4 - Leadership Philosophy and Interventions to Support Middle-level Units within Large Academic Institutions: Experiences at the Makerere Peace and Conflict Studies Centre
Corresponding Author(s) : Helen Nambalirwa Nkabala
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 18 No. 2 (2020): Journal of Higher Education in Africa: Special Issue on Middle-level Academics and Leadership in African Universities
Abstract
This article discusses practical lessons on how leadership intervention philosophy can be used to design and ensure that an academic unit within a big institution realises its mandate. The interventions took place at the Peace and Conflict Studies Centre (MPCSC) at Makerere University between 2015 and 2019. The undertaking was guided by systemic leadership intervention philosophy and transformational leadership. The methods used in the intervention included: leadership interventions, secondary data analysis, narrative analysis and autoethnography. The article uses a combination of analytical and auto-biographical reporting styles. Major findings include the following: there is a leadership skilling gap between high-level and mid-level managers in large university units; in large academic institutions, mid-level managers must combine traits and process leadership approaches in order realise progress. Key observations: student enrolment drives achieved a slight improvement in numbers (from 14 % in 2015/2016 to 42 % in 2018/2019); a minor improvement in workstations led to a more than 100 per cent increment in usage by staff and students; the Centre noticed a 63 per cent completion rate of specialised skills training by staff; on average, interdisciplinary research teams perform better than single discipline teams, but the former required extra effort to keep together; the interventions led to a 70 per cent increase in community outreach through avenues such as projects, experiential learning sessions, consultancies, etc.
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- Bolman, L. and Deal, T., 1991, Leadership and management effectiveness: A Multi‐Frame, Multi‐Sector Analysis, Human Resource Management, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 509–34.
- Department of Religion and Peace Studies, 2018, Student Evaluation Report, Semester Two 2018, DRPS, Makerere University.
- Eisenhardt, K. M, 1989, Building Theories from Case Study Research, The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 532–50.
- Falk, I., 2003, Designing Effective Leadership Interventions: A Case Study of Voca- tional Education and Training, Leadership and Organisation Development Journal, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 193–203.
- Flyvbjerg, B., 2006, Five Misunderstandings About Case Study Research, Qualitative Inquiry, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 219–45.
- Gerring, J., 2007, Case Study Research: Principles and Practices, New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Haneberg, L. 2010, The High Impact Middle Manager: Powerful Strategies to Survive in the Middle, Alexandria, VA: Association for Talent Development Series.
- Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), 2010, A Road Map to Quality: Hand Book for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, Vol. 1, Guidelines for As- sessment at Program Level, Arusha: IUCEA (http://repository.eac.int/bitstream/handle/11671/2044/Quality%20Assurance%20Handbook%20Vol%201.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y).
- Jessop, B., 2008, State Power: A Strategic-Relational Approach, London, UK: Polity Press.
- Mamdani, M., 2007, Scholars in the Marketplace: The Dilemmas of Neo-liberal Reform at Makerere University, 1989–2005, Dakar: CODESRIA.
- Mampane, S. T., 2017, Training Middle Managers of South African Public Schools in Leadership and Management Skills, in Current Business and Economic Driven Discourse and Education: Perspectives from Around the World, Sofia: Bulgarian Com- parative Education Society (https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED574239.pdf).
- Meuleman, L., 2008, Public Management and the Metagovernance of Hierarchies, Networks and Markets: The Feasibility of Designing and Managing Governance Style Combinations, Heidelberg: Physika–Verlag.
- Nkomo, S. and Ngambi, H., 2009, African Women in Leadership: Current Knowl- edge and A Framework for Future Studies, International Journal of African Renais- sance Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 49–68.
- Reichard, R. J. and Avolio, B. J., 2005, Where are We? The Status of Leadership Intervention Research: A Meta-Analytic Summary, in Gardner, W. L., Avolio, B. J. and Walumbwa F. O., eds, Authentic Leadership Theory and Practice: Origins, Effects and Development, Oxford: Elsevier, pp. 203–223.
