did not focus on goal setting and the participants had little interest in working with mentors or consultants. Conclusion The body of knowledge relating to SE solvency was extended as a result of this study, through working directly with management course participants. This research concludes by advancing the theory that education of business owner/managers is not solely to be focussed on management competencies. A complete business education should include character development and business activity planning, as well as business/management competencies.

[No Abstract]

The purpose of this research study is to investigate and gain understanding of the factors contributing to development of the Center for Advanced Learning (CAL), a regional collaborative educational reform project and the partnerships that emerged from that process. The development process and partnerships are examined from a systems thinking perspective. This study was guided by the following research questions: 1) Why did representatives from the private sector choose to partner with the CAL? 2) Why did some potential partners choose not to partner with the CAL? 3) What are the systems components that contributed to developing this collaborative educational reform project? 4) How do elements of the developmental systems encourage sustained progress? 5) How do educational and private sector systems interact and contribute to development of this project? The study participants included high school and college faculty and administrators, university faculty, and representatives from the private sector and governmental agencies. A total of 17 interviews were conducted and 469 CAL related documents were cataloged and analyzed. The overall findings indicate the project evolved through self-organization and self-regulation. The conclusions are: 1) the ability to sustain development of CAL as an educational reform project in a living systems paradigm rather than from a linear and directed approach required flexibility, understanding, trust, confidence, and time to allow autopoiesis to occur, 2) CAL partnerships evolved in a dynamic manner compared with partnerships described in the literature, 3) motivations to partner with CAL were the result of environmental factors and strange attractors, and 4) adaptive leadership in development of the CAL played an important role. Implications of the study suggest that: 1) systems awareness considerations by participants provides an increased degree of developmental flexibility, 2) the manner in which a vision is disseminated is key to developing momentum, and 3) curriculum development in a complex environment could be managed with systems considerations. / Graduation date: 2004

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Instructional Systems, Leadership, and Workforce Development. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Not available / text

The aim of the research thesis was to identify whether or not the delivery of management education at base level, made a significant contribution to small enterprise solvency. Research by Williams (1986) indicated that over 60% of insolvent small enterprise (SE) owners gave one reason for insolvency as: ‘a lack of business/management experience or skill’. This implies that a significant percentage of SE insolvencies were avoidable, had the SE owner/managers acquired further business skill, knowledge or support. Literature suggests that increased business/management competencies may enable management blind spots within the internal activity structure of some enterprises, to be brought into focus and so controlled (Williams, 1984). This thesis undertakes research, to identify the contribution of various management education programs to SE solvency. The methodology used to test this contribution to business management knowledge, comprised surveys of management education facilitators and program participants, by education institutions from Government and private Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) and Government and private non-RTOs. The objective was to determine, through the use of quantitative surveys, if a significant difference could be established between educational facilities offered and small enterprise owner/manager requirements, with the intention to make this an initial exploratory research. The thesis examined perceptions of SE owner/managers participating in management education programs and whether there is a contribution to the solvency of businesses from an educational framework that gives SE owners who lack crucial business/management skills, direction towards specific information, knowledge and abilities. The intention was to bridge research gaps concerning levels of SE solvency and skill-education available using four major types of business educational organisations. The study included interviews with SE owner/managers participating in business programs to identify their perception of the contribution by courses to the solvency of their enterprises. The research examined whether there was a significant difference in certain clusters and competencies between researched management programs, to establish if completing any program affected positively, levels of SE solvency. Since the research focus was on the impacts of management education on SE solvency, another outcome was to profile the participants who reported positive and negative perceptions of the impact of SE management education courses on SE solvency. These results are documented in full in Appendix ‘C’. Positive perceptions The group of participants, that generally saw courses as having positive affects on SE solvency, had the following characteristics. Predominantly male with education levels above high school level up to VET registered certificate, aged between 26-47 years, wishing to build their solvency and management skills, and wanting to focus on assistance from mentors/consultants on goals and business plans. Negative perceptions Course participants who perceived negative attitudes to the impact of courses in SE solvency had characteristics below. Predominantly female with primary school or trade qualifications, bur not VET certified, up to 25 years old or between the ages of 48 and 55 years, and not interested in building business or management skills. The courses they attended did not focus on goal setting and the participants had little interest in working with mentors or consultants. Conclusion The body of knowledge relating to SE solvency was extended as a result of this study, through working directly with management course participants. This research concludes by advancing the theory that education of business owner/managers is not solely to be focussed on management competencies. A complete business education should include character development and business activity planning, as well as business/management competencies.

The aim of the research thesis was to identify whether or not the delivery of management education at base level, made a significant contribution to small enterprise solvency. Research by Williams (1986) indicated that over 60% of insolvent small enterprise (SE) owners gave one reason for insolvency as: ‘a lack of business/management experience or skill’. This implies that a significant percentage of SE insolvencies were avoidable, had the SE owner/managers acquired further business skill, knowledge or support. Literature suggests that increased business/management competencies may enable management blind spots within the internal activity structure of some enterprises, to be brought into focus and so controlled (Williams, 1984). This thesis undertakes research, to identify the contribution of various management education programs to SE solvency. The methodology used to test this contribution to business management knowledge, comprised surveys of management education facilitators and program participants, by education institutions from Government and private Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) and Government and private non-RTOs. The objective was to determine, through the use of quantitative surveys, if a significant difference could be established between educational facilities offered and small enterprise owner/manager requirements, with the intention to make this an initial exploratory research. The thesis examined perceptions of SE owner/managers participating in management education programs and whether there is a contribution to the solvency of businesses from an educational framework that gives SE owners who lack crucial business/management skills, direction towards specific information, knowledge and abilities. The intention was to bridge research gaps concerning levels of SE solvency and skill-education available using four major types of business educational organisations. The study included interviews with SE owner/managers participating in business programs to identify their perception of the contribution by courses to the solvency of their enterprises. The research examined whether there was a significant difference in certain clusters and competencies between researched management programs, to establish if completing any program affected positively, levels of SE solvency. Since the research focus was on the impacts of management education on SE solvency, another outcome was to profile the participants who reported positive and negative perceptions of the impact of SE management education courses on SE solvency. These results are documented in full in Appendix ‘C’. Positive perceptions The group of participants, that generally saw courses as having positive affects on SE solvency, had the following characteristics. Predominantly male with education levels above high school level up to VET registered certificate, aged between 26-47 years, wishing to build their solvency and management skills, and wanting to focus on assistance from mentors/consultants on goals and business plans. Negative perceptions Course participants who perceived negative attitudes to the impact of courses in SE solvency had characteristics below. Predominantly female with primary school or trade qualifications, bur not VET certified, up to 25 years old or between the ages of 48 and 55 years, and not interested in building business or management skills. The courses they attended did not focus on goal setting and the participants had little interest in working with mentors or consultants. Conclusion The body of knowledge relating to SE solvency was extended as a result of this study, through working directly with management course participants. This research concludes by advancing the theory that education of business owner/managers is not solely to be focussed on management competencies. A complete business education should include character development and business activity planning, as well as business/management competencies.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-203). Also available on the World Wide Web.