James Stuart Pounder

Women – better leaders than men? In general and educational management it still “all depends”

The growing impact of women in the workforce has kept the leadership style of women on the research agenda. Reviews some of the current thinking on women and leadership, drawing on general and educational management literature. Particular attention is paid to management in education because of: the continued pressure on the higher educational sector generally to be publicly accountable that indicates a specific need for effective leadership; the fact that at the school level, leadership is a central theme in the literature on organizational improvement and educational reform; and education is a field numerically dominated by women, yet despite some evidence of a growing willingness of women to take up leadership positions in the field, educational leadership is still a male preserve. Concludes with a synopsis of some of the factors that may account for differences in leadership style.

Institutional performance in higher education : is quality a relevant concept?

Over the past two decades, institutions of higher education worldwide have come under pressure to demonstrate effective performance. Their response has been to borrow the quality concept from industry and place it at the centre of institutional performance assessment in higher education. This article describes a Hong Kong study which developed valid and reliable organisational effectiveness self rating scales for higher educational institutions. In the course of developing these scales, the relevance of quality to institutional performance assessment was examined. In failing to produce a valid and reliable effectiveness scale for a quality dimension, the study highlighted the shortcomings of the quality concept particularly as a basis for the comparative assessment of institutional performance. The study also indicated a methodology for identifying concepts which may provide a firmer base than quality for such comparisons.

Employing Transformational Leadership To Enhance the Quality of Management Development Instruction.

In recent years, the transformational leadership construct has become a popular topic in leadership literature. Generally, the view is held that transformational leadership is superior to the more conventional transactional leadership and produces desirable leadership outcomes. The claims made for transformational leadership have been largely reported outside the instructional context yet the nature of the transformational leadership construct indicates considerable potential in the teaching of management development courses. This paper explores the idea that the enactment of transformational leadership by instructors can enhance the quality of management development instruction.

“New leadership” and university organisational effectiveness: exploring the relationship

“New leadership” studies often suggest that transformational leadership in particular produces desirable leadership outcomes. However, few studies have demonstrated a direct link between the exercise of a particular type of leadership and organisational effectiveness. Efforts to establish such a link are hampered by the absence of a generally agreed definition of organisational effectiveness. This is particularly true in higher education where attempts to develop models of organisational effectiveness applicable to universities have been sparse despite worldwide calls for universities to demonstrate “value for money” performance. This paper examines the relationship between transformational/transactional leadership and university organisational effectiveness. In the course of the examination, the paper indicates possible modifications to the original conceptualisation of transformational leadership. The paper also argues for university leadership that is self‐reflective and capable of utilising the array of leadership characteristics subsumed under the transformational and transactional leadership notions.

The management of change: a narrative perspective on management development

Examines the role of narrative in management development. It contrasts the characteristics of this genre with the more conventional approach to management development. Using a management of change course delivered to management practitioners as an example, the paper draws attention to the value of narrative in enriching knowledge of the effects of change on individuals. It is argued that narratives express the richness and diversity of human experience and thus challenge simplistic analyses of management issues such as change that can result from adherence to narrow, mechanical models of human nature. Thus, narrative is recommended as a valuable tool for conveying the reality of managerial situations to practitioners engaged in management development.

Teamwork and controversy in undergraduate management courses in Hong Kong: Can the method reinforce the message?

Teams are increasingly recognized as critical for strategy, innovation, and other key organizational activities. This study used the theory of cooperation and competition to identify conditions that promote student team effectiveness in Hong Kong university undergraduate strategic management courses. Results from 70 teams across 12 classes indicate that groups with cooperative goals engaged in the open-minded constructive controversy; teams with independent goals avoided open discussion. Teams with a high level of constructive controversy rated themselves as effective; these teams also were rated as giving high quality presentations as measured by instructors’ marks but this result was not statistically significant. These results suggest that structuring cooperative teams can help students perform well in the classroom and may help prepared them to work in the emerging team organization.

Public accountability in Hong Kong higher education: Human resource management implications of assessing organizational effectiveness

Calls for public accountability in higher education are widespread and higher educational organizations are under pressure to demonstrate “value for money” performance. Organizational self‐assessment is one response to the pressure for public accountability but self‐assessment exercises thus far have largely relied on criteria that are both subjective and untested. This paper describes a Hong Kong study that attempted to produce more objective assessment criteria through the development of organizational self‐assessment scales for Hong Kong higher educational organizations. A modified version of the behaviourally anchored rating scales (BARS) procedure resulted in four organizational effectiveness scales capable of producing valid and reliable ratings for higher educational organizations in Hong Kong. The nature of the scales highlighted human resource management issues that are current in Hong Kong higher education and are likely to be relevant to other higher education systems that, in common with Hong Kong, rely largely on public funding.

A Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales Approach to Institutional Self-assessment in Higher Education

Institutional self-assessment is considered to be a crucial quality assurance mechanism in higher education. However, the criteria employed in self-assessments tend to ignore the overall organisational effectiveness of the institution. This paper describes a study which employed the effectiveness criteria contained in the Competing Values Model of Organisational Effectiveness (Quinn & Rohrbaugh, 1981, 1983) to produce a set of organisational effectiveness self-rating scales for Hong Kong higher educational institutions. The scales were developed using the behaviourally anchored rating scales (BARS) procedure. The study produced scales which address the organisational effectiveness of an institution and appear to be a useful addition to the array of quality assurance mechanisms in higher education. The paper highlights the qualitative benefits of the scale development procedure and resulting scales and notes that the procedure could be employed, and the qualitative benefits enjoyed, in other higher educational systems.

Faculty-student engagement in teaching observation and assessment: a Hong Kong initiative

There is now a worldwide focus on the quality of university teaching and yet there is general dissatisfaction in universities with the student evaluation of teaching system. Peer observation of teaching seems to hold much promise in the assessment of teaching quality, but such observation pays little attention to the quality of teaching as perceived by students. One approach to overcome this deficiency is for faculty and students to also partner in the assessment of a faculty member’s teaching, with a student trained in observation and feedback techniques acting as a peer in the observation process. This paper describes and evaluates an ongoing student consultant initiative at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. It presents faculty and student observations in terms of the benefits to faculty regarding potential enhancement of university teaching, and the benefits to students especially in terms of close collaboration with faculty and training in consultation techniques. The paper notes that the student consultant initiative has been more popular with students than faculty, and recommends further investigation of the potential of such programmes in Hong Kong higher education.

Quality teaching through transformational classroom leadership

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to indicate that transformational classroom leadership has substantial benefits in terms of enhancing the quality of the classroom experience and associated educational outcome in the context of growing criticism of university teaching quality. It also aims to recommend the focus of future research to realise these benefits. Design/methodology/approach – The paper comprises a comprehensive review of literature on the outcomes of transformational leadership in a classroom context and identifies weaknesses in the research thus far. It then indicates an approach to capitalising the potential of this instructional innovation. Findings – Transformational classroom leadership has substantial benefits in terms of enhancing the quality of the classroom experience for both students and teachers. Research limitations/implications – This paper produces substantial arguments in favour of transformational classroom leadership as a means of enhancing teaching quality and education...