Strategic Leadership Theory Research Articles

Integrating Theories of Strategic Leadership, Social Exchange, and Structural Capital in the Context of Buyer–Supplier Relationship: An Empirical Study

This study is aimed at improving the purchasing cycle time in a buyer–supplier relationship by integrating the facets of strategic leadership, social exchange, and social capital theories. We developed and tested a conceptual model that postulated relationships among strategic leadership behavior, relational trust and commitment, structural capital, and purchasing cycle time. Data were collected from purchase managers and their employees working in 105 manufacturing companies and analyzed using structural equation modeling technique. Our findings indicated that strategic leadership behaviors are positively related to trust in the buyer–supplier relationship. In addition, trust enhances relational commitment between buyer and supplier, which in turn positively relates to information sharing and supplier development. Further, increased information sharing in the relationship results in reduced purchasing cycle time. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed in depth, and directions for future research are suggested.

Supply chain integration, advanced manufacturing technology, and strategic leadership: An empirical study

Top management support is a crucial investment at any manufacturing firm striving to integrate supply chain partners with the manufacturing processes so as to achieve a competitive advantage. Though the effectiveness of different leadership behaviors exhibited in top-level management has been documented in the leadership literature, the influence of such behaviors on developing linkages with supply chain partners has not been extensively examined. In order to bridge this research gap, this study examines the interlinkages between strategic leadership theory and supply chain integration theory. In addition, it also investigates the interrelationships between these two theories in the context of implementation of advanced manufacturing technology. Data has been collected from 107 small manufacturing companies and was analyzed using structural equation modelling. Results show that transactional leadership exhibited in top-level management is positively related to internal integration within the manufacturing companies. Transformational leadership behavior exhibited in top-level management and advanced manufacturing technology implemented in the shop floor of these companies are positively related to the integration of external supply chain partners. In addition, we also found that in those instances where small manufacturing companies place a high emphasis on the implementation of advanced manufacturing technology, they are guided by transformational leaders who strongly integrate their companies with customers.

Interaction effect of strategic leadership behaviors and organizational culture on IS-Business strategic alignment and Enterprise Systems assimilation

Drawing upon strategic leadership theory, this study develops a theoretical model to explore the impact of senior executives’ leadership behaviors on IS-Business strategic alignment in the context of Enterprise Systems (ES) assimilation. In particular, organizational culture is added as a critical moderator in the research model based on contingency theory. Empirical analysis results suggest that idealized influence and inspirational motivation leadership behaviors are significant drivers of IS-Business strategic alignment, which further has a positive influence on Enterprise Systems assimilation. Moreover, flexibility-oriented culture positively moderates the relationship between strategic leadership behaviors and IS-Business strategic alignment, while control-oriented culture negatively moderates the path relationships. Our study contributes to the extant literature in both leadership and IS-business strategic alignment.

CEO burnout, managerial discretion, and firm performance: The role of CEO locus of control, structural power, and organizational factors

Despite the possibility of burnout resulting from dynamics in firms' upper echelons, little if any work has focused on chief executive officer's (CEO's) burnout and firm performance. Drawing on managerial discretion theory, this article analyzes the influence of CEO burnout on firm performance and the moderating roles of the individual (CEO locus of control), structural power (CEO duality and CEO tenure), and organizational characteristics (size, age, and resource availability) related to managerial discretion. Using a sample of 156 CEOs in Swedish firms, we find a negative association between CEOs who report higher burnout and firm performance. Our results confirm that CEO duality and resource availability ameliorate and firm size exacerbates the negative association between CEO burnout and firm performance. Contrary to our expectations, CEO locus of control, CEO tenure, and firm age do not influence this relationship. We discuss the implications of our research for upper echelons theory and strategic leadership theory.

Value-creating Boards—Diversity and Evolved Processes

This qualitative study is based on 47 interviews with board members of UK-listed companies and reveals that value-creating boards have two main characteristics: a diversity of perspective and evolved board processes. The findings of the study show that the critical attributes of boardroom diversity are members’ culture/nationality, functional background and gender diversity. Value-creating boards also have evolved processes, such as an objective nomination process, periodic evaluations of the board and its members and their ability to work as a team. The article contributes to the Strategic Leadership theory and other role-effectiveness theories. It makes a significant contribution to existing literature on board diversity and value creation by suggesting that board diversity needs a broader definition—more than mere demographic attributes of directors and board processes—to improve boards’ ability to create value for organizations. The article also contributes to praxis by presenting evidence of the impact of board diversity on value creations and suggesting the most critical aspects of value-creating boards. The findings may also guide the formulation of legislation for improving corporate governance by defining diversity more broadly.

