Styles of leadership and decision making: A Comparative study of professional and Business leaders

In an earlier study reported in the Journal of Educational Administration (17, 1, May 1979), Dufty and Williams analysed decision‐making procedures and managerial styles of Heads of Departments (HODs) at WAIT, now Curtin University, and compared their findings with an earlier study by Dufty of business managers. Of the two groups, the former were found to be more likely to use participatory and power‐sharing procedures than the latter. However, a decade on, the present paper analyses the same two aspects of leader behaviour in a broader sample of HODs in professional and business organisations. In contrast with the Dufty and Williams study, evidence is presented to show a high level of commonality (and a low rating of basic differences) between professional and business leaders. It is proposed that leaders in both kinds of organisations tend to reveal more people‐related styles and preferences for participative procedures in decision‐making in their leadership of their people at work.