My living theory of the transformational potential of my educational leadership
- Authors: Johannes, Arnold Marius
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Educational change -- South Africa , School management and organization , Leadership
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4079 , vital:20510
- Description: In democratic South Africa, policies place much emphasis on the need for transformational leadership. This challenges school leaders to ensure that their practice is in line with the democratic and inclusive values espoused therein. This thesis is an account of my journey of learning about educational leadership and how I attempted to influence transformation at my own school. The development of my living theory of educational management is grounded in my desire to make a positive change to the quality of teaching and learning at my school, by embodying and exemplifying such values in my leadership. My learning as an educational leader comprises my living theory on improving my educational leadership within a socially challenged context. I explain the context and problems experienced at my school and provide evidence of the need to move from the hierarchic, autocratic form of leadership, still prevailing at many South African schools. I adopted the theoretical framework of servant leadership to enable me to develop a more contextually sensitive and visionary style of leadership through critical reflection on my own practice. My stimulus for this journey of learning stemmed from the perceived contradiction between my espoused beliefs about leadership and my actual practice. My own autocratic leadership style was one of the main barriers that prevented teachers from attaining autonomy and taking on leadership roles within the school. My leadership style was more in alignment with the values of accountability, discipline and efficiency than those of care, trust and the development of the potential of others. This interrogation of my ontological values informed my subsequent interventions to improve my practice. Following an action research design, I investigated the quality of my leadership to determine which areas I needed to improve, took action to improve these and evaluated the change against the values inherent in the notion of servant-leadership. I embarked on a journey that helped me to shift my practice from being based on previously held authoritarian professional values towards values that underpin a more transformational leadership, such as care and trust. My journey of learning was guided by the tenets of self-study action research, which required critical self-reflection and holding myself accountable for my own actions The practical knowledge I gained through this self-reflection on my practice enabled me to make professional judgements, which then became conceptual knowledge in the form of a living theory generated by my research. This was made possible through a continuous process of data generation to extract evidence to test the validity of the claims to knowledge I made. Multiple sources of data (written, graphic and multimedia) were used to better understand the scope of happenings throughout the research and to monitor my practice over time. I explain how I used my improved understanding of leadership to promote collegiality for building quality relationships to promote teacher leadership for school improvement and how I subjected these claims to social and personal validation procedures. The significance of this study is that it contributes to new forms of practice and theory in terms of showing how a values-based approach to school leadership can influence positive change in teacher practice. While this study is a narrative of my practice, it is also a narrative of theorising about how my colleagues and I have come to know and how our thinking has changed about our work and ourselves. Although I had to indicate a cut-off point in this action research enquiry, the knowledge gained will continue to develop and influence my practice in the future and hopefully will be judged as useful by others in positions of leadership. The thesis is thus an original contribution to educational knowledge in the field of self-study action research. It demonstrates how sociohistorical and sociocultural insights from Apartheid to Post-Apartheid South Africa can be integrated within a living theory of transformational leadership.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Johannes, Arnold Marius
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Educational change -- South Africa , School management and organization , Leadership
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4079 , vital:20510
- Description: In democratic South Africa, policies place much emphasis on the need for transformational leadership. This challenges school leaders to ensure that their practice is in line with the democratic and inclusive values espoused therein. This thesis is an account of my journey of learning about educational leadership and how I attempted to influence transformation at my own school. The development of my living theory of educational management is grounded in my desire to make a positive change to the quality of teaching and learning at my school, by embodying and exemplifying such values in my leadership. My learning as an educational leader comprises my living theory on improving my educational leadership within a socially challenged context. I explain the context and problems experienced at my school and provide evidence of the need to move from the hierarchic, autocratic form of leadership, still prevailing at many South African schools. I adopted the theoretical framework of servant leadership to enable me to develop a more contextually sensitive and visionary style of leadership through critical reflection on my own practice. My stimulus for this journey of learning stemmed from the perceived contradiction between my espoused beliefs about leadership and my actual practice. My own autocratic leadership style was one of the main barriers that prevented teachers from attaining autonomy and taking on leadership roles within the school. My leadership style was more in alignment with the values of accountability, discipline and efficiency than those of care, trust and the development of the potential of others. This interrogation