Introduction
While conducting research, various methods are used in gathering the samples and testing them and coming up with the realized results of analysis. Surveys were done take multiple forms depending on the discipline under the study. Social sciences make the have numerous subjects and under them falls education and leadership. Getting deeper into the field of education, a researcher can decide to use several optional methods when conducting the study. Among them is observation, interviews, case studies, surveys, laboratory experiments and field studies. In spite of this variation in the possible methods that are implemented, a common ground involved includes; gathering data, performing an analysis and interpreting the study results.
In the field of higher education leadership, among the conducted studies are the competencies of the leaders in executing their jobs. Women participation in the administration of institutions of higher learning, the succession procedures for leadership in the higher educational establishments and policies that are placed to ensure a distributed leadership with a collaborative framework for academics. The need for introduction for leadership in higher education institutions can also be put to study. A detailed analysis of each case will lead to informed deductions on the best research methods and approaches that can be used when conducting a survey in the field of education.
Performed and Documented Studies: Analysis and Deductions
Distributed leadership: a collective framework for academics, executives, and professionals in higher education
In the recent past, there has been a radical change in the way higher institutions are managed. This has been as a result of a heightened scrutiny by the government, increased competition from other similar agencies and general institutional management revolutions (Jones et al., 2012). This has seen most schools take a new direction that is less hierarchical and more of based on professional context. This has resulted to a reduced academic autonomy as it has been for years. The trend has emphasized on collaboration across leaders, rather than dictatorial power and control.
In a view to the crisis described above the most feasible solution can only be gained if a distributed approach can be established. This will demand a closer consideration of the context, the current environment, the expertise of the leader and the contingencies of leadership. The complication that arises when executing the administration duties is that the led persons are learners who can put logic and are expected to grow both in the primary academics front and in social life. As such, all employees must work hand in hand to ensure that students are supported by all means through the provision of their expertise knowledge as well as guiding in other academic activities (Jones et al., 2012).
The study took 18 months and used a reflexive inquiry method together with the participation of the interviewed persons. The process was conducted in a cycle of four bits of operations, these are the plan, act, observe and reflect. This gave the study a chance to see the response after installation of a collaborative management approach. Furthermore, there was an emphasis on collaboration. The co-operation ranged from within the university such as across departments to across campuses and universities. This approach enjoyed the benefit of flexibility as it needed less effort to adapt to any change (Jones et al., 2012). The responses developed from every newly modified approach were used to develop a matrix that would be used to change leadership strategies by selecting the best path out of the several tried out methods.
According to the research, distributed leadership consists of five aspects, culture, change, relationships and activity (Jones et al., 2012). This is agreeing to the theoretical research proposal conducted in the United Kingdom. Under such leadership, there is a combination of both the external influences and the internal policy makers. This ascertains the study objective; in that, a collaborative leadership is the best mode of leadership for academic institutions (Jones et al., 2012). While this study did not consider the benefits of hierarchical leadership, it dismissed its place as the model of administration at the universities where the research was conducted. The fact that the study did not consider the formal leadership reduced its credibility. The comparative aspect that is missing in the study devalues the obtained results.
Effective implementation of performance management in higher educational institutions (HEI)
This study aimed at getting an effective way of ensuring performance in the management. Among the key aspects of management is performance appraisal. The acknowledged challenge of this process is that it is typically expensive and ineffective. The study intends to identify the barriers to effective management in the higher education institutions. Applicable techniques could also be raised if they prove helpful in improving the university leadership and performance (Ghosh, 2015).
Among the factors that had been put forward includes performance appraisal. According to Gosh, workers feel motivated if they are shown a little appreciation for any extra effort they put in their work. The assessment conducted before awarding must be carried out in a transparent and genuine way. Such transparency will lead to workers embracing the rewards. Communication and feedback are among the critical factors that have to be ensured at all times (Ghosh, 2015).
The survey results were analyzed using multiple regression tabulations and analysis. The results would be used to determine the relationship between reward, review, communication, clear assessment strategies and motivation. The results indicated that all the factors were positively related to the performance management performance in the higher education.
