Whether institutional innovation leads to management innovations? Transformational leadership and employee empowerment in vocational education

Abstract

This article aims to explain why modern public education initiatives in Lithuania do not deliver on expected results in spite of sufficient investments and government support. The paper focuses on institutional innovation in vocational education - the creation and management of Sectorial Practical Training Centres. Sectoral Practical Training Centres are primarily the instruments of the initial vocational education policy, seeking to improve and adjust the skills of the current and future workforce to the needs of private and public economy sectors. The article is based on proposition that newly created centres would be less exposed to administrative tradition, and should strive to employ modern management ideas, such as transformational leadership and employee empowerment. However, the empirical investigation revealed that there is a big lack of leadership, and managers rely on old-but-good administrative means. The employees stress that there is no support and feedback from management side; staff members do not see prospects for self-realization as well as for creativity and innovations. At the same time, the employees are keen to take more responsibility and to be more engaged in decision-making processes. The article concludes that one of the biggest obstacles for future organizational development is mismatch between current management practices and employees expectations.