Leadership Capabilities among Iranian Food Science and Technology specialists: Educational needs assessment

Despite significant roles of leadership capabilities in social and professional effectiveness and efficiency، most academic curricular programs including food science and technology disciplines، merely focus on technical knowledge and skills. Meanwhile، interdisciplinary and multisectoral nature of food as well its key role in human right، individual health and well-being، and national development necessitates to be integrated with leadership skills. This study was conducted in 2008 to determine leadership educational needs among Iranian food science and technology specialists. Both qualitative and quantitative research techniques were employed to assess the situation and needs. Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interview with 9 ‘key informant leaders’ from different sectors، i. e. academia، government، industry and nonprofit institutions as well as participatory observations to two leadership training programs in South-East Asia and Europe. Quantitative survey was performed using a pre-tested 20-item questionnaire. The questionnaire developed to explore ‘level of importance’ and ‘present status’ of 20 leadership skills and capabilities among 84 food science and technology specialists، between 25-45 years of age، from different disciplines and sectors. Cronbach’s alpha test confirmed the questionnaire reliability. Data derived from questionnaire survey were used to calculate the «educational opportunity scores» using the Ulwick equation. The formula reveals which participants’ needs are the most important but least satisfied. The Paired-t test was employed to compare differences of means of «importance» and «status» for each leadership skills. Ranking of educational opportunities was done using Freidman analysis of variance test. All statistical analyses were performed at α=0. 05 using Excel and SPSS softwares. According to both qualitative and quantitative studies، effective team-building، evidence-based decision-making، and creativity and innovation were found as the most limiting leadership capabilities among food science and technology specialists in Iran. There is however a number of differences between two research methodologies in selecting other leadership skills which are prioritized to be developed. While the qualitative study put its emphasis on effective communication، flexibility، holistic view، and crisis resolution، the quantitative survey prioritizes industrial strategies، motivation، trust building and ethics. Bench marking with two visited programs in South-east Asia and Europe also show that two of these skills، i. e. effective team-building and creativity، possess important places in the program schedules. Both quantitative and qualitative studies reveal limitations in leadership skills among food science and technology specialists in Iran. Therefore، development of training programs focusing on core capabilities based on transformational leadership framework as well as some more specialized allied-food skills is recommended.