A grounded theory of chairperson management strategy derived from interviews with outstanding chairpersons at three urban universities is presented. Five interacting factors lead to department leadership effectiveness: leader values, department stages, management strategies, congruence level, and resource control. (Author/MLW)

The managerial behavior of academic department chairpersons and nonacademic unit managers across 140 colleges and universities were compared. Faculty and administrators completed questionnaires that profiled their formal leader's behavior, their work group characteristics, and their personal satisfaction. (Author/MLW)

Qualitative aspects of human resource management and leadership are seen as most essential. Based on observations of problematic department management, recommendations are made with respect to selection, training, evaluation, and research and development. (MLW)

This article presents the findings of two case studies of leadership and management in engineering departments in two British universities, one a chartered university and one a statutory university. The studies are the first in a series of "pairs" of such studies in departments of various academic discipline and size, in the two types of…

At Carnegie Mellon University, collaborative strategic planning promotes institutional distinction through the development of focused departments that exploit university strengths and opportunities. Implications of decentralized university organization and the need for centralized leadership are discussed. (MLW)

This study examined the career behaviors of department chairs in higher education and investigated possible context variables which may correlate with specific identified patterns of career movement. A total of 808 department chairs from 101 institutions were sent a questionnaire survey. The participants were distributed over eight Biglan model…

Discusses the role of academic departments in university reform efforts and reports on a survey of 64 provosts concerning department-level change. Three sources of tension between institutional needs and traditional academic departments are identified. Urges faculty involvement in reforms, including regrouping faculty, redefining departmental…