A case study of distributive leadership among academic administrators at a public university in Malaysia

Kajian kes kepimpinan distributif di kalangan pentadbir akademik di universiti awam di Malaysia

Authors

  • Khalip Musa Fakulti Pengurusan dan Ekonomi, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Tanjong Malim, Perak, MALAYSIA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37134/mrj.vol10.2.6.2021

Keywords:

distributive leadership, mission, vision, organizational goals, organizational culture, leadership practices, shared responsibility

Abstract

Public universities are undergoing a rapid role change. This led to a change in the leadership practices of university academic administrators. There was a clash between the tradition of autonomy with the emergence of control and monitoring from central agencies. Distributive leadership is seen to have the potential to offer a more balanced form of leadership in this changing environment. This qualitative study aimed to explore the level of distributive leadership practices among academic administrators in a public university in Malaysia. A case study was selected as the study design. Gordon’s (2005) distributive leadership model, based on four main dimensions namely mission, vision and organizational goals; organizational culture; leadership practices; and shared responsibility have served as a guide in developing the objectives and questions of the study. Study data were collected using interview techniques based on semi -structured questions. A total of 15 respondents consisting of deans, deputy deans, and heads of academic departments were involved. Interview data were analyzed through a systematic coding process to find categories or themes. Based on the theme analysis on the four main dimensions of the study, the highest theme that emerged consistently was the leadership practice dimension, followed by the shared responsibility dimension, vision dimension, mission, organizational goals, and organizational culture dimension. In conclusion, the findings of the study indicate that distributive leadership practices among academic administrators were widely implemented and comply with the key principles of distributive leadership. These findings indicate that university leaders are able to practice distributive leadership in an effort to adapt to a changing environment.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ary, D., Jacobs, L., Sorensen, C., & Walker, D. (2014). Introduction to research in education (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Babbie, E. R. (2002). The basics of social research. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.

Barnes, B., John H. H., Jennifer D. O., Stephanie S. P. H., & Milorad N. (2013). Transcending the power of hierarchy to facilitate shared leadership. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 34(8), 741–762. http://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-01-2012-0015.

Bennett, N., Harvey, J. A., Wise, C. & Woods, P.A. (2003). "Distributed leadership: desk study review of distributed leadership", available at www.ncsl.org.uk/.

Bolden, R. (2007). Distributed leadership. Discussion Paper in Management, 7(2).

Brown, F. W., & Moshavi, D. (2002). Herding academic cats: Faculty reactions transformational and contingent reward leadership by department chairs. The Journal of Leadership Studies, 8: 79-92.

Bryman, A. (2009). Effective leadership in higher education. Final Report. UK: Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.

Bolden, R., Petrov, G., & Gosling, J. (2009). Distributed leadership in higher education: Rhetoric and reality, Educational Management, Administration and Leadership.

Bush, T. (2015). Organisation theory in education: How does it inform school leadership? Journal of Organizational Theory in Education 1(1). Retrieved from www.organizationaltheoryineducation.com.

Carson, J. B., Paul E. T., & Jennifer A. M. (2007). Shared leadership in teams: An investi¬gation of antecedent conditions and performance. Academy of Management Journal, 50(5), 1217–1234.

Cho, J., & Lee, E. (2014). Reducing confusion about grounded theory and qualitative content analysis: similarities and differences. The Qualitative Report, 19(32), 1- 20. Retrieved from http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol19/iss32/2

Coates, H., Dobson, I., Edwards, D., Friedman, T., Goedegebuure, L., & Meek, V. (2009). The attractiveness of the Australian academic profession: A comparative analysis. Research Briefing, L.H. Martin Institute, Education Policy Unit, ACER.

Cohen, L., Manion, L. & Morrison, K. (2000). Research Methods in Education. 5th Edition, Routledge Falmer, London. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203224342

Cummins, J. (2001). Negotiating identities: Education for empowerment in a diverse society (2nd ed.). Ontario, CA: CABE (California Association for Bilingual Education).

Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Sage Publications, Inc.

Creswell, J. (2002). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Davison, A., Brown, P., Pharo, E., Warr, K., McGregor, H., Terkes, S., Abuodha, P. (2013). Distributed leadership: Building capacity for interdisciplinary climate change teaching at four universities. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 15(1), 98–110. doi:10.1108/IJSHE-10-2012-0091

Davis, J. (2003). Learning to Lead. Westport, CT: American Council on Education, Praeger Publishers.

Deem, R. (2001). Managing contemporary UK Universities - manager-academics and new managerialism, Academic Leadership Online, 1(3), www.academicleadership.org

Denis, J. L.,, Ann, L., & Viviane S. (2012). “Leadership in the plural.” The Academy of Man¬agement Annals 6(1), 211–283. http://doi.org/10.1080/19416520.2012.667612.

