The relationship between perceived academic leadership style and support for strategic planning

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to analyze the relationship between perceived academic leadership styles and support for strategic planning among faculty members at seven Turkish universities. A questionnaire was conducted among 101 faculty members at seven universities around Cappadocia region in Turkey in May 2013. The questionnaire form included Support for Strategic Planning Index developed by Welsh and Nunez (2005) and four academic leadership style scales (bureaucratic, entrepreneurial, collegial and distributive) prepared by the authors. One-way Anova test identified significant difference among faculty members according to academic titles. Post-hoc multiple comparisons of means showed that the assistant professors are more supportive about strategic planning than professors and associate professors. Correlation analysis showed significant positive relationship between support for strategic planning and entrepreneurial, collegial and distributive leadership styles. The findings presented here reflect the preliminary findings of an ongoing project, which aim to explore the role of academic leadership in strategic planning and quality assurance activities. The original sample size of the research project is 242, and out of this sample size, 101 are included here. Although it is not possible to generalize the results, the findings indicate important clues for fostering support for strategic planning. We recommend that non-administrative faculty members take more roles in strategic planning activities. It is important to stress the need for focusing on creating a collegial environment and distributing power among faculty members.