A STUDY OF THE SELF-PERCEIVED ADMINISTRATIVE STYLES AND EFFECTIVENESS OF SENIOR ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICIALS OF SOUTHERN BAPTIST SENIOR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

The Problem. The purpose of this study was to analyze and interpret the self-perceived administrative styles and effectiveness of senior administrative officials of Southern Baptist senior colleges and universities. The study was confined to the population of 179 senior administrative officials (Chief Academic Officers, Chief Business Officers, Chief Development Officers, Chief Planning Officers, Chief Public Relations Officers, and Chief Student Life Officers), representing the 47 Southern Baptist senior colleges and universities in the United States. Questions were raised through five subproblems as to whether significant relationships existed between administrative styles and personal data (administrative position, age, level of educational attainment, education in the area of administrative effectiveness, and experience). Questions were raised through five more subproblems as to whether significant relationships existed between administrative effectiveness and the personal data. The study was unique in that no similar studies of this or similar populations had been undertaken. Review of the Literature. A review of the literature served a three-fold purpose. First, it presented a historical overview of the Baptist and Southern Baptist commitment to higher education, and traced the development of Southern Baptist colleges and universities. Second, it traced management theory from the early 1900s, through various leadership studies and models, culminating in a school of thought and practice known as the situational approach to leadership. Third, it discussed Situational Leadership Theory (SLT), and the most recent research on administrative effectiveness. Methodology. Ten null hypotheses, based on the subproblems, were advanced to test relationships between the administrative styles and effectiveness and the personal data. The primary data were obtained from a two-part survey mailed to the population. The first part consisted of questions concerning the personal data, which provided a personal profile of the population and allowed testing of the hypotheses. The second part was the Leader Effectiveness and Adaptability Description (LEAD), a twelve-situation, multiple choice questionnaire based on SLT. The returned questionnaires were analyzed for administrative styles and effectiveness, and were tested with the personal data. Results. Two mailings yielded a return of 132, or 73.7 percent of the population. The mean effectiveness score was 9.72 on a scale of -24 to +24. All but four of those responding had a basic or shared style utilizing high relationship behavior; of those, two-thirds also exhibited high task behavior and one-third exhibited low task behavior. In addition to the population profile drawn from the personal data responses, statistical analyses were performed; none of the ten hypotheses was rejected, as no significant correlations were found between administrative styles or effectiveness and the personal data. Conclusions. It was concluded that administrative position, age, level of educational attainment, education in the area of administrative effectiveness, and experience are not likely predictors of administrative styles or effectiveness. This conclusion tends to support the premise of SLT, that administrative effectiveness is a function of proper application of an appropriate leadership style to meet the situational variables. What may contribute to effective administration is experience in analyzing the situational variables in any given situation, and response with appropriate amounts of task and relationship to achieve the required outputs. The situational demands influence appropriate administrative style, and style influence effectiveness. Implications for further research were discussed.