Week 7: Assignment 2
You are required to engage in presenting the anatomy of the top
management team (including yourself) within your organisation. You
are also required to explain how the characteristics of the top
management team and yourself influence the strategic decision-making
process by giving examples from the latest strategic decisions
taken
Strategic Leadership and Practice (UU-MBA-718-ZM)
STUDENT NO: R1711D3986200
Tutor: Dr Ursula Schinzel
February 23, 2020
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Note: This paper is for academic use only and is assignment 2 in week 7 of the Strategic Leadership and Practice
Course. The paper should therefore be treated, read, referenced as such.
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Contents
1.0 Introduction.................................................................................................................................................... 4
2.0 Top management and the strategic decision-making process ...................................................................... 4
2.1 Top Management and decision making ..................................................................................................... 4
2.2 Top management leadership styles ........................................................................................................... 5
2.2.1 Visionary leadership ............................................................................................................................ 6
2.2.2 Managerial leadership......................................................................................................................... 6
2.2.3 Strategic leadership ............................................................................................................................. 7
3.0 Anatomy of a strategic leader ........................................................................................................................ 7
4.0 Strategic decision-making Process ................................................................................................................. 8
4.1 Characteristics influencing strategic decision making ............................................................................... 9
5.0 Anatomy of Bank of Zambia management team and the latest decision made .......................................... 10
6.0 Recent decision made by my organisation .................................................................................................. 11
7.0 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 14
References .......................................................................................................................................................... 16
Appendices ......................................................................................................................................................... 17
Figure 1: the three leadership styles .............................................................................................................. 17
Figure 2: Organisational performance and leadership styles ........................................................................ 17
Figure 3: Organogram for Bank of Zambia ..................................................................................................... 17
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1.0 Introduction
This paper analyses the art of strategic decision making. It first discusses the
theory that underpins decision making by top management in the
organisation. It explains in detail how the three leadership styles, visionary,
managerial and strategic impact decision making in an organisation. It is
reported that some traits and characteristics influence decision making. The
paper highlights the impact of attributes such as age, personality, experience,
expertise, position in the organisation and propensity to risk will affect the
leader’s ability to make decisions. It expands on characteristics discussed by
other philosophers as influencing strategic choices such as marital status and
gender. These are some of the modern theories on strategic leadership and
decision making.
Nonetheless, strategic leadership is vital for strategic decision making
because of the strength of having a short and long term focus on
organisational objectives and goals. Management needs to be aware of the
various characteristics that influence decision making and develop deliberate
structural frameworks that derive optimal results from the aspects. For
instance, the experience of employees is critical in decision-making, but an
organisation that only employees or have highly experienced employees may
indicate that they have a concentration of mature employees. They may be
missing out on not having a mix of young, not so experienced leaders. Such
a team may be more conservative than risk-taking or may not quickly
respond to innovation.
The paper then closes by applying the theory to a real-life example of a
decision recently taking in my organisation. The example given reveals some
of the characteristics that influence the decision. It shows that my
organisation is adequately calibrated to make effective strategic decisions.
2.0 Top management and the strategic decision-making process
2.1 Top Management and decision making
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Top management represents organisational leaders that are responsible for
controlling and overseeing the whole organisation. Top-level management is
responsible for developing goals, strategies, plans, policies, deciding on the
direction of the business and mobilising external resources such as debt
instruments or other forms of capital. Leadership is a process of continuous
influence between leaders and followers through which objectives are
achieved through change (Lussier and Achua, 2015). Meaning it is through
leadership that employees are motivated to achieve organisational goals
(Daft and Lane, 2008). Additionally, it is imperative that decision making
becomes a critical component in the success of any organisation. Top-level
management decisions are three-fold cascading from strategic to tactical and
operational decisions. Effective implementation of any of these decisions
rests on the leadership style adopted by an organisation.
2.2 Top management leadership styles
Leadership is critical in defining the success or failure of an organisation.
