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Leadership matters for the success of large enterprises and this is also the case for higher education institutions and universities. Yet, the public nature of universities and of academia means these institutions are usually highly dependent on external actors, in particular government. Viewed through a lens of distributed leadership, this paper explores how leaders in universities, national academies and government view and rate key changes associated with this pervasive reorientation and reorganisation of public higher education. It asks where do the views of leaders within universities and those outside universities converge and diverge and what patterns are evident in the differences between leaders? Drawing on 116 in-depth interviews and 114 follow-up surveys with senior higher education leaders in Australia, of which just over half were university senior executives, this paper concludes that all leaders surveyed are largely aligned in their views of most issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing number of public colleges and universities in the United States have hired management consulting firms to help develop strategies aimed at increasing institutional effectiveness and efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to explore the frames and strategies of consultants in US public higher education reform efforts. Drawing upon a range of documentary evidence, the paper examines four consulting firms (Accenture, Bain & Company, Deloitte and McKinsey & Company) and their perspectives on higher education reform. The paper analyses the consultative process with two public universities and two state higher education systems to determine possible avenues by which consultants exert influence. Through reference to theory on academic capitalism and new institutionalism, the paper reveals the ways in which consultants circulate crisis narratives and diffuse private sector management ideas among public colleges and universities that are seeking both financial solvency and legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of transnational programmes as part of the internationalisation of higher education has grown rapidly in importance in recent years. In this paper, transnational higher education is defined as the delivery of programmes overseas by a parent institution either operating directly or in association with an international partner. Whilst such programmes have been considered from a paedagogic perspective, their impact on institutional management is under-researched. Yet, it is clear that management practice is critical to success or failure. This paper is based on a detailed analysis of institutional audit reports prepared by the Australian Universities Quality Agency in the period 2008–12. The reports are used to identify key issues for institutional management. Building on this analysis, the paper aims to offer a theoretical insight into governance and leadership of transnational programmes and thereby provide practical guidance for strategy formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the challenges facing those responsible for service provision in universities is ensuring that service is provided at the right point in the organisation. Service delivery points can exist at the school/department level, faculty/division level or central unit/university wide level. This does not always follow organisational logic, common sense, the interests of stakeholders, or an organisational service strategy or plan. Many universities have established 'one-stop shops' for student services. These have taken many forms and include a range of services, from student administration and student support services, to information technology support and cashier/student financial services. Different management arrangements, including the use of service agreements, have also been used across the sector in Australia. There are additional levels of complexity caused by multiple campuses, differences in the composition of the student body, differences in teaching arrangements, organisational structures and resource arrangements. This paper focuses on student administration and support services. It analyses a range of current models in universities and provides some suggestions for assessing the logic of the models, using a set of underlying principles to help make decisions. The paper considers the services provided, staffing and resource levels, organisational structures and student feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a gradual shift towards vocational type courses in tertiary education, and subsequently an increasing trend in the employment of those experienced in their profession into academic positions. This paper will focus on the case study of allied health professionals employed under the assumption that people with clinical skills and experience will be able to transfer into academia. Yet the skills required in academia are different from clinical practice. Despite there being a paucity of research exploring this phenomenon, that which does exist suggests that academics transitioning from clinical practice may feel stressed, confused and disillusioned. They can also take many years to establish their academic career. A greater understanding of the transition process is needed, and support strategies for developing academics must be prioritised. These strategies need to be implemented at a systemic level in tertiary education institutions, but also at the individual level by the academics themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the case for reform of management structures in UK universities and offers proposals for change. The model of top-down, performance-led management that characterises many institutions is both outmoded and ill-suited to the challenges of an increasingly turbulent higher education sector. Drawing on the experiences of a university that introduced a new scheme of performance management, I explore alternative approaches to leadership and management, collaborative or partnership working designed to improve employee voice and the need to re-evaluate approaches to Human Resource Management. I conclude with a five-point model for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the fourth decade of the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, including author analyses and thematic insights from articles published from 2009 to 2018. In addition to an increase in the number of articles published, the Journal now publishes more articles by