handbook-executive-leadership-of-research-development-pdf-v10

potential for improved performance. It is important from the outset to have a sharedunderstanding that the university cannot succeed in its research goals if it attemptsto be all things to all people and that it is impractical in the short term to attemptto produce strong performance across all parts of a university — the kind of widerangingproductivity that might be expected in an older, research-intensive institution.A balance needs to be struck between stressing the importance of research foreveryone in the university and supporting the teams and individuals that are mostlikely to deliver. Going head to head with research-intensive universities may bepossible for some existing strong areas (despite strong barriers to the entry of newparticipants). Other research specialisms may be relatively new, more open to freshcompetitors, and therefore also worthy of support. It is important that current areas ofresearch strength should be identified using nationally and internationally prevailingmeasures of research performance to provide confidence that the investment incapacity building is worthwhile.In order to establish sound areas of research strength with sufficient critical mass, itwill almost certainly be necessary for researchers from related areas to adjust theirresearch focus and begin to form larger groups. The executive leader will, however,need to guide such aggregations to avoid incoherence, insufficient focus and thetendency to be too inclusive. Concentrating resources in a few areas is likely to beresisted in universities where ‘equal shares’ has been the tradition. It is obviouslyimportant to select areas for concentration on the basis of strong evidence ofperformance and against clear criteria.Accelerate growth of areas with potential for excellenceEstablishing, connecting and resourcing designated research areas are necessary,but not sufficient conditions to see them become excellent. The executive leader,in coordination with other senior research leaders, can accelerate the progressof designated research groups with a variety of additional interventions. The keymessages are that the university needs to provide targeted support based on whathas been achieved. The target is to be the best in those areas. Where it applies, theexecutive leader should use the advantage of being smaller, cutting through thebureaucratic processes and working directly with the leaders of the selected areas,guiding them in developing their own goals, strategies and organisational systems.54 A handbook for executive leadership of research development