Higher education leadership roles in knowledge processing

Purpose – To examine the critical roles of leadership in higher education and to define how such roles enable an environment that embraces the demands of a knowledge‐based organization.Design/methodology/approach – Through interviews with executive leadership in several higher education institutions, the ontology of knowledge management was established and the methods by which knowledge gaps were resolved were explored. The question of how leadership behaviors, policies, and programs enable or inhibit knowledge‐processing activities was analyzed.Findings – Leadership influence in six key areas emerged as significant in the study: environment manager, network manager, policy manager, crisis manager, knowledge gap manager, and future leader preparation. The authors confirmed that the leader has tremendous control over the knowledge‐processing environment and the role of leadership has broader influence than the resolution of knowledge gaps.Originality/value – By understanding leadership roles in knowledge m...

[1]  Mark W. McElroy,et al.  The New Knowledge Management , 2000 .

[2]  Josiah Ober,et al.  Beyond empowerment: building a company of citizens. , 2003, Harvard business review.

[3]  Russ Marion,et al.  Leadership in Education: Organizational Theory for the Practitioner , 2001 .

[4]  Barbara W. Keats,et al.  Navigating in the new competitive landscape: Building strategic flexibility and competitive advantage in the 21st century , 1998 .

[5]  D. Leonard,et al.  Putting your company's whole brain to work. , 1997, Harvard business review.

[6]  Henry Mintzberg,et al.  The structuring of organizations : a synthesis of the research , 1980 .

[7]  M. Patton,et al.  Qualitative evaluation and research methods , 1992 .

[8]  Hittt and Manikutty.  Strategic Management , 2006 .

[9]  J. Pfeffer,et al.  The Power and the Glory@@@Managing with Power: Politics and Influence in Organizations. , 1992 .

[10]  M. Boisot.  Knowledge Assets: Securing Competitive Advantage in the Information Economy , 1998 .

[11]  Peter J. Sloane,et al.  SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS , 2006 .

[12]  M. Hitt.  1997 Presidential Address: Twenty-First-Century Organizations: Business Firms, Business Schools, and the Academy , 1998 .

[13]  Mark W. McElroy,et al.  The New Knowledge Management: Complexity,Learning,and Sustainable Innovation , 2002 .

[14]  Robert E. Hoskisson,et al.  Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization , 1994 .

[15]  I. Nonaka,et al.  The Knowledge Creating Company , 2008 .

[16]  J. Creswell.  Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five traditions. , 1998 .

[17]  B. McKelvey.  ENERGISING ORDER-CREATING NETWORKS OF DISTRIBUTED INTELLIGENCE: IMPROVING THE CORPORATE BRAIN , 2001 .

[18]  Warren G. Bennis,et al.  The leadership advantage , 1999 .

[19]  P. Drucker.  Management Challenges for the 21st Century , 1992 .

[20]  B. McKelvey.  Toward a 0th Law of Thermodynamics: Order-Creation Complexity Dynamics from Physics and Biology to Bioeconomics , 2004 .