Strategic Leadership Capability Research Articles

Undiminishing school governance: investigating ‘governance maturity theory’ for school governing bodies

ABSTRACT Organizational maturity can inform decision-making, build strategy and underpin development. This paper argues that ‘Governance Maturity Theory’ (GMT) can act as a developmental modality for school Governing Bodies – and offers an alternative to disciplinary mechanisms such as inspections. Evidence generated by governors, Chairs, and Governance Professionals of Boards in England were used to map the value of inspections for developing school governance and to co-construct GMT. Grounded in organizational maturity theory and governmentality, the project developed two key findings. First, despite inspections driving much of what schools and Boards did, they had diminished the role of governance and had negligible value as either a developmental framework or for ascertaining the value of governors’ work. Second, GMT could support Boards to build their decision-making and strategic leadership capabilities and drive their development. The paper concludes that GMT can enable Boards to resist the inspectorate’s gaze and its notions of undemocratic ‘good’ governance and move towards mature strategic leadership.

Strategic leadership capabilities

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings In an ever-changing business world, it is essential to have strategic leaders who utilize their role to their full potential in order to adapt to emerging economies, changing climates, or significant disruption. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy- to-digest format.

Green strategic leadership capability: Construct development and measurement validation

Green strategic leadership capability (GSLC) has emerged as a major study topic in strategic management in light of urgent global crises such as climate change. There is, however, a paucity of theoretically conceptualised and empirically validated measurement models evaluating the various leadership capabilities of top managers. GSLC implies that top managers endorse green management practices in organisational operations to minimise their environmental impact. Our research conceptualises GSLC from a natural-resource-based view by considering top managers’ capabilities to develop GSLC measurement models. We used a multi-study, multi-method approach to develop GSLC multidimensional scales using field interviews, thematic analysis and bulk surveys. GSLC is operationalised as a hierarchical and multidimensional scale consisting of three core dimensions, namely green foresight capability, green adaptive capability and green absorptive capability, along with nine subdimensions – resulting in 31 measurement items. The developed and validated scales may be applied to extend the theory and practice of green management, while offering a valuable source for organisations to assess their GSLC and identify and prioritise areas for green growth.

Towards measuring strategic leadership capabilities for innovation: an empirical validation

PurposeThis study aims to conceptualize and measure strategic leadership capabilities within research and development (R&D) teams pursuing high-tech innovation at public-funded R&D organizations in India.Design/methodology/approachA rigorous five-stage multi-method approach defines, conceptualizes and validates the core construct “strategic leadership capabilities for innovation” (SLCI). The first stage correlates the insights generated from theoretical analysis and expert opinions on the importance of leadership for innovation. The second study identifies a three-dimensional factor structure underlying the SLCI construct and the third validates it through a confirmatory factor analysis. Replication provides additional validation.FindingsSLCI emerges as a three-dimensional construct with sub-dimensions: dynamic envisioning, ambidextrous resource utilization and empowering support for innovation.Originality/valueConceptualization of the SLCI construct and its measurement through a 15-item scale that has been empirically validated in the public-funded R&D organizations in India.

Strategic Leadership Capabilities for Innovation: Scale Development and Empirical Validation

Strategic Leadership Capabilities for Innovation: Scale Development and Empirical Validation

Green Strategic Leadership Capability: Scale Development Study

Green Strategic Leadership Capability: Scale Development Study

Interest rate liberalisation to banks' risk resistance: moderator of strategic leadership and mediator of monetary policy transmission

This paper aims to investigate the influence of two missing aspects and to explore whether the liberalisation has had any influence on commercial banks' risk resistance capacity. This article considers 288 data. The analyses include the Sobel test, the ADF stationarity test, and the VAR model co-integration test. Our results show that China's interest rate marketisation reform has a positive effect on reducing bank risk. Commercial bank anti-risk capabilities can improve both China's monetary policy transmission and strategic leadership capabilities. This article showing that appropriate laws and regulations should be strengthened to reduce the risk of bankruptcy that commercial banks may face as a consequence of interest rate liberalisation. This paper contributes to the theory of interest rate liberalisation and anti-risk capability, by conceptualising from strategic leadership and monetary policy transmission theory. It finds that market-oriented rate reform has increased interest rate risk.

