Effective Influence Tactics in Higher Education

Abstract

The present paper is an attempt to identify downward influence tactics that are perceived to be used by leaders in higher education. This study tries to understand whether high and low effective leaders differ in their perceived use of downward influence tactics and explores the predictive relationship of downward influence tactics and dimensions of organizational health. The sample respondents for the study consisted of 100 employees (academic staff) from 20 higher educational institutions located in and around Vadodara. Five employees were drawn from each of the 20 sample organizations, all of them reporting to a single leader. Respondents were administered a Personal Data Sheet and a questionnaire with three sections, including perceived organizational health, perceived leadership effectiveness, and perceived use of downward influence tactics. Results indicate a significant difference between high and low effective leaders in the perceived use of downward influence tactics. The downward influence tactics of ingratiation and personalized relations emerged as significant predictors of organizational health dimensions