Leadership in higher education: are substitutes for leadership a reality or a reason?

During the previous two decades, the processes of restructuring, globalisation, leadership and change management have been consistent with the developments associated with private business organizations and business education studies. Moreover, while these changes have been traditionally associated with the business community, these developments have been occurring simultaneously to institutions of higher education. With the radical changes that have taken place in educational policy over the past decade and a half, one needs to consider how we, as members of faculty, view the changing role of leadership in order to keep pace with the turbulent environment within which we operate. The aim of this paper is twofold: firstly, a literature review of relevant leadership theories and their relationship to higher education; and, secondly, to discuss the application of Kerr and Jermier (1978) substitutes for leadership model and its applicability to higher education.