THE IMPACT OF MANAGERIAL PRACTICES ON THE ROLE OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS IN 21ST-CENTURY EDUCATION: A STUDY OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN KUWAIT
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70301/Keywords:
private school directors, leadership styles, financial management, professional development, stakeholder engagementAbstract
Purpose: This study explores how managerial practices, including financial management, leadership styles, human resource management, vision and mission alignment, technology integration, and curriculum development, shape the role of private school directors in Kuwait. It further examines the mediating influence of professional development and stakeholder engagement.
Design/method/approach: A quantitative, descriptive, and explanatory design was employed. Data was gathered through surveys from 385 respondents and analyzed using SPSS (version 30).
Findings: The analysis reveals that financial management, leadership styles, vision and mission alignment, and curriculum development have a significant impact on the director's role. By contrast, technology integration and human resource practices show no direct effect. Mediation results reveal that professional development affects only the relationship between human resource practices and vision and mission alignment, whereas stakeholder engagement mediates all six relationships.
Practical implication: The findings provide context-specific guidance for policymakers and educational leaders in Kuwait. They emphasize the importance of effective leadership, improved school performance, and sustainable educational outcomes through enhanced management practices.
Original/Value: This research contributes new empirical insights into the role of directors in private schools within Kuwait's competitive education sector, demonstrating how stakeholder engagement and professional development enhance leadership effectiveness.
References
Abdulgafoor, F. (2004). Education prior to schooling and development in Kuwait (2nd ed.). Alfaisal Print.
Al‐Jaber, Z. (1996). The leadership requirements of secondary school principals in Kuwait: A post‐invasion analysis. Journal of Educational Administration, 34(4), 24–38. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578239610128603
Al-Mahrooqi, R., Denman, C., & Al-Maamari, F. (2015). Technology integration in education in Oman: A model for implementation and reform. International Journal of Education and Development Using Information and Communication Technology, 11(1), 4–21
Alqahtani, A. (2014). The private school market in Kuwait: A field study on educational investment behavior of Kuwaiti families. Journal of Education Finance, 40(2), 175–192. https://doi.org/10.1353/jef.2014.0018
Alsharija, M., & Watters, J. (2020). Secondary school principals as change agents in Kuwait: Principals' perspectives. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 49(6), 883-903. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143220925090
Alsolami, A. S. (2022). Teachers of special education and assistive technology: Teachers' perceptions of knowledge, competencies and professional development. SAGE Open, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221079900
Athalye, R. (2010). Transformational leadership through role models: How business schools can teach new paradigms of leadership. SIES Journal of Management, 6(2), 1–10.
Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99-120. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700108
Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. Free Press; Collier Macmillan.
Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1994). Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership. Sage.
Becker, G. S. (1964). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education. University of Chicago Press.
Bernhardt, P. E. (2015). 21st-century learning: Professional development in practice. The Qualitative Report, 20(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2015.1419
Bloxham, S., Boyd, P., & Orr, S. (2011). Mark my words: The role of assessment criteria in UK higher education grading practices. Studies in Higher Education, 36(6), 655–670. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075071003777716
Bryson, J. M. (2011). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement (4th ed.). Wiley.
Buenvinida, L., Rodriguez, M. T., & Sapin, S. (2020). 21st-century characteristics of educators as perceived by Laguna State Polytechnic University faculty. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(4), 398–410. https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.74.8190
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. Harper & Row.
Bush, T. (2008). Leadership and management development in education. Sage.
Bush, T., & Glover, D. (2014). School leadership models: What do we know?. School Leadership & Management, 34(5), 553–571. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2014.928680
CEIC. (2018). Kuwait number of private schools. CEIC Data. https://www.ceicdata.com/en/
kuwait/education-statistics/number-of-private-schools
Chan, D., Sarvari, H., Golestanizadeh, M., & Saka, A. (2023). Evaluating the impact of organizational learning on organizational performance through organizational innovation as a mediating variable: Evidence from Iranian construction companies. International Journal of Construction Management, 1(1), 1–14.
https://doi.org/ 10.1080/15623599.2023.2239486
Cherkowski, S., Kutsyuruba, B., & Walker, K. (2020). Positive leadership: Animating purpose, presence, passion, and play for flourishing in schools. Journal of Educational Administration, 58(4), 401–415. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea-04-2019-0076
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach (5th ed.). Sage.
