Human resource management and development in the light of leadership in two Austrian higher education institutions: An empirical study

The core idea of this research was to explore the perception of manager‐academics with reference to their required skills and professional expertise. Of specific interest to our purposes are the ways in which leadership styles and approaches are applied at two Austrian HEIs. Since skills are a key component of manager‐academics in higher education to assume leadership, this research study is concerned with investigating and illustrating perceived roles and skills essential in higher education leadership. Thus, a qualitative empirical study was conducted to explore how leadership at two HEIs in Austria is performed in the light of contemporary challenges present in the European higher education landscape. There is evidence to suggest that HE manager‐academics face multi‐faceted requirements and that a distributed leadership approach contributes to successful leadership on personal and organisational level. Further, overriding significance of a specific set of values referring to leadership was revealed.