Planning Academic Leaders Succession at Al-Azhar University Based on Requirements of Digital Transformation “A Proposed vision"

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Management, Planning, and Comparative Studies, Faculty of Education for Boys, Cairo - Al-Azhar University.

Abstract

The research aims at proposing a vision for planning the academic leaders succession at Al-Azhar University based on the requirements of digital transformation. The research adopted the descriptive approach to achieve this aim, depending on structured interviews on a sample of (93) academic leaders of almost colleges and who were on positions of Deans, Vice Deans and Department heads.
The findings indicated that the university vision lacks clarity regarding future needs of academic leadership, ambiguity in related objectives. This significantly impacts the recruitment, preparation, and development of future leaders that align with the university's strategic priorities. Also, planning for academic leadership succession was insufficient, despite the adequate number of potential candidates for leadership positions. This sharpens the risk of appointing academic leaders who may lack the necessary skills or requirements of the style of administrative leadership and its challenges. Additionally, there is a notable absence of utilizing digital technologies in human resource management in general, and specifically in leadership succession.
The research concluded with proposing a vision for planning the academic leaders succession at Al-Azhar University based on the theoretical views of planning leadership succession at universities, besides the outcomes of structured interviews with current and former academic leaders.

Keywords


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