Davies, B. (2005). The essentials of school leadership. Paul Chapman. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446288290
Davies, B., Ellison, L., & Carr, C. B. (2005). The stakeholder theory of the corporation: Concepts, evidence, and implications. Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203 463413
Donaldson, T., & Preston, L. E. (1995). The Stakeholder Theory of the Corporation: Concepts, Evidence, and Implications. Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 65–91.
https://doi.org/10.2307/258887
Epstein, J. L. (2011). School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators and improving schools. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429494673
Fiedler, F. E. (1967). A theory of leadership effectiveness. McGraw-Hill.
Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Pitman.
Fullan, M. (2013). The new meaning of educational change (4th ed.). Teachers College Press.
Goodwin, J. (2012). SAGE secondary data analysis. Sage.
https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473963702
Grant, R. M. (1991). The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: Implications for strategy formulation. California Management Review, 33(3), 114–135. https://doi.org/10.2307/41166664
Hair Jr., J., Page, M., & Brunsveld, N. (2019). Essentials of business research methods (4th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429203374
Hallinger, P. (2005). Instructional leadership and the school principal: A passing fancy that refuses to fade away. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 4(3), 221–239.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15700760500244793
Hayes, A. F. (2012). PROCESS: A versatile computational tool for observed variable mediation, moderation, and conditional process modeling (Version 3.5). Retrieved from http://www.afhayes.com/public/process2012.pdf
Hersey, P., & Blanchard, K. H. (1988). Management of organizational behavior: Utilizing human resources (5th ed.). Prentice-Hall
Hughes, A., Matt, J., & O'Reilly, F. (2014). Principal support is imperative to the retention of teachers in hard-to-staff schools. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 3(1), 129-134. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v3i1.622
Kim, H. Y. (2013). Statistical notes for clinical researchers: Assessing normal distribution (2) using skewness and kurtosis. Restorative Dentistry & Endodontics, 38(1), 52–54. https://doi.org/10.5395/rde.2013.38.1.52
Leithwood, K., & Jantzi, D. (2006). Transformational school leadership for large-scale reform: Effects on students, teachers, and their classroom practices. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 17(2), 201–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243450600565829
Lopez, S. (2017). Experiences of Texas public school communication directors in the 21st century: A phenomenological study. ERIC, 1–146. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED579399
Manning, K., & Stage, F. K. (2015). Research in the college context (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Mphethi, K. A. (2020). Management of school finances in South African schools. In The Education Systems of Africa (pp. 1–19). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43042-9_21-1
Mthanti, B., & Msiza, P. (2023). The roles of the school principals in the professional development of teachers for 21st-century education. Cogent Education, 10(2).
https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2267934
Murad, D., & Al Awadhi, L. (2018). Report: The quality of education in Kuwait. The Cross-Cultural Diwaniya. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ae5dab125bf02408
Newton, P., & Costa, J. (2016). School autonomy and 21st-century learning: The Canadian context. International Journal of Educational Management, 30(7), 1279-1292.
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-11-2015-0151
Ongek, M. (2016). Mentoring as a process of developing effective school leaders in the 21st century. International Journal of Humanities & Social Science Studies, 2(6), 331–337.
Oyelade, K. M., Unegbu, V. E., & Madukoma, E. (2022). Availability, accessibility, and utilization of electronic information resources by undergraduates of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. Library Philosophy and Practice, 7117. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/7117
Pallant, J. (2020). SPSS survival manual: A step-by-step guide to data analysis using IBM SPSS (7th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003117452
Park, S., Soontorn, T. N., & Mhunpiew, N. (2022). The 21st-century leadership model for international school administrators in Thailand. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 14(8), 317–349. https://doi.org/10.9756/INTJECSE/V14I8.31
Przybylski, R., Chen, X., & Hu, L. (2018). Leadership challenges and roles of school superintendents: A comparative study on China and the United States. Journal of International Education and leadership, 8(1).
