Abstract
Transitions to a new principal are common, especially within urban public schools, and potentially highly disruptive to a school's culture and operations. We use longitudinal data from New York City to investigate if the effect of principal transitions differs by whether the incoming principal was hired externally or promoted from within the school. We take advantage of variation in the timing of principal transitions within an event-study approach to estimate the causal effect of principal changes. Changing principals has an immediate negative effect on student test scores that is sustained over several years regardless of whether hired internally or externally. However, externally hired principals lead to an increase in teacher turnover and a decline in perceptions of the school's learning environment, whereas transitions to an internally promoted principal have no such effects. This pattern of results raises important questions about leadership transitions and the nature of principal effects on school quality.
Using results from 22 key informant interviews from 15 different universities, we analyze why various centers/programs on philanthropic and nonprofit studies started, their key revenue sources, the diversity of funding sources, the role of leadership, succession planning, and what they might have done differently to make things better. These case studies provide insights as to why some centers/programs fail, others barely survive, yet some thrive. While the old saying, “It’s better to be lucky than good” remains true. We found that many of the things we teach in our academic programs work well when leading academic centers: diversify income streams, do not become too reliant on one donor, provide for leadership transitions and succession plans, raise money for endowments, and build advisory boards.
Despite the important role that intra-party democracy plays in democratic consolidation, particularly in third-wave democracies, it has not received as much attention as inter-party democracy. Based on the Zambian polity, this article uses the concept of selectocracy to explain why, to a large extent, intra-party democracy has remained a refractory frontier. Two traits of intra-party democracy are examined: leadership transitions at party president-level and the selection of political party members for key leadership positions. The present study of four political parties: United National Independence Party (UNIP), Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), United Party for National Development (UPND) and Patriotic Front (PF) demonstrates that the iron law of oligarchy predominates leadership transitions and selection. Within this milieu, intertwined but fluid factors, inimical to democratic consolidation but underpinning selectocracy, are explained.
The need for social transformation in South Africa is intrinsically linked to the transformation of corporate South Africa. Strong senior leadership is required to ensure that organisations remain sustainable during this transformation. There is, however, a shortage of skilled senior leaders, hence the need for leadership development. When leaders transition into senior positions, they face a plethora of personal and systemic challenges. Many fail with resulting disastrous effects on individual (micro) and organisational (macro) levels. This research investigates the challenges faced by newly promoted senior leaders in order to lay the groundwork for designing support strategies for individuals and organisations. The qualitative findings suggest that leadership transitions present unexpected challenges on a personal and systemic level to such individuals and that they do not receive adequate support from their organisations. For transformation to be successful and sustainable on macro level, concurrent and appropriate micro-level support and development are essential.
Subject
The future of Chinese internet conglomerate Alibaba after the forthcoming retirement of its founder.
Significance
Jack Ma, founder and chairman of China’s internet giant Alibaba Group, has announced that he will resign from his position on September 10, 2019, the company’s 20th anniversary. This will be the first time any major Chinese tech tycoon has handed over the reins. It will be an important test case for both business and political reasons.
Impacts
The main challenge now will be managing the complex structure into which Alibaba has evolved.
A more collective management could make Alibaba less vulnerable should any individual top manager fall foul of the authorities.
Ma’s departure will likely create a template for other Chinese tech businesses to plan and manage inevitable leadership transitions.
Build It and They Will Come! Or, Built to Last? Key Challenges and Insights into the Sustainability of Nonprofit and Philanthropy Programs and Centers