Nurah Abdullah Mar‘i AlDayel
Assistant Professor of Higher Education Leadership,Department of Educational Leadership and Policies,College of Education , King Khalid Universitym Saudi Arabia.
Volume: 17 | Issue: 3 | Pages: 106-124 | September 2025-|-https://doi.org/10.54940/ep20305565-|-PDF
Received:-02/05/2025-|-Received:-19/05/2025-|-Accepted:-21/05/2025
Corresponding Author: [email protected]
Abstract
The study aimed to identify the degree of organizational power exercised by academic department heads at King Khalid University, considering its dimensions: (1) formal power, (2) expert power, (3) reward power, (4) referent power, and (5) informational power, from the perspective of faculty members. The study employed a descriptive analytical methodology, applying it to a sample of 337 faculty members from a total population of 3136. A questionnaire was used to collect data, which was analyzed using the SPSS statistical program. The study concluded several key findings: the level of organizational power exercised by department heads at King Khalid University was rated very high, with formal power ranked first, followed by expert power in second place, and referent power in third. The three dimensions were rated very high, while reward power was ranked fourth and informational power fifth, both at a "high" level. The results also showed statistically significant differences in the exercise of organizational power based on gender, favoring males, and significant differences in the perception of organizational power exercised by academic department heads based on academic rank, favoring assistant professors in the dimensions of formal power and informational power. No significant differences were found in the dimensions of expert power and reward power. Additionally, there were no statistically significant differences in any of the dimensions related to years of experience. The study provided several recommendations, including the development of specialized training programs for department heads that focus on improving the use of organizational power, particularly in the dimensions of reward power and informational power, due to their relatively lower levels compared to the other dimensions.
Keywords
formal power, expert power, referent power, reward power, informational power.
How to Cite
AlDayel, N. (2025). The Organizational Power of Academic Department Heads at King Khalid University: A Field Study. Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Educational and Psychological Sciences, Vol17(3), pp106-124. https://doi.org/10.54940/ep20305565
License
1658-8177/© 2024-by the Authors. Published by-J. Umm Al-Qura Univ. for Edu. and Psychological Sci.-This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/-