Top Administrators Research Articles

Food and beverage marketing in schools: school superintendents' perspectives and practices after the healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

Children are surrounded by ubiquitous forms of unhealthy food marketing at home and in schools. The US Department of Agriculture now restricts food and beverage marketing that does not meet Smart Snacks in School standards. School superintendents, as districts' top administrators, play a critical role in ensuring marketing policies are implemented and adhered to; however, there is limited research involving this stakeholder group. The current study examined superintendents' perspectives on food marketing in schools and the marketing provision in wellness policies, as well as experiences with the implementation of such policies. Qualitative focus groups and follow-up interviews (with focus group participants) were conducted by trained researchers. Focus groups occurred at The School Superintendents' annual meeting; follow-up interviews were over the telephone. Superintendents and assistant superintendents (n 39) from twenty-three states participated. Interviews were recorded and professionally transcribed; transcripts were team-coded in Atlas.ti using an iteratively revised coding guide to facilitate theme generation. Despite common concerns that marketing to children was 'insidious', superintendents reported a wide range of food and beverage marketing policies. In addition, the main issue is fundraising - such as 'restaurant nights' - that results in marketing that occurs on- and off-campus and afterschool. Discrepancies between perspectives and practices point to the challenges that superintendents face with budgetary constraints, as well as relationships with parent-teacher organisations. These findings provide important insights about superintendents' perspectives and challenges, particularly for government and child health advocates supporting school districts, to implement these policies.

Goal Ambiguity, Management, and Performance in U.S. Nursing Homes

Public administration research has produced a large literature on the determinants, consequences, and complexities of goal clarity and ambiguity. This article contributes to this line of work by examining how perceived goal ambiguity and goal multiplicity condition the effect of top administrators’ management on performance. In the context of U.S. nursing homes, we find that the positive effect of management on service quality tends to decrease when administrators report facing high levels of goal ambiguity and pursue numerous priorities that they consider important. This study improves our understanding of the complex mechanisms through which managerial strategies influence organizational outcomes.

A Strategic Imperative for Promoting Hospital Branding: Analysis of Outcome Indicators.

BackgroundOptimizing the use of social media to promote hospital branding is important in the present digital era. In Taiwan, only 51.1% of hospitals have official Facebook fan pages. The numbers of likes for these hospitals are also relatively low.ObjectiveOur objective was to establish a special branding team for social media operation, led by top administrators of our hospital. Here we present our strategic imperative for promoting hospital branding as well as an analysis of its effectiveness.MethodsLed by top administrators, the branding team was formed by 11 divisions to create branding strategies. From 2016 to 2018, the team implemented action plans. All information unique to the hospital was posted on Facebook, as well as on the hospital’s official website. To determine the plans’ efficiencies, we obtained reference data from Google Analytics, and we compared Facebook Insights reports for 2016 with those for 2017 and 2018.ResultsOne of the branding team’s main missions was to establish branding strategies and to integrate segmental branding messages. In each quarter we regularly monitored a total of 52 action plan indicators, including those for process and outcome, and discussed the results at team meetings. We selected 4 main performance outcome indicators to reflect the effectiveness of the branding efforts. Compared with 2016, the numbers of likes posted on the Facebook fan page increased by 61.2% in 2017 and 116.2% in 2018. Similarly, visits to the hospital website increased by 4.8% in 2017 and 33.1% in 2018. Most Facebook fan page and website viewers were in 2 age groups: 25 to 34 years, and 35 to 44 years. Women constituted 60.42% (14,160/23,436) of Facebook fans and 59.39% (778,992/1,311,605) of website viewers. According to the Facebook Insights reports, the number of likes and post sharing both increased in 2017 and 2018, relative to 2016. Comment messages also increased from 2016 to 2018 (P=.02 for the trend). The most common theme of posts varied over time, from media reports in 2016, to innovative services in both 2017 and 2018. Likes for innovative services posts increased from 2016 through 2018 (P=.045 for the trend). By the end of 2018, we recorded 23,436 cumulative likes for posts, the highest number among medical centers in Taiwan.ConclusionsWe achieved the largest number of Facebook fans among all medical centers in Taiwan. We would like to share our experience with other hospitals that might be interested in engaging in social media for future communications and interactions with their patients.

The morphometrical and immunohistochemical investigation of the effect of topiramate on liver and the role of neuropeptide Y receptor in an obese female rat.