of my ontological values informed my subsequent interventions to improve my practice. Following an action research design, I investigated the quality of my leadership to determine which areas I needed to improve, took action to improve these and evaluated the change against the values inherent in the notion of servant-leadership. I embarked on a journey that helped me to shift my practice from being based on previously held authoritarian professional values towards values that underpin a more transformational leadership, such as care and trust. My journey of learning was guided by the tenets of self-study action research, which required critical self-reflection and holding myself accountable for my own actions The practical knowledge I gained through this self-reflection on my practice enabled me to make professional judgements, which then became conceptual knowledge in the form of a living theory generated by my research. This was made possible through a continuous process of data generation to extract evidence to test the validity of the claims to knowledge I made. Multiple sources of data (written, graphic and multimedia) were used to better understand the scope of happenings throughout the research and to monitor my practice over time. I explain how I used my improved understanding of leadership to promote collegiality for building quality relationships to promote teacher leadership for school improvement and how I subjected these claims to social and personal validation procedures. The significance of this study is that it contributes to new forms of practice and theory in terms of showing how a values-based approach to school leadership can influence positive change in teacher practice. While this study is a narrative of my practice, it is also a narrative of theorising about how my colleagues and I have come to know and how our thinking has changed about our work and ourselves. Although I had to indicate a cut-off point in this action research enquiry, the knowledge gained will continue to develop and influence my practice in the future and hopefully will be judged as useful by others in positions of leadership. The thesis is thus an original contribution to educational knowledge in the field of self-study action research. It demonstrates how sociohistorical and sociocultural insights from Apartheid to Post-Apartheid South Africa can be integrated within a living theory of transformational leadership.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Critical core competencies for effective strategic leadership in project management
- Authors: Jowah, Enoch Larry
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Leadership -- Psychological aspects , Project management , Core competencies , Leadership
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: vital:9305 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1017230
- Description: Project management is undeniably the fastest growing discipline as organizations move into the euphoria of projectification of their operations. Though projects have been a part of human life since time immemorial, there is a sudden realisation of the effectiveness of the methods used in project management. The enrolment of students studying for project management in tertiary institutions has shown tremendous increase. Yet the project execution process is mired by high failure rates and absence of clarity on the necessary skills required for effective project execution. The authority-gap in project management presents political and operational conflicts, and new innovative ways of authority-gap reduction need to be identified and taught in training programs. Simultaneously there is a realisation by both academics and practitioners that there is a difference between managers and leaders. Extensive studies on leadership have not allowed for a one-stop-leadership-style to be used in leadership of any form, let alone project leadership. In fact there is no standard definition of leadership as this has been heavily contextualized and thereby disallowing the creation of a universal definition. No cast-in-stone leadership styles are known and thereby leaving the research on leadership to concentrate on critical competencies required for effective leadership of projects. This study seeks to establish the core competencies needed by the project leaders and other practitioners to reduce the failure rate and maximise the benefits currently sought after by organisations. Studies have shown that the matrix structure within which the embedded projects work is a contributing factor to the failure of projects. Because projects are executed by people, it would be the proper utilisation of people’s talents and competencies that are expected to yield favourable results. Thus, whilst the matrix structure creates the authority-gap that presents a problem for effective project execution, management-by-projects still remains the best way known to add economic value to performance and productivity. The study therefore focuses on those characteristics of project leaders that will most likely make the difference in the way people perform in the workplace. The research findings emphasised the importance of empowerment of project managers and the development of their interpersonal skills of the project leader with special emphasis on extroversion, genuineness of senior management, and the responsiveness of the project leaders as important requirements for effective authority- gap reduction. These critical competencies will therefore facilitate the project execution process and enhance the empowered project leader’s ability to reduce the high project failure rate and high cost overruns. These competencies apply specifically to the human element as it relates to the role of the project leader and the interaction with the team members, this new knowledge needs to be introduced into training programs and project practitioners.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Jowah, Enoch Larry
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Leadership -- Psychological aspects , Project management , Core competencies , Leadership
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: vital:9305 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1017230
