Fides Matzdorf

The impact of facilities on student choice of university

Despite rhetoric of added value, facilities management suffers a dearth of objectively researched, publicly available information concerning the impact of facilities on businesses at the level of market sectors or individual organisations. This paper aims to correct that situation for UK higher education institutions. A survey of undergraduates starting university in 2001 has confirmed, to high levels of significance, earlier research with the 2000 intake. For many institutions, facilities factors, where provided to a high standard, are perceived as having an important influence on students’ choice of institution. Year‐on‐year comparisons show strong agreement at the global level and, where data could be gathered, at the institutional level. Individual institutions show marked differences, significant at levels of confidence of over 95 per cent. A comparison of “reputational pull” and “facilities pull” is suggested as a means of differentiating the “brand” of different institutions.

Barriers to organizational learning in the chartered surveying profession

Organizational learning is seen as a source of competitive advantage in modern business, but in many organizations it is difficult to nurture and encourage. This paper discusses barriers to organizational learning, with a focus on professionals and professionalism. It derives from a research project which investigated organizational learning across the chartered surveying profession in the UK. Barriers identified include: an emphasis on individual learning; “learning‐equals‐training”; “learning‐equals‐lack‐of‐knowledge”; a not precisely defined but all‐pervading notion of “professionalism”; competition; the complex – or even contradictory – nature of the professional bodies; “unwritten rules” within the profession; the traditional hierarchical structure within the profession and in surveying firms; learning as a cost factor rather than an investment; and individuals’ prior experiences of learning. The paper argues that these barriers have their reasons for existing, however, and cannot simply be ignored or condemned: rather, they need to be made explicit and “worked through” by each organization to find its own way forward.

Book review: Leading mindfully: How to focus on what matters, influence for good, and enjoy leadership moreSinclairAmanda, Leading mindfully: How to focus on what matters, influence for good, and enjoy leadership more, Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, NSW, Australia, 2016. 240 pp. ISBN: 9781925267044 (Paperback)

Leading Mindfully sometimes reads like an apologia, not in the sense of a defence against accusations, but of a justification to bring two diverse fields together and prove that, despite many examples to the contrary, they are compatible – an explanation and defence of the author’s views and positions on mindful leadership. This book is good for reflective practitioners and reflective academics – and it is good for people who are unhappy with the way the term leadership is bandied about, and who are looking for alternatives without throwing the concept of leadership completely out of the window.

Book review: Amanda Sinclair, Leading mindfully: How to focus on what matters, influence for good, and enjoy leadership more

Leading Mindfully sometimes reads like an apologia, not in the sense of a defence against accusations, but of a justification to bring two diverse fields together and prove that, despite many examples to the contrary, they are compatible – an explanation and defence of the author’s views and positions on mindful leadership. This book is good for reflective practitioners and reflective academics – and it is good for people who are unhappy with the way the term leadership is bandied about, and who are looking for alternatives without throwing the concept of leadership completely out of the window.

Book review: Leading mindfully: How to focus on what matters, influence for good, and enjoy leadership more

Leading Mindfully sometimes reads like an apologia, not in the sense of a defence against accusations, but of a justification to bring two diverse fields together and prove that, despite many examples to the contrary, they are compatible – an explanation and defence of the author’s views and positions on mindful leadership. This book is good for reflective practitioners and reflective academics – and it is good for people who are unhappy with the way the term leadership is bandied about, and who are looking for alternatives without throwing the concept of leadership completely out of the window.

Les infrastructures de l'enseignement supérieur au Royaume-Uni

Le Royaume-Uni se penche actuellement sur la question de l’infrastructure de l’enseignement superieur. Quatre articles sont presentes ci-dessous, qui decrivent la planification recente et l’etat des recherches en termes d’infrastructure des universites et des colleges d’enseignement superieur britanniques. Le premier est une etude de cas de la planification d’un bâtiment ecologiquement viable devant abriter une ecole de commerce, le deuxieme est consacre a l’incidence des equipements sur un etudiant choisissant une universite, le troisieme est consacre a un rapport analysant les couts et les besoins de modernisation des infrastructures educatives de l’enseignement superieur, et le dernier, a un projet d’amelioration de l’utilisation de l’espace et des ressources grâce a une meilleure gestion de l’espace.

Tertiary Education Infrastructure in the United Kingdom

Infrastructure for tertiary education is currently the object of attention in the United Kingdom. Presented here are four articles that describe recent planning and research regarding facilities for UK universities and colleges of higher education. They cover a case study in planning a sustainable business school building, research on the impact facilities play when students choose a university, a report on the cost and need to modernise teaching and learning infrastructure, and finally a project on effective space management to improve use of space and resources.