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Exploratory case study research was initiated to study the evolution of management information systems and their use in operational and strategic decisions. The unit of analysis was the management team on farms with innovative or successful information systems. Human factors, such as an analytical nature and commitment to lifelong learning, were perceived to be the most important common elements. Production variables often were critical success factors. Managers annually developed financial statements; enterprise and ”what if” analyses were conducted regularly. Learning about questions that innovative producers have difficulty addressing was time-consuming but instructive with respect to research and educational needs.

SThe full title is "Theses on Strengthening of the Link Between School and Life and on the Further Development of the System of Public Education in the Country." 2These schools actually offer instruction at lower levels as well and will continue to do so in the future. We are concerned here only with that portion of their work designated as "second stage" secondary education. a See article by N. N. Semenov, well-known physicist and a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, in Pravda, October 17, 1958, and a letter by Academicians Ya. Zeldovich and A. Sakharov in Pravda, November i9, 1958. The Semenov article is available in English in The Current Digest of the Soviet Press, Vol. X, No. 42, November 26, 1958, pp. 6-8. The translated text of Khrushchev's April I8th speech, at the I3th Congress of the YCL, appears in The Current Digest of the Soviet Press, Vol. X, No. i7, June 4, 1958, pp. 17-x9, and the translated text of Khrushchev's memorandum on school reorganization appears in The Current Digest of the Soviet Press, Vol. X, No. 38, October 29, 1958, PP. 3-7. See also an article by George Z. F. Bereday and Richard V. Rapacz, "Khrushchev's Proposals for Soviet Education," Teachers College Record, Vol. 6o, No. 3, December 1958, pp. 138-149. 4 The "theses" call for some expansion of higher education facilities in Central Asia and Siberia, but reaffirm previous decisions to decrease enrollment in these institutions in large cities such as Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev.

This article is based on a comparison of two documents: Time Allotment for Elementary Schools, issued by the Oakland Public Schools (September 1958), and Plan d'Etudes de l'Enseignement Primaire, by the Department of Public Education in Geneva (1957). It is an attempt to show what the public school administration in each city feels is the proper time allotment for different subjects in the elementary school. Oakland and Geneva are comparable for severals reasons: (1) they are both cities in democratic societies which maintain public supported schools; (2) both school systems are uninfluenced by a church; (3) both cities are under the direct influence of outstanding universities; (4) both systems consist mainly of students whose background is urban; and (5) the students are prepared by the schools to take their place anywhere in society. First, a few words about Geneva. Switzerland, though a small country, consists of twenty-two cantons or states which are similar to the states of this country in their relation to the federal government. There is as much variety in the quality of the public education as there is in the United States. Geneva, one of the most progressive of the cantons, has an outstanding Institute of Education. This Institute started in 1912 under the direction of the Swiss psychologist, Edouard Claparede, and has established a sound reputation in the area of research in educational psychology and in teacher training-especially at the elementary level. The most outstanding person at the Institute today is the psychologist, Jean Piaget. As in Oakland, there is only one kind of public elementary school for all Geneva children; the grades are divided into two main divisions: preparatory division (three years of school, ages four through six) and primary school (six years of school, ages seven through thirteen). The first two years of the preparatory division are optional, so they will not be considered in this study. Also, the last year of the preparatory division (equivalent to the first grade in this country) will be excluded since the Plan d'Etudes does not give a complete indication of its time allotment for the different subjects. The seventh grade will also be excluded; although it is a part of the Geneva primary school, in this country it is part of the junior high school. Thus, the data given below apply only to the second through the sixth grades in both cities. Most of the figures which follow are based on the total number of minutes of instruction per week. Since there are often differences from year to year, it seems best to total these weekly figures for the five-year period. For example, a subject taught 100 minutes per week for each of the five grades will be represented by the number 500. Even though this figure does not represent actual time spent during the five-year period, it does serve as an index which is less cumbersome than complete totals. One of the most obvious similarities between the two cities is the total amount of time spent in school. In Geneva, it is 178/2 days per year and 1350 minutes per week; in Oakland, it is 181 days per year and 1200 minutes per week the first three grades and 1500 minutes per week the last three grades. More areas of agreement are shown by the following tabulation