- Description: Project management is undeniably the fastest growing discipline as organizations move into the euphoria of projectification of their operations. Though projects have been a part of human life since time immemorial, there is a sudden realisation of the effectiveness of the methods used in project management. The enrolment of students studying for project management in tertiary institutions has shown tremendous increase. Yet the project execution process is mired by high failure rates and absence of clarity on the necessary skills required for effective project execution. The authority-gap in project management presents political and operational conflicts, and new innovative ways of authority-gap reduction need to be identified and taught in training programs. Simultaneously there is a realisation by both academics and practitioners that there is a difference between managers and leaders. Extensive studies on leadership have not allowed for a one-stop-leadership-style to be used in leadership of any form, let alone project leadership. In fact there is no standard definition of leadership as this has been heavily contextualized and thereby disallowing the creation of a universal definition. No cast-in-stone leadership styles are known and thereby leaving the research on leadership to concentrate on critical competencies required for effective leadership of projects. This study seeks to establish the core competencies needed by the project leaders and other practitioners to reduce the failure rate and maximise the benefits currently sought after by organisations. Studies have shown that the matrix structure within which the embedded projects work is a contributing factor to the failure of projects. Because projects are executed by people, it would be the proper utilisation of people’s talents and competencies that are expected to yield favourable results. Thus, whilst the matrix structure creates the authority-gap that presents a problem for effective project execution, management-by-projects still remains the best way known to add economic value to performance and productivity. The study therefore focuses on those characteristics of project leaders that will most likely make the difference in the way people perform in the workplace. The research findings emphasised the importance of empowerment of project managers and the development of their interpersonal skills of the project leader with special emphasis on extroversion, genuineness of senior management, and the responsiveness of the project leaders as important requirements for effective authority- gap reduction. These critical competencies will therefore facilitate the project execution process and enhance the empowered project leader’s ability to reduce the high project failure rate and high cost overruns. These competencies apply specifically to the human element as it relates to the role of the project leader and the interaction with the team members, this new knowledge needs to be introduced into training programs and project practitioners.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
An evaluation of leadership characteristics required to meet the demands of a strategic change process in the automative cluster in the Eastern Cape region
- Authors: Angloher, Sanette
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Leadership , Organizational change
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DTech
- Identifier: vital:9341 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1261 , Leadership , Organizational change
- Description: Against a backdrop of increasing globalisation, deregulation, the rapid pace of technological innovation, a growing knowledge workforce, and shifting social and demographic trends, the primary task of management today is the leadership of organisational change (Graetz, 2000:550). In the words of Lussier and Achua Abstract v (2001:9): “The companies that will survive in the new global competitiveness environment are those that can attract and maintain leaders”. The above emphasises the important role of managers during times when change take place in the organisation. Yet employees are often managed inappropriately in a period of change. There are two reasons for this: (1) managers managing change are under pressure which undermines their own performance, (2) organisations often do not possess managers who are skilful at handling change. It is this second reason that will form the focus of this study. Carnall (1999:105) states that managing change effectively requires an understanding of both what is and seems likely to happen and of how people react to change, and a skilful management performance. Leaders must take on more facilitative roles, as competencies in change management become critical to creating and sustaining effective organisations. The major technological advances of today rely heavily on leaders to facilitate change. Leaders need to encourage people to “collaborate, take risks, take responsibility and be accountable for the change process the organisation must continually undergo to maintain a leadership position in its industry”, according to Moran and Brightman (2000:3). They furthermore argue that “change leaders recognise that they are always trying to balance stability and change. It is a delicate balance to accomplish since employees desire order and stability, while organisations must be ready to adapt to changing conditions quickly”. In this rapidly changing world, organisations must become more flexible, more responsive, and more willing to change and adapt. They must create and assimilate new knowledge at an increasing pace, encourage innovation, and learn to compete in new ways. Dess and Picken (2000:30) argue that the leaders of these organisations must be proactive in facilitating organisational learning and encouraging positive adaptation to external changes. The above shows what an important role leaders/managers have to play in the strategic change process. They need to possess the requisite skills in leadership, problem solving, continuous improvement, team effectiveness, and customer service in order to ensure the long-term growth and stability in the organisation which change can bring about. This research project will identify the various skills needed to successfully manage a change initiative.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Angloher, Sanette
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Leadership , Organizational change