The Concept and Model of Strategic Leadership and Its Importance in Increasing School Achievement

Strategic leadership is one of the leaderships practiced by school organizations today. Organizational capabilities and individual characteristics are two key components of strategic leadership that are indispensable to ensure that this strategic leadership can be realized effectively in schools. This article discusses the concept of strategic leadership, domain and elements and theories related to strategic leadership. In addition, this study also attempts to highlight Davies and Davies 2004 strategic leadership model which has nine elements under two key components of strategic leadership i.e. organizational capability and individual characteristics. Furthermore, the final part of the study discusses the importance of strategic leadership in the school organization. An overview of previous studies also shows that strategic leadership has significant relationships with school achievement. Hence, through the practice of strategic leadership that is preached in schools, the line of leadership of the school will be more capable in helping to improve the achievement of their respective schools.

STRATEGIC GIVENS IN NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: UNDERSTANDING CURVILINEAR EFFECTS ON NEW PRODUCT PERFORMANCE

Although top managers’ direct influence on new product development (NPD) projects may not be evident, managers frame the conditions surrounding such projects by determining the strategic directions and managing the context for a firm’s innovation activities. Drawing on strategic leadership theory and effectuation logic, this study proposes nonlinear effects of three important strategic givens determined by top managers that represent key levers to frame firms’ NPD: customer orientation, encouragement to take risks, and autonomy. Multi-informant data from top-level marketing managers and project managers in multiple U.S. high-tech industries indicate optimal levels for each strategic given. A moderate level of customer orientation is optimal for new product performance (inverted U-shaped relationship); new products also perform best when managers support very low or high levels of autonomy (U-shaped relationship). In contrast with a predicted curvilinear effect, managers’ encouragement of risk taking actually exerts a positive linear effect on new product performance.

Spiritual leadership at the workplace: Perspectives and theories.

Leadership has always been an area of interest since time immemorial. Nevertheless, scientific theories regarding leadership started to appear only from the beginning of the 20th century. Modern theories of leadership such as strategic leadership theory emerged as early as the 1980s when outdated theories of behavioral contingency were questioned, resulting in the beginning of a shift in focus leading to the emergence of modern theories hypothesizing the importance of vision, motivation and value-based control of clan and culture. Value-driven clan control emphasizes the importance of the role played by employees in a rapidly changing work environment. Therefore, the 21st century marked the rise of the need to establish a culture driven by values, inspiring the workforce to struggle and strongly seek a shared vision. This can be accomplished by an effective and motivating leadership.

Regulatory focus as a psychological micro-foundation of leaders' exploration and exploitation activities

In recent years, there has been strong interest in leaders' exploration and exploitation activities, especially because of their positive effects on performance. Most prior research in this area has focused on the organizational antecedents of leaders' exploration and exploitation activities, with less consideration given to the psychological precursors. This paper draws upon insights from the behavioral strategy literature to inform our theoretical perspective on leaders' exploration–exploitation activities. In particular, by conceptually linking leaders' regulatory focus and exploration–exploitation, we provide a theoretical framework to explain these activities from a psychological viewpoint. Moreover, we employ two moderator variables to better understand the different properties and boundaries of this framework. All in all, this paper has a number of implications for strategic leadership theory and practice.

CEO influences on firms' strategic actions: A comparison of CEO-, firm-, and industry-level effects

This study investigates the importance of CEO-level effects for firms' strategic actions, compared with the impact of firm- and industry-level effects. Strategic actions reflect the firm's competitive initiatives and choices regarding financial issues and resource allocation. Drawing on strategic leadership theories, the resource-based view, industrial organization economics, and the reconciling approach of managerial discretion, this study proposes that the CEO's influence varies across different categories of strategic actions. By applying a variance decomposition approach to a 20-year sample of 110 firms in 10 industries, the authors reveal that for competitive initiatives, CEO-level effects are associated with the largest amount of variance, together with firm-level effects. Contrary to expectations, firm-level effects are most relevant for financial choices, followed by CEO effects. Resource allocation depends mainly on firm-level effects, rather than on CEO- or industry-level effects.

