Distributed leadership at a South African university of technology : a multi-stakeholder model

Leadership has been an area of interest for millennia, but never more so than within a 21st century VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world. Globalisation, massification, rapid socio-economic changes in tandem with the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution are all challenges faced by higher education institutions internationally. South African higher education has not escaped these leadership challenges, but in addition faces its own unique issues, post-apartheid. The country’s democratic dispensation required that institutional governance and leadership be shared and participative, which aligns well to a distributed leadership stance. However, more than two decades later, events such as # FeesMustFall national campaigns, the strident student discourse and the rising clamour for transformation, questions if real change has actually taken place. This study examined the issue of university transformation by assessing multi-stakeholder participation in leadership and governance at a South African University of Technology. Taking cognisance of the multiplicity of issues facing higher education institutions it was important to utilise robust research methods, hence, the paradigm choice of a systems thinking worldview and complexity sciences. This study used multi-method research employing the Viable System Model (VSM) with the rich picture technique of the Soft System Methodology (SSM). Data was collected through qualitative interviews, respondent observation and archival data and examined using thematic analysis. Using the VSM as a diagnostic tool, enabled weaknesses and strengths of the institution to be identified, which informed the building of an institution specific model of distributed leadership. The findings of this study demonstrated institutional viability, albeit, in a hierarchical, bureaucratic manner. It nevertheless highlighted weaknesses of ‘soft’ or people-centred issues. Other identified concerns was that the university was more inward focused, on the ‘here and now’, often ignoring the ‘outside and then’ that is, the external environment and could imply that the institution is not well placed to handle national and global stressors. The model of distributed leadership addresses this deficit. This study established the appropriateness and applicability of using a systems thinking approach namely the VSM as a diagnostic tool to assess institutional shortcomings. In this way, it enabled appropriate recommendations and suggestions to improve the institutions viability to address the complexities facing 21st century higher educational institutions