Boundary-spanning leadership as a necessity for academic administrators
International Journal of Educational Management
ISSN: 0951-354X
Article publication date: 22 March 2022
Issue publication date: 21 April 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The present study aimed to investigate the perceptions of academic administrators of the characteristics and strategies of a boundary-spanner leader.
Design/methodology/approach
For this purpose, the authors adopted a qualitative approach and a descriptive phenomenology method. The participants of the study consisted of academic administrators in the public universities, and research institutions in Iran, of whom 17 academic administrators were selected as participants of the study purposefully and based on the criterion of having at least 4 years of management experience. To collect the data, the authors conducted semistructured interviews and performed a Colaizzi content analysis for data analysis.
Findings
The findings showed that perceptions of academic administrators of the characteristics and strategies of a boundary-spanner leader can be classified into six main categories; cognitive skills, relationship skills, professional skills, boundaries management strategies, common boundaries creation strategy and new boundaries discovery strategy.
Originality/value
This study builds upon the existing literature on boundary-spanning leaders in higher education through a new cultural context and lens. Because research to date has privileged institutional contexts predominantly in the USA and the United Kingdom, this study contributes an additional understanding of boundary-spanning leadership in Iranian higher educational contexts. This study also provides a common foundation and shared framework from which cross-national collaborations may be examined and further cultivated.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Professor David Weerts (University of Minnesota- Twin Cities, USA) and Doctor Jennifer W. Purcell (Kennesaw State University) for their helpful suggestions on this paper.
Citation
Nazarzadeh Zare, M. and Ghoraishi Khorasgani, M.S. (2022), "Boundary-spanning leadership as a necessity for academic administrators", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 527-540. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-09-2021-0384
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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