We aimed to investigate the possible effect of topiramate (TOP, 0.02 mg/kg/day) on the livers in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity rat model. The other objective was to evaluate the relationship between TOP administration and NPY level using anti-NPY1R antibody. Twenty-four adult female Wistar albino rats were randomly assigned into four equal groups as follow: control (CONT), obese (OBS), TOP, and OBS+TOP. All liver samples were investigated using the stereological analysis, as well as immunohistochemical and histopathological examination. The total number of hepatocytes was significantly decreased in the OBS+TOP group compared to the CONT group or the OBS group (p < 0.05). We found a significant increase in the mean volume of liver in the OBS group compared to the CONT group (p < 0.05). Also, the mean volume of liver was significantly decreased in the OBS+TOP group compared to the OBS group (p < 0.05). Taken together, our findings suggest that decreased liver volume is possibly attributed to TOP administration via setting the NPY level in the obese rats. Further, the side effects of TOP in combination with health risk of obesity may have led to an increase in hepatotoxicity and the subsequent hepatocyte loss (Fig. 7, Ref. 56). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: immunohistochemistry, liver, neuropeptide Y, obesity, rat, topiramate.

Effect of Modern Gadgets in Enhancing the Academic Skills of Young Learners

Data Systems (IS) usage in advanced education is a huge speculation. Such ventures are required to bring expanded productivity and viability, just as better quality administrations to partners. Our writing search didn't discover understudy data the board frameworks (SIMS) in Ethiopia or comparative low-salary nations. This examination is work in progress. It endeavors to connect the writing hole for use and achievement variables of SIMS in a college setting of low salary nations. The examination will address the exploration question: what determinant elements add to the achievement or disappointment of IS in advanced education establishments in Ethiopia, with specific reference to SIMS? The examination utilizes DeLone and McLean(1992, 2003) IS Success Model to recognize the elements of IS achievement when applied to SIMS. We additionally examine two new develops top administration backing and client bolster that were discovered applicable in the examination setting.

Imapct of Modern Gadgets on School Students

Data Systems (IS) execution in advanced education is a huge venture. Such ventures are required to bring expanded proficiency and viability, just as better quality administrations to partners. Our writing search didn't discover understudy data the executives frameworks (SIMS) in Ethiopia or comparable low-pay nations. This examination is work in progress. It endeavors to connect the writing hole for usage and achievement components of SIMS in a college setting of low pay nations. The investigation will address the exploration question: what determinant elements add to the achievement or disappointment of IS in advanced education establishments in Ethiopia, with specific reference to SIMS? The examination utilizes DeLone and McLean(1992, 2003) IS Success Model to recognize the components of IS achievement when applied to SIMS. We likewise research two new develops top administration backing and client bolster that were discovered pertinent in the examination setting.

Cloud Storage as an Effective Student Information Storage System for Global Access

Data Systems (IS) execution in advanced education is an enormous speculation. Such speculations are required to bring expanded proficiency and viability, just as better quality administrations to partners. Our writing search didn't discover understudy data the board frameworks (SIMS) in Ethiopia or comparative low-salary nations. This exploration is work in progress. It endeavors to connect the writing hole for use and achievement variables of SIMS in a college setting of low salary nations. The investigation will address the examination question: what determinant components add to the achievement or disappointment of IS in advanced education establishments in Ethiopia, with specific reference to SIMS? The examination utilizes DeLone and McLean (1992, 2003) IS Success Model to recognize the components of IS achievement when applied to SIMS. We additionally research two new develops top administration backing and client bolster that were discovered important in the examination setting

Rural Customer Satisfaction on E- Banking Services

Data Systems (IS) execution in advanced education is an enormous venture. Such ventures are relied upon to bring expanded productivity and adequacy, just as better quality administrations to partners. Our writing search didn't discover understudy data the board frameworks (SIMS) in Ethiopia or comparative low-salary nations. This exploration is work in progress. It endeavors to connect the writing hole for usage and achievement elements of SIMS in a college setting of low pay nations. The investigation will address the exploration question: what determinant components add to the achievement or disappointment of IS in advanced education establishments in Ethiopia, with specific reference to SIMS? The examination utilizes DeLone and McLean(1992, 2003) IS Success Model to recognize the components of IS achievement when applied to SIMS. We likewise examine two new builds top administration backing and client bolster that were discovered pertinent in the investigation setting.