authors from outside Australia, female authors and co-authored articles. Institutional management and leadership is the most common theme, responsible for just over one quarter of articles. By methodology and level of analysis, roughly half of all articles utilise survey or multivariate approaches and target national-level insights. Due to the practical orientation of the journal, many articles integrate management, leadership and policy with other common higher education themes, such as student experience and quality assurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The working lives of general staff in universities have been a rather closed book until recently, having been largely ignored in both academic and non‐academic literature. When discussed or referred to, general staff have been depicted in problematic ways that, in recent times, can be associated with the prevailing discourse of corporate managerialism . This paper attempts to redress this situation by illustrating some aspects of the lives of general staff in universities. In particular the paper considers how changes in universities, as they have become more corporate, have influenced the work, perceptions and constructions of working life as described by a group of general staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the "Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management for 2004." The Journal continues to enjoy a pleasing glut of material. This happy situation means that as editors, one have no problem in providing a wide range of material, from higher education sectors all over the globe. The author would like to thank the many reviewers who, throughout the past eighteen months, have meticulously labored reading and commenting on the material readers have been reading. The reviewing process is indeed at the very heart of academic publishing and one often say to authors that one at the mercy of reviewers.

Most universities around the world put in place administrative processes and systems to manage student progress. These processes usually involve filling out standardised forms and instruments: managerial tools intended to increase transparency, promote efficiency and ensure fairness by applying the same standards to all. The progress report is a widely used management tool in doctoral candidature in Australia and in other countries which look to the United Kingdom for degree structure and format. This reporting mechanism requires students and supervisors to make a retrospective account of the research done in a given period. The intention of the progress report is to provide a mechanism for recording feedback and an opportunity to clarify communication between supervisors, students and the institution itself on the progress of the research. However, whether these managerial tools achieve these aims in doctoral candidature is questionable. In this paper, we report on findings from a study of progress reporting in doctoral studies in one middle-band university in Australia. We found that men and women reported qualitative differences in their encounters with the progress reporting mechanisms, which called into question the idea that these management tools are gender neutral and fair in their effects or application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interim, discontinuous or 'acting' management is an increasingly ubiquitous feature of universities. This paper asks: What are the implications of this for good academic governance? Should we understand this managerial dance as a symptom of the collapse of good managerial order or, by contrast, as a symptom of the robustness and flexibility of the organisational culture of the university? Or both? This paper answers 'all of the above' to these questions. It reaches that conclusion by examining relevant literature, theorising a methodology for reading the field of interim management, and by applying this theorising to an analysis of qualitative data collected as part of a national collaborative research project conducted in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores leadership styles and gender in higher education (HE) by examining representation of female professors in Australian and Turkish universities and identifying barriers to achieving seniority. The paper explores factors, including leadership styles, which explain the higher representation of female professors in Turkey, despite legislative frameworks and strategies in Australia to improve representation of senior women. It then explores barriers to women's career advancement, including the difficult management culture, low morale, informal processes in appointment and promotion, and lack of training for management roles in Australia, and conflict between career and family roles in Turkey. Finally, the paper identifies the impact of strategic choices on leadership styles and women's career advancement. This research questions the impact of equal employment opportunity and affirmative action frameworks on women's representation as professors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a substantial increase in the number of candidates enrolled in PhD programmes in the past decade. Whereas the literature is relatively informative with its advice to candidates and supervisors, there is little evidence of research related to supervisory styles and changes of style over the supervisory period. This paper attempts to close that research gap by examining 60 items from the literature related to PhD completion. Eighty key variables identified from the literature were used to build a four‐quadrant supervisory style management grid based on the Blake and Moulton Managerial Grid model. The grid was subjected to a verification study through the results obtained from 12 in‐depth interviews with supervisors. Further, a hypothetical model was developed to examine changes in supervisory style over time, along with the managerial implications for supervisors. The study was taken within an Australian context using the European style of PhD structural practices which do not necessarily reflect the contemporary American model. The study has significant implications for alternative dissertation completion approaches where high levels of supervision are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, educational technology is identified as crucial to addressing many scale issues around higher education learning and teaching. However, such projects are often run with the technical project goals achieved but the educational goals unrealised. Further, in an age of austerity, all