This trait is seen in the success case of Denis Turcotte, the CEO that took
Algoma Steel from its second bankruptcy to become one of the most
lucrative in North America. According to Gerald A. Kraines (2007), Denis
Turcotte has thrived in all three dimensions of leadership through own
renewed commitment to identify, develop and promote personal leadership,
accountability leadership and strategic organisational leadership. He further
states that the degree to which managers can create an enabling environment
for employees to succeed is the degree to which they can positively impact
families and society. Rowe (2001) describes these leadership styles as
influencing individuals success in meeting the long-term goals of their
organisations.
Figure 1: the three leadership styles
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Source: UNICAF Topic 5 Strategic Leadership and Anatomy of a Strategic Leader. Based on the model
of Rowe (2001).
2.2.1 Visionary leadership
Visionary leadership or personal as described by Gerald A. Kraines (2007 is
one that describes a leader that has a dream or goal, and the target is to
achieve the set goal. Visionary leaders believe their decisions will make a
difference. They foresee the future because they are affixed on success and
long term sustainability of the organisation. They strategically place people
through investment in human capital, and they build a future for generations
to come by embracing innovation.
The long term focus by visionary leaders can be a drawback as the short
management, and immediate operational matters of the organisation are
neglected. This attribute calls for visionary leaders to be supported by an
active group of managerial leaders because their leadership style tends to
create a lot of uncertainty or turbulence and can put at risk the very existence
of the organisation.
2.2.2 Managerial leadership
Unlike the visionary leader, the managerial leaders are not visionaries or
dreamers. They do not develop or define the future direction of the
organisation but instead implement strategies and procedures. They are
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focused on the day to day operations of the organisation and delegate
responsibilities and assignments to employees. Managerial leaders believe
the role is more important than the person filling it and have a tendency to
react to situations accepting that the environment limits the decisions they
make.
The downside to managerial leadership is that organisations that have
managerial leadership tend to lack innovation and creativity, which harms
the competitiveness of an organisation in the long-term (da Silva and Roglio,
2015).
2.2.3 Strategic leadership
Strategic leaders seem to return the traits of both visionary and managerial
leadership. This puts them at an advantage and are known to be the best
possible type of leaders because they can balance both the short-term
financial and operational needs with the long-term strategic opportunities
that become available to the organisation. Rowe (2001) illustrates the
effectiveness of strategic leadership by indicating that it results in high
managerial leadership capability and high organisational performance.
Figure 2: Organisational performance and leadership styles
3.0 Anatomy of a strategic leader
This describes the characteristics and makeup of a strategic leader. Many
philosophers argue that strategic leaders are made, not born. The anatomy of
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a strategic leader, therefore, speaks to ethics, moral code and values. There
is no shortcut to the top, and there is no starting at the top. The anatomy of
the of a strategic leader dictates that one acquires the values, ethics, morals,
codes and standards as a foundation for the profession. Progression is then
made to have the experience, essential skill and knowledge of a subject
matter. The process can be accelerated through continued education. One is
then exposed to command and responsibility in the organisation. This phase
ensures that the employee gets exposed to consequential decision making in
the organisation. The employee's competencies are enhanced through further
education. Finally, the employee will participate in strategic decision making
and become a strategic leader.
4.0 Strategic decision-making Process
Decisions in an organization are made over an array of scenarios and
circumstances such as expansion, innovations, corporate social
responsibility, organizational culture, strategy, risk management, capital
formation, etc. Otlu and Demir (2005) state that decision making is the
process of choosing between alternatives to attain organisational objectives.
However, Salih Kusluvan in his edited book of Quainn, Render, Higgins
(1990) distinguish the strategic decision-making process from broad decision
making by stating that strategic decisions are long term decisions which
comprise uncertainty and risk. Uncertainty and risk bring the element of
decision dilemma for leaders since the future is not predictable. Leaders may
have limited information on the problem before them; solutions to problems
are found as they become available; there is a time constraint and sensitivity
to equity holders and other stakeholders.