Denzin, N., & Lincoln, Y. (1994). Introduction: Entering the Field of Qualitative Research. In N. K. Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 1-17). California, CA: Sage Publication, Inc.

Dinham, S., Aubusson. P., & Brady. L. (2006). Distributive leadership through action learning. Australian Centre for Educational Leadership 5th International Educational Leadership Conference.

Eddy, P. L. & VanDerLinden, K. E. (2006). Emerging definitions of leadership in higher education. Articles. 60. http://publish.wm.edu/articles/60

Elmore, R.F. (2000). Building a new structure for school leadership. The Albert Shanker Institute, Winter, 1-42.

Fausing, M. S., Thomas S. J., Joshua, L., & Michelle B. (2015). Antecedents of shared leadership: empowering leadership and interdependence. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(3), 271–291. http://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-06-2013-0075.

Fletcher, J. K., & Katrin, K. (2003). Shared leadership: paradox and possibility. In Shared Lead¬ership: Reframing the Hows and Whys of Leadership, edited by Craig L. Pearce and Jay A. Conger, 21–47. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Gordon Z. V. (2005). The Effect of distributed leadership on student achievement. Ph.D. Dissertation. New Britain. Central Connecticut State University.

Gronn, P. (2000). Distributed properties: A new architecture for leadership. Educational Management and Administration, 28(3), 317 - 338.

Gronn, P. (2002), "Distributed leadership", in Leithwood, K., Hallinger, P., Seashore-Louis, K., Furman-Brown, P., Gronn., W., Mulford and Riley, K. (Eds), Second International Handbook of Educational Leadership and Administration, Kluwer, Dordrecht, 557-560, available at ttp://newfirstsearch.oclc.org/.

Harris, A. (2005). Distributed leadership. In B. Davies (Ed.), The Essentials of School Leadership, 160-172. London, England: Paul Chapman.

Harris, A. (2008). Distributed leadership: According to the evidence. Journal of Educational Administration, 46(2), 172-188.

Harris. A. (2012). Distributed leadership: Implications for the role of principal. Journal of Management Development, 31(1), 7-17.

Harris, A. (2014). Distributed Leadership Matters: Perspective, Practicalities, and Potential. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Harris, A., Brown, D., & Abbott, I. (2006). Executive leadership: Another lever in the system? School Leadership & Management, 26(4), 397-409.

Hartley, D. (2010). Paradigms: How far does research in distributed leadership stretch. Educational Management, Administration, and Leadership, 38(3), 271-285.

HEFCE (2004). HEFCE Strategic Plan 2003-08 (Revised April 2004), London: HEFCE.

Hulpia, H., Devos, G., & Keer, H. V. (2010). The influence of distributed leadership on teacher's organizational commitment: A multilevel approach. The Journal of Educational Research, 103(1), 40-52.

Hulpia, H., Devos, G. & Van Keer, H. (2011). The relation between school leadership from a distributed perspective and teachers’ organizational commitment: examining the source of the leadership function. Educational Administration Quarterly, 47(5). 728-771.

Huxham, Chris, & Siv Vangen. (2000). Leadership in the Shaping and Implementation of Collaboration Agendas: How Things Happen in a (Not Quite) Joined-Up World. Academy of Management Journal, 43(6), 1159–1175.

Jamalul Lail Abdul Wahab, Aida Hanim A. Hamid, Surayati Zainal & Md Fuad Md Rafik. (2013). The relationship between headteachers’ distributed leadership and teachers’ motivation in national primary schools. Asian Social Science, 9(16), 161-167.

Jones, S., Harvey, M., Lefoe, G., Ryland, K., & Schneider, A. (2011). Report to ALTC Leadership Meeting. LE9-2222, February. Unpublished report.

Jones, S., Lefoe, G., Harvey, M., & Ryland, K. (2012). Distributed leadership: A collaborative framework for academics, executives and professionals in higher education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 34(1), 67–78. doi:10.1080/1360080x.2012.642334

Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia. (2015). Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan Malaysia 2015-2025 (Pengajian Tinggi). Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia.

Kennedy, A., Deuel, A., Nelson, T. & Slavit, D. (2011), Requiring collaboration or distributed leadership?, Phi Delta Kappan, 92(8), 20-24.

Kezar, A. J. & Elizabeth, M. H. (2017). Shared Leadership in Higher Education: Important Lessons from Research and Practice. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.

Kilinç, A. C., Koşar, S., Er, E., & Oğdem, Z. (2016). The relationship between bureaucratic school structures and teacher self-efficacy. Mcgill Journal Of Education, 51(1).