investments must be closely scrutinised as to their efficacy in meeting their intended goals. To what extent can educational technology be used as a management tool to enable and promote institution-level change in learning and teaching as a strategic goal? This paper reports on use of the Resources, Activity, Support and Evaluation (RASE) model at an Australian university in its move from an incumbent to a new ‘learning management system’ coupled with judicious use of inflection points introduced to drive educational change across a whole institution and to model and report on that change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The role and impact of diversity in higher education has permeated conversations about student access and achievement for many years. Language articulated by various courts suggests that higher education policies should reflect a broad conceptualisation of diversity beyond that of the magnitude and proportion of race and ethnicity, yet institutions struggle to measure diversity in a manner that effectively supports the management of diversity goals and meets the legal requirements for targeted strategies. Building on methodologies from biology and political science, this paper proposes a new way of conceptualising and measuring diversity that addresses the limitations of traditional diversity metrics and accounts for race and race-neutral attributes within a single model. Using data from over 1500 colleges and universities, the development of a composite diversity index is demonstrated as a strategy for meeting organisational need to account for and measure multiple diversity attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an empirical study associated with earlier reviews of the changing roles and identities of contemporary professional staff in UK higher education (Whitchurch, 2004; 2006a; 2006b). The study draws on the narratives of 24 individuals to illustrate that identity movements cannot be captured solely in terms of a shift from 'administration' to 'management', or of a collective process of professionalisation. Contemporary ideas about the fluidity of identity (Delanty, 2008; Taylor, 2008) are used to theorise the empirical data, and to develop a conceptual framework that describes emerging identities by means of three categories of bounded, cross-boundary, and unbounded professionals. This framework demonstrates that professional staff are not only interpreting their given roles more actively, but that they are also moving laterally across functional and institutional boundaries to create new professional spaces, knowledges, relationships and legitimacies. It is suggested, therefore, that the roles and identities of professional staff are more complex and dynamic than organisation charts or job descriptions might suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Federal government changes to the funding of doctoral students have focused the attention of university management on their completion rates. The aims of this paper are to inform the allocation of institutional resources in a manner that improves the likelihood of timely doctoral completions and to highlight a process that can also be used for analyses of other key indicators of progression and attrition. The analyses and model development used national data readily available to all universities, which are collected in a standard approach through the Graduate Destinations Survey (GDS). The findings show that the most important variable for timely completion was attendance (full-time compared with part-time), whereby in terms of full-time equivalent (FTE) years of study, part-time students were far more likely to complete quickly than full-time students. For the full-time students, the key predictors of timely completion were residency, field of study and English-speaking background (ESB). The timeliness of part-time students was predicted by field of study and ESB. This study confirms that there is considerable variation by discipline for timely doctoral completions. The pragmatic application and prospective test of the derived models present a variety of opportunities for research student administrators. For example, those full-time students scoring highly represented a concentration of timely graduates more than 7.5 times higher than the lowest-scoring group - almost an order of magnitude of difference. In short, university management could gain tremendous value from more widely using the data available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurable research outputs have become part of the overall research management structure within Australian universities over the past ten years. As such, policy makers and administrators alike have come to regard effective management structures and mechanisms as fundamental components of a research environment capable of generating desired quantities of quality outcomes. This paper is based on empirical research carried out over the past year that surveyed academics from commerce and business faculties in Australian universities. The data show that factors such as gender, discipline, and academic level appear to impinge on the relative importance of components that make up research management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The funding of Finnish Universities has been based on a management by results strategy since 1991. This paper analyses the effects of this strategy on university management and administration. Empirically the study is based on material collected from four multidisciplinary universities. Theoretically it is based on organization theory and higher education research. The financial development of four case‐study universities has been analysed according to the source of funding from government or non‐government sources. Quantitative results for each case‐study university are compared with the numbers of teaching and administrative staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a model of leadership within tertiary education based on research into expertise and institutional distinctiveness. It builds on row contrasting styles of institutional development. Firstly, in the traditional university (higher education) sector, promotion to senior management positions has tended to be based on academic prowess, largely relating to research capability. The result is senior academic leaders who may not be well suited to line or operational management. By contrast, in the traditional polytechnic (vocational education and training) sector, promotion to leadership positions has tended to