Leadership and Followership in Post-1992 University Business Schools in England

Abstract

The research reflects on how academics interact as leaders and followers in Post-1992 University Business Schools. The study was cognisant of the tensions experienced by knowledge workers, such as academics, whereby a person may have leadership responsibilities, whilst working within as a collegiate environment. The research explores leadership through qualitative methodology and constructivist discourse within three cases studies. The selection of case studies included two business schools which had experienced numerous restructures and one where the management team was more stable. The key outcomes of the research indicate that the respondents are dissatisfied by their leaders and reported an absence of consultation as well as almost yearly disruptive restructuring. Consequently, the research reported minimal followership or distributed leadership. Instead, disengagement was reported by academics in both management and non-management posts. In two of the business schools, successive sets of new externally hired management teams had imposed reorganisations and redundancies. Consequently, academics expressed disengagement and reported systemic failures to develop and promote internal candidates to senior management and departmental leadership posts.