Change in our communities, businesses and education is inevitable. Education of our youth has predominantly been provided by our government along with non-profit and profit private schools, which co-exist within our educational system. Since 1954, the Bayer and Freesmeyer’s families have owned and operated a group of non-profit schools, known as the Rancho Solano Private Schools (RSPS). In 2007, RSPS was sold to the Meritas International Family of Schools, a for profit Illinois-based organization, (Oke, 2011). The mission of the organization was to broaden the curriculum at Rancho Solano along with the original nine schools, operated by the Meritas organization by incorporating an international focus in the curriculum. Thus, in pursuit of this
…show more content…
Mernard applied any number of time tested organizational theories to the situation she and the administrators faced. An organizational theory under the classical approach called Administrative principles should have been implemented. Administrative principles were founded by Henri Fayol, executive, scholar, and author of the book Administration Industrielle et Générale. Fayol believed that an organization should have “Foresight: To complete a plan of action for the future” and “Control: To make sure things happen according to plan and to take necessary corrective action”, (Oke, 2011, p. 22). Clearly, neither of these principles were applied because the closing announcement gave little to no preparation for parents to make a clear and sound decision for the education of their children. Elton Mayo from Harvard, brought about another theory, the Hawthorne Studies, under Human Resource Approaches. Although, many studies were disappointingly inconclusive, one such area showed the overwhelmingly important principle, “that people would restrict their out-put to avoid the displeasure of the group”, (Oke, 2011, p. 25). According to Oke (2011), this meant that crowds could have solid harmful, as well as encouraging impacts on individual output. Had Dr. Mernard recognized this, she would have involved the parents earlier along and at a further level …show more content…
Many of the decisions that determined the fate of the Rancho Solano Preparatory Schools had a large impact on the students, families, employees and the community. Whereas, hardworking employees were left without jobs, while children and their families were left with uncertainty of how or where the children would be educated. While acknowledging the financial need to shut down the two campuses, the administration could have conducted the closure in a better way by using effective set management theory principles. Had they used the administrative principles, a guideline of best practices to help structure a business, the financial and structural weak spots would have become far more apparent much sooner, and they would have been efficiently able to communicate the closure in a timely manner, thus easing the transition for the children and families. For example, contingency thinking would have allowed a more tailored and personalized approach to the situation, which may have helped to create a more personalized solution. Lastly, the Hawthorne Studies stress the importance of involving all stakeholders, (Oke, 2011). If the parents, students and teachers were involved at a deeper level earlier on the negative impact would have been drastically mitigated. Looking
Mernard applied any number of time tested organizational theories to the situation she and the administrators faced. An organizational theory under the classical approach called Administrative principles should have been implemented. Administrative principles were founded by Henri Fayol, executive, scholar, and author of the book Administration Industrielle et Générale. Fayol believed that an organization should have “Foresight: To complete a plan of action for the future” and “Control: To make sure things happen according to plan and to take necessary corrective action”, (Oke, 2011, p. 22). Clearly, neither of these principles were applied because the closing announcement gave little to no preparation for parents to make a clear and sound decision for the education of their children. Elton Mayo from Harvard, brought about another theory, the Hawthorne Studies, under Human Resource Approaches. Although, many studies were disappointingly inconclusive, one such area showed the overwhelmingly important principle, “that people would restrict their out-put to avoid the displeasure of the group”, (Oke, 2011, p. 25). According to Oke (2011), this meant that crowds could have solid harmful, as well as encouraging impacts on individual output. Had Dr. Mernard recognized this, she would have involved the parents earlier along and at a further level …show more content…
Many of the decisions that determined the fate of the Rancho Solano Preparatory Schools had a large impact on the students, families, employees and the community. Whereas, hardworking employees were left without jobs, while children and their families were left with uncertainty of how or where the children would be educated. While acknowledging the financial need to shut down the two campuses, the administration could have conducted the closure in a better way by using effective set management theory principles. Had they used the administrative principles, a guideline of best practices to help structure a business, the financial and structural weak spots would have become far more apparent much sooner, and they would have been efficiently able to communicate the closure in a timely manner, thus easing the transition for the children and families. For example, contingency thinking would have allowed a more tailored and personalized approach to the situation, which may have helped to create a more personalized solution. Lastly, the Hawthorne Studies stress the importance of involving all stakeholders, (Oke, 2011). If the parents, students and teachers were involved at a deeper level earlier on the negative impact would have been drastically mitigated. Looking