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parties…the transformational leader…seeks to satisfy higher needs in terms of
Maslow’s (1954) need hierarchy, to engage the full person of the follower.
Transforming leadership results in mutual stimulation and elevation “that converts
followers into leaders and may convert leaders into moral agents.” Transactional
political leaders can be classified as opinion leaders, bargainers or bureaucrats, party
leaders, legislative leaders, and executive leaders. Transformational leaders can be
categorised as intellectual leaders, leaders of reform or revolution and heroes or
ideologues (Bass 1981:20).
Although transformational rather than transactional leadership may be more desirable in
the context of a changing environment, transactional leadership may be more suitable for
a constant situation (Middlehurst 1993).
Bass (1998) takes Burns (1978) distinction further when he explains the difference
between transactional cultures and leaders and transformational cultures and leaders:
A transactional culture concentrates on explicit and implicit contractual relationships.
Job assignments are in writing accompanied with statements about conditions of
employment, rules, regulations, benefits, and disciplinary codes. The stories that make
the rounds repeatedly, the jargon used, the values emphasised, the assumptions shared
and the reinforcement systems in the transactional culture usually set a price for doing
anything. “Everyone has a price.” Motivation to work is a matter or trade-offs of
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worker effort in exchange for rewards and the avoidance of disciplinary actions.
Commitments remain short term and self-interests are underscored.
The partly transactional organisation is an internal marketplace of individuals whose
rewards are contingent on their performance. Additionally, management-by-exception
is often actively practiced. Employees work independently. Cooperation depends on
the organisation’s ability to satisfy the self-interests of the employees. The employees
do not identify with the organisation, its vision, or mission,. Leaders are negotiators
and resource allocators in which the power and politics behind a request may be as
important as its merit. Innovation and risk taking are discouraged.
In the organisational transformational culture, there is a sense of purpose and a feeling
of family. Commitments are long-term. Mutual interests are shared along with a sense
of shared fates and interdependence of leaders and followers. Leaders serve as role
models, mentors, and coaches. They work to socialise new members into the epitome
of a transformational organisation culture. Shared norms cover a wide range of
behaviour. The norms are adaptive and change with changes in the organisation’s
environment. Emphasised are organisational purposes, visions, and missions. In this
pure organisational culture, challenges are opportunities, not threats (Bass 1998: 65-
66).
In short, the difference between a transactional and a transformational culture is that the
former is characterised by reward for performance, short-lived commitments and strong
self-interest. The latter culture is built around familial relationships where leaders and
followers share a common destiny and a strong sense of interdependence, shared norms,
including a shared organisational purpose, vision and mission.
Warren (1990) also uses Burns’ (1978) distinction in his explanation of transactional and
transformational leadership in an academic departmental leadership context. He says,
“transforming leaders have a supportive, caring attitude, their questions have a positive
ring , they encourage other people to excel and they reflect a grasp of mission, of
common cause. They enhance the teaching role of leaders and they seek significant
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change that represents the collective or pooled interests of teachers and
followers”(1990:31).
If transformational leadership is an appropriate leadership strategy in the context of a
changing organisational environment, this might be a useful application in the current
context of the transforming university. Heads of academic departments would therefore
do well to exercise a transformational leadership approach in dealing with the many
changes currently taking place. However, as Middlehurst(1993:36) points out, a purely
transformational approach may not work in the academic context as the conditions that
constitute transformational leadership:
are not necessarily present in universities where dual authority exists…where loyalty
is as often to the discipline or department as to the institution; where motivation is
intrinsic to the nature of academic work, not needing to be created extrinsically
through presidential acts of leadership; and where positive responses to radical change
are unlikely to be present.
What is suggested then is that transformational leadership may work in institutions:
where direct contact with institutional leaders is possible and where a strong
institutional identity can be formed, or in a crisis when either the financial viability or
academic quality of the institution is perceived to be in jeopardy.
According to Middlehurst (1993), a case in point concerning transformational leadership
is the current British context, where she says “changes in mission activities and
individual roles are being called for…” (p36).
Lucas(1994) characterises transformational leaders as those who:
create a shared vision, energise others by communicating that vision at many levels,
stimulate others to think in different ways and to excel, give individual consideration
to others, and provide an organisational climate that helps others to accomplish
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activities of value and feel appreciated… have followers who perform at a higher level
and who are more satisfied with their work than other employees… (p47)
She characterises transformational heads of academic departments as those who:
engage in an ongoing quest for quality, looking for opportunities to make things
better…know[their] organisation’s norms and culture very well but[are] also willing to
risk challenging those norms when they are negative or dysfunctional…Learn from
their mistakes…have the ability to create a shared vision…[empower others] enabling
others to act…believe in people (p50-52).
A discussion based on the above characterisation of transformational leaders will take
place later in the chapter, in relation to women and the exercise of leadership and power.
The section below examines academic leadership in higher education with particular
reference to the roles and responsibilities of HoDs.
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