This book debunks prevailing modern management theories and fashions as applied to higher education. At the same time it provides practical guidance for a clear and easily understood set of principles as to how universities and colleges can be re-energised and their staff mobilised to be effective in meeting the growing and changing needs of the global knowledge society.
Chris Duke offers challenging advice for managers in tertiary and higher education - from self-managing knowledge workers who may feel themselves to be the new academic proletariat, through to institutional heads, some of whose attempts to manage using strategic planning, management-by-objectives and other techniques seriously unravel because they fail to benefit from the talents and networks which make up the rich "underlife" of the institution.
Loss of institutional memory and failure to tap tacit know-how and mobilise commitment through genuine consultation and shared participatory management inhibits organisational learning and generates apathy - or drives staff dedication and creativity into oppositional channels.
This book indicates how higher education institutions can link and network their internal energies with external opportunities and partners to be successful and dynamic learning organisations. It points the way to enabling an enterprising and valued university to thrive in hard times, and to be a community where it is actually a pleasure to work.
