An evaluation of contemporary leadership and governance challenges Research Paper

An evaluation of contemporary leadership and governance challenges among universities in Africa - Research Paper Example The study incorporates the university management, teaching staff and the workers together with students both of whom are actively involved in the whole process of research. The results of empirical investigation reveal numerous challenges in university leadership and governance most of which arise from improper financial management coupled with lack of vision. Other leadership and governance challenges arise from union and labour agitations, mismanagement of resources, human resource cum faculty motivation and productivity, leadership among the academic staff, corporate governance and the quality of their graduates. Analysis of the challenges strongly indicates that the environment in which these universities operate which tend to nurture and accommodate such vices possibly causes these challenges. This is manifested in various reasons manifested by university management for their lack of progress. It is therefore apparent that university leadership and management are not up to the c hallenges facing them and that they are not fully aware of their roles and responsibilities. This is because the possible cause of these challenges lies in the specialist nature of their leadership and governance, which is in them. ... ion The issue of leadership in the Centre of management of educational institutions is important in human resources and development since it covers all aspects of the organization. Leadership and governance is concerned with the execution of policies and decisions which determine whether an organization achieve its goals or not. The leadership and governance of the universities enjoys the status of dominance and prestige due to their ability to control and initiate development policies. African Universities’ governance is faced with challenges that have led to their slow growth and development over the decades compared to their counterparts in other continents. Several efforts have been put in place by respective governments and concerned bodies to improve on their status but it seems they have fallen short of intended outcomes. Several attempts have been made aimed at training and capacity building for the university leadership but challenges are still being witnessed on larg e scale. Basic among the governance challenges is the capacity to govern which is evident in most of the department within the university administration. This lack of capacity may result from lack of effective training of the workers and other university leaders before they commence their duties. Lack of effective training before and during the employment period is blamed to be the result of poor leadership and governance in the African universities. The politicized nature of most African states often results to university management being political appointees with less regards to qualifications in terms of education and integrity of the selected leaders. Financial challenge is real in most of the African universities due to little funding they receive form the government and other donor

Person Who Made an Impact in My Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Person Who Made an Impact in My Life - Essay Example He had also lived a moral life, that his integrity is beyond reproach. He is also a very good family man. He has a wife who loves him and whom he loves back, with children who equally loves and respects him and are also motivated to excel in their chosen fields of endeavors. This is the reason why I kept on pushing myself to do better in school and to study different fields of endeavor because I know that to do good in my chosen career, I have to prepare myself well through a good and multi-disciplined education. As a student, my uncle was a scholar and had different degrees. His academic preparation enabled him to excel in his chosen career. I am doing the same thing today. I am trying my best to do well in school and to expose myself in the different field of studies to make myself a well-rounded professional when I have graduated later and embarked on a professional career. I consider myself lucky because I realize this lesson early in my life. I know that all this hard work, all this perseverance that I am exerting will pay off when I graduated in school because this will prepare me well to excel in my chosen field of endeavor. I am hoping that when I have already graduated in school, I will be successful like him both in my professional and personal life. Essay B: The Recent Financial Crisis (issue of importance to me) When I ask what recent issue I consider important that has significance to me, my family and the community at large, I cannot help but talk about the recent financial crisis. The crisis made the lives of a lot of people difficult. There were people I know personally who lost their jobs and their homes, and young as I am, I felt how desperate the situation was. Perhaps the recent financial difficulty that everybody experienced during the recent crisis made the young people in this generation to mature early. We began to worry about our future and this country when we only used to think about ourselves. Suddenly, we were thinking about politic al issues and responsibilities because we saw how some families disintegrate with the crisis and cannot help to wonder how the crisis happened. People of my age became aware and realized how vulnerable our country to crisis. When we begin to think like that, perhaps it is safe to surmise that we matured early. Personally, the recent financial crisis sparked my curiosity to inquire about what caused the crisis that made people lost their jobs and their homes. I was dismayed to know that the root cause of the financial crisis was the greed of a few people that eventually took the toll in our economy. I will no longer discuss the details of the root cause of the crisis so as not to consume space in this paper but suffice to say that had the financial professionals been ethical in their practice and considered beyond themselves, the crisis would not have happened. In a way, my inquiry on what caused the recent financial crisis had taught me how important it is to be ethical in our profe ssional practice because a profession’s collective misdemeanor will have an impact not only in their respective industry but also on the economy as a whole. I learned that the lack of ethics in ones professional practice will make people distrustful not only in our industry but also in our economic system as a whole.  Ã‚