Effect of strategic leadership capabilities on the development of organizational citizenship behavior

Committed employees always demonstrate their organizational citizenship behavior by offering services beyond their leaders’ expectations. They achieve their goals under the leadership of executives with the capabilities to guide the organization to the future. This study examines the impact of strategic leadership capabilities on organizational citizenship behavior in companies offering mobile services in Zimbabwe. To collect data, a survey research method is employed using a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. Ninety-four questionnaires were randomly distributed to employees of three mobile service providers and a sector regulator in Harare province, Zimbabwe. Eighty-seven questionnaires were completed and returned. Data analysis follows a multiple regression method using the IBM SPSS v27 software to test hypotheses. The study also employs the Sobel test to investigate the mediation effect of organizational commitment on organizational citizenship behavior. Regression model results show that strategic leadership capabilities have a significant effect on organizational citizenship behavior. They further have a statistically significant effect on organizational citizenship behavior through organizational commitment. The results suggest that strategic leaders in the mobile phone sector in Zimbabwe should develop and strengthen strategic leadership capabilities to drive the commitment of their employees to encourage the development of organizational citizenship behavior. Committed employees will offer their services beyond their call of duty.

INFLUENCE OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF SAVINGS AND CREDIT CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN NAIROBI CITY COUNTY, KENYA

Purpose: There has been rapid growth and increase in number of SACCOs in Kenya. However, this has led to increased completion and the desire for small SACCOs to survive. This has led some if not all the SACCOs to find better ways of management. There has been a change in the management of SACCOs through the adoption of strategic leadership practices. This study set out to establish the influence of strategic leadership on financial performance of SACCOs in Nairobi.
 Design/ Methodology/Approach: The study used a correlational descriptive design. The correlational descriptive design allowed the researcher to examine element at a given point in time. This design allowed analysis of respondents in producing insights into the effect of strategic leadership on the performance of SACCOs in Nairobi. Primary data was collected and used in this study. The data was collected through questionnaire. The questionnaire contained likert ratings. Drop and pick later method was used to administer the questionnaires.
 Findings: The study concluded that all the five predictors of financial performance have significant positive effects on financial performance. It also concluded that corporate vision and mission exists in most firms and is therefore the most common strategic leadership measure. The study established that corporate vision and mission, developed human capital, effective organization culture, balanced organization controls and ethical practices, all had a significant influence on financial performance of SACCOs in Nairobi
 Contribution to policy and practice: There is need for the SACCO’s to keenly identify talent and leadership skills in hiring competent leaders with strategic leadership capabilities
 Originality/Value: The study extends the literature on strategıc leadershıp on fınancıal performance of savıngs and credıt co-operatıve socıetıes ın naırobı cıty county.

The Business Model of Sustainable Competitive Advantage through Strategic Leadership Capabilities and Knowledge Management Processes to Overcome COVID-19 Pandemic

In recent decades, particularly during the outbreak of COVID-19, businesses organizations have focused on knowledge management processes in order to attain a sustainable competitive advantage by creating human and social capital as strategic leadership capabilities. This paper aims to develop an integrated conceptual and theoretical framework that connects strategic leadership capabilities, knowledge management processes, and sustainable competitive advantage for the public and private organizations within the service industry. The model approach has been used to build a theoretical framework that predicts the relationships between the variables. To support the link between them, a systematic literature review of traditional and contemporary theoretical and empirical research studies is conducted. Through the combination of the related literature, propositions are established. This conceptual research is primarily comprised of a model and assertions concerning strategic leadership capabilities, knowledge management processes, and sustainable competitive advantage. The outcomes of this study reflect that strategic leadership capabilities can accomplish sustainable competitive advantage. They also have the greatest potential to impact sustainable competitive advantage via engaging the knowledge management processes. Particularly, there are significant implications of this study. Regarding the theoretical implication, it contributes to the resource-based view, knowledge-based view, and knowledge creation theory in supporting strategic leadership capabilities, knowledge management processes, and sustainable competitive advantage. To the practical implication, the study linked the concepts of research variables for public and private enterprises within the service industry. It can also enable strategic leaders and businesses owners to participate in real-time opportunities and determine threats for achieving a sustainable competitive advantage in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a preliminary study of the sustainable competitive advantage literature that includes the concept of strategic leadership as a knowledge management processes enabler for achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. Until now, there has not been any work like it in the literature, save in the qualitative style.

