Management competencies for the development of heads of department in the higher education context: a literature overview

摘要

The increasing changes in and demands made on higher education institutions inthe 21st century have had a considerable impact on the roles and responsibilitiesof heads of department (HODs), and have led to increasing emphasis on thedevelopment of core HOD management competencies. The aim of this study wasto identify the management competencies deemed necessary for HODs tofunction effectively within the higher education context. A systematic review of themanagement literature was conducted. A qualitative data analysis revealed fortymanagerial competencies that could be clustered under 18 higher-orderdimensions. A survey revealed that HODs deemed leadership, financialmanagement and project management to be the most important higher-orderdimensions required to function effectively within their roles. The informationobtained in this study could potentially serve as a foundation for the developmentof an HOD training programme in the South African higher educationenvironment.