Faculty Leadership at Indonesian Universities: Deans as Lions or Lambs?
Jenny Ngo, Harry de Boer, and Jrgen Enders Email: [email protected]
Introduction
Indonesian universities have become more autonomous in both financial matters and internal management. This has consequences for the top executives in the faculties, the deans. This study investigates the deanship styles in Indonesian universities and aims to better understand the styles exhibited by deans as manifested in their behaviours.
Results
Based on the responses of 218 deans and the results of a cluster analysis, the study indicates that deans exhibit four distinguished styles.
Based on the results of multiple regression analyses, the study demonstrates that attitudes are the primary determinant of the deanship styles.
Theoretical Framework
The study used the eight leadership roles from the Competing Values Framework (CVF) to conceptualise deans behaviour, visualised in Figure 1.
37% of the deans have the Competitive Consultant style, characterised by the director and producer roles, followed by the facilitator role.
20% of the deans exhibit the Focused Team Captain style, mainly characterised by the facilitator and producer and, to some extent, a coordinator.
Figure 3. Empirical Model for Understanding the Indonesian Deanship Styles.
Conclusion
Do Indonesian deans act as lions or lambs? Deans exhibit both lion-like and lamb-like leadership characteristics. They embrace lion-like characteristics when they clarify tasks, set objectives, and emphasise productivity. At the same time, deans embrace lamb-like characteristics when they emphasise activities like teamwork and motivating their staff.
Figure 1. Behavioural Model and Eight Leadership Roles in the CVF.
Sample
Questionnaires were sent via post to 443 deans selected via a stratified and simple random sampling technique from an estimated population of 960 deans from 120 accredited universities from Sumatera to Irian Jaya.
24% of the deans exhibit the Consensual Goal-Setter style, mostly characterised by the facilitator and director roles. 18% of the deans demonstrate the Informed Trust-Builder style, playing out a combination of the mentor, producer, coordinator, and monitor roles.
Reference
Ngo, J. (2013). Lions or Lambs. How deans lead and manage their faculties at Indonesian universities. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Twente]. Enschede: CHEPS. doi: 10.3990/1.9789036534666
Figure 2. Four Distinguished Deanship Styles at Indonesian Universities.
