Keywords
Transformational leadership
Undergraduate faculty
Chinese universities
Information utilization
Higher education leadership
How to Cite
Abstract
Purpose: This study develops a competitive intelligence framework for examining transformational leadership among faculty teaching undergraduate programmes in Chinese universities. It asks how information acquisition, analysis, dissemination, and utilization can be linked with idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration.
Methodology/approach: The article adopts a cross-sectional, faculty-level research design. It specifies an integrated measurement model and proposes a reproducible analytical sequence covering data screening, descriptive analysis, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, correlation analysis, multivariable modelling, and robustness checks. Because field-collected responses were unavailable, the study is presented as an analysis-ready methodological design rather than population-level empirical evidence.
Originality/Relevance: The study connects the competitive intelligence cycle with transformational leadership in undergraduate education, shifting competitive intelligence from an institutional monitoring function to a leadership-support mechanism.
Key findings: The framework identifies intelligence utilization and dissemination as direct pathways through which strategic information may inform faculty-oriented leadership. It also shows that leadership should be assessed as a multidimensional construct rather than a single managerial trait.
Theoretical/methodological contributions: The article offers an integrated construct map, transparent variable architecture, and testable model for rigorous faculty surveys in Chinese higher education.
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