ORGANISATIONAL ROLE CLIMATES: SUCCESS‐FAILURE CONFIGURATIONS IN EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP: (or Are Educational Administrators Doomed to Succeed?)

Abstract

The classical dichotomy between success and failure is hardly applicable in the analysis of organisational behaviour, performance and outcomes in complex social roles, such as those in education. A unique approach has to be developed. Hence, a threefold classification has been pursued here: unequivocal failure, “satisficing”, and unequivocal success. Although viewed as existing along a continuum, they are marked out by failure and success thresholds. Four basic role climates, transpiring from four basic failure‐success configurations, have been identified and analysed: “apathetic”, “frustrating”, “tense”, and “tranquil” role climates, from which preliminary hypotheses of organisational behaviour have been derived. Application of the analytical framework developed here was restricted to the school principal, a complex role, with many components which are characterised by different and often conflicting role climates. Tentative propositions relating to school principal role climates and organisational behaviour were postulated on the basis of this analytical framework.

Citation

INBAR, D.E. (1980), "ORGANISATIONAL ROLE CLIMATES: SUCCESS‐FAILURE CONFIGURATIONS IN EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP: (or Are Educational Administrators Doomed to Succeed?)", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 232-244. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009829