An analysis of decision‐making procedures and managerial styles of department heads in an academic institution is used to test the contingency model of managerial leadership. The procedures and styles of thirty academic heads are compared with those reported in other studies of managers in private enterprises and public bureaucracies. In both the academic and non‐academic situations, decisions and styles range over autocratic, participatory and delegative approaches. Evidence is put forward that the academic heads are, on average, as effective as managers in the other sectors but that they tend to use participatory and power‐sharing procedures more than their counterparts in private industry and public service. The contingency theory of managerial leadership seems therefore to be supported by this study.
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1 January 1979
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January 01 1979
PARTICIPATION IN DECISION‐MAKING Available to Purchase
N.F. DUFTY;
N.F. DUFTY
Dean of Social Sciences at the Western Australian Institute of Technology. He holds the degrees of B.A., M.Ed. and PH.D. (W.A.) and M.A. (Ill.). Dr. Dufty was a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University in 1978.
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J.G. WILLIAMS
J.G. WILLIAMS
Co‐ordinator of Graduate Studies, School of Business and Administration, Western Australian Institute of Technology. He holds the degrees or B.A., B.Sc. and Ph.D. (W.A.), B.Ed. (Qld.) and M.Ed. (Alta.). Dr. Williams is currently investigating aspects of Principals' behaviour in West Australian schools.
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Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Online ISSN: 1758-7395
Print ISSN: 0957-8234
© MCB UP Limited
1979
Journal of Educational Administration (1979) 17 (1): 30–38.
Citation
DUFTY N, WILLIAMS J (1979), "PARTICIPATION IN DECISION‐MAKING". Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 17 No. 1 pp. 30–38, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009803
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