I think that the question may be confounded by the variability of the backgrounds of what you have called "university managers." When I became a university president, I had been a full professor of philosophy with tenure for many years. I think that backgrounds vary from folks who come from other sectors, like government or the private sector, and administrators who are academics and have spent their working lives within universities. While I don't know of any objective measures to use for this type of study, I think you are going to have to control for the variability of the backgrounds and experiences of your subjects.

Best,

Deborah.

Thank you very much for your suggestions and for breaking the ice ;-)

Dear Emilio

I recommend the book by Michael Shattock in relation to British universities.  Incidentally I am not convinced that in that context at least it is possible to do a lot through 'transformational leadership as the objective constraints are too great--that is more or less was Shattock argues.  Universities are conspicuously unlike companies. 

With regard to the objective characteristics of 'university managers' Deborah is obviously right.  But the variability of the managers gives you an opportunity also; I would look at how much time they had spent in any capacity in any industry other than universities or HEIs; you could also look at those who had spent any time in non-academic jobs.  I think that managers with only or principally experience in Universities will soon prove to be very susceptible to self-serving arguments by academics! 

Try to search about organizational culture dimension for Hofstede, as these dimension could effect the decisions and behavior of management.