Editorial

Citation

Roberts, B.E. (2006), "Editorial", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 20 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijem.2006.06020gaa.001

Editorial

A very warm welcome to this the last issue of the journal for 2006 and 20 years of editing this successful journal. It was not so in the first few years when papers were hard to come by and there were only 2/3 issues per year. Now, thankfully, it is quite the opposite with papers waiting for publication and authors understandably sometimes becoming anxious about progress. Of course experienced authors understand that it takes several months to progress papers, with the refereeing process to undertake, which ensures quality maintenance. Also, now there is always a queue so that the submission once acknowledged can then wait a few weeks before, I am able to deal with it. However, most of you out there who submit will know that they get there in the end hopefully with a positive outcome for writers. Over 20 years there have been many managing editors working with me at what was then MCB, now Emerald, and I would like to pay tribute to the most recent person in that role Rachel Murawa who has given great support and friendship to me and I wish her all the best in the future.

Moving on to the papers themselves, I have in this issue encouraged new writers to come forward and be published some from areas that may not be familiar with the nuances of the international publishing processes but I want them sometimes to have a chance even though their expressions may not always be ours. The first is not one of those I refereed to coming from the USA, but is a new author to the journal, Mimi Wolverton from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The next is also US-based but working for a private management company. From the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, is a contribution followed by one from the University of Leeds, then finally Ocan University, Istanbul. I wish all of these new contributors good luck in any future work they may submit.

Wolverton’s paper is “Three Georgias in Atlanta” referring to Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia. These are all state supported institutions, offering MBA programmes that rank in the top 50 in the country, all within Atlanta. Is it overkill or successful diversity? The paper tells their stories and how they differentiate themselves from one another which hold important lessons for professional schools and colleges that face increasing competition for students within their home areas.

Dr Marc Frankel’s manuscript with Judith Schechtman and Robert Koenigs is entitled “Too much of a good thing? Values in leadership for educational organizations”. The first named authors are from Triangle Associates and the latter from SYMLOG consulting service. The declared purpose of the paper is to compare images of ideal leadership between independent elementary and secondary schools and research universities using a standardized set of values, and to compare these ratings with an empirically derived model of effective group leadership. Differences consistent with expectations were noted between the two groups and with the model, confirming and describing what had previously been anecdotal. The independent education ideal was a preference for leadership that nurtures and protects individuals whilst still enforcing rules equitably, whereas the higher education ideal contains greater elements of collaborative work and shared decision making by faculty members. The paper demonstrates differences in preferred modes of leadership that had previously only been anecdotally reported. By finding subtle differences in ideal preferences between elementary/secondary schools and research universities, the study further describes possible cultural variation within the education sector.

Pooja Garg and Professor Renu Rastogi of the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee contributed a joint paper on “Climate profile and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCB) of teachers in public and private schools of India”. The research involved a sample of 100 teachers evenly divided between public and private schools. Following data collection significant differences regarding climate profile and OCB’s were examined using the t-test. The findings indicated significant differences in the climate profiles of public and private schools. There were also significant differences in the exhibition of citizenship behaviours of teachers working both types of schools. The authors state that the research represents a beginning only into the examination of the topic and it makes feasible suggestions for the improvement of the climate profile of private schools and the citizenship behaviour of teachers. It also implies that enhance the climate of private schools appropriate strategies must be followed which can transform teachers to be more creative, innovative and flexible. Also, open communication and appropriate feedback must be encouraged which can help build strong relationships between teachers and principals which has been often depressed by the bureaucratic leadership styles of principals.

The next paper is also a joint paper from Maggie McPherson of the University of Leeds and Miguel Baptista Nunes of the University of Sheffield, on “Organisational issues for e-learning: critical success factors as identified by HE practitioners”. HE institutions world wide are trying to reshape their courses, professional practice and administrative procedures to address the emerging demands of the information society. E-learning is increasingly called upon as one of the desired solutions by both society in general and students in particular. This causes pressures on educational; managers and practitioners to adopt e-learning solutions, which may not have been properly thought out and may not be sustainable in the long-term. Thus, universities and government bodies are now called on to elaborate and implement sustainable and efficient e-learning strategies. Any such strategies need to ensure that academic programmes consider the specific organisational context within the university environment. However, the urgency of the demand for e-learning compounded with the increasing number of students requesting this approach to learning requires educationalists to rethink their teaching strategies at short notice. Yet, because academics and practitioners involved in setting up e-learning courses and programmes have tended to concentrate their research on teaching and learning rather than on management isssues, there is very little integrative research incorporating both elements of the e-learning process. Therefore, there is a need to identify critical success factors (CSF’s) in teaching and learning and management in order to develop integrative change management models that ensure successful e-learning implementation. This paper reports a research project that established CSF’s that may be used as a theoretical foundation upon which to base decision-making and strategic thinking about e-learning.

Finally, new to IJEM is Gonca Telli Yamamoto of Ocan University, Turkey. His contribution is on a subject covered before by the journal but not from the Turkish perspective i.e. university evaluation/selection. The paper consists of a study of students attending a foundation university in Turkey. The questionnaire method was used in order to determine the important criteria which impacted on student views towards university selection. This took place during 2005/2006 and various departments were included from the universities. The paper examines the criteria that affects the selection of students and details the students’ point-of-view in making the university selection in Turkey. This is intended to help the university manager’s decision in determining the marketing tools they would use in the future.

Brian E. Roberts