Knight, P.T. & Trowler, P.R. (2001). Departmental Leadership in Higher Education, Buckingham: SRHE and OU Press.

Larsen, C. & Rieckhoff, B.S. (2014). Distributed leadership: principals describe shared roles in a PDS, International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice, 17(3), 304-326.

Leithwood, M. B., Strauss, T., Sacks., R., N., M., & Yakashina, A. (2007). Distributing leadership to make school smarter. Taking the ego out of the system. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 6(1), 37 - 67.

Lincoln, Y.S. & Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Lokman Tahir, Tina Abdullah, Fadzli Ali & Khadijah Daud (2014). Academics transformational leadership: an investigation of heads of department leadership behaviours in Malaysian public universities. Educational Studies, 40:5, 473-495, DOI: 10.1080/03055698.2014.932272

Louis, K.S., Mayrowetz, D., Smiley, M., & Murphy, J. (2009). The role of sensemaking and trust in developing distributed leadership. In Harris, A. (ed.), Distributed Leadership. Dordrecht: Springer, 157–180.

MacBeath, J. (2005). Leadership as distributed: A matter of practice. School leadership and management, 25(45), 349 - 362.

Menon, M. E. (2011). Leadership theory and educational outcomes: The case of distributed and transformational leadership. IESEI Conference

Merriam, S.B. (1998). Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco.

Merriam, S.B. (2001). Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco.

Merriam, S., & Tisdell, E. (2015). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons. Campbell, J. (2011). Introduction to methods of qualitative research grounded theory. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZYlXMStdlo

Middlehurst, R. (1993). Leading Academics, Buckingham: SRHE and OU Press.

Neuman, M., & Simmons, W. (2000). Leadership for student learning. Phi Delta Kappan, 82(1), 9 - 12.

Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Sage Publications, Inc.

Pearce, C. L., & Conger, J. A. (2003). Shared Leadership: Reframing the Hows and Whys of Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Pearce, C. L. (2004). “The Future of Leadership: Combining Vertical and Shared Leadership to Transform Knowledge Work.” The Academy of Management Executive, 18(1), 47–57.

Pont, B., Nusche, D. & Moorman, H. (2008). Improving School Leadership. Policy and Practice, Paris: OECD.

Sart, G. (2014). The new leadership model of university management for innovation and entrepreneurship. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research. 57, 73-90. http://dx.doi.org/10.14689/ejer.2014.57.6

Shattock, M. (2003). Managing Successful Universities, Buckingham: SRHE and OU Press.

Spencer S.M. & Spencer L.M. (1993). Competence at work model for superior performance. Canada: Library of Congress Cataloging.

Spillane, J. P. (2004). Educational leadership, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 26(2), 169-172.

Spillane, J. P. (2004). Distributed Leadership: What’s all the Hoopla? Working paper, Northwestern University, Institute for Policy Research.

Spillane, J. P. (2005). Distributed leadership. The Educational Forum, 69, 143-150. doi:10.1080/00131720508984678.

Spillance, J. P. (2006). Distributed leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Szekeres, J. (2004). The invisible workers. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 26, 7–22.

Spillane, J. P., Richard H., & John B. D. (2001). Investigating school leadership prac¬tice: A distributed perspective. Educational Researcher 30(3): 23–28.

Spillane, J. P. & Diamond, J. B. (2007). Distributed leadership in practice, Teachers College Press, New York, NY.

Sveiby, K. E. (2011). Collective leadership with power symmetry: Lessons from Aboriginal Prehistory. Leadership, 7(4): 385–414.

Torrance, D. (2011), Preparing to lead, in Forde, C. and O’Brien, J. (Eds), Coaching and Mentoring: Developing Teachers and Leaders, Dunedin, Edinburgh, 45-62.

Van Ameijde, J. D. J., Patrick C. N., Jon B., & Nathalie M. (2009). Improving leadership in higher education institutions: A distributed perspective.” Higher Education, 58(6): 763–779. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-009-9224-y.

Williams, C. G. (2011). Distributed leadership in South African schools: Possibilities and constraints. South African Journal of Education, 31, 190-200.

Yin, R. K., (1994). Case Study Research Design and Methods: Applied Social Research and Methods Series. Second ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.

Published

2021-11-19

How to Cite

Musa, K. (2021). A case study of distributive leadership among academic administrators at a public university in Malaysia: Kajian kes kepimpinan distributif di kalangan pentadbir akademik di universiti awam di Malaysia. Management Research Journal, 10(2), 78–92. https://doi.org/10.37134/mrj.vol10.2.6.2021