The Role of Authentic Leadership in Achieving Operational Resilience in Higher Education – UAE Context

The focus of this phenomenological qualitative study is to explore what constitutes Authentic Leadership (AL) and its role in fostering Operational Resilience (OR) within the UAE’s Higher Education (HE) sector. The AL phenomenon has gained momentum owing to its ability to align with organisational demands for moral integrity and genuine leadership behaviour. Although the concept of AL has assumed a central locus in recent literature on leadership, this research remains in its infancy both conceptually and empirically. In particular, the knowledge of non-Western cultures offers very limited insights into how AL is viewed in different cultural contexts, which hinders the construction of AL and its application within diverse socio-cultural regions. Therefore, drawing upon interpretative individual experiences with the leadership behaviours in the Emirates, one of the aims of this research is to offer a new cognisance of AL as well as to initiate an exploration of the interplay between AL and OR within a culturally heterogeneous and under-represented context, such as the Emirates.

The principles of social constructivism and hermeneutic phenomenology influenced the methodological framework in this study. Rich in-depth data from ten faculty members, with diverse cultural backgrounds across different HE institutions in the country, were collected utilising semi-structured, one-on-one interviews and open-ended questions. To support attaining the research objectives and to enable a nuanced understanding of AL and its impact on OR, the analysis of these rich detailed and personal interviews utilised the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) method.

The novelty of this research lies in illuminating the ideological and socio-cultural contextualisation of AL in the Emirates. Notably, the findings highlight the presence of a twofold model of AL, where the constituents and associated behaviours are instituted on the principles of Islamic leadership. The analysis of the ‘thick data’ also reveals new dimensions and behaviours ascribed to AL in the Emirates, challenging existing Western-centered paradigms. Furthermore, the outcomes of the data analysis reveal a new phenomenon - the emergence of IT-mediated AL behaviours, which has not been reported in earlier research. Additionally, this study identifies links between Universalist and Relativist ideologies, exemplifying the influence of distinct socio-cultural characteristics on AL behaviours and their contribution to achieving OR in the UAE’s HE sector. While the findings illustrate the complex relationship between AL and OR and indicate that AL may partially contribute to OR, they also highlight the deficiencies in the operationalisation of Western-based AL behaviours in the Emirates, suggesting that other factors are likely to be at play.

The value of this study is in challenging the existing body of knowledge by offering critical insights into the dynamics of AL in a demographically diverse environment. It also contributes to bridging conceptual and methodological gaps in academic understandings of AL phenomenon and its role in aiding OR. Recommendations for future research include further exploration of distinct gender-based and ideologically-centered perceptions of AL, which will enrich the cross-cultural awareness of the phenomenon, and investigation of system-driven transitions and adaptations of the AL framework within evolving global HE systems. These efforts may offer a more comprehensive understanding of how AL behaviours intersect with heterogeneous cultural and organisational contexts to influence OR.