Macro View Research Articles

Constructing a New Taxonomy of Change: Michigan Administrators’ Perspectives on Current Change Processes

Reform in education is capturing national attention. While a macro view of change process from the policy, legislative or structural perspective is crucial, the perspectives of those engaged in the change process are equally important to the understanding of change in all of its complexity. This study examined the perceptions of administrators whose districts were involved in change processes. The responses from the administrators suggest a framing mechanism, or taxonomy, that represents the current state of change efforts in Michigan.

Managing in Academics: A Health Center Model

<i>Managing in Academics</i>is a timely book for this period of profound change influencing health care and academic health centers. The book's purpose is to help those steering the academic health center ship navigate safely through rough seas and dangerous reefs, The book succeeds only in part, because during times of rapid change some topics lose their initial wisdom and timeliness by the time they appear in print. Fortunately, most of the contents, distributed through 20 chapters, survive present changes; however, to maintain freshness, some chapters will need frequent updating in future editions. Others may already have become victims of progress. "Computer Systems," for example, reflects a reality several years back and appears outdated. Each chapter can stand by itself. The first and last give the reader an excellent macro view of the challenges facing academic health centers. The respective authors, who are both in charge of academic health centers,

The British Industrial Revolution: An Economic Perspective.

* Editors Introduction: The New Economic History and the Industrial Revolution Joel Mokyr. * The Fable of the Dead Horse or, The Industrial Revolution Revisited David S. Landes. * Reassessing the Industrial Revolution: A Macro View C. Knick Harley. * Too Much Revolution: Agriculture in the Industrial Revolution, 17001860 Gregory Clark. * The Role of Education and Skill in the British Industrial Revolution David Mitch.

A macro view of the Gnosjo entrepreneurial spirit

Gnosjo is well known all over Sweden and also internationally for its extraordinarily strong entrepreneurial spirit, known. in Sweden as the Gnosjo spirit. In this paper we investigate the long-run sustainability of the Gnosjo phenomenon. We demonstrate that the manufacturing industry in the Gnosjo region is dominated by labour-intensive industries and that the plants in these industries in the Gnosjo region have been quite successful when compared with plants in the same industries in Sweden as a whole. However, during the period 1980–88 a restructuring has taken place in the region with employment growth in particular in the knowledge-intensive industries, while employment has been declining in the labour-intensive industries. This restructuring has not been very successful and the plants in the Gnosjo region in the growth sector have not been able to compete in terms of productivity and profitability with their counterparts in the rest of Sweden. We put forward the hypothesis that the main reason for t...

Interrelationships in maize markets in Southern Africa I: Structural effects of the farmer support programme

A dynamic linear programming matrix is assembled in order to model the Southern African summer grain industry. Supply, demand and production risk, including interactions with production substitutes, are considered. The model is used to evaluate the possible structural effects of the farmer support programme (FSP) taking into account the interrelationships in grain markets in Southern Africa. The effects are evaluated under different marketing policies with respect to changes in land use, prices and labour requirements. A macro view is taken. An effective FSP will lead to structural changes in land use, prices of products and labour requirements. The effect of the FSP on production, prices and labour will not only vary according to the success in changing over from subsistence maize production to commercial farming in the developing areas, but is also dependent on marketing policies in general. The interrelationships in agriculture and the economy emphasise the need for an overall policy plan.

Macro View of the Stages of Development in a Water Resources System, a Water Transportation System, and an On-Farm Irrigation System an their Organization for Water Management

Macro View of the Stages of Development in a Water Resources System, a Water Transportation System, and an On-Farm Irrigation System an their Organization for Water Management

A macro view of two decades of violence in America

This paper attempts to predict variations in violence at the state level using structural indicators. Multiple regression models were constructed for 1960, 1970, and 1980. Percent Black and Percent Urban were found to be the strongest predictors of violent crime in all three years. Additionally, two longitudinal models for changes in violence from 1960–1970, and from 1970–1980 were constructed. Changes in Per Capita Income and Percent Black were strongest predictors in the 1960–1970 model. From 1970–1980, changes in violence were best predicted by changes in Density Per Square Mile and Per Capita Income.

A Macro View of 1985 and 1986

A Macro View of 1985 and 1986

The effect of ‘experience’ on information preferences

A decision-maker's experience is thought to affect how he/she chooses the information that support his/her selection among alternatives. Unfortunately, results from empirical studies designed to demonstrate this hypothesis are not in agreement about the existence and/or extent of the relationship. Since one possible explanation for conflicting in results is variability in the operationalization of the variable ‘experience’, this study was designed to determine if it matters whether one chooses a macro view of experience (in which the focus is on a decision-maker's overall experience) or a micro view of experience (in which the focus is on specific experience with the decision under consideration). Additional insights regarding problems in operationalizing ‘experience’ were generated as a result of these analyses to provide a basis for further research in this area.

Upper Echelons: The Organization as a Reflection of Its Top Managers

This analysis considers the impact of the top managers in an organization on the organization's outcomes, specifically strategic choices and performance levels. The focus is not on the chief executive alone, but rather on the entire top management team. Using a macro view, these organizational outcomes are perceived to be related to the values and cognitive bases of those high-power individuals in the organization. In developing the model, emphasis is on the background characteristics of the top managers as opposed to the psychological dimensions. A series of propositions that should be tested to support the upper echelons theory are presented. The topics of these propositions include age, functional track, other career experiences, education, socioeconomic roots, financial position, and group characteristics. The creation of this model is just the beginning of the work that is necessary to evaluate and understand the upper echelons theory. Further input is needed from areas such as the executive recruiting industry. Additionally, clinical and statistical studies are both necessary to fully develop this theory. (SRD)

Viewpoint

In last month's leader, Education &amp; Training took a macro view of the labour market. In this and subsequent leaders more detailed comments will be offered relating to certain micro problems.

Conceptualisation of the Corporate Planning Process: A Micro and Macro View

Conceptualisation of the Corporate Planning Process: A Micro and Macro View

Macro and Micro Methodology in TESL

Two interdependent views of what goes on in a classroom can be distinguished in order to understand how we set up an efficient learning and teaching strategy in the classroom. A macro view would look at the characteristic behavior of learners, teachers, instructional materials, and so on. A micro view would look at the material being learned, the way it was presented, and the responses of the learner. Macro methodology is an overall plan for the roles to be played by learners, teachers, instructional materials, and the classroom as they interact with each other to form the most efficient learning and teaching context for the acquisition of communication skills by each learner in the classroom. Micro methodology is an overall plan for the presentation of new language material to learners, the practice of that new language content, and of previously presented language material by learners, and the use of acquired language material as communication skill by learners. While macro and micro methodology are interdependent aspects of a total learning and teaching strategy, they are not only derived from different sets of assumptions, but have differing consequences for the establishment of an effective stategy. Both macro and micro methodology are aspects of the orderly presentation of language material.