How can an academic leader be successful in managing a non-academic business unit?

Research Question: How can an academic leader be successful in managing a non-academic business
unit?
1. First things first: Tell me what are the broad topics that you are interested in?
My brief answer, please elaborate: I am interested in leadership skills and employees performance in
higher education sector.
2. What are the reasons that you chose this research topic (Business or personal or both)
My brief answer, please elaborate: I work as a University Registrar in higher education sector in a nonacademic business unit, where the leadership positions are occupied by academics with backgrounds that
are not related to the operational work of the business unit. For example my manager has a PhD in
Physics. I am interested in finding the skills that are required for academic leaders to succeed when
managing a non-academic business unit. This link may explain more:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2020/03/02/why-academic-leaders-need-to-focus-onleadership-development/?sh=2741d4f4524a
3. What are the most important 6-8 references related to this topic (get some old references, before 2010
and some new references, after 2017)
4. What is the research gap (what we do not know yet from extant research?)
My brief answer, please elaborate: The previous researches are very limited and usually investigate the
academic leadership in academic business units like Deans, Head of Departments, Program Coordinators,
and not Academic Leaders managing non-academic units such as Registration Department, Admissions
Department, Student Recruitment Department, Information Technology, Libraries, Laboratories,..
5. Why is this research gap important?
6. How can addressing this research gap contribute to theory and practice? What do we add to what we
currently know?
7. How will you start your research? Do you have any theoretical framework in mind?
8. What will the literature review include? What kind of concepts of variables? Also, you need to write a bit
about your literature review, show is the literature reviewed
9. What kind of ontological and epistemological choices will you make? Why do you choose this specific
type?
10. What kind of methodology will you adopt? What are the tools that are associated with this
methodological choice? Why did you choose this specific method?
My brief answer, please elaborate: qualitative method, based on interviews with employees, heads,
directors in non-academic units reporting to academic leaders , as well as interviews with these academic
leaders. In 4 universities in United Arab Emirates: 1) United Arab Emirates University, 2) American
University in Sharjah 3) University of Sharjah 4) Khalifa University
11. What are your expected results? Do you have any assumptions in mind? And what are you trying to
explore?
12. What is your strategy for data collection?
13. The proposal should follow the APA standards and the manuscript word count should be between 1500
– 2000 words with a minimum of 15 scholarly references.
14. Use simple English