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Findings of studies on self‐appraisals conducted mainly in non‐educational settings indicate that self‐ratings are generously inflated, do not correlate with other sources, and show less reliability than ratings from counter‐positions. Reports on self‐appraisals in an educational setting using perceptions of teacher interns and their supervisors. Self – and supervisor appraisals were found to be significantly correlated, with self‐appraisals showing less leniency than corresponding supervisor appraisals. In addition, self‐appraisals were a better predictor of job satisfaction than supervisor appraisals.

Suggests that institutions of higher education in the USA encounter problems that are unique to the market environment. These problems include competition for resources, escalating costs, and resource constraints. In response to these problems, higher education systems within this kind of environment tend to borrow strategies from organizations operating under the most competitive environment ‐ the business sector. Discusses specific strategies adopted by institutions of higher education in North America. Examines how these strategies have affected the culture of higher education. Discusses the shift occurring between the consumerism‐ professorialism continuum. Calls for the need to understand the dual nature of higher education so that strategies can be selectively adapted.

The purpose of this paper is to report findings from a larger study into the role of middle leaders of change in New Zealand higher education.

In total, ten middle leaders from the New Zealand higher education sector took part in a recent research project which examined successful change leadership in higher education. As part of that larger study, each middle leader answered questions about their views on being in the “middle” in their change leadership roles and their views on middle leadership in general.

The ten middle leaders all described their place in their respective organisations in terms of being “caught in between”, or “sandwiched between” senior management to whom they were accountable, lecturers whom they described as colleagues or peers, and subordinates for whom they had some functional and often moral responsibility. The paper discusses the perceptions of being in the “middle” and how change leaders reconcile their position as a subordinate, an equal and a superior. Insight is gained into how educational leaders reconcile their position in the “middle” as they hold management responsibility for both academic and general staff who are hierarchically, beneath them; lead teams of colleagues in collegial decision making; and answer to higher authority in the form of senior organisational leadership.

The participant contributions of personal observations and unfolding real life stories which meld personal common sense with local meaning have formed a unique local ontology therefore allowing for a deeper understanding of the contributing factors toward being in the “middle”. Some of these perspectives have been used by the author's own organisation in the development of leadership training for future organisational change, particularly those aspects concerning communication and participation that are tailored to meet the unique needs of management and staff.

For middle change leaders the focussed examination of the working relationship between middle change leaders and staff groups might prove to be a rich area of further study. These relationships take a variety of forms, including where a staff member has risen through the ranks (off the shop floor as it were) to take on the mantle of leadership, or simply where there is a shared understanding based on subject or professional backgrounds which binds the two together. Further investigation into these relationships may provide perspectives that enable leaders to develop a greater understanding of how change occurs.

The paper shows how the participants locate themselves as being “very much” in the middle in terms of line management of both resources and academic matters and often as being caught between competing imperatives, institutional dynamics and institutional structures.

Nowadays, supply chain integration (SCI) is considered as an enabler of competitive firm performance. It has three important dimensions: internal, supplier and customer integration. Understanding the interaction between these dimensions and organisational strategy would pave the way for effective implementation of SCI. The famous Miles et al. (1978) strategy typology classifies firms into four strategy types: defenders, prospectors, analysers and reactors. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of the core company’s product-market innovation strategy on the dimensions of SCI, and to investigate the comparative strength of each dimension of SCI in defenders and prospectors.

Primary data were collected through an online survey of 112 firms in 24 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Direct and mediated relationships were assessed by conducting structural equation modelling on the dimensions of SCI and product-market innovation strategy variables. Cluster analysis was conducted on organisational strategy variables to group the firms into different strategy types. Next, a one-way analysis of variance was applied to assess the impact of organisational strategy on each dimension of the SCI. Finally, a post hoc analysis was conducted to compare the strength of each dimension of the SCI against the different strategy types.

The results indicate that internal integration (II) mediates the positive effects of the core company’s product-market innovation strategy on supplier and customer integration. Furthermore, the results indicate that prospectors have stronger internal, supplier and customer integration as compared to defenders.

This study had two main limitations. One limitation is the lack of consideration of possible differences in the strengths of the investigated relationships across different geographical locations and cultures. The second limitation is the inability of the cross-sectional research design to capture the dynamics in the process of adopting SCI and organisational strategy.

The present study highlights to executives the need for understanding the implications of specific strategies on the SC linkages and relationships that are required to implement those strategies. Thus, it could serve as a preliminary clue in decision-making for establishing integrated SC that is compatible with the organisational strategy. Furthermore, it could serve as a guidance to managers in steering their firms in the organisational adaptive cycle, by indicating that the implementation of product-market innovation strategy requires adopting strong SCI, and by highlighting the importance of adopting II prior to external integration.

This paper tests relationships that explain how the core company’s strategy influences each dimension of SCI.

