| As the economy continues to struggle in its recovery from the recent recession, higher education institutions have been hard-hit, affecting stakeholders at all levels, including boards of trustees, students, faculty, and the surrounding communities. In the middle of the turmoil and period of change are the presidents, needing to answer to board members as well as other institutional stakeholders, while still maintaining a balance of organizational consistency and change. Nearly all organizational change literature incorporates interpersonal communication as an integral component in effective change efforts; therefore, the constantly changing higher education landscape necessitates presidents who are skilled in communicative leadership, of which interpersonal skills are a cornerstone. Although all presidents need these skill sets, this study examines only a newly appointed president and one of his change-initiative teams to capture the dynamic environment surrounding new administration.;Studies have been conducted to review managers' or leaders' change communication, but most have been quantitative as opposed to qualitative, and they are typically conducted from the subordinates' perspective. Also, despite the urgency of organizational change within higher education as institutions face increased competition and student consumerism and decreased government funding, no studies, to the researcher's knowledge, have discovered how newly appointed presidents' communicative leadership affects change in higher education institutions. Hence, this qualitative case study evaluates which communicative leadership techniques facilitate organizational change processes, as well as gauges what, if any, discrepancies lie between the president and team members' perceived and actual techniques. The findings of this study have the potential to help higher education presidents more effectively implement organizational change, which has become critical to institutions' survival.;Through qualitative data collection and analysis, this case study found the presence of communicative leadership techniques practiced by the president and his change-initiative team during change initiatives. Further, social entrepreneurship surfaced as an emergent finding; when coupled with communicative practices, it enhanced the success of change initiatives. |