Philosophers such as Singh Amarjit and Jampel Gempo (2010) argue that
correct information is vital for strategic decision making. However, there
exist several characteristics which influence the strategic decision making
such as age, and experience. Other philosophers such as Papadakis and
Barwise (2002), had six characteristics which included personality, risk
propensity, age, position in the organisation, expertise and experience. Some
academicians have identified other characteristics in addition to the six
highlighted by Papadakis and Barwise. For instance, Singh Amarjit and
Jampel Gempo (2010) noted that marital status influenced strategic decision
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making. Their study revealed that strategic decision making and activity was
highest amongst single managers, followed by married managers. Divorced
managers showed to fall below the impoverished management area. Yet still,
Francis Uzonwanne (2015), argued that gender is another characteristic that
influenced strategic decisions by indicating that organisations that have a
balanced mix of male and female strategic leaders perform better than the
female-only or male-only dominated organisations.
4.1 Characteristics influencing strategic decision making
1) Personality
Personality is very vital for decision making because it defines whether a
situation is addressed from a rational or emotional point of view. This trait
means that some people easily make decisions while others find it
challenging to make decisions.
2) Risk propensity
An individual’s assessment of risk and the likelihood to take risk will
influence strategic decision making. By nature, some people are risk-takers,
while others are risk-averse.
3) Age
Singh Amarjit and Jampel Gempo (2010) argued that becoming older
amongst engineers resulted in making less risky decisions with a desire to
avoid conflict. This is a view shared by many phycologists who state that
ageing may affect decision-making performance and sometimes leads to a
reduction in cognitive functions.
4) Position in company
Position in the organisation may mean power. The more position power and
control the easier it is to lead and communicate the vision to the employees.
At whatever level a manager is operating in the organisation, operational,
tactical or strategic; they ought to have adequate position power to ensure
that they carry out their leadership roles effectively.
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5) Expertise
Expertise allows for the making of rapid and effective decisions. According
to Edwardo, Michael and Deborah (2009), it was stated the intuition that
came with years of experience played a significant role in expert decision
making.
6) Experience
Experience makes it possible to make decisions based on based experiences.
Information gathering and modelling of past events are critical to draw
lessons from or forecast future events.
5.0 Anatomy of Bank of Zambia management team and the latest
decision made
The anatomy of the Bank of Zambia team, based on the theory above, is as
shown in figure 3 below.
The Bank of Zambia is a knowledge institution being the central bank,
advisor to the government, and banking and non-bank financial institutions
regulator. My position, as depicted in the organogram below, is that of a
manager. I have two levels that report into me and two levels above me that
report to the Governor's office. Governor’s office comprises the Governor
and the two Deputy Governors making the top management or the executive.
The Governor answers to the board of directors appointed by the Minister of
Finance.
The Governor, however, is the chairperson of the board of directors.
Executive directors make the senior management team and managers, the
junior management team. As illustrated in this paper that strategic leadership
should create the vision as well as ensure that the daily operations of the
organisations continue. The Governor is the vision carrier and is responsible
for the strategic direction of the central bank. The strategy is formally
documented and communicated to directors who translate and breakdown the
strategy into tactical and operational objectives. The managers, then have the
responsibility of ensuring that their teams achieve operational goals.
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Figure 3: Organogram for Bank of Zambia
Board of
Directors
Governor
Deputy
Governor Operations
Deputy
Governor Administration
Directors
Directors
Assistant
Directors
Assistant
Directors
Managers
(My position)
Managers
Assistant
Managers
Assistant
Managers
Officers
Officers
Drivers
6.0 Recent decision made by my organisation
Most recently my organisation endorsed the Alliance for Financial Inclusion
Sham El Sheik Accord of September 2017 on Climate Change and Green
Finance and made a specific commitment to developing the Bank of Zambia
(BoZ) policy on climate change and green finance by December 2021. The
pledge came from the executive and is the vision of where the top-level
executives see green finance and where they want the organisation and the
financial sector to be in the foreseeable future. This vision has been
communicated to all employees through meetings, bulletins, and internal
memorandum. Through this process, management was setting the strategic
direction and inspiring employees to achieve the goal through strategic
formulation and implementation.
