Leadership of Deans In Private Universities In Thailand, Malaysia, And Singapore: A Comparative Study And Model Development

Abstract

The objectives of this study are: to explore the leadership practices of the deans in private universities in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore in terms of vision, ethics, reality, and courage; to compare these practices, to determine which of these practices relate to leadership effectiveness of the deans; and, to construct a hypothesized model of dean leadership in the perspective of the three countries. The research methodology employed both qualitative and quantitative methods for the collection of descriptive data. Six deans from private universities, two from each country, were interviewed. The emerging themes from the interviews were grouped according to the four leadership dimensions of vision, ethics, reality and courage. Thirty-four deans who were not interviewed answered two sets of questionnaires: the leadership practices questionnaire, which consisted of 40 items, and the leadership effectiveness questionnaire, which consisted of 31 items. The emerging themes from the interview and the findings from the questionnaires were used as bases for the construction of hypothesized model of dean leadership in the perspective of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Findings show that certain leadership practices exercised by the deans in the three countries can be universally endorsed and certain practices are culturally specific.