Village People: Ambiguity and Leadership in Higher Education

What kind of organisations are universities? And what therefore are the lessons for leadership and management of universities? Through looking at analogies with other organisations and social groupings - particularly a village or group of villages - we explore these questions. Unless we understand properly the particular ways in which universities as centres of intellectual enquiry may be helped to flourish, we risk adopting inappropriate styles of leadership and management. The analogy of the villages proves particularly effective in helping us understand how universities actually operate, and how people who work within universities feel and behave. Using these analogies we suggest ways in which Government, national and regional bodies, vice-chancellors, senior managers, heads of department, managers of support services and individual staff members - leaders at every level - might think about how they can improve their contribution to our universities and make them the best they can be.