Development of Management and Leadership Competencies in Senior Management of Higher Educational Institutions: Literature Review

Abstract

The paper aims at identifying leadership and management competencies that are needed by senior management of higher education to perform their duties creditably. The study endeavoured to understand the relationship between leadership competencies and managerial competencies. Approximately 79 research works in articles and books in the subject matter and related topics have been consulted and referred to. The research engine used to search for appropriate literature were Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic, BASE, CORE, Semantic Scholar, Baidu Scholar, and Scopus. The online database search brought to light a lot of references on leadership and management competencies in general, but less on leadership and management competencies in higher education. The results of an extensive review of research papers, various articles, and books indicated that senior management in higher education needs to be developed with managerial and leadership competencies so that they become effective to perform their jobs. The article reveals that there is no specific model of leadership and management that is considered to be the best for higher educational institution, therefore the style or model of leadership and management to adapt is dependent on several factors. Hence, to become a successful leader one requires a blend of formal learning and practice.