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• • Sze Kiu Yeung@szekiuye

  

  Sze Kiu Yeung March 20, 2011 - 2:11am

  In the context of this capstone assignment, there is an interplay between four types of leadership theories that correlate with the situational perspective of the educational problem. These include:

   

  §  complexity leadership

  §  transformational leadership

  §  transactional leadership

  §  transitional leadership

   

  The characteristics of these theories are demonstrated in Table 1.

   

  Table 1: Leadership theory and situational perspective

   

  Leadership Theory	Characteristic	Situational Perspective
  Complexity	“Identifying and exploring the strategies and behaviours that foster organisational sub-unit creativity, learning and adaptability” (Marion & McKelvey, 2007, cited in Lu-Lee, Thiessen & Batsford, 2011, p.8).   A model that “...provides a framework in which certain leader behaviours work to foster complex mechanisms and generate conditions in which agents respond quickly and effectively to unanticipated conditions.” (Marion, 2008, p.10).	The unpredictable nature of lab-based classroom allocation by Administration for the BUS017 course has called for a creative approach to tackle this problem with the development and implementation of an e-learning instructional system that is relevant, accessible and interactive regardless of the learner’s time, pace and place of learning.   The “unanticipated condition” here is clearly the variable teaching timetable issued by Administration for the lab classes and a quick respond is necessary to tackle this problem not from an ad-hoc basis, but to provide a framework with long-term pedagogical solutions.
  Transformational	“A one-way relationship, with the leader lifting the followers to new heights of motivation and achievement.....is appropriate when major fundamental change is required...... emphasises the role of change agent .......has to be attempted within the constraints of a very specific timeframe.” (Bass, 1985, and Williams, 2003,  cited in Bainbridge, 2011, pp2-4).	As the course leader, the author aims to create a better and more efficient approach to assist his instructors so that they approach their teaching of BUS017 with new enthusiasm and motivation supported by a new set of instructional tools. It is hoped that in turn they will be transformed to be better instructors and that the students’ learning interests, both inside and outside of the classroom, would also be transformed.   While not a new phenomenon elsewhere, injecting e-learning instructions for BUS017 mark a fundamental change in the way this course will be taught to students even though it still belongs to the classroom-based pedagogical system of the DMS programme.   The author is clearly playing the role of a change agent here to develop and implement the e-learning instructional system within a specific timeframe (by 1 July 2011).
  Transactional	An “effective leadership style in academia.....a leader interacts with others in the organisation via an exchange of mutually valued ideas or resources, usually with somewhat related purposes.....a leader’s function may be primarily one of reinforcing and rewarding instructional personnel.....” (Beaudoin, 2004, pp 94-95).	Given that it is an organisational/ school requirement that all courses in the DMS programme be available on the Blackboard LMS system by the July 2011 semester, instructors and students of BUS017 will need to adapt themselves to use Blackboard. Having an additional e-learning instructional system on Blackboard provides instructors and students with “mutually valued resources” for a common purpose.   As a faculty member of the school, the author has to reinforce and reward “instructional personnel” to teach the course using Blackboard. In this respect, he has to exercise a level of transactional leadership.
  Transitional	A leader who “manages the transitional phase which occurs after the environment has undergone a transformative change process, but has not yet reached equilibrium.....operations have yet stabilized, and so require transactional leadership in this interim phase.” (Beaudoin, 2004, p. 95).	Clearly the transition between “zero” e-learning to a significant level of e-learning for BUS017 from the July 2011 semester will require the author to closely monitor the problems, both technical and pedagogical, that will arise, identify them, and address them through revising the e-learning instructional system and/or the curriculum as appropriate to ensure the stability and equilibrium of the academic operations. In the interim, the author also needs to demonstrate transitional leadership.

   

   

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