Leader/Follower Relationship of Academic Administrators at a Southern Comprehensive University Undergoing Consolidation
Authors:   , Wurth Gregory Stephen , Phillips Joy C. 
Published: July 2021

This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study examines the social unit of the leader/follower relationships of superior and subordinate higher education administrators at a southern comprehensive university undergoing consolidation. Further, the leader/follower social unit is analyzed through the theoretical lenses of leadership styles (Transactional Leadership/Transformational Leadership) defined by Burns (1978) and expounded on by Bass (1985), and employee engagement conceptualized by Kahn (1990) and operationalized by Schaufeli and Bakker (2006). This mixed-methods study utilizes both the quantitative measurements of survey instruments and existing documents, and qualitative measures of formal interviews, informal interviews, existing documents, and observations. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire by Bass and Avalio (1990) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale created by Schaufeli and Bakker (2006) were chosen as the quantitative survey measurements. Quantitative analysis utilizes both Pearson Product Coefficient and linear regression to investigate relationships between variables and factors. Additionally, T-Tests and ANOVAs were used to measure the survey means between groups. Qualitative analysis utilized the constant comparative method to discover themes within interview data and documents. The quantitative findings provided no significant results when comparing the means of survey results to participant demographic variables (sex, education, and ethnicity). However, the Pearson Product Correlation coefficient produced positive significant correlations between perceived supervisor use of transformational leadership behaviors and self-reported employee engagement during consolidation. A deeper look showed that inspirational motivation, the use of vision and mission language (Bass, 1985), and idealized influence, when leaders use positive energy and walk the talk (Webb, 2009), had a significant relationship to an employee' absorption and dedication to their work during university consolidation. However, neither transformational leadership, nor any of its factors, significantly correlated with vigor, an employees' energy to overcome challenges (Bakker et al., 2011). This was inconsistent with previous research in the field. Further, transactional leadership did not have a significant positive correlation with employee engagement, additionally inconsistent with previous research. Qualitative data during this study described an environment where employee turnover was higher than normal, morale was low, and organizational trust was low. Further, participants provided issues such as low reward, low recognition, and low organizational transparency as being potential causes and concerns for the decline in culture. This research presented statistically significant r values indicating positive significant relationships between perceived transformational leadership tactics and self-reported employee engagement tactics during a university consolidation. This study points to leadership opportunities of employing inspirational motivation and idealized influence tactics to predict higher levels of employee work absorption rates and work dedication levels. Further, opportunities for future research include investigating the relationship between transformational leadership and the engagement factor of vigor during times of organizational change. Ultimately, the study participants at SSU told a story of an organization that needed transformational leaders during change. However, the story describes an atmosphere where leaders did not lead, acknowledge, or reward employees. This mixed methods investigation of higher education mid-level staff member's leader follower experience during university consolidation generated an interesting story. Future leaders undergoing consolidation might want to consider the failures and successes at SSU.