Dil Okullarında Yöneticinin Rolü

This study aims at examining the role of directors working at the schools of foreign languages in Turkey. The perceptions of the directors and other administrative staff as well as the teachers, on what directors do and where they focus their attention in a less than effective way were identified. 39 directors and 270 teachers participated in the study. Respondents were asked to identify how much time they or their directors spent on the different areas of management. Their responses were analyzed considering their job titles, experience and educational background both through descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. The results revealed that management is accepted as a challenging job by both groups. Directors stated their desire to focus more on academic issues including professional development of their teachers, curriculum planning, testing and student motivation. Bureaucratic paperwork and having to meet the unrealistic expectations have been identified as their main complaints. It was also revealed that dealing with low motivation levels of students and teachers, lack of support from top administrators and financial restrictions were the main challenges faced. The results of this study imply that directors need support from their higher administration especially regarding human relations and conflict management.

Transformational Leadership Theory and Exploring the Perceptions of Diversity Management in Higher Education

With the introduction of diversity policies and diversity management programs, the intent of the top administration and what is enforced at the lower levels may vary. This paper examines underlying factors that would impact the perception of the established diversity management program by lower-level employees in tertiary education institutions. We will then outline how transactional leadership and transformational leadership of the supervisors may impact the perceptions of diversity management in higher education. We will conclude by focusing on areas for future research in diversity management within the higher education context.

Migration in Public Administration Research: A Systematic Review and Future Directions

ABSTRACTAgainst the backdrop of increasing public and social interests in migration, this article conducts a systematic review of research addressing the topic of migration published in top public administration journals since 2000. This article examines five aspects of the migration literature in public administration: the trends of migration studies, lines of inquiry, theoretical groundings, and research designs, methods, and empirical evidence. Based on the findings, the authors discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the literature and offer straightforward suggestions for future migration research in the field.

Bangkok City Tour

Thailand is the only Asian country never to have been colonised. This implies that the country’s monarchs and their top administrators looked for and received significant international influence, e...

Taking the Heat or Shifting the Blame? Ethical Leadership in Political-Administrative Relations After Policy Failures

Ministers are faced with intense account-giving pressures when things go wrong under their watch. While ministers carry hierarchical responsibility for the behavior of their top administrators, ministers have incentive to shift blame and scapegoat them after policy failures. This is likely since political-administrative relations in most parliamentary systems have become more managerial. However, there is little empirical research regarding the formal and informal accountability rules that govern ministerial and administrative accountability after failures. This article compares two parliamentary systems with ministerial responsibility: the Australian State of New South Wales (NSW) and the Netherlands. NSW political-administrative relations have become more managerial than Dutch ones. The comparison highlights two important ethical constraints for ministers: (a) formal rules guiding political-administrative relations; and (b) informal norms regarding appropriate ministerial account-giving. While hierarchically oriented accountability rules and informal (parliamentary) norms buttress Dutch top administrators, these buttresses are less patent in the NSW case. Subsequently, while Dutch ministers have multiple times taken “sacrificial responsibility” for policy failures, NSW top administrators often have to front the media and have taken the fall for their ministers. To conclude, formal accountability rules and informal rules-in-use make ministers take the heat instead of shifting the blame.

Strategic priorities of Portuguese higher education institutions

ABSTRACT This paper presents an analysis of strategic management systems of higher education institutions (HEIs) by identifying policy and strategic priorities and monitoring their implementation. The strategic priorities are contextualized within four scenarios that structure the mission and orientation of HEIs. The methodology is based on data collected by a survey to top administrators in Portuguese HEIs. The study identifies and compares the strategic priorities of Portuguese higher education institutions. The top priorities are concern with internationalization and quality assurance, consistent with the rise of quality assurance systems and the growth of international mobility flows. The study also compares the support techniques for monitoring strategic management.

The impact of women above the political glass ceiling: Evidence from a Norwegian executive gender quota reform

Women have historically been underrepresented in democratic assemblies, particularly in top positions with executive powers. Most gender quota reforms address this by mandating a more equal gender representation on election lists. In contrast, a 1992 legislative reform in Norway required parties' candidate lists for the local executive board to comprise at least 40% politicians of each gender. This legal change was not only exogenously imposed by a higher-level government, but also generated distinct quota-induced constraints across Norwegian municipalities. We exploit the resulting variation in ‘quota shocks’ using a difference-in-differences design to identify the quota's effect on women's political representation as well as local public policies. We find that more women enter the executive board after the reform, though spill-overs on women's representation in the local council and on the probability of a female mayor or top administrator are weak. We also find no consistent evidence for shifts in public policies due to increased representation of women in positions with executive powers.