The suggested improvement areas are a follows below. The top management ought to develop clear strategies that will be implemented (Ghosh, 2015). This study, however, does not consider relevant performance management factors such as the bottleneck of return. The study ought to have considered recent trends in improving managements such as automatic workers performance recording. Automatic calculation of work hours to ensure punctuality and overall responsibility.
Women in Higher Education Leadership in South Asia: Rejection, Refusal, Reluctance, Revisioning
This study was aimed to develop answers as to why there have been fewer women in the leadership of higher institutions of learning in the countries in this region. The research intended to look at the available women in the leadership posts, existing policies, literature and possible intervention measures (Morley & Crossouard, 2015). The data was to be collected through some thirty interviews from where the received data would be decoded to give meaningful information. This would enable the scholars to develop a feasible solution to the problem.
Upon visiting the selected institutions, in various countries, there appeared to be no record of women leaders in most organizations. There was no leaders’ stratification based on gender. The women empowerment through leadership had been peripheralized in most institutions. They were not being identified and prepared for management positions in the colleges. The study conducted in Afghanistan indicated that there was a paramount gender discrimination (Morley & Crossouard, 2015). Among the findings that were established include; leaders had limited skills on running an institution, there was little motivation to the existing leaders, there was insufficient funding to the schools and a poor general structural organization.
This research did not include the count of women currently in the leadership posts. Gender integration is a critical issue that could be addressed with emphasis; rather than discrete women empowerment alone. Among the factors that bring about these gender inequalities are cultural based. The study did not propose any measures that can be adopted to ensure that women empowerment commences even at the grass root level in the society.
Presidential Succession Planning: A Qualitative Study in Private Higher Education
This study identified the problem of having new leaders who are half baked to take up leadership mantles (Klein & Salk, 2013). This has resulted in inadequate leadership skills among the leaders and a downtrend in the performance of such institutions. The main problem originates from the increased rate of current leaders quitting their work. Another contributing factor is the demographic shifts at their residential places. This study intends to find the speed of hiring of new leaders in the higher education levels. The role of other committee leaders in the institutions in the succession will also be put to probe.
The method used in this case study is a qualitative method that was used to determine the rate of presidential succession. The targeted result was addressing the increased rate of succession as well as ensuring furnished new entrants to the same position. The solution approach used in this case is to ensure we treat retirements, resignation and the potential unexpected catastrophic losses due to death with immediate response (Klein & Salk, 2013). In other words, any sudden replacement of higher education leaders ought to be done as early as possible. This would consist the succession planning and the other preparations that may be needed to ensure a swift change of leadership; without interfering with the operations of the higher education institutions.
The sample size consisted of 20 institutions of higher learning all in Wisconsin. The target informant were people conversant with the leadership system of each of the 20 samples used. The target interviewees were presidents, board chairs and other institution leaders. The study used the nonprobability purposive sample (Klein & Salk, 2013). The interviews were conducted, and twenty-five of them went through successfully.
According to the study, there appeared to be a better half of the presidents who had already attained the retirement age. Agreeing with most of the presidents, it was time for the institutions to find methods of gaining new presidents and other top notch leaders once the current ones packed their things. A bigger part of them indicated that planning was conducted but only at the interim level. Often, the interim leader would be the next vice-president who would take over; the leadership mantle until a new president could be named (Klein & Salk, 2013).
Among the challenges that emerged with this study is that the succession process would need consultation with all the departments that make up the institution. All the constituents have a voice and ought to be heard. The disregarded sections often lose the leadership momentum. The study was too limited to only Wisconsin. Inferring these results and assuming them applicable to other regions would be a grave mistake (Klein & Salk, 2013). Some of the presidents and other interviewees were reluctant in sharing accurate information about their institutions. This would compromise the credibility of the information provided as well.