Influence of CEO demography on entrepreneurial orientation: The moderating role of competitive intensity

Although entrepreneurial orientation has been identified as a key facilitator of a firm’s innovative behaviors, its antecedents, especially the determinant role of the business leader, have yet to be explored. Drawing on strategic leadership theory, which posits the role of CEO in determining a firm’s strategic direction, we examined the influence of CEO demography, specifically age, tenure, and education, on a firm’s entrepreneurial orientation. Based on a sample of 231 Chinese firms, we found firms with a CEO who was younger, higher educated, and with a shorter tenure on the job had a greater extent of entrepreneurial orientation. Moreover, the firm’s competitive environment moderated these relationships.

Non-Linear Relationships of Executives’ Strategic Actions on Innovation and New Product Performance

Though executives are limited to influence new product development projects directly, they greatly influence the success of new products indirectly by directing a firm’s innovation activities. Drawing on strategic leadership theory, this study investigates how executives’ strategic actions on innovation, i.e., encouragement to take risks, autonomy, and customer orientation, differentially affect new product performance in a non-linear fashion. In resolving the debate on whether and how executives play important roles in shaping different strategic actions for better new product performance, this study offers a more fine-grained perspective regarding what degree of intensity of each different strategic action on innovation is optimal and conducive to new product performance. Relying on dyadic data collected from marketing executives and project managers in the U.S. high-tech industries, the results show that new product development projects get most benefit if executives’ support either very low or high le...

What Can Situated Learning Theory Tell Us About Leading to Develop Organizational Learning Capabilities for Entrepreneurial Performance? Lessons from a Knowledge‐Intensive Small Firm

AbstractAlthough the role of strategic leadership in developing organizational learning capabilities has been examined to a certain extent, the specific behaviors and mechanisms through which these capabilities are developed have not been adequately understood. Paucity of research in this direction is even more conspicuous in a small firm/entrepreneurship context, which has been linked to innovation, economic growth, and employment generation. Reporting on an ethnographic study of a knowledge‐intensive, growth‐oriented small firm, this article addresses this gap in the literature by integrating strategic leadership and organizational learning theory in an entrepreneurship context. In this undertaking, situated learning theory is used as the major analytical lens, to shed light on how strategic leadership can build organizational learning capabilities that underpin entrepreneurial performance in small firms. Finally, implications for situated learning theory as an organizational learning perspective and leadership practice in an entrepreneurship context are submitted. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" and Implications for Leadership: Theoretical Discussion

Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" and Implications for Leadership: Theoretical Discussion We present a study of the Art of War from a leadership perspective, one in which we make a closer connection to the context of general organization and management. The Art of War written by Sun Tzu is one of those books that could be classified in the genre of pop-culture. Although its content used to be considered as a carefully protected state secret in the past, it is now available to everyone. Its use has in the past century of moved from warfare also to other areas of human activity. Strategic advices that it contains can be used in many more areas than just the conduct in the times of war. In fact, the success in wars, as well as in business, of course, depends on leadership, which is why we identify the positive and negative attributes of a leader in relation to strategic leadership. People are those who fight in battles and are also those who win them; and the most important person in every battle is the general. Historically, a number of successful military commanders ascribe the credit for their victories to Sun Tzu's principles. In addition, this wisdom is now being examined and used by senior executives from all around the world, especially in Asia, because it can be utilized in many business and political situations. The Chinese classic "The Art of War" is still considered as one of the most influential and important works on strategy, why a discussion on theoretical and practical implications of Sun Tzu's strategic leadership theory in a global environment is also included.

Knowledge, wisdom and intellectual leadership: a question of the future and knowledge-based sustainability

Important aspects of knowledge that are underresearched include links between knowledge, wisdom and leadership. This represents a research lacuna, which, if addressed, can help leaders develop knowledge-based strategies for future sustainability. Using a wisdom perspective enables the best, most strategic and ethical use of knowledge. By integrating knowledge and wisdom theory with strategic leadership theory, we define what wise intellectual leadership for a sustainable, knowledge-based future is. More specifically, we argue that strategic leaders should provide intellectual leadership for a sustainable future as an explicit part of a knowledge management strategy.

