Doctoral program types and legitimacy of models: different forms for different purposes

Globally, there has been a shift in Higher Education. The rise in the number of nontraditional students and the educational inclusiveness obligations of universities has seen the development of differentiated doctoral pedagogies to meet the demand for flexible enrolments. The shift in university thinking that occurred due to student demand and political interference into higher education financially and socially has necessitated a change in traditional doctoral pedagogy to provide for the educational motivations of these students. This chapter will explore these factors relative to the doctoral degree models that have evolved in various countries in response to student, industrial, and political requirements

Determinants and Performance Effects of Social Performance Measurement Systems

This study investigates the performance measurement systems adopted by companies to manage their social responsibility activities, a theme that remains under-researched despite the important role that these mechanisms may play in helping firms control and improve their social performance. An integrative model is developed to examine how the three fundamental drivers of corporate social strategies, i.e., business motivations, perceived stakeholder pressures, and top management\u2019s social commitment, influence the use of social performance indicators for internal decision-making and control and how such use impacts companies\u2019 social and economic performance. The results from a survey of 97 Italian companies suggest that economic motivations and top management\u2019s commitment are associated with a more intensive use of social performance indicators for decision-making and control, whereas perceived pressures from stakeholders do not represent a significant determinant of such use. The use of social performance indicators, in turn, is found to directly influence a firm\u2019s social performance and, indirectly, its bottom line