“New leadership” studies often suggest that transformational leadership in particular produces desirable leadership outcomes. However, few studies have demonstrated a direct link between the exercise of a particular type of leadership and organisational effectiveness. Efforts to establish such a link are hampered by the absence of a generally agreed definition of organisational effectiveness. This is particularly true in higher education where attempts to develop models of organisational effectiveness applicable to universities have been sparse despite worldwide calls for universities to demonstrate “value for money” performance. This paper examines the relationship between transformational/transactional leadership and university organisational effectiveness. In the course of the examination, the paper indicates possible modifications to the original conceptualisation of transformational leadership. The paper also argues for university leadership that is self‐reflective and capable of utilising the array of leadership characteristics subsumed under the transformational and transactional leadership notions.

This paper presents a model of teacher and school executive satisfaction derived from a study involving 892 respondents in 71 government schools in Western Sydney, Australia. Factor analysis of survey items was utilised to develop an eight factor model of teacher satisfaction. The eight factors were named: school leadership, climate, decision making; merit promotion and local hiring; school infrastructure; school reputation; status and image of teachers; student achievement; workload and the impact of change; and professional self‐growth. Scores on the scales fell into three domains: “core business of teaching” factors (student achievement; professional self‐growth); school level factors (school leadership, climate, decision making; school infrastructure; school reputation); and system level/societal factors (workload and impact of change; status and image of teachers; merit promotion). Respondents were most satisfied with “core business” aspects and least satisfied with system level/societal factors, while school level factors showed the most variation, reflecting the influence of teachers’ specific and varying within‐school experiences. Leadership, communication and decision making styles were found to be important contributing factors to satisfaction with school based aspects of respondents’ roles. It is argued that within the important, school level domain, action to improve teacher satisfaction is most likely to be effective.

To draw on a structured review of the literature on formalised mentoring programs for principals with the purpose of exploring their nature and the positive and negative outcomes for the parties involved.

The methodological approach utilised in this paper was a structured review of the literature which is a pre‐determined set of criteria, namely a set of coding categories, used for analysing research papers. Forty research‐based papers constituted the structured review and major coding categories utilised in this paper were positive and negative outcomes of mentoring programs for mentors and mentees and factual data relating to the research focus of the sample.

Both positive and negative outcomes of mentoring were reported in the 40 research‐based papers, with substantially more papers reporting positive outcomes. Frequently cited positive outcomes for mentees included support, sharing ideas and professional development, while, for mentors, networking, professional development and the opportunity to reflect were noted. Frequently cited negative outcomes for mentors and mentees were lack of time to undertake mentoring and personality or expertise mismatch.

The findings highlight the necessity for planners of programs to ensure that mentors are trained; the matching process is executed to eliminate potential incompatibilities; and time for mentoring is factored into program implementation.

The major contribution of the paper is that it makes a strong claim about the specific outcomes of mentoring programs for principals, thereby providing a clearer picture regarding its potential as well as its caveats.

The purpose of this study was to determine not-yet-tenured university library faculty members’ views of 27 methods their department chair may use to support and enhance the faculty member's professional development. The methods were derived from earlier qualitative research on department chairs in higher education. While academic teaching department chair roles have been the subject of the research literature for many years, little research has addressed library faculty perceptions of the department chair's role. The survey instrument used consisted of two parts: (1) a demographics section, consisting of five questions; and (2) a researcher-developed survey of faculty perceptions of the department chairs’ role in faculty development. Survey participants were asked to rate the importance of methods chairs may use in enhancing the professional activities of faculty. According to the not-yet-tenured library faculty members responding to this study, a chair engaging in the most important practices to enhance their faculty's professional development would be one who utilizes good communication, while acting as an administrative advocate.

The aim of this project was to investigate whether combinations of strategies, planning modes and levels of autonomy are associated with superior college effectiveness relative to other combinations of these variables. It was hypothesized that a college pursuing a prospector strategy ‐ with an emphasis on continuously seeking new client segments and/or developing new offerings ‐ would be more effective with longer‐term and more externally oriented planning, and with more autonomy for its dean. Conversely, a college pursuing a defender strategy ‐ relying on traditional client segments and offerings ‐ would be more effective with shorter‐term and more internally oriented planning, and with less autonomy for its dean. Generally, the hypotheses pertaining to the prospector‐type strategy were supported, while those involving the defender strategy were not supported. Discusses implications for practitioners and researchers.

Discusses the effects of financial constraints of the 1980s and 1990s which are being felt in all aspects of institutions of higher education. Looks into the differences and similarities in institutional leaders′ opinions with respect to environmental concerns based on the size, age, location, and sector of their institutions. Environmental concerns include government grants, inflation, enrolment issues and declining resources. Reports slight differences. Implies that all Alberta, Canada, institutions of higher education, irrespective of their size, age, location and sector are experiencing similar problems and perhaps in the same magnitude. Concludes that there is not a deliberate shift in government funding in favour of one institutional sector over the other. Suggests that institutional leaders within a system of higher education should search for ways to form a united front, educate the general public as to the situation of higher education, and seize the opportunity presented by the hard times to unfold a new vision and chart a new course for higher education.