Leaderless management in higher educational institutions: Challenges and opportunities

Leaderless management in higher educational institutions (HEIs) emerged as a growing trend that emphasized shared governance, autonomy, and collective decision-making. Despite its potential benefits, the implementation of leaderless management in HEIs remained understudied, and its challenges and opportunities. This study aimed to assess the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing leaderless management in HEIs, with a focus on faculty engagement, decision-making, and collaboration. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study surveyed faculty members and administrators in various HEIs and conducted statistical analysis to identify significant differences between leaderless management and organized leadership. Additionally, a SWOT analysis was performed to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of leaderless management in HEIs. The study revealed that leaderless management in HEIs was associated with both challenges and opportunities. Key challenges included resistance to change, lack of accountability, and conflicting opinions, while opportunities encompassed increased autonomy, collaboration, and innovation. The SWOT analysis demonstrated that leaderless management possessed strengths in extension programs, weaknesses in research, opportunities in research, and threats in production. Significant differences were observed between leaderless management and organized leadership in terms of faculty engagement, decision-making, and collaboration. The findings suggested that HEIs could benefit from adopting flexible leadership structures that balanced autonomy and structure. Leadership development programs should prioritize shared leadership, expertise-based decision-making, and collective responsibility. This study contributed to the understanding of leaderless management in HEIs and held implications for institutions seeking to implement leaderless management, along with policymakers and administrators aiming to support faculty members and promote academic excellence.