How to Lead Academic Departments Successfully

Edited by Adam Lindgreen, Professor, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark and Extraordinary Professor, Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa, Alan Irwin, Professor, Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School and Danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy, Aarhus University and Flemming Poulfelt, Professor Emeritus, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

‘It takes a particular kind of optimism—or perhaps masochism—to believe academic leadership can be anything but a series of well-intentioned compromises. Yet Lindgreen, Irwin, and Poulfelt’s updated collection offers precisely that: a rare blend of pragmatism and provocation for those navigating the contradictions of university governance. Having spent years studying academic cultures, I find this volume’s refusal to reduce leadership to checklists or corporate jargon refreshingly subversive. For those of us committed to reshaping universities, this collection is both mirror and map.’

• ContentsIntroduction to How to Lead Academic Departments Successfully 1PART I Challenges of being an academic leader1 On the particular challenges of managing professionals 14Flemming Poulfelt2 Relevant leadership: the dynamic equilibrium of managing and leadingacademic departments 25Rickie A. Moore3 The role of academic leaders of a business school: an internal tensionsperspective 31Matthew J. Robson4 Leading a sustainable university: the four ‘I’s of sustainable leadership 39Børge Obel and Pernille Kallehave5 Authors of our own misfortune? Managing crises in university departments –the challenges around crisis incubation 50Denis Fischbacher-SmithPART II Transformational and performance leadership6 The head of department as the key transformational leader 66Asbjørn Busk J. and Søren Barlebo Rasmussen7 Leading with purpose: developing the first business school for public good 89Martin Kitchener8 Leading academic departments 106Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones9 Individual performance management: enabler or threat to academicperformance? 117Andreas Werr and Katja Einola10 Deploying systems thinking to create a ‘triple-crown’ business school 137Michael C. Jackson OBEPART III Inclusivity, team spirit and career development11 ‘Don’t think you can be everyone’s friend’: dealing with conflict in anacademic department 156Alan Irwin12 The ‘we’ of the department: conjuring up team spirits 165Peter Kjær13 ‘Now you see it’: gender, inclusion and diversity 174Maja Horst14 Leading faculty as teachers 184Hanne Andersen15 Inclusive onboarding in academic departments 202Daniel J. Petzer, Nicola S. Kleyn and Michele RuitersPART IV Building, leading and funding research groups16 Building research groups 219Adam Lindgreen, C. Anthony Di Benedetto, Roderick J. Brodie and Peter Naudé17 Dilemmas in university management: the case of Copenhagen BusinessSchool 247Nanna Mik-Meyer18 Pathways to external funding at departments: how to strengthen a change ofculture by empowerment, supportive organizing and leadership? 262Enno HofeldtPART V Collaboration with other disciplines and practitioners19 Collaborating with practitioners 283C. Anthony Di Benedetto, Adam Lindgreen, Marianne Storgaard and AnnHøjbjerg Clarke20 Leading academics in a public-private partnership: balancing value andperformance-based leadership in times of (climate) change 300Morten W. Jeppesen21 Undertaking cross-disciplinary research 312Adam Lindgreen, C. Anthony Di Benedetto, Roderick J. Brodie and Michelvan der BorghPART VI Leadership in different contexts22 Framing business schools as a socio-technical system: issues aroundcomplexity and emergence 322Denis Fischbacher-Smith23 Business school leadership in an era of change and uncertainty: complexstructures, executive education and accreditation 339Kai Peters24 Academic leadership: the Danish case 350Jacob Kjær Eskildsen and Børge Obel25 Student success and retention 355Moira Fischbacher-Smith26 What do heads of academic departments need to know about digitalisation? 366Sally WyattPART VII Personal leadership reflections27 Responsibilities of the department chair: lessons from the frontline 377Thomas G. Cummings28 How to lead an academic marketing department: some personal observationsand reflections 394Gerrit van Bruggen29 From head to dean: academic leadership 404Peter Møllgaard