Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
46508388
Author
Quinlan, Kevin Peter,1949-
Title
Chief executive officers in Atlantic Canada's community colleges : how environments and stakeholders shape the role.
Degree
Ed. D. -- University of Toronto, 1995
Publisher
Ottawa : National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1996.
Description
5 microfiches.
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
Chief Executive Officers in Canada's colleges are mandated the responsibility of leading and managing organizations through cycles of social and economic change. In an effort to better understand how college environments and stakeholders shape the role of a college CEO, this descriptive study examined how CEOs in three Atlantic Canada community colleges performed their work. The study was conducted in three colleges having differing systems of organizational governance, and the research sample included the CEOs and a total of 53 internal and external respondents from the colleges involved. The study's key findings were: (1) Today's college CEO prefers a proactive role, one that places the CEO in contact with external stakeholders and is focused outward into the external environment. (2) Colleges are formally established under bureaucratic organizational designs; however, the day-to-day organizational design and operating system function informally and are based on the individual CEO's preferred leadership and management style. (3) A college's informal model of governance and system of operation shapes the role of CEO: For example, a CEO who operates in a political frame is required to spend considerable time networking and lobbying with external stakeholders; a CEO who operates in a collegial frame is required to spend considerable time refereeing conflict among groups within the organization; and, a CEO who operates in a bureaucratic frame spends his or her time in an internally focused mode processing paperwork and checking with those higher in the organization before taking any actions. (4) Given a need for colleges to be responsive to changing environmental demands while maintaining organizational stability, college CEOs prefer to hire faculty as generalists who have skills which can be applied across several program areas, versus hiring or retaining specialists whose skills limit their employment to a single program area. (5) From a CEO's perspective, the key reason why a college maintains a formal bureaucratic/hierarchical design is that someone must be seen as being legally responsible for organizational functioning. (6) College CEOs prefer to manage by using a top-down approach when dealing with policy, and a bottom-up approach when seeking stakeholder inclusion and innovation. (7) The college CEO's role is shaped primarily by external environmental influences and by internal stakeholders. (8) The key external influences that serve to shape the role of CEO are the demography and culture of the college region, the demands of community groups, contract training, competition from private trainers, and changing job markets and related technology. (9) The most influential stakeholders in shaping the role of CEO are the governing body, college administrators, and faculty; support staff rank as the least influential. (10) While college CEOs learn their role primarily through informal sources, they use reflective learning and their past experiences to decide upon actions. The CEO's key reason for seeking information is to be informed about the needs of external stakeholders, thereby enabling him or her to operate a responsive organization. (11) Metaphorically, the role of a college CEO who operates in a political/polycentric college design is one of a range beacon light that is expected to show direction. The role of CEO who operates in a bureaucratic/hierarchical college design is one of a cork in a rough sea. And, the role of a CEO who operates in a collegial/shared governance college design is one of a firefighter who puts out brush fires. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
ISBN
0612074293
9780612074293