The key elements of strategic leadership capabilities to the latecomer firm: the case of RT Mart’s success in the Chinese retail industry

ABSTRACT Many international business researchers have made strenuous efforts to examine the influences of strategic leadership capabilities on organizational performance. However, when it comes down to latecomer firms from the Asia-Pacific region, there have been very few attempts to illuminate how the strategic role and capabilities of CEOs and top management teams are crucial to achieve successful internationalization. This, in turn, poses a substantial challenge to account for the case of RT Mart in one of the most competitive global market from the systematic framework of latecomer pathways. The main findings of the study suggest that a comprehensive perspective is needed on strategic leadership and its developmental process in explaining the success of challenger firms outperforming the incumbents. The changing context and micro foundation of the company is critical step in organizational transformation, rooted in leadership capabilities and activities, including absorptive and adaptive capacity, social intelligence, and capacity to leverage resource. It signifies the synergy effect of the four variables in the function of temporality and stages with the relative strength of the capacity to leverage resource by filling the gaps between the global and local dimensions, and by providing room for exploration and experimentation.

INTEREST RATE LIBERALIZATION TO BANK’S RISK RESISTANCE: MODERATOR OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP AND MEDIATOR OF MONETARY POLICY TRANSMISSION

Purpose: Most prior studies on interest rate liberalization focused on banking system reforms and technological reforms, as well as liberalization’s impact on the profitability of commercial banks. Rarely considered were the effects of monetary policy or management’s leadership ability. This paper aims to investigate the influence of these two missing aspects and to explore whether or not such liberalization has had any influence on commercial banks’ risk resistance capacity and, if so, to identify the nature of that influence.
 Methodology: This article considers 18 commercial banks in China, operating from 2003 to 2018. Analyses include descriptive statistics, the Sobel test, the ADF stationarity test, and the VAR model co-integration test.
 Main Findings: Our results show that China’s interest rate marketization reform has a net positive effect on reducing bank risk, despite the new risks created by reform. Commercial bank anti-risk capabilities were also found to be improved both by China's monetary policy transmission for interest rate liberalization and by the strategic leadership capabilities of individual bank managers.
 Results: Based on these research results, this article encourages the Chinese government to strengthen appropriate laws and regulations to reduce the bankruptcy risk of commercial banks during interest rate liberalization. Commercial banks should build competent risk management teams with the ability to anticipate risks to allow their banks to better resist the disadvantages of interest rate liberalization reforms.
 Application: Based on these research results, this article can provide insights for the Chinese government, showing that appropriate laws and regulations should be strengthened to reduce the risk of bankruptcy that commercial banks may face as a consequence of interest rate liberalization.
 Originality/Value: This paper contributes to the theory of interest rate liberalization and anti-risk capability of commercial banks, by conceptualizing new constructs from strategic leadership and monetary policy transmission theory. It finds that market-oriented rate reform has increased interest rate risk and complicated the term structure. Commercial banks should, therefore, improve their operational management capabilities and optimize their internal governance decision-making mechanisms.

Supporting clinical leadership through action: The nurse consultant role.

