Australian and Japanese principals voice their views on basic values, roles, visions and professional development

This article presents the findings of a comparative study of the principals of Australian and Japanese schools. It focuses on principals’ views on basic values, roles, visions and opinions on leading and managing schools. The findings are based on the analyses of data from empirical surveys of 145 school leaders in Australia and 260 in Japan from 130 schools from each country with 71% and 45% responses respectively; followed by a limited number of interviews. The results suggest significant similarities and some differences between school leaders of the two countries in spite of significant differences of cultural contexts. In a comparison of the Australian and Japanese school leaders’ visions for ideal schools in the 21st century; the researchers reveal that a central concern of both the Australian and Japanese principals was the success for all students and all teachers. They expect their ideal schools to be attractive places of joy and happiness for adults and children, with adequate funding, diversity, creativity, modern technology with parental and community involvements

Strategic leadership and planning for universities in a global economy

This article discusses some aspects of strategic leadership and planning in the higher education sector in the global economy. It examines global trends in strategic leadership, the culture of entrepreneurialism, characteristics of higher education leaders, the importance of strategic planning and six different dimensions of strategy formulation. Finally, it evaluates the role of monitoring and evaluation in the higher education sector

The impact of quality assurance measures on student services at the Japanese and Thai private universities

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to ascertain students’ perceptions on quality of services provided by private universities in Thailand and Japan and how these affected decisions selecting a university. A comparative study aims to focus on how cultural and economic factors affected their decisions. Design/methodology/approach: Research design sought students’ perceptions through empirical surveys on the type of factors which influenced their decisions in selecting a university. As the students needed to form their views on personal experience on services categorized into ten factors, the research sample included students with one-four years of campus experience. The research instrument was a well validated questionnaire developed on a review of literature and a pilot study. For the main study, 1,900 Thai students from nine private universities and 703 Japanese students from two private colleges were invited to participate. Findings: Findings suggest that in selecting a university campus the university’s reputation, academic staff, quality of the programs and job-placement were the most important factors that influenced student decisions. The comparative analyses reveal many similarities and some differences between the two groups while Thai students had a higher degree of satisfaction than Japanese counterparts which may perhaps be attributed to economic disparities. Implications: Findings may not be generally applicable as the sample was limited and cultural contexts were somewhat similar. Yet, there were generic factors applicable to most universities. Originality/value: These findings are valuable to university administrators and academics to improve the quality of services which are most important in influencing student perceptions in selecting a university