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DTech
- Identifier: vital:9341 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1261 , Leadership , Organizational change
- Description: Against a backdrop of increasing globalisation, deregulation, the rapid pace of technological innovation, a growing knowledge workforce, and shifting social and demographic trends, the primary task of management today is the leadership of organisational change (Graetz, 2000:550). In the words of Lussier and Achua Abstract v (2001:9): “The companies that will survive in the new global competitiveness environment are those that can attract and maintain leaders”. The above emphasises the important role of managers during times when change take place in the organisation. Yet employees are often managed inappropriately in a period of change. There are two reasons for this: (1) managers managing change are under pressure which undermines their own performance, (2) organisations often do not possess managers who are skilful at handling change. It is this second reason that will form the focus of this study. Carnall (1999:105) states that managing change effectively requires an understanding of both what is and seems likely to happen and of how people react to change, and a skilful management performance. Leaders must take on more facilitative roles, as competencies in change management become critical to creating and sustaining effective organisations. The major technological advances of today rely heavily on leaders to facilitate change. Leaders need to encourage people to “collaborate, take risks, take responsibility and be accountable for the change process the organisation must continually undergo to maintain a leadership position in its industry”, according to Moran and Brightman (2000:3). They furthermore argue that “change leaders recognise that they are always trying to balance stability and change. It is a delicate balance to accomplish since employees desire order and stability, while organisations must be ready to adapt to changing conditions quickly”. In this rapidly changing world, organisations must become more flexible, more responsive, and more willing to change and adapt. They must create and assimilate new knowledge at an increasing pace, encourage innovation, and learn to compete in new ways. Dess and Picken (2000:30) argue that the leaders of these organisations must be proactive in facilitating organisational learning and encouraging positive adaptation to external changes. The above shows what an important role leaders/managers have to play in the strategic change process. They need to possess the requisite skills in leadership, problem solving, continuous improvement, team effectiveness, and customer service in order to ensure the long-term growth and stability in the organisation which change can bring about. This research project will identify the various skills needed to successfully manage a change initiative.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
A strategy for the development of team leaders in the East Cape motor industry cluster : a competency based approach
- Authors: Melamed, Graham Morrison
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Leadership , Teams in the workplace , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DTech
- Identifier: vital:8568 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/419 , Leadership , Teams in the workplace , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: The research undertaken in this study was to identify the strategy needed to be adopted by the East Cape Motor Industry Cluster (ECMIC) in order to develop the competencies of its Team Leaders. v Hamel and Prahalad (1994: 28) are of the opinion that the focus of a company must move from current market share, to the share of tomorrow’s opportunities that the company can reasonably expect to gain. The company must therefore consider what it can achieve with its existing set of competencies, and what new competencies need to be acquired in order to prosper in the future. The development of competencies is thus deemed to be critical to the South African economy as the various local automotive manufacturers enter the export field. The ECMIC has traditionally been considered the heart of the automotive industry in South Africa with three of the major manufacturers located in the Nelson Mandela and Buffalo City Metropoles. In order to support these manufacturers, a vast number of component manufacturers and service providers have been established to support the automotive manufacturers both in the ECMIC and in other areas of the country. Since the establishment of a democratic South Africa and the removal of sanctions, the automotive industry has started to establish itself globally. This study will undertake a literature study of the application of competencies in the workplace, teams and team leaders and how competencies are applied in the ECMIC. The results of an empirical study into core competencies in the ECMIC will be used to elucidate a set of competencies which will be used to develop a strategy utilising the competency approach in team leaders in the ECMIC.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Melamed, Graham Morrison
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Leadership , Teams in the workplace , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DTech