To evaluate the effectiveness of an action learning set to enhance clinical leadership and extend their scope and confidence more strategically. As the most senior clinical role in most healthcare systems, the consultant nurse role is a solitary one. They are required to develop personal resilience, commitment and a belief in their ability to lead, with new consultants needing a strong support network to succeed. Following a 2-year action learning set, four nurse consultants, one therapy consultant, and a university educationalist engaged in a cooperative inquiry approach using four cycles of discussion, reflection, analysis and action over an 18-month period from March 2015-July 2016, to learn how to change and enhance their working practices. Data were analysed thematically. Four themes emerged where the action learning set (i) offered structure and support, (ii) enabled a wider influence and (iii) empowered them to lead. The cooperative inquiry helped them realise how much they had gained from their collective learning and they felt empowered to lead. Their motivation to "make a difference" remains palpable. The outcomes of the cooperative inquiry included an enhanced understanding of the importance of openness and trust and a willingness to share and learn from each other in a respectful and confidential environment with a receptiveness to change. Self-leadership has clearly been accepted and embraced, and their collaboration has improved communication across the organisation, enhanced their strategic leadership capability and given confidence to disseminate externally. The action learning set offered structure to support these clinical leaders to keep them focused across the breadth of their role. Additionally, peer review with external facilitation has enabled these clinical leaders to gain a wider influence and empowered them to lead.

Resolving Strategic Integration Challenges in the Multibusiness Firm: Meg Whitman Moves from Better Together to Splitting HP in Two

This paper examines Meg Whitman’s tenure as HP’s CEO from September 2011 till March 2016. It considers the external contextual forces shaping radical changes in the information technology industry as well as the internal contextual forces associated with the unresolved issues left by her predecessors that she had to face at the time of her appointment. It documents how she identified and assessed these external and internal strategic challenges, culminating in her initial conclusion that the company’s consumer-oriented and enterprise-oriented businesses would perform “better together” but needed to be significantly strengthened through improving the key elements of the company’s strategic leadership capability. The paper then documents how the continued rapid changes in the information technology industry reduced the interbusiness complementarity while customer and competitive forces increased the intra-business complexity of the consumer-oriented and enterprise-oriented businesses. These changes potentially threatened to drive HP’s adaptive capacity from anti-fragile to fragile and culminated in Whitman’s radically new conclusion by October 2014 to “split HP in two:” HP Inc and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). The remainder of the paper focuses on how Whitman continues to develop the strategic leadership capability of HPE during 2015. It concludes with assessing in early 2016 her differential contributions as CEO to HP’s integral process of becoming by creating the two new companies.

Built to Become: Corporate Longevity and Strategic Leadership

This paper discusses the phenomenon of “built to become:” an open-ended ongoing process for which there is no grand ex ante plan possible and which unfolds through a series of transformations in the course of the strategic evolution of long-lived companies. It develops a “strategic leadership” framework to examine and explain corporate becoming. This framework involves (1) defining the key tasks of strategic leadership and (2) identifying four key elements of the company’s strategic leadership capability: (i) adopting a strategic leadership regime that integrates top-down and bottom-up strategy processes; (ii) managing the often tortuous interplays between a changing corporate strategy and the existing corporate culture; (iii) balancing strategic resource allocation between fit (with the existing product-market environment) and evolvability (the capacity to seek out new viable product-market environments) in the internal ecology of strategy making; and (iv) maintaining constructive relationships in the dynamic interactions between the CEO and the board of directors. The paper presents the conceptual foundation of a book entitled Built to Become that examines the strategic evolution of Hewlett Packard as a long-lived company.

The Role of Strategic Leadership in Building Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the Academic Environment

Strategic leadership capabilities are needed in the new competitive landscape expected for the 21st century. Human and social capital are source of sustainable competitive advantage for organization and, therefore, should be carefully nurtured and developed. Thus, the study seeks to examine the role of strategic leadership capabilities in building sustainable competitive advantage in the academic environment. The targeted population for this study focused on all Private Universities. The study used a survey strategy “self-administered questionnaire”, to collect data. The statistic results found that there is significant positive impact of strategic leadership capabilities on sustainable competitive advantage. The study recommended studying the core competence along with human and social capital as the portfolio of resources.

