The probity of the Children's Bureau's National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) is examined with respect to the status of child welfare as well as the performance of social work education. By requiring that funding go only to accredited schools of social work, which is not authorized by relevant provisions of the Social Security Act,…

Appreciative Leadership is unique among leadership theories both past and present. This uniqueness includes its strength-based practice, search for the positive in people and organizations, and the role this plays in organizational innovation and transformation. What follows is a summary of Appreciative Inquiry and the five main principles on…

From the colonial colleges to the present-day flagship universities, the undergraduate general education curriculum has dramatically shifted from a single, faculty-prescribed, general program to a diverse array of elective, student-choice-driven, specialized programs of general studies. This transformation has also encouraged, if not established,…

In times of financial and economic crises, public organizations seem to cut their budgets for training and education, especially when the impact of a programme is questioned. Therefore, PA programmes need to clarify what impact can be expected and what individual and organizational processes are influencing the impact of a PA programme on the…

There is growing concern among researchers and governmental officials that knowing what works in education is important, but not enough for school improvement. Sound evidence alone is not sufficient for large-scale, sustainable change, both because practitioners may consider it irrelevant to their own problems of practice or run into challenges…

There is growing concern among researchers and governmental officials that knowing what works in education is important, but not enough for school improvement. Sound evidence alone is not sufficient for large-scale, sustainable change, both because practitioners may consider it irrelevant to their own problems of practice or run into challenges…

This article details the Northwest Indiana Public Safety Data Consortium (NWIPSDC), a privately funded data-sharing network housed at Indiana University Northwest, an anchor institution, that includes several private-sector participants and over 30 public safety agencies at all levels of government (local, county, state, and federal). The NWIPSDC…

The insider security threat causes new and dangerous dimensions in cloud computing. Those internal threats are originated from contractors or the business partners' input that have access to the systems. A study of trustworthiness and transparency might assist the organizations to monitor employees' activity more cautiously on cloud technologies…

This book asks how modern universities are organized and managed, and questions whether 30 years of university reforms have resulted in stronger managerial structures and leadership control. It further asks whether current organisational and decision-making structures can be explained by public reform policies. The book offers a coherent,…

While interdisciplinary courses are regarded as a promising method for students to learn and apply knowledge from other disciplines, there is limited empirical evidence available whether interdisciplinary courses can effectively "create" interdisciplinary students. In this innovative quasi-experimental study amongst 377 Master's…

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to analyze the process of "germ cell" formation by framing it as an opportunity for promoting organizational learning and transformation. The paper aims to specifically answer two research questions: Why does the "germ cell" have a pivotal role in organization's transformation? and Which…

This article is a critique of David Stoesz' descriptions of organizational issues in child welfare, and more specifically, the relationships between the U.S. Children's Bureau and the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute. The focus is on Stoesz perspectives and assessments of sub-entities (cartels) that are currently influencing funding and…

Several research studies found that managers lacked a basic understanding of a balanced scorecard (BSC) approach to evaluate an organization. Because of this, the authors saw an opportunity to reorganize a course in order to provide students with an opportunity to address this issue. Therefore, a recent pilot study was conducted to ascertain…

The decline in the number of liberal arts colleges since the mid-1950s has been precipitated by a number of factors, most prevalently the increase in larger comprehensive and research universities as well as the demand for job-ready degree programs. Since liberal arts colleges are largely tuition-driven, the lack of student interest has forced…

Several budgeting approaches have been initiated as alternatives to the traditional, incremental process. These include formula budgeting; zero-base budgeting; planning, programming, and budgeting systems; and responsibility center budgeting. Each is premised on assumptions about how organizations might best make resource allocation decisions.…