FOUNDER CENTRALITY, MANAGEMENT TEAM CONGRUENCE AND PERFORMANCE IN FAMILY FIRMS: A KENYAN CONTEXT

Applying social network theory to family business, founder centrality has been generally shown to positively affect top-management-team congruence and, as a consequence, firm performance. This study applies social network and strategic leadership theory to an examination of founder centrality in family businesses. It focuses on family businesses in Kenya, and examines the impact of the founder's influence on management team congruence in the three strategic areas of culture, vision, and goals. The discussion considers the research findings in Kenya of a negative influence of founder centrality on management team congruence and firm performance. The study concludes with a presentation of some possible reasons for this dynamic in developing countries like Kenya, where family business is prevalent, and in which the founder plays a central role.

Management and Governance in Dutch SMEs

Small and medium-sized enterprises are important engines to stimulate the economic growth of a country. The survival of these firms is partly dependent on their human capital availability. Using strategic leadership theory, this paper examines the characteristics of the entrepreneur/manager, the top management team and the board of directors in Dutch SMEs. Empirical data identifies the entrepreneurs/managers as the most important decision makers. However, to support their decision-making process in the current competitive business environment, two thirds of the CEOs have created top management teams. CEOs and top management team executives combine their industry and functional knowledge to create the necessary firm know-how. Less than half of the firms have adopted a supervisory board. A reason for this could be the CEO’s limited knowledge on the concept of governance. The paper concludes that entrepreneurs/managers of SMEs should be made aware of the strategic knowledge and networking advantages both top-management team and supervisory board members can offer.

Emergence of a third culture: shared leadership in international strategic alliances

Purpose – Understanding how managers in position of leadership experience culture is essential to avoid instability and poor performance in international strategic alliances. This study tests the proposition that national culture, top management team culture, and manager's personality influence leadership and shapes intercultural fit through the predominant management style in US‐Mexican strategic alliances.Design/methodology/approach – Strategic leadership and personality theories constitute the framework for this study. Managers from the US‐Mexican strategic alliances which partners hold an equity position were surveyed and provided data to test the hypotheses.Findings – Findings show that American and Mexican managers construct their own social reality with rules and norms bounded primarily by the existing organizational culture in the alliance. Both managers' management styles are similar and converge into a participative “consultative” style emerging as a “third culture” characterized by task innovat...

Book Reviews

Smart Strategies Series Invisible Management presents eleven empirical investigations into managerial leadership based on the frame of reference called social constructionism. The theoretical conclusions from these disclose a range of previously concealed aspects of management and leadership, which aim to inspire the practitioner and challenge the theoretician. Invisible Management follows the theme that managerial leadership is an interactional phenomenon, that managers are regarded as one of several important constructors and practitioners of organizational leadership, rather than exclusive helmsmen. The novel approach of Invisible Management revises the agenda for the discourse on management and leadership as currently conducted among academics and practitioners. It introduces three ingredients that are not widely recognised in existing research. These are, small talk, 'invisible' or unrecognised arenas and institutional dynamics. These three themes have been brought together in a deliberate attempt to rethink and reformulate both strategic management and (managerial) leadership theory.

Do University Presidents Make a Difference? A Strategic Leadership Theory of University Retrenchment

Although the general consensus is that university presidents do not make a difference, most research on this issue is atheoretical and perceptual in nature. Consequently, I draw on strategic leadership theory to examine whether observable experiences of presidents affected the adoption of retrenchment (early faculty retirement) plans among Ontario universities from 1989-90 to 1997-98. In doing so, I also advance strategic leadership theory by introducing novel measures of leaders' observable experiences and by testing their impact on an outcome (retrenchment) in a noncorporate setting. Since early faculty retirement plans have spread across universities, and since evidence indicates that they combine financial benefits and academic costs, their adoption represents a key structural change begging for explanation. Although the literature attributes the adoptions to uncontrollable forces, I report that presidents play a major role in the adoptions. Those who lack seats on corporate boards, who have non-business or non-economics backgrounds, who are male, and who are recruited externally adopt the plans at lower rates than their respective counterparts. The results portray presidents as exercising circumscribed agency, strategizing on the basis of their personal and professional experiences and making a difference even under inhospitable circumstances.