A latte collaboration: Building a campus social media community over coffee

This paper provides guidance and examples from senior social media managers in higher education for building an effective strategic relationship between social media managers/users across disparate departments and audiences. The paper discusses skills, best practices, and common issues that plague all social media managers and how the creation of a supportive collective can evolve into an institution-wide social media policy that finds its roots in the trenches rather than being created by top administrators and implemented from the top down. It also provides specific examples for how others can create a similar support group at their organisation or university.

Lights on the Royal Guard through the Significance of Two Titles Ḫnty-š and Šmsw

The concept of royal protection in ancient Egypt was not only of great significance, but it was a variable, in accordance with the events of the times. The royal guards have an essential role throughout the Egyptian times in the service of the king or in securing them during their daily life work likewise in war but unfortunately, we don't know that much about ancient Egyptian guards. But with a few bits and pieces of information in historical records, like scenes on tomb walls and titles, we can still get an idea of ancient Egyptian guards and their duties. In spite of the large number of titles known from the Old Kingdom, none of these has been made an interpretation of or deciphered to signify 'guard', in the feeling of a person whose obligation was to give security to a man or a place. However it is unfathomable that no such people existed so as to secure the king, the royal family, the top administrators, the palaces, the rich temples, and so forth. While the presence of 'royal guards' would have been important in all periods, it should have been particularly so during the Old Kingdom, when the country did not have a standing armed force or police power to keep up open request. Amid times of inconvenience or potential inconvenience, for example, a change of dynasty or an argument about progression, for instance, the presence and loyalty of the guards would no doubt have been essential.It may assume that the mission of the 'royal guard' in ancient Egypt does not go beyond the idea of 'protection' and that it belongs only to the military side, but by studying and analyzing the functions of the holders of the title of ḫnty-s and smsw, make sure that 'protection' is a function with broad meaning, property protection was not limited only to the person of the King only, but also military and religious and civil institutions. ḫnty-s have had responsibilities related to the Egyptian frontiers. They executed the king's orders and protected funerary property. They also attached to royal mortuary temples, where they performed services for the deceased king. Their responsibility as in guarding, making the king's way, and in attending. They acted as escorts to the king in victory celebrations, military reviews and hunting events. The man who holds the title smsw could perform different tasks .They likewise associated with the working of the two most imperative organizations: the treasury and the granary. Their exercises in the Nubian fortresses involved administrative tasks too. They participated in the mining and paramilitary expeditions, the reward ceremony and in accompanying the royal procession in Tell El Amarna scenes. The smsw show, through the texts of Ramesses II, a significant military strategic role of the royal bodyguard and it was one of their most critical roles.The royal protection including: the protection of the Egyptian borders, funerary temples and participation in the celebrations of victory, military ceremonies, mining campaigns and hunting. In addition the implementation of royal orders, including sending correspondence to the provinces or persons and many other public works in the sites and fortresses. الملخص: إن مفهوم الملکية في مصر القديمة لم يکن ذو أهمية کبيرة فحسب، بل کان متغيرا وفقا لأحداث العصر. ولم تقتصر مهمة الحرس الملکي فى مصر القديمة على المنوطة بالجانب العسکرى فقط، بل إنه بدراسة وتحليل وظائف کل من حاملى لقب Ḫnty-s وsmsw تأکد أن الحماية هى وظيفة ذات مدلول واسع وأن الملکية لم تکن قاصرة فقط على شخص الملک فقط بل على مؤسساته العسکرية والدينية والمدنية أيضا. لقد شغل حاملى لقب Ḫnty-s العديد من الوظائف الخاصة بالحماية الملکية منها: حماية الحدود المصرية والمعابد الجنائزية والمشارکة بالحضور فى الاحتفالات بالنصر والمراسم العسکرية والصيد وتنفيذ الاوامر الملکية ومنها ارسال المراسلات للمقاطعات أو الأشخاص. ومن جانب آخر لعب حاملى لقب smsw دورا استراتيجيا عسکريا هاما کقوات الحرس الملکى الخاص من خلال معارک الملک رمسيس الثانى ويعد ذلک أحد أهم أدوارهم. وارتبط العديد من الوظائف الأدارية لحاملى اللقب بمؤسستين رئيسيتين فى مصر القديمة وهما: الخزانة وصوامع الغلال، بالأضافة إلى دورهم فى المشارکة فى حملات التعدين وأمدادات الجيش والعديد من الأعمال العامة الأخرى فى المواقع والحصون الکلمات الدالة:

