Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the influence of organizational factors such as leadership commitment, incentives and interaction on learning outcomes defined as performance improvement and organizational climate. Design/methodology/approach: Different aspects of knowledge acquisition, sharing and utilization were examined,…

Recent work on distributed leadership extends an ongoing critique of conventional "heroic" leader portrayals. This article examines work in this area seeking implications for democratic school governance. With material from case studies of two Texas schools, it considers frameworks presented by Spillane, Halverson, and Diamond and by…

Three leadership styles are frequently discussed in the literature today: transactional, transformational, and most recently--transcendental. Managers may be able to put transactional, transformational, and transcendental leadership style theories into practice without inventing a new set of processes and procedures to achieve individual follower…

The author argues that current corporate government legislation and practice is weighted too much in the direction of "board compliance." It is, therefore, in danger of reducing the risks taken by boards of directors. In the long term this could slow significantly the growth of capitalism. He proposes a rebalancing of the fundamental board…

Purpose: This paper aims to provide an Australian perspective on successful school leadership. Design/methodology/approach: The paper focuses on case studies in two Australian states (Tasmania and Victoria). Case studies for each state were developed independently and are reported separately. Findings: The findings show a remarkable degree of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine decision making and resource allocation in a small, rural district in a Midwestern state of the USA during a time of economic retrenchment. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative case study methods were used, including focus groups and personal interviews with current and former district…

In this paper, we critique the study of school leadership for its normative, singular, and evolutionary tendencies. Through an empirical study of leadership we offer an approach that suggests new possibilities for the field. Through the use of a qualitative, grounded theory methodology, we developed profiles of principals that illustrate a variety…

The problem of this study involved the identification of differences in leadership practices between master's-level students at Dallas Theological Seminary based on the independent variable of ministry leadership involvement. A total of 1,254 master's-level seminary students enrolled on the main campus of Dallas Seminary during the fall Semester…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how Canadian adult students collaboratively learn with peers in both formal and non-formal adult literacy programs. A multisite case study research design was used involving several local literacy organizations. Data collection occurred over a four-month period and focused on nine different program…

A fundamental challenge facing community college presidents and senior-level staff is to create an environment in which diverse qualities of students and staff make positive contributions to the organization. This requires replacing conceptions of leadership as one person at the top who has power with a vision of democratic leadership which…

Based on the assertion that community colleges are moving from the community-based paradigm of the past 30 years to a new paradigm combining the forces of learner- and community-based education, this book explores the role of leadership in changing the mission and culture of the colleges. Chapter 1 describes differences between the older top-down…

School leaders, especially principals, will play a major role in determining how effectively public schools are able to respond to the challenges of the next century. This handbook summarizes, analyzes, and synthesizes literature on educational leadership. It also integrates theory and practice, containing ideas from practitioners. The volume…

Effective-schools research has determined that successful schools are invariably led by a principal who is recognized as an instructional leader. This paper synthesizes and attempts to clarify the most recent perspectives on instructional leadership. Data sources included professional educational journals, trade books on leadership, and…

Educational reform in Norway has led to increasing decentralization and a redefinition of the role of the school principal. Action research is an approach enabling principals to clarify alternative actions, consider appropriate action, and become aware of the relationship between agency and structure. Systematic reflection is a tool for…

When organizational leaders adhere to untested, self-generating beliefs, their ability to achieve desired results can be limited. Although leaders have traditionally been viewed as the bearers of all the answers and have been expected to make all organizational decisions, emerging views of leadership suggest that their role should be to encourage…