University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The Leader As Decision-Maker: When Centralized Decisions Become Imperative

White, Herbert S.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/4015

Description

Title
The Leader As Decision-Maker: When Centralized Decisions Become Imperative
Author(s)
White, Herbert S.
Issue Date
1993
Keyword(s)
  • Library administration -- Decision making
  • Leadership in libraries
Abstract
My title requires at least some definition. I am not an advocate for authoritative decision-making just for the fun of it, or simply to fuel the manager's ego. Of the four ranges of management styles I identify - authoritative, consultative, participatory, and abdicative - I stress that the most appropriate for any situation is the one that manages least, given the constraints under which the manager is operating, and of course managers always operate under constraints. These include time, money, space, and the expectations of others outside his or her management sphere. In lecturing on this point to my students, I stress that frequently managers make decisions they need not make or should not make, and perhaps as frequently they refuse to make decisions that they alone can make.
Publisher
Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Series/Report Name or Number
  • Occasional papers. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, no. 198/199
  • Allerton Park Institute (35th : 1993)
ISSN
0276-1769
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/4015
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1993 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

Owning Collections

1993: Critical Issues in Library Management: Organizing for Leadership and Decision-Making PRIMARY
Allerton Park Institute Proceedings (no. 35, 1993); Edited by Bryce L. Allen and Terry L. Weech.