Chairing academic departments: Disciplinary cultures and communication strategies

Based on situational leadership, this paper aims to explore how department chairpersons of universities adapt and develop their communication strategies in view of their differential disciplinary cultures and the cultural backgrounds of their target audiences. It is argued that in their communication network, effective communication strategy varies not only with the task, job or function that needs to be accomplished, but also with another very important variable-the person or group to deal with.