McSharry, Trevor (2024) An Exploration of Change and Leadership in an Emerging Technological University. PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.

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Abstract

The higher educational sector in Ireland is undergoing significant change due to the complexity of evolving multifaced roles and demands within a highly regulated environment where resources are limited. This is being compounded as institutes of technology merge to form new technological universities. Although effective leadership is required to successfully lead change initiatives, limited research on change leadership exists, especially for the higher educational sector. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to explore stakeholder experiences and perceptions of change and leadership in an emerging Technological University (TU) in Ireland. The case study was guided by the following research question: ‘How do stakeholders experience and value change leadership?’ Linked to this overall research question are the following subquestions: (1) What are the main change drivers, cultural and contextual factors for change? (2) What are staff perceptions about change and leadership? (3) What are the challenges for change management and leadership? (4) What are the importance and presence of change leadership characteristics? The study considers the important components of change leadership including context, culture, and change, while also synthesising change leadership characteristics from literature. Utilising complexity theory as a theoretical framework, relationships between these topics and complexity leadership are conceptualised. Through content analysis, focus groups with senior management, a survey with all staff and an interview with the president, this four-stage research approach highlights the importance of working within the context and dealing with challenges through change leadership. Furthermore, insights associated with the influence of context and the important of culture have been provided as well as considerations for leading change and leadership overall. New understandings of change and its dynamics as well as complexity are also revealed. This study has contributed to knowledge, policy and practice and has implications for future change leadership research, training, and development.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Keywords:	Change; Leadership; Emerging; Technological; University;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Education
Item ID:	19022
Depositing User:	IR eTheses
Date Deposited:	14 Oct 2024 14:28
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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