Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This case study examines the lives of some very different educational leadership professors with a common problem: They are miserable in their work. But how could this be? They have secure jobs at a great university, considerable autonomy in their work schedules, an opportunity to study a subject they love, and a chance to work with great students. What is the problem? The problem is that they now find themselves among the ranks of the damned in the Leadership Department From Hell, or at least their local chapter of this ever-growing franchise. This hypothetical case study presents several archetypal characters known to inhabit the most troubled leadership departments in order to examine what can go wrong in a leadership department. This study also presents guiding discussion questions to explore what might be done to make it better—for everyone.

Keywords

organizational culture change conflict resolution team building

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference. Boston: Little, Brown.

Holton, S. A. (1998). Mending the cracks in the ivory tower. Strategies for conflict management in higher education. Bolton, MA: Anker.

Patterson, K. (2002). Crucial conversations: Tools for talking when the stakes are high. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Patterson, K. (2005). Crucial confrontations: Tools for resolving broken promises, violated expectations and bad behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Schein, E. H. (1994). Organizational and managerial culture as facilitator or inhibitor of organizational learning (Society for Organizational Learning Working Papers). Retrieved November 13, 1999, from http://learning.mit.edu/res/wp/10004.html

Tierney, W. G. (1992). Building academic communities of difference. Change, 24(2), 40-46.

Torraco, R. J. (2005). Organization development: A question of fit for universities. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 7, 303-310.

Watkins, K. E. (2005). What would be different if higher educational institutions were learning organizations? Advances in Developing Human Resources, 7, 414-421.

When Bad Departments Happen to Good People

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References