be based more on perceived managerial qualities, and the resultant leaders may be more inclined to be good managers without displaying overt academic leadership, A model of shared academic management and leadership focused on departmental/school level, based on research into the nature of professional expertise, is therefore proposed which brings together the strengths of both of the above styles. This model develops the responsibilities of both the academic leader and the operational manager and explores their symbiotic relationship. The performance of associated administrative functions is also considered in regards to the overlap between the administration occurring in these roles and that of designated office administrators. The implications of this model on organisation structure and culture and on staff promotion and career development are also addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that research assessment is of increasing importance as an instrument of New Public Management and within the context of efforts to establish a European Research Area. Specifically, it compares the procedures of research assessment in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany in an attempt to distil basic design options for such procedures. It is suggested that this general model may be utilised to assist reviews of currently practised procedures and for the development of new ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An academic department in the university sector experiencing rapid growth was plagued by structural inadequacies due to the inappropriateness of the organizational arrangements carried over from former, smaller units, and also by an identity crisis, both at personal and departmental levels, which had resulted in major inter-personal and inter-small-group conflict. This paper outlines the historical background, the micropolitics underlying the project of finding a structure that would function effectively, reduce conflict and produce a coherent group identity. Finally, a brief assessment of the success, to date, of the structure the project resulted in is given, as are hints at micropolitical and managerial undercurrents which still need to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of senior managers in consolidating and interpreting new managerialism in higher education in Australia, South Africa and Portugal, and perceptions of potential effects on gender. The impact of managerialism on decision-making in Australia was increased centralisation with the Vice Chancellor operating as a Chief Executive Officer; in South Africa tension existed between collegial and managerial models evident in power struggles between Vice Chancellors and faculties, plus overt risk and strong political considerations; while in Portugal decision making remained collegial with Rectors seeing themselves as primus inter pares (first among equals). The major finding was that while women as senior managers had an increased capacity to impact on decision-making in managerial universities, mainly related to 'soft' management skills, these were not valued in a competitive management culture strongly focused on research output. Thus managerialism presents a great challenge for women in senior management in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past fifteen years the rationale, organisational infrastructure and delivery of social policy in Britain have undergone radical transformation. Whereas efficiency was the key word of the 1980s, quality was the touchstone of the 1990s and quality control with accountability has become the management philosophy of the new millennium. Increased pressure for greater accountability in the use of public funds, together with changes to the structure and funding of higher education, were designed to increase competition for students and subsequent resources. This has provided the initial thrust for increasing the profile of quality issues than in the past. The difficulty is that there is much confusion about the definition of quality and this leads to problems in assessing it. Many academics would argue that quality has always been high on their agenda and the government motivation is simply another element of control to change the focus away from a government policy that led to massification without the necessary injection of resources. Blame has to be levelled so why not at the already overworked, under resourced and demotivated academics? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on management in higher education predominantly investigates senior staff such as Deans or Pro-Vice-Chancellors. Relatively little attention is focused on the department level, middle management roles, such as Associate Heads of Schools (AHoS). This case study, based on anecdotal scoping data, utilized a mixed-methods approach through an email survey and face-toface interview of past and present AHoS at Massey University, New Zealand to investigate participants' perceptions about the role and the factors that influence it. Results show that a majority of participants did not envisage undertaking higher management within the University after holding the AHoS position, predominantly because the time commitments for the position disadvantaged their teaching and research, and therefore opportunity for academic promotion. Consideration of how AHoS roles may be supported and acknowledging the value of undertaking the role could aid in recognition for promotion and encourage the undertaking of the middle management positions within academia and universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pro-Vice-Chancellors (PVCs) form the second-tier leadership of UK higher education institutions. However, their role and position remain under-theorised and under-researched. The present article explores the extent to which a PVC Education role requires core expertise in education or generic managerial skills. Using a mixed-methods approach, we first establish the disciplinary backgrounds of PVCs Education in Russell Group (RG) and post-1992 institutions. Fewer than one in five PVCs Education have a disciplinary background or additional formal training in education. Second, we conducted 24 semi-structured interviews with PVCs Education, Heads of Education Departments and Heads of Learning and Teaching units. These interviews suggest the PVC Education role requires managerial skills, usually acquired in previous headships, as well as academic credibility and knowledge of institutional processes rather than particular expertise in education. In