- Identifier: vital:8568 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/419 , Leadership , Teams in the workplace , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: The research undertaken in this study was to identify the strategy needed to be adopted by the East Cape Motor Industry Cluster (ECMIC) in order to develop the competencies of its Team Leaders. v Hamel and Prahalad (1994: 28) are of the opinion that the focus of a company must move from current market share, to the share of tomorrow’s opportunities that the company can reasonably expect to gain. The company must therefore consider what it can achieve with its existing set of competencies, and what new competencies need to be acquired in order to prosper in the future. The development of competencies is thus deemed to be critical to the South African economy as the various local automotive manufacturers enter the export field. The ECMIC has traditionally been considered the heart of the automotive industry in South Africa with three of the major manufacturers located in the Nelson Mandela and Buffalo City Metropoles. In order to support these manufacturers, a vast number of component manufacturers and service providers have been established to support the automotive manufacturers both in the ECMIC and in other areas of the country. Since the establishment of a democratic South Africa and the removal of sanctions, the automotive industry has started to establish itself globally. This study will undertake a literature study of the application of competencies in the workplace, teams and team leaders and how competencies are applied in the ECMIC. The results of an empirical study into core competencies in the ECMIC will be used to elucidate a set of competencies which will be used to develop a strategy utilising the competency approach in team leaders in the ECMIC.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
Correlates and outcomes of emotional intelligence in organisations
- Authors: Bosman, Leon Abraham
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Leadership , Emotional intelligence , Organizational behavior
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DCom
- Identifier: vital:11006 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/337 , Leadership , Emotional intelligence , Organizational behavior
- Description: Emotional Intelligence and Leadership are two very important constructs to organizations. Likewise concepts like OCB, conflict handling and intention to quit of employees are equally important constructs to organizations. The primary aim of the present study was to determine how well Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and intention to quit as well as the conflict handling style of subordinates could be predicted by means of leadership style, and the emotional intelligence of leaders. A secondary aim was to determine whether a causal model could be built to represent the relationships among the variables included in the study. Relationships among these constructs were investigated in a South African sample of employees (N=470) working for various organisations. The construct validity and internal consistency of the measuring instruments were investigated. The finally accepted factor structure of not one of the measuring instruments matched the original structure as found by the authors/developers of the measuring instruments. It was therefore decided that in all cases the factor pattern as determined on the responses of the present sample would be used in further analyses of the data. Emotional intelligence of leaders as seen by subordinates and the self - perceived conflict handling styles of subordinates seem to be related in the case of Integrating and Obliging conflict handling styles and both the emotional intelligence sub-scales, i.e. Motivation and Vigilance. The Multiple Regression analysis indicated that the emotional intelligence sub-scales scores played a minor role in the prediction of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour. Models of the relationships among the variables were built by studying the results of v previous as well as the present study. The model, in which emotional intelligence is depicted as a causal variable influencing - through leadership behaviour – organizational citizenship behaviour and the integrating style of handling interpersonal conflict represented a good fit with the data. These results seem to provide some structure for thinking about the relationships among the variables and can possibly serve as frames of reference in future studies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Bosman, Leon Abraham
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Leadership , Emotional intelligence , Organizational behavior
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DCom
- Identifier: vital:11006 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/337 , Leadership , Emotional intelligence , Organizational behavior
- Description: Emotional Intelligence and Leadership are two very important constructs to organizations. Likewise concepts like OCB, conflict handling and intention to quit of employees are equally important constructs to organizations. The primary aim of the present study was to determine how well Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and intention to quit as well as the conflict handling style of subordinates could be predicted by means of leadership style, and the emotional intelligence of leaders. A secondary aim was to determine whether a causal model could be built to represent the relationships among the variables included in the study. Relationships among these constructs were investigated in a South African sample of employees (N=470) working for various organisations. The construct validity and internal consistency of the measuring instruments were investigated. The finally accepted factor structure of not one of the measuring instruments matched the original structure as found by the authors/developers of the measuring instruments. It was therefore decided that in all cases the factor pattern as determined on the responses of the present sample would be used in further analyses of the data. Emotional intelligence of leaders as seen by subordinates and the self - perceived conflict handling styles of subordinates seem to be related in the case of Integrating and Obliging conflict handling styles and both the emotional intelligence sub-scales, i.e. Motivation and Vigilance. The Multiple Regression analysis indicated that the emotional intelligence sub-scales scores played a minor role in the prediction of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour. Models of the relationships among the variables were built by studying the results of v previous as well as the present study. The model, in which emotional intelligence is depicted as a causal variable influencing - through leadership behaviour – organizational citizenship behaviour and the integrating style of handling interpersonal conflict represented a good fit with the data. These results seem to provide some structure for thinking about the relationships among the variables and can possibly serve as frames of reference in future studies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- «
- ‹
- 1
- ›
- »