Green Leadership: A Promising Strategy for Promoting Sustainable Entrepreneurship at Saudi Universities

Abstract

This study aimed to reveal the role of the green leadership (GL) strategy in promoting sustainable entrepreneurship (SE) at Saudi universities from the perspectives of educational leadership experts. The study also examined the challenges Saudi universities face in implementing the GL strategy and provided suggestions to develop the application of GL at Saudi universities. According to this study, GL is a strategy that focuses on pro-environmental policies, provides sustainable initiatives, motivates followers toward a green environment, and improves their sustainable green creativity. A qualitative approach was utilized, interviewing 13 educational leadership experts at established and emerging Saudi universities. NVivo software was used to analyze the data. From the educational leadership experts’ perspectives, the study findings indicated that the GL strategy plays a significant role in achieving SE at Saudi universities within many fields, such as training; teaching; research, development, and innovation; community service; infrastructure and educational equipment; administrative transactions; technology; maintenance and safety; and risk management. The study also revealed the three most prominent challenges Saudi universities face in implementing the GL strategy: organization and administration, finance, and culture. Moreover, the experts provided a set of suggestions to develop GL applications at Saudi universities. Finally, the study recommends adopting the GL as a significant strategy to achieve SE at established and emerging Saudi universities. KEYWORDS higher education leadership, entrepreneurial university, sustainability, educational leadership experts, qualitative approach, NVivo program