Going for the Gold

Dr. Ken Atwater, President of Hillsborough Community College (HCC), saw the email flash across his monitor, “2018-19 Performance Funding: Hillsborough Community College” sent from the Chancellor of the Florida College System (FCS). The email was 12 months in the making. In 2015, the Florida Legislature created the first performance funding-based incentive program in its General Appropriations Act (Laws of Florida Ch. 2015-232. (n.d.)). Proviso language required the State Board of Education to allocate performance funds pursuant to a performance funding model. The performance model had four performance funding metrics: retention, graduation, wages and job placement (see Exhibit 1). This one message would answer a burning question that had been lingering in the college’s top administrators’ minds: Where would the college land in another year of performance funding? Atwater contemplatively read the email, “A Bronze ranking, again.” This Bronze designation meant the college was not eligible for new state distributed performance funds meaning almost $2 million would not be appropriated to HCC. Atwater asked himself “what needs to be done so HCC is eligible for this funding?” The 2015 Florida Legislature inserted language into its General Appropriations Act creating the FCS’ performance funding-based incentive program. The direction of millions of dollars distributed throughout Florida colleges had been determined including a final ranking of Gold, Silver, Bronze or Purple for each college, with Gold being the highest ranking. This ranking determined whether HCC received millions in new dollars; money that in an environment of budget cuts to the entire FCS over the last two years would be extremely important to the students, faculty, and administrators across Hillsborough County. Atwater knew the college needed to improve its score, thus allowing HCC to move into a Silver or Gold category. The improvement in the score to gain the additional dollars boiled down to concentrated efforts in providing the best education for students while equipping faculty with the right resources to improve effectiveness. Atwater thought, "Easier said than done. I am faced with the proverbial chicken before the egg or egg before the chicken. I may need funding to make the necessary changes to improve the scores. However, without the necessary changes to show improvement in scores, we will not receive the funding." Regardless of the dilemma, the question had to be asked, "What strategies should be implemented to increase scores in the four performance metrics that the college would be judged on? Should the college expand tracking of the cohort of students that is examined? Should new student success initiatives be rolled out to help students?" Atwater wanted answers. He had approximately two million reasons why.

Laboratory Guidelines for Animal Care.

Animal research is a controversial subject because of the ethical and moral implications of using unwilling research subjects in potentially painful or distressful procedures usually ending in euthanasia. As such, it must be conducted in a compassionate and responsible manner geared toward maximizing the animals' quality of life prior to and during experimentation. Because of its contentious nature, the conduct of animal research is highly regulated at the federal, state, city, and institutional levels. It is essential that researchers acquire a thorough knowledge of the procedures to be conducted as well as a working knowledge of the regulations. This will maximize humane care of research animals and prevent potentially negative or detrimental interactions with groups opposed to using animals in biomedical research. Perhaps the best way to attain these goals is to avoid inadvertent instances of noncompliance with their research protocol or applicable regulations. Regulatory noncompliance can also have serious negative consequences on investigators' research careers ranging from temporary suspension of their protocols to loss of funding and revocation of principal investigator status and associated privileges. To minimize such adverse outcomes, it is advised that researchers build positive and collaborative relationships with key institutional players such as the veterinary staff, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and top administrators. Guidance is provided regarding the appropriate handling of regulatory noncompliance.

THE FUTURE SUSTAINABILITY OF MALAYSIAN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: WHAT MATTERS MOST?

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between the organisational quality management initiatives (OQMI) and organisational culture (OC) on the sustainability of Malaysian higher education institutions (SMHEI). The study utilised 263 top administrators’ completed questionnaire survey from universities in Peninsular Malaysia. The statistical techniques employed in this study were descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and a full-fledged structural equation modelling to address the research questions and hypotheses testing. The findings revealed that long-term strategic planning initiatives (LSPI) required a thorough revision; communication and decision-making, and organisational climate of Malaysian higher education institutions (MHEI) persisted as challenges in improving the SMHEI. It was also revealed that the implementation of balanced scorecard could enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of MHEI. This study provides a basis for future studies, particularly in the Peninsular Malaysia context. Theoretically, the study also found that not only leadership perspectives required further investigation but also the financial, customer, internal process, and learning and growth perspectives in the administration for SMHEI.