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My division, Financial Sector Development (FSD), has been tasked, through
the director, to develop the policy. The director called a meeting with my
division to discuss and strategies the road-map for achieving this strategic
goal. The meeting noted that there was a shortage of core competences on
green finance and climate change within the BoZ. It was decided to build this
competence and allocate a budget-line in training staff that will drive the
development of the policy. These would be champions through which the
entire bank will be sensitized about green and climate change finance and
would be change agents. This is consistence with forward-looking strategic
decisions, inspire change and hinge on uncertainty and risk. Climate change
links to our mandate because it has a significant potential to exclude people
from financial services and increase poverty. One of our mandates, as a
division, is to create an enabling environment that is inclusive for all adults.
For subsistence farmers operating in rural areas, climate change such as
drought or floods may adversely affect crop production and livestock,
resulting in total loss because there are no banking facilities or insurance
products.
Therefore, an action plan was drafted and documented by the managers (my
position) as agreed in the directors meeting. The managers held further
meetings with operational staff to communicate the strategy and plan
execution, as well as decide on the key performance indicators for each team
member. This meeting revealed that an element overlooked during directors
meeting with assistant directors and managers was necessary – the need to
incorporate team members from other departments with a vested interest in
green and climate change finance. This suggestion from the operational staff
was ratified after further discussion with the director. The final action plan
had the following key milestones:
 Build internal capacity on green finance and climate change through
training, workshops, research, and collaboration with other regulators.
 Prepare a concept note explaining the need for commitment to the
Sham El Sheik Accord of September 2017 on green finance and climate
change.
 Subject the concept note to peer review.
 Seek support from sponsoring departmental head.
 Present the concept paper to the Executive.
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 Present concept paper to seek endorsement from the Ministry of
Finance.
 Discuss the concept note with the private sector, including associations
such as the Bankers Association of Zambia (BAZ) and Zambia
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI).
 Develop the Bank of Zambia Policy on Climate Change and Green
Finance.
The process of decision making in this example reveals many characteristics
of influencing decisions at the BoZ. The decision-making process appears to
conform with strategic leadership style. The directors approach to call open
meetings and accord every manager and assistant director the chance to be
head shows that there is a consideration for all team members. Their views
are head, thereby promoting confidence in subordinates and trust.
It is noted that employee capacity building is critical in successfully
developing a policy on green finance and climate change. The decision
depicts management’s positive attitude towards building competence within
the organisation. This is because the executive have created a learningorganisation kind of leadership as BoZ is a knowledge organisation (Susan
and Debra Nelson, 1996).
Consistently over the last five years, the bank has always performed aboveset targets. Much of this success and the ease at which the green and climate
change finance policy was adopted and work set in motion to achieve the
goal by 2021 is explained by adopted leadership. Some of the notable
executive lead changes echoing this success include the adoption of gendersensitive policies and recruitment policies. The banks see the need to have a
balance of male and female employees, and the executive has two male and
one female and directors comprise nine male and five female. This is a step
in the right direction coming from an extreme male-heavy executive.
Also, the recruitment policy has been revised to now bring in more young
professionals and graduates. Talent building programmes have been
introduced. Coming from recruiting only experienced industry professionals,
the bank now has a mix of leaders in terms of age, thereby bringing diversity.
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As depicted in the organogram, the institution is big with our department
having a staff complement of 56. This is means that various leadership roles
are created escalating upwards to ensure effectiveness in decision making
and communication. Position power, therefore, becomes essential as
decisions move up and down the structure. The top management has adopted
accountability, commitment to excellence, timeliness, integrity, objectives,
new ideas, equity, efficiency, transparency, and accountability as a value
system and slogan for all BoZ staff (www.boz.zm/about/values-andfunctions). It is through these values that a manager, such as myself, use and
live by every day and are a pinnacle for strategic decision making.
7.0 Conclusion
Leadership comes with satisfactions such as power and prestige; a chance to
help others; high income; respect and status; opportunities for advancement;
a sense of being in a position of knowledge and a chance to control money
and other resources. The downside to this is that there is too muchuncompensated work time; too many problems; loneliness; organisational
politics and the pursuit of conflicting goals. Nonetheless, an excellent
strategic leader needs to harness the positive traits of leadership and mitigate
the downsides. Strategic leadership emