Leader-follower exchange perspective of academictalent development in higher education

[摘要] This study examines the development of academic talent in higher education from asocial exchange and organisation support perspective. More specifically the studyinvestigates to what extent a quality leader-member exchange relationship between achair of department and an academic staff member contributes to the perceiveddevelopment of academic talent in higher education.The leader-member exchange theory was applied in this study to examine theinfluence of the quality of the relationship between an academic leader and a followeron supervisory support for development as well as its ultimate effect on perceptionsof organisation investment in employee development. Insight into the said quality and the effect of this relationship would provide greater clarity to leaders about thedevelopment of academic talent in higher education.The study employed a mixed-method approach that combined quantitative andqualitative data collection. Quantitative data was collected from participants(members of academic staff as followers) through an online survey, and qualitativedata was collected from leaders (chairs of academic departments as developers ofacademic staff) through conducting one-on-one interviews. In addition, a theoreticalmodel of the hypothesised relationships between leaders and followers was testedusing path analysis.The study found new evidence of the ways in which relationship resources embodiedin the leader-member exchange relationship between supervisors (leaders) andemployees (followers) influenced employee perceptions of both supervisory andorganisation support for development. The results also demonstrated how leadermemberexchange theory, combined with theoretical work on organisation support,helped to explain and understand the critical role of supervisors in developingacademic staff. This study suggests that leader-member exchange theory could beused as an appropriate leadership theory for application in the development ofacademic talent in higher education. In addition specific development practices for achair of department in their roles as developers were also presented.

[发布机构] University of Pretoria