sum, generic managerial skills rather than educational expertise are paramount for understanding the profile of PVCs Education in UK universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the perspectives of three senior managers in higher education institutions in England regarding their mathematics and statistics support provision. It does so by means of a qualitative case study that draws upon the writing of Ronald Barnett about the identity of an ‘ecological’ university, along with metaphors associated with the notion of organisations as living ‘organisms’, suggested by Gareth Morgan. Using these ideas as a heuristic sheds light upon the view that whilst outwardly universities appear to represent a uniform landscape, mathematics and statistics support alternatively, can be seen as different ‘species’ within the higher education system. The study illustrates how three universities occupying contrasting ecological ‘niches’ are responding to the challenges they face by providing and planning different forms of learning support for mathematics and statistics. In conclusion, it is recommended that senior managers reflect upon the possibilities offered by the idea of ‘ecological’ identities in order to explore how they might respond strategically to a rapidly changing environment. This includes adapting various solutions and the further development of innovative ways of supporting students’ transitions throughout the academic lifecycle. In addition, an ecological approach could also aid the formation of the co-creational relationships and networks required for the future success of those developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 20 years, the tertiary education sector has adopted new administrative management approaches, with the aim of improving accountable and strategic focus. Over the same period, the question of how to build leadership capacity to improve learning and teaching and research outcomes has led to discussion on what constitutes academic leadership. While both these advances are needed, what is missing is integration between the two such that academics and professional staff are engaged collaboratively to achieve learning and teaching and research outcomes that are accountable within a strategic focus. This article builds on research into the use of distributed leadership to build leadership for learning and teaching that resulted in the design of a conceptual framework for distributed leadership. Based on this conceptual framework, it proposes a conceptual blended leadership approach to engage academics and professional staff working in collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As accountability stakes continue to be raised in all education sectors, leadership as a factor that can have an impact on improved student outcomes is being studied with heightened interest. This study was conducted from 2011 to 2012 in New Zealand's large urban polytechnics with the aim of investigating the nature and expectations of academic leadership. The conceptualisation of academic leadership in the theory base is fraught with both complexity and paradox and is often presented in contradictory terms. The study identifies images of academic leadership practised by directors of an academic front line, by actors in the front line and supporters on the side line. In relation to polytechnic settings it is concluded that new and varied forms of academic leadership are provided by spreading the role that encompasses both leadership and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2007, Kwara State in Nigeria embarked on a process of college of education reform. This article explores the strategic and managerial issues associated with that process. It sets out the policy imperative for reform within the context of an urgent need to improve the quality of education in Nigeria and traces progress over a four year period, drawing upon experience at both the Ministry of Education and college level. The article analyses the impact of what was a ‘top-down’ initiative, focusing in particular on the policy formulation process; the experience of developing an institutional plan; and the factors that made reform such a management challenge. The article concludes by highlighting lessons that might be learned from the Kwara experience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies since the mid-1980s suggest that university heads of schools experience the role as a series of tensions between enlightenment and enterprise-building agendas. It is apparent that the headship requires skills in management and capacities in leadership not necessarily furnished via typical academic pathways. In such light, the present investigation asks could the headship be different, given evidence that scholarly productivity and professional satisfaction are often compromised, even where heads value the role and demonstrate effective leadership? My aim is to contribute to the study of leadership and management in higher education; interpret discourses generated about the experience of the headship; analyse how the role is constituted and bounded; and explore how it might be transformed. Focusing on understandings of the headship at the University of Tasmania, Australia, the work is contextualised to experiences elsewhere, and should have salience across the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay argues that due to a confluence of trends over the last two decades, today's universities rely on managerial professionalism far more than in the past. But the legitimacy of management in academic institutions remains in question, and is often seen as a threat to scholarly aims and values. Institutions may benefit from considering two 'Hippocratic oaths' in parallel, one for scholarly work and one for managerial work. Two notional oaths are presented to contrast two distinct types of professionalism, each with a different logic. The comparison suggests there are some common values that are enacted differently, depending on the practitioner role. Recognising the professional agendas and different priorities of both roles in a university offers scope for good faith negotiation of conflicts between university scholars and managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies management theories about organizational structure, culture and the environment. Comparison of quality management theories; Application of theoretical frameworks on the behavior of higher education institutions; Categorization of organizations; Structures that could optimize organizational effectiveness.