Abstract
Organisational adaptability is the ability of an organisation to recognise the need to change and seize opportunities in dynamic environments. In an increasingly complex world, leadership must pay attention to dynamic, distributed, and contextual aspects in order to position their organisations for adaptability. The theory of dynamic capabilities constitutes a central concept for the requirements that enable organisational adaptability. Recent research suggested a model of “leadership for organisational adaptability” embedded in the theory of dynamic capabilities and ambidextrous leadership. This model ascribes leaders the task of creating “adaptive spaces”, which are ways to engage in tension that arises when new ideas collide with an organisation’s operational system, in order to generate and scale innovation. This work employs a qualitative research design by conducting expert interviews with participants from the management consulting industry as an exemplary object of research, and it identifies ways by which leaders can create such adaptive spaces. Findings indicate that leaders predominantly achieve this by providing employees with head space and opportunities to connect with others and promote diversity within their organisations. However, they could engage more actively in activities that pressure the organisation to change, leverage network structures to scale innovation, and in developing employees. It further emerged that organisations have not fully internalised the notion of distributed leadership, which is deemed crucial for coping with complexity.
Highlights
Organisations and their leadership face the significant challenge of becoming adaptable in complex environments, where change and uncertainty are paramount (Uhl-Bien and Arena 2018).Today’s fast-paced environments, driven for instance by technological progress, globalisation, and vastly increased customer expectations, require them to attribute an increased level of relevance to innovation and renewal (Jung et al 2003)
Organisational adaptability, the ability of an organisation to adapt to a changing environment and shifting market conditions (Birkinshaw et al 2016; Uhl-Bien and Arena 2018), according to the seminal theory by Teece et al (1997) and Teece (2012), can be attributed to a distinct set of dynamic capabilities
As mentioned by Uhl-Bien and Arena (2018), enabling leadership happens across all levels of hierarchy, and this study found further evidence to support this claim
Summary
Organisations and their leadership face the significant challenge of becoming adaptable in complex environments, where change and uncertainty are paramount (Uhl-Bien and Arena 2018).Today’s fast-paced environments, driven for instance by technological progress, globalisation, and vastly increased customer expectations, require them to attribute an increased level of relevance to innovation and renewal (Jung et al 2003). Organisational adaptability, the ability of an organisation to adapt to a changing environment and shifting market conditions (Birkinshaw et al 2016; Uhl-Bien and Arena 2018), according to the seminal theory by Teece et al (1997) and Teece (2012), can be attributed to a distinct set of dynamic capabilities. Organisations must be able to sense and assess new opportunities, to seize value from these opportunities, and reconfigure organisational structures in order to enable organisational change and maintain a competitive edge (Teece et al 1997; Teece 2012). Since creating such organisational capabilities is first and foremost a leadership challenge.
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