Underpinning excellence in higher education–an investigation into the leadership, governance and management behaviors of high-performing academic departments
The increased pressure to ensure that there is a quality education in the higher learning institutions has led to demand a change in the governance of the same. To ensure the survival of the institutions, there is a need to ensure that the behaviors, attitudes, and competencies of the managers are up to expectations; particularly in this time of high competition (Kok & McDonald, 2015). The pressure, therefore, has been to push the colleges to act more like business entities and therefore pledge more business performance. The target areas that are to be affected by this revolution will include the departments in the institutions.
The primary aim of the study regards ensuring that prevailing factors that can be used to boost performance are all effected. The survey integrated a mixed methodology approach which comprised of both qualitative and quantitative methods (Kok & McDonald, 2015). This would increase the credibility of the results gained. This is so since the study would capture the fluid results that are hard to quantize. The quantization of measurable values allows the gathering of extensive data and therefore the use of a large sample. The study had been organized in three phases, the open-ended questionnaire would start, followed by interviews. A survey would be the third and last phase of the data collection process.
There was a total of 15 interviews that were conducted by the various departments for the first phase of discussion. The second phase was carried out across 46 departments. The last stage (filling in of a questionnaire) was partaken by 646 respondents (Kok & McDonald, 2015). This is a credible sample size with a systematic data collection procedure. The study would compare the samples under study so as to come up with both comparative results as well as absolute results. The survey results were analyzed using the SPSS V21 software. The mean scores, differences (deviation) values were also established for an improved comprehension of the information gathered (Kok & McDonald, 2015).
According to the results obtained, certain behaviors are associated strictly with low-performing departments while others will only occur in the other region. Even though some differences were minimal, there appears to be a clear boundary across the two tiers developed (lower and upper levels).
Among the issues that could lead to an effective change is rewarding departmental heads. Performance appraisal among workers leads to motivation and enhances excellence both within the departments and in the universities in the overall. Apparently, the workers across the universities need to develop a sense of direction and follow the set targets. In general, the outcomes have been used to establish a thematic framework of the elements that need to be observed to ensure performance excellence in the university management. These include the main roles of management.
Figure 1: underpinning the excellence model (Kok & McDonald, 2015)
Review of Research:
Presidential Succession Planning: A Qualitative Study in Private Higher Education
The research question was analyzing the current measures and procedures used when hiring new college president.
This study appears incomplete since it does not look at developing solutions to the identified problem after the analysis. The study could have included the introduction of effective measures that can be used to ensure quality leaders take over once the current ones quit their jobs.
The research conducted was more of a qualitative study and considered the opinions of the interviewees as the most credible source of information. The sample size was too small to create an authenticity of the data collected. Only twenty-five respondents were interviewed. The interviews were semi-structured, which could have led to an inadequate comparative analysis.
The interviews were transcribed, and the data made ready for review. Hand coding was used to generate a theme for each respondent. Even though the two researchers did this independently, in a view to ensuring the authenticity of the results; there is a general feeling that interviews were not an adequate method of collecting the data. Specific standard questions could have been handed to the respondents in the form of a questionnaire. Quantizing the qualitative analysis would have made this research easier and more agreeable. It would also improve the credibility of the gained results.
Since the study aim at finding means of having a better hiring plan, my research would ensure that it provides for training of within workers so that they can take up the mantle. I would ensure that I put in a valid proposal on ways of ensuring that employees are trained for such jobs. This approach would need potential leaders to be put to the test to gauge their preparedness for the task. The plan would be expensive as it would demand training and testing the presidents’ assistants on a gradual basis.
References
Ghosh, S. (2015). Effective application of performance management in higher educational institutions (HEI).
Jones, S., Lefoe, G., Harvey, M., & Ryland, K. (2012). Distributed leadership: A cooperative framework for academics, executives and professionals in higher education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 34(1), 67-78.
Klein, M. F., & Salk, R. J. (2013). Presidential Succession Planning A Qualitative Study in Private Higher Education. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 20(3), 335 345.
Kok, S. K., & McDonald, C. (2015). Underpinning quality in higher education–an investigation into the leadership, governance and management performances of high performing academic branches. Studies in Higher Education, 1-22.
Morley, L., & Crossouard, B. (2015). Women in Higher Education Management in South Asia: Rejection, Refusal, Reluctance, Revisioning.
