Abstract
This thesis addresses a gap in knowledge about academic-management in higher-education, utilising a humanistic-management theoretical framework. This adds to knowledge about the complexity of structural and agential factors in higher-education management. Tensions between the valid structural needs of the organisation and the agential needs of managers and managed-academics must be continually balanced by academic-managers through ethical-reflection.
The ontological position is pragmatic, appropriate to the applied nature of this practitioner research. The mixed-methods embedded case-study employed semi-structured interviews (with academic and professional-services managers at all levels in the hierarchy), a Qualtrics™ survey (of managed-academics) and document analysis. Qualitative data were coded in Nvivo ™, thematically analysed and compared by hierarchical and role level. Quantitative survey data were analysed in SPSS™ using non-parametric one-sample chi square tests and MS Excel™ using simple descriptive statistics.
Where academic-managers were experienced by managed-academics as practicing humanistic-management (in keeping with concepts of dignity, wellbeing, humanistic communication and acting on their personal values), managed-academics reported higher levels of dignity and wellbeing and perceived that managers enacted the values of the university. Where humanistic communication was not experienced, all concepts were negatively impacted. Factors which either facilitate humanistic-management practice (humanistic communication and ethical-reflection) or impede it (structural barriers to trust and open communication) were found. Assumptions of policy-ownership and non-participatory policy implementation increase the hidden work of emotional labour for managers, whilst agential factors such as ethical-reflection and humanistic communication improve wellbeing.
A model is presented which synthesises sub-concepts of humanistic- management. The model shows the relationship between organisational values, humanistic communication, wellbeing, psychological safety and dignity. It is recommended that academic-managers should be educated about these concepts and how to employ them to increase the likelihood that all who make up the university community experience dignity and wellbeing at work.