Determinants of successful internationalisation processes in business schools

We analyse the internationalisation process in business schools as a response to the globalisation phenomena and argue that environmental pressures, isomorphic forces, the pool of internal resources and the alignment of the process with the institution’s general strategic plan are the main determinants of a successful internationalisation process. These determinants, two external and two internal, find support in different theoretical frameworks such as contingency, isomorphism, resource-based view and strategic management theories. We use these theoretical approaches to discuss four propositions that explain the implementation of an appropriate internationalisation process for a business school. This paper contributes to the literature concerned with the internationalisation processes in higher education institutions highlighting the main factors that should be taken into account by school deans, university provosts, university boards and educational policymakers in guiding internationalisation process at institutional and national/sector levels.     

Rodents,evolution, and prehistory

The rodents, especially voles, evolved very rapidly during the Quaternary era. Their remains, particularly the teeth, were fossilised by the thousand in prehistoric deposits. The sites can be dated from the degree of evolution attained by the teeth. Since rodents are closely adapted to their biotopes and live under well defined climatic conditions, they are extremely valuable for reconstructing the landscapes and climates of prehistory. In many cases, a single rodent tooth can be used to assess the age of a human skull or a prehistoric settlement, and throw light on the environment and climate of the time.     

Bond graphs for thermal energy transport and entropy flow

The transport of thermal energy in thermodynamics is described as the product of entropy flow and of the absolute temperature, in analogy to the volume flow and pressure in oil hydraulics and to electric charge flow (= current) and voltage in electronics. Bond graphs are shown to be especially suitable to describe the splitting of applied thermal energy into internal energy and external mechanical work. Transformers and the 0- and 1-junctions of Paynter can illustrate various entropy flow processes, including Carnot engines and heat exchangers. Entropy flow in heat conduction is distinguished from entropy convection, or transport by moving mass, where the entropy/temperature characteristic or equation of state is important. Irreversibilities are represented by impedance transformers reducing temperature and increasing entropy flow but conserving power.     

The influence of competences and support on school performance feedback use

Information‐rich environments are created to promote data use in schools for the purpose of self‐evaluation and quality assurance. However, providing feedback does not guarantee that schools will actually put it to use. One of the main stumbling blocks relates to the interpretation and diagnosis of the information. This study examines the relationship between data literacy competences, support given in interpreting the information, actual use of the feedback and potential school improvement effect. A randomised field experiment with 188 school principals from primary education was set up and a post‐test was used to investigate the effects of a support initiative. The results revealed that a minority of schools invested significantly in the interpretation and diagnosis of the school performance feedback (SPF), despite the fact that most of the respondents showed an interest in the SPF report. In addition, data competence support and the subsequent use of feedback were found to be limited.     

Do increased resources increase educational attainment during a period of rising expenditure? Evidence from English secondary schools using a dynamic panel analysis

This article estimates the effects of school expenditure on school performance at Key Stage 4 in England, over the period 2003–07 during which real per pupil expenditure increased rapidly. It adds to previous investigations by using dynamic panel analysis to: exploit time series data on individual schools that only recently has become available; adjust for the potential endogeneity not only of expenditure but also of other determinants of performance; and differentiate the short‐run and the (higher) long‐run attainment effects of spending changes. Consistent with other recent work, the article reports a generally significant but small effect of expenditure on school performance, but it also finds that the effect varies between specialist and non‐specialist schools, with the effect on the latter being larger. Further, the article identifies significant dynamics in the school improvement process, quantifies the long‐run effect of expenditure changes, suggests that spending effects increase with socio‐economic disadvantage, and quantifies absence effects.