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This chapter examines the development of a quality assurance system for undergraduate education as one aspect of the transformation of education policy in China. The central structure of the chapter is the process/stages of policy development and implementation, with particular attention to the changes over time in central control versus institutional autonomy. The Chinese government has moved to a “steering at a distance” approach with ex post accountability, giving institutions of higher education greater autonomy for undergraduate education. Government authority continues to be strong, however, even though the mechanisms of control have changed. This study provides an analysis of quality assurance in Chinese higher education and the changing relationship between government and campuses, using the lens of policy development and implementation.

This article aims to review the latest developments of the higher education sector in China since the mid‐1990s by focusing on the expansion of university education.

It is argued that while massification of higher education is an important indication of the progress in China's higher education system, the quest for world‐class universities indicates China's ambition to earn international reputation in higher education sector compatible with its increasing economic power.

The driving force of these two developments is from the state, which demonstrates the dominant role of the Chinese government in higher education policy and administration. However, the ambitious state constitutes both a driving force and a constraint for China's higher education. The strengthening administrative control accompanied by the financial benefits from the government has led to bureaucratization of China's universities. China's world‐class pursuit necessitates a fundamental change of the existing pattern of relationship between the state and university and university governance model.

The strategic plan to build up world‐class universities shows that China is not satisfied with the quantitative growth of its higher education, but is seeking to achieve a breakthrough in quality higher education.

The paper explains how China's desire to achieve world class status within the area of higher education is being achieved.

Tingting Qi's chapter titled, “Moving toward Decentralization? Changing Education Governance in China After 1985,” provides the historical and policy context for the volume. This chapter integrates the post-1978 Chinese educational reforms into the socioeconomic context of China. The special contribution of this chapter is that it explores the complexity of educational decentralization in China through an in-depth analysis of changes in education finance, administration, and curriculum. Qi reviews prior studies, government documents, laws, and regulations related to Chinese education reform since 1978 within the context of education decentralization in China. Qi also demonstrates that China's educational policy reforms are moving China toward “centralized decentralization” because decentralization is driven by a common, centralized national goal of economic modernization. The chapter presents evidence that “centralized decentralization” is a strategic maneuver that maintains centralized control while providing the reform legitimacy of decentralization. By focusing on decentralization as the core of Chinese educational policy reforms, this chapter situates the following chapters within the social, cultural, and political context of post-1978 China.

Chentong Chen is an undergraduate at Nanjing Normal University studying law and English. She has research interests in education policy, education assessment and evaluation, and child development. She is currently working on two research projects: policy issues related to the college entrance exam in China, and theories and practice of preschool assessment in the U.S.

If being funded for research or other projects were as easy as locating books on finding and writing grants, the grant seeking process would be greatly simplified. In the 1982–83 edition of Books in Print there are over 57 titles listed under the subject heading “Grants‐in‐Aid.” Most of these publications either discuss the grant process, i.e., how to prepare a grant proposal, or they identify sources of funding. A few rare exceptions do both. The procedures for organizing a grant proposal are fairly standardized, and any number of publications will provide the grant seeker who has a creative idea with the information needed to go from idea to grant proposal.

Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

The author scans the top 400 management publications in the world to identify the most topical issues and latest concepts. These are presented in an easy‐to‐digest briefing of no more than 1,500 words.

The title of a popular song informs us that only the strong survive. In today's challenging business world, that could not be any truer. However, shrewd companies readily acknowledge this and recognize the fact that any organization is only as strong as its leadership. They realize that remaining competitive depends to a large extent on managerial competence, which in turn requires organizational commitment to training, development and education.

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to digest format.

Information technology is altering the context within which HRM operates, providing both challenges and opportunities. At the core of the change is network centricity or netcentricity, which is the power of digital networks to distribute information instantly and on a global scale. The new electronic networks provide three main types of connectivity (i.e. inter-organizational, intra-organizational, and extra-organizational) that blur organizational boundaries and yet offer potential for competitive advantage. At the same time, netcentricity poses challenges to HRM in the form of issues with organizational relationships with employees via organizational identity and culture, managerial relationships with employees in virtual work arrangements, and employee adjustment and retention. To reach its potential, netcentricity requires HRM to be a catalyst and leader in such areas as developing dynamic capabilities, conveying organizational culture, and knowledge management. Netcentricity also offers HRM the possibility of developing its own networked relationship with employees as a value-added means of enhancing employment relationships, and ultimately positively influencing both employee attitudes and behaviors.

Little attention has been paid to how quality management systems (QMSs) are optimized by supportive employee behavior. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical review of the literature on the inclusion of human factors in the ISO 9000 family of standards, identify deficiencies in the standard's current treatment of these issues, and offer recommendations on how human resources (HRs) can be better integrated into these business management standards.

This concept paper presents a survey of both academic and practitioner literature on the topic of HR and its treatment in quality standards. The focus is restricted to consideration of human factors that are specifically identified in the ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9004:2009 standards.

ISO 9001 and 9004 include some HR topics, but their treatment is insufficient to meet the demands of today's business environment. The recent addition to the ISO 9000 family, ISO 10018 – Quality Management – Guidelines on People Involvement and Competence (ISO, 2012b) will help to address the deficiency if adopted by the marketplace. To improve the usefulness of ISO 9000 standards, the breadth of human factors should be enhanced both extensively to include components of workplace culture and work design and intensively to require more rigorous treatment of the HR considerations already included in the standards.

There is a need for more comprehensive consideration of human contributions to quality if organizations are to optimize the value they receive from their HR and their investment on the ISO 9001 QMS.

The limited references linking HR and the ISO 9000 series of standards have focussed upon how human factors contribute (or not) to the successful use of the ISO 9000 standards. In contrast, this paper offers a comprehensive and integrative examination of how the ISO 9000 QMS standards could more comprehensively and effectively incorporate HR into a firm's practices.