Pay-for-performance schemes have become a widespread management strategy in the public sector. However, not much is known about the rationales that trigger the adoption of performance-related pay provisions. This article examines managerial and organisational features of university departments in Denmark that use publication incentive payments.…

This article examines the developments and challenges of higher education in developing countries. Using a thorough qualitative interview of deans, directors and heads of Department of the University of Ghana, this paper draws on their analysis to discover unexplored issues that affect the universities in developing countries. The study identifies…

This paper examines leader-member exchange behaviour for the development of academic talent in higher education. Drawing from a sample of academic leaders at a large South African university, interviews conducted with the chairs of departments (CoDs) provide new insight on development practices and actions for follower development within a…

Although it has been decades since gender inequality in academe was first highlighted, institutions around the world continue to struggle with how best to address the problem. Policies and procedures intended to increase women's representation appear to have had limited impact in many departments, especially those in science, technology,…

In this paper, we build on Wood's (2010, 2012) recent call to consider higher education as a work place that conjures emotion among constituents, particularly positional leaders, like department chairs. Using a participatory action research and photo-enhanced methodological approach, we illustrate the emotional labor that was poured into the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the difference in the process of higher education (HE) internationalization across faculties in a post-1992 university and to identify faculty-specific factors through evaluating the four faculties in the case study. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative research is conducted in a post-1992…

This article looks at a small group of women in Canadian faculties of education who hold what I call "lower-middle management" positions and considers whether they are on the ladder to recognized academic leadership or are in a revolving-door situation that will take them back to the ranks from whence they came. These nine women are…

Deputy Vice Chancellor and Pro Vice Chancellor positions have proliferated in response to the global, corporatised university landscape [Scott, G., S. Bell, H. Coates, and L. Grebennikov. 2010. "Australian Higher Education Leaders in Times of Change: The Role of Pro Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor." "Journal of Higher…

The purpose of this study was to better understand how male African American leaders in higher education perceive the influence of spirituality on their leadership decision making. This phenomenological study provided the opportunity for seven male African American leaders in higher education to explain in their own words how they perceive the…

Managers at Spanish universities are having to deal with increasingly complex managerial tasks as a result of current changes in higher education. This paper presents the results of a study into the professional development of deans and department heads at universities in Catalonia. At management level, these universities are typically based on an…

"The modernizing machine" codes individual bodies, things, and symbols with images from New Public Management, neo-liberal, and Knowledge Economy discourses. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari's concept of machines, this article explores how "the modernizing machine" produces neo-liberal modernization of the public sector. Taking…

Although middle-level academic managers really need training in order to perform their roles adequately in the very changing context of higher education, little formal training is provided, particularly in less developed countries. This paper identifies the training needs of Heads of Department in a newly established university in Vietnam as a…

The focus of this research is the conflicted nature of the lived experience of public community college academic department chairs. In many colleges, department chairs are faculty chosen by colleagues and/or administration. Once selected, chairs assume supervisory responsibilities. The duality of this colleague-supervisor role has the potential…

The Department Chair position is perhaps the most important position on a college campus. Not only do Department Chairs have a large number of individual tasks to perform, but a Chair's actions have potentially large repercussions, since the bulk of the pedagogical and administrative decisions made at institutions of higher education are made at…

Universities confront many challenges in their efforts to manage staff activity with the aid of workload assessment and allocation systems. This article sets out fresh perspectives from an exploratory study designed to uncover patterns of subjective views about various aspects of workloads. Using Q methodology, academic staff in a single…