Mapping a strategic approach to HR leadership

PurposeThis paper aims to discuss the contribution that strategic human resourcing (HR) makes to organizational success and the crucial conversations that HR must orchestrate to truly fulfill its strategic role.Design/methodology/approachStrategic HR has the potential to modernize management practice, bringing it into line with the needs of the twenty‐first century organization. The paper acknowledges that while the role of strategic HR is understood, there is often a difference between this understanding and what happens in practice – the “knowing‐doing” gap. To show how this gap can be addressed it presents a case study of building strategic HR capability in a leading retailer. This case study defines strategic HR's role in the case organization and charts its evolution. The process of building strategic HR capability is described in detail, and components of the resulting strategic development plan demonstrate a staged process for embedding strategic capability in the HR team.FindingsStrategic HR balances business demands with the needs of the organization and its workforce to adapt to change. Effective strategy builders facilitate conversations beyond the bounds of the HR team. They hold the organization's vision and work in the space between this and the organization's “current reality” to create a more sustainable future for all of the organization's stakeholders.Practical implicationsBuilding strategic HR capability is building HR business leadership. To lead their organizations, HR people must first lead themselves. The case study shows how HR people can build confidence and strategic leadership capability through a planned change process. It also shows how to build appetite and expectation for a strategic HR contribution among line colleagues.Originality/valueThe paper shows the critical importance of strategic HR leadership to today's organizations. It acknowledges that there is often a knowing‐doing gap for HR professionals and an “appetite” gap for line colleagues. Triumpha's strategic HR development framework shows how capability can be developed and put into practice to create a more sustainable future for all of an organization's stakeholders.

Leadership Learning Knowledge into Action

Meeting the Challenge of Leading in the 21st Century: Beyond the 'Deficit Model' of Leadership Development K. Turnbull James and D. Ladkin External Perspective - An Under-utilised Strategic Leadership Capability C. Bailey and D. Butcher A Leader's Journey to Engage J.Trinder The Aesthetics of Leadership Development A. George and D. Ladkin Coaching for Leadership Development: A Systems Psychodynamic Approach J. Bell and C. Huffington The Aesthetic of Leadership Presence: Character Development as the Choreography of Body-mind J. Chapman and P. Mann 'Academic Reflection' vs 'Practical Training' - Can the MBA Develop Leadership? R. Kwiatkowski, J. Jaina, M. Creagh, V. Hope Hailey, S. Knox, L. Moir, D. Myddelton and C. van der Hoven Women Only Leadership Development: A Conundrum: D. Anderson, S. Vinnicombe and V. Singh Leadership Learning and Development: A Framework for Evaluation: J. Collins and D. Denyer Developing Future Leaders: The Contribution of Talent Management: E. Blass, A. Knights and A. Orbea Developing Global Leaders: Expatriation in the Talent Management Equation N. Doherty

Internal Corporate Venturing Cycles: A Nagging Strategic Leadership Challenge

Thirty years of systematic study reveal that many major corporations experience a strange cyclicality in their internal corporate venturing (ICV) activity: Periods of intense activity are followed by periods of shutting down such activities only to be followed by a new cycle a few years later. Based on analysis of both historical and more recent examples of the ICV cyclicality phenomenon we construct a framework of some of the root causes that drive companies at different times to treat ICV as an orphan activity, to engage in an all-out ICV drive, to dismiss ICV as irrelevant, or to desperately seek ICV. We also examine some of the key drivers of these on-off commitments (beyond economic cycles) and some of the forces that determine the length of these cycles. We propose that making top management more aware of the forces that drive ICV cyclicality may help improve the strategic management of ICV programs. Realizing that ICV activity is actually hard to completely stamp out may increase top management's motivation to learn to better manage it. This is beneficial because ICV is an important potential driver of profitable growth and/or can serve as a foresight generating activity. Also, such raised awareness may help avoid the biases engendered by an all-out ICV drive and/or the potential dangers associated with desperately seeking ICV. We also offer some suggestions for building a company's strategic leadership capability for managing ICV: Making ICV an integral part of the strategy-making process, rationalizing resource allocation, expanding the available array of organizational arrangements (including incentives and executive development), and making ICV the responsibility of all of the company's senior executives.