- SA UA, 2011, Building Regional Higher Education Capacity through Academic Mobility, SARUA Leadership Dialogue Series, Vol. 3, No. 1.
- Sørensen, E. and Torfing, J., 2009, Making Governance Networks Effective and Democratic through Metagovernance, Public Administration Quarterly Journal, Vol. 87, No. 2, pp. 234–258 (https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2009.01753).
- Vredenburgh, D. and Brender, Y., 1998, The Hierarchical Abuse of Power in Work Organizations, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 17, pp. 1337–1347 (https://doi. org/10.1023/A:1005775326249).
- Wolverton, M. and Gmelch, W. H., 1999, The Impact of Role Conflict and Ambiguity on Academic Deans, The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 70, No.1.
References
Bolman, L. and Deal, T., 1991, Leadership and management effectiveness: A Multi‐Frame, Multi‐Sector Analysis, Human Resource Management, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 509–34.
Department of Religion and Peace Studies, 2018, Student Evaluation Report, Semester Two 2018, DRPS, Makerere University.
Eisenhardt, K. M, 1989, Building Theories from Case Study Research, The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 532–50.
Falk, I., 2003, Designing Effective Leadership Interventions: A Case Study of Voca- tional Education and Training, Leadership and Organisation Development Journal, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 193–203.
Flyvbjerg, B., 2006, Five Misunderstandings About Case Study Research, Qualitative Inquiry, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 219–45.
Gerring, J., 2007, Case Study Research: Principles and Practices, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Haneberg, L. 2010, The High Impact Middle Manager: Powerful Strategies to Survive in the Middle, Alexandria, VA: Association for Talent Development Series.
Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), 2010, A Road Map to Quality: Hand Book for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, Vol. 1, Guidelines for As- sessment at Program Level, Arusha: IUCEA (http://repository.eac.int/bitstream/handle/11671/2044/Quality%20Assurance%20Handbook%20Vol%201.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y).
Jessop, B., 2008, State Power: A Strategic-Relational Approach, London, UK: Polity Press.
Mamdani, M., 2007, Scholars in the Marketplace: The Dilemmas of Neo-liberal Reform at Makerere University, 1989–2005, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Mampane, S. T., 2017, Training Middle Managers of South African Public Schools in Leadership and Management Skills, in Current Business and Economic Driven Discourse and Education: Perspectives from Around the World, Sofia: Bulgarian Com- parative Education Society (https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED574239.pdf).
Meuleman, L., 2008, Public Management and the Metagovernance of Hierarchies, Networks and Markets: The Feasibility of Designing and Managing Governance Style Combinations, Heidelberg: Physika–Verlag.
Nkomo, S. and Ngambi, H., 2009, African Women in Leadership: Current Knowl- edge and A Framework for Future Studies, International Journal of African Renais- sance Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 49–68.
Reichard, R. J. and Avolio, B. J., 2005, Where are We? The Status of Leadership Intervention Research: A Meta-Analytic Summary, in Gardner, W. L., Avolio, B. J. and Walumbwa F. O., eds, Authentic Leadership Theory and Practice: Origins, Effects and Development, Oxford: Elsevier, pp. 203–223.
SA UA, 2011, Building Regional Higher Education Capacity through Academic Mobility, SARUA Leadership Dialogue Series, Vol. 3, No. 1.
Sørensen, E. and Torfing, J., 2009, Making Governance Networks Effective and Democratic through Metagovernance, Public Administration Quarterly Journal, Vol. 87, No. 2, pp. 234–258 (https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2009.01753).
Vredenburgh, D. and Brender, Y., 1998, The Hierarchical Abuse of Power in Work Organizations, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 17, pp. 1337–1347 (https://doi. org/10.1023/A:1005775326249).
Wolverton, M. and Gmelch, W. H., 1999, The Impact of Role Conflict and Ambiguity on Academic Deans, The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 70, No.1.