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1181235.pdf
Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2019). Research methods for business students (8th ed.). Pearson.
Schleicher, A. (2012). Preparing teachers and developing school leaders for the 21st century: Lessons from around the world. International Summit on the Teaching Profession, OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264174559-en
Schultz, T. W. (1963). Economic value of education. Columbia University.
Smith, C., & Beckmann, J. (2014). The role of the district director in education districts: A South African perspective. In A. Nir (Ed.), The educational superintendent between trust and regulation: An international perspective (pp. 207-226). Nova Science.
Sukawati, N., Gunawan, I., Ubaidillah, E., Maulina, S., & Santoso, F. (2020). Human resources management in basic education schools. Advances in Social Science, Education, and Humanities Research, 487, 292–299. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.201112.052
Szeto, E., & Cheng, A. Y. N. (2017). Principal–teacher interactions and teacher leadership development: beginning teachers' perspectives. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 21(3), 363–379. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2016.1274785
Tanujaya, B., Prahmana, C. I., & Mumu, J. (2022). Likert scale in social sciences research: Problems and difficulties. FWU Journal of Social Sciences, 16(4), 89–101. https://doi.org/10.51709/19951272/Winter2022/7
Terziyski, M. (2024). The school marketing in the context of inclusive education. Pedagogika-Pedagogy, 96(2), 216–226. https://doi.org/10.53656/ped2024-2.06
Ugiriwabo, P., Tuyishime, D., Nizeyimana, G., & Ntahobavukira, B. (2023). The impact of financial management practices on academic performance in day schools of Kicukiro District in Rwanda. Cradle of Knowledge: African Journal of Educational and Social Science Research, 11(3), 119–128. https://doi.org/10.4314/ajessr.v11i3.3
United Nations. (2015, October 21). Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (A/RES/70/1). https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
Walliman, N. (2016). Social research methods: The essentials. Sage.
Welsh, R., Williams, S., Bryant, K., & Berry, J. (2021). Conceptualization and challenges: Examining district and school leadership and schools as learning organizations. The Learning Organization, 28(4), 367–382. https://doi.org/10.1108/TLO-05-2020-0093
Additional Files
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Liza Sakayan, Dr. Ashok Srivastava (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Agreement
This Publication Agreement ("Agreement") is made between the author(s) ("Author") and the SBS Journal of Applied Business Research ("Journal"). By submitting a manuscript for publication, the Author agrees to the following terms:
1. Grant of License
The Author retains full copyright ownership of the submitted and published work. The Author grants the Journal a non-exclusive license to publish, distribute, and archive the article in any format or medium, including but not limited to online and print versions.
2. Open Access and Licensing
All articles published in the Journal are fully open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This means that:
• The work can be freely used, shared, and adapted by anyone, provided that proper attribution is given to the original Author.
• The full license terms can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
• No additional restrictions are placed on the use of published articles.
3. Author Responsibilities and Warranties
The Author guarantees that:
• The submitted work is original and has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere.
• The work does not infringe on any third-party rights, including copyright, trademark, or proprietary rights.
• All necessary permissions for copyrighted materials used in the manuscript (e.g., figures, tables) have been obtained.
• The manuscript complies with ethical research standards and does not contain any form of plagiarism or falsified data.
4. Editorial and Publication Process
• The Journal reserves the right to perform editorial revisions for clarity, formatting, and consistency while maintaining the integrity of the Author’s work.
• The publication of an article is subject to peer review, and acceptance is not guaranteed upon submission.
5. Retraction and Corrections
• The Journal follows COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines and reserves the right to retract, correct, or withdraw an article in cases of misconduct, errors, or ethical concerns.
6. Governing Law
This Agreement is governed by the laws of Switzerland. Any disputes arising under this Agreement shall be resolved in the courts of Zurich, Switzerland.
7. Agreement Acceptance
By submitting a manuscript, the Author acknowledges and agrees to the terms outlined in this Agreement.
Editor-In-Chief
Prof. Dr. Milos Petkovic
