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

ForewordDuring a period of significant sectoral change in higher education in Australiaand in many parts of the world it is timely to reflect on the importance of executiveleadership in developing an enduring institutional research profile. After all it iscritical to ‘being a university’. Resource constraints and shifting government policiesare impacting on the ability of many institutions to maintain institutional strengths andnurture emerging research areas. This is particularly true as we begin to recognisethe importance of inter-disciplinarity and research impact in assessing performanceand in determining strategic investment priorities.It is within this context that the authors of this handbook emphasise the role of apositive organisational environment, and its deliberate creation by senior leaders,in increasing research intensity in universities. They tackle the questions of whysome Australian universities have lifted their research performance rankings inthe past decade and whether the less well-established universities can develop aserious research profile in the next. These are important considerations for universitymanagers, the sector and the nation as a whole. This is not only for policy reasons,but also because Australia’s future prosperity depends on its ability to make alarger contribution to the discovery and application of knowledge. According to thishandbook, the answers are to be found in the imagination and courage of Vice-Chancellors and their executive teams, and their determination to develop researchcapacity and capability within their institutions.One of the interesting features of this handbook is its approach to integratingresearch development with the other roles of universities. It is refreshingly nonutilitarianin its portrayal of the engine rooms of research productivity, linkingthem directly with excellence in both teaching and engagement. According tothe authors the foundation for all this is skillful disciplinary and inter-disciplinaryenquiry supported by strategies, structures, systems and a culture that enableindividuals and teams to flourish. The reader develops an image of successfulacademic departments, research groups, and professional staff characterised bya greater sense of shared purpose and a heightened and broadened commitmentto cooperation. As the authors point out ‘robust and collaborative leadership’ is1