Leadership:
Understanding its Global Impact
Chapter 12:
Strategic leadership
Learning objectives
• Understand the leadership role in strategy
development and delivery
• Think strategically
• Understand and respond to contemporary
leadership challenges such as social
responsibility, environmental factors,
the impact of technology, and innovation
and globalisation
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Chapter contents
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Spotlight: Kevin Rudd
Introduction
Thinking strategically
Creating a vision
Corporate social responsibility
Leader in action: Olivia Lum
Globalisation
Technology and innovation
Summary
Case study: Noel Pearson
Spotlight: Kevin Rudd
• Kevin Rudd describes himself as a
very determined … !
• Has a willingness to engage with the
challenges that face the global
community
• Is interested in ideas as the basis of
action—and actions as the basis of
bringing about change
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Introduction
• Strategic leadership deals with the major
purposes of an organisation; the province
of top-level executives and politicians
• ‘the process of providing the direction
and inspiration necessary to create and
sustain an organisation, business or
country in a globalised environment’
• Chapter focuses on the external
environment
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Historical context
• Strategic leadership can be traced
back to Greeks
• Applied to business in the second half
of the nineteenth century (Ghemawat
2006)
• WWII provided a stimulus to strategic
thinking in business and military
• Peter Drucker: Large businesses could
take on the responsibility for shaping
their environment, rather than simply
responding to it
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The environment of business
• Strategic thinking requires the leader be
able to understand the dynamics of the
environment
• Applies to governments, non-government
agencies and business
… where many businesses are richer than
countries, where business extends across
national boundaries and where the
behaviour of business can have a dramatic
impact around the world, the ability to think
strategically is essential —not just for the
success of the organisation, but for the
planet as a whole
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Thinking strategically
• Component parts of strategic
leadership:
– High-level cognitive activity
– Gathering multiple inputs (listening)
– Anticipating and creating a future
(Harrison)
– Revolutionary thinking
Hamel 1996
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Creating a vision
• Senge (1990) places great
emphasis on shared vision
• Many corporate vision statements
are not part of the democratic
process
• Effective vision: brief, clear,
focused, supportive of decisionmaking and inspirational
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Corporate social responsibility
• Stakeholders are increasingly
concerned about collateral damage
– Social responsibility
Dubrin, Dalglish & Miller 2006: 4 aspects
– Economic responsibilities
Friedman
– Legal responsibilities
– Ethical responsibilities
– Philanthropic responsibilities
Dubrin, Dalglish & Miller 2006
– Environmental responsibility
Parker 2007
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Leader in action: Olivia Lum
• Hyflux values:
– Boldness Dare to dream, dare to do and
dare to excel.
– Entrepreneurship Nurture the
entrepreneurial spirit, embrace challenge
and master change.
– Satisfaction Exceed internal and external
customer satisfaction, take pride in work
and deliver excellence.
– Testimony Be the face behind the brand,
excel in business conduct and embrace
best practice in corporate governance.
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Globalisation
• Jeffrey D. Sachs (2003, 2008) &
James McGregor Burns (2008)
• Most significant challenges of the
21st century:
– Poverty—the greatest of the
strategic leadership challenges
Burns 2003)
– Need for new leadership strategies
– Efficacy
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Technology and innovation
• Burns 2003: strategic failure central to
past approaches rose from the
assumption that money and technology
constituted the essential keys to
overcoming poverty
• Appropriate technologies
• Innovation - Dalglish & Matthews 2009
• Strategic leadership in the 21st century
– Matching technology with the needs of the
community is where innovative, strategic
leadership has a significant role to play
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Summary
• Strategic leadership deals with the major
purposes of an organisation
• In a world where many businesses are
richer than countries … the ability to think
strategically is essential … not just for an
organisation but for the planet
• The question is now asked whether
business bears responsibility to the
community in which it operates (CSR)
– the environment
– poverty
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Case study: Noel Pearson
• What is the nature of the
challenges that Noel Pearson
faces in developing an effective
strategy for the Aboriginal people
of North Queensland?
• What is his vision for Aboriginal
Australians?
• What sort of leadership skills do
you think he needs?
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