ABSTRACT
The book's contributions begin with some substantive advice from a former principal of a polytechnic, now a university. He anticipates reactions to the title of this book, complementing the ‘raised eyebrow’ themes in the opening chapter: what change can someone ‘at the top’ of a college or university introduce? Urging chief executives to ‘eschew megalomania about their own role’ in such matters, he explores the problematic notion of the ‘chief executive’. He questions the wisdom and validity of it being equated with ‘top down’ management in colleges and universities. At the same time, he acknowledges this ‘rhetoric’ can be useful with ‘political masters’. He suggests the expansion of higher education surfaced new needs for strategic planning and direction under the leadership of one person. He underpins these introductory explorations with a clarification of different traditions in British universities (see Appendix), offering a useful introduction to issues explored by Webb, Harrison, Wilson and Edwards. Price suggests that the real challenge is to combine the roles of intellectual leader and managing director simultaneously.
