Institutional research as a tool for supporting management decision making has a relatively short history in the United States and is much less prevalent in the United Kingdom, especially in colleges. This paper outlines the principal roles and functions of an institutional research office, discusses staffing issues, and suggests practical roles…

A discussion of performance indicators and their use in the United Kingdom examines the basic data from which performance indicators can be assembled, distinguishing input and process variables controllable by management from uncontrollable background variables. Problems in application of performance indicators and the potential for their future…

Research evidence concerning the introduction of performance appraisal in United Kingdom universities is presented. The notion of "procedural compliance" is introduced to draw attention to the largely externally imposed appraisal of universities and to the nature of institutional response. Findings of a study of appraisal in four…

Reports on a five-year ethnographic, longitudinal study of a British higher education college during a process of change in quality assurance. Identifies tensions experienced during the process and stresses the influence of context, the unpredictability of change, and the lack of simple prescriptions for managing change projects. (DB)

Examination of the history of use of performance indicators in three European national higher education systems (Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom) suggests that their role at the national level is declining at the same time that institutions are moving toward more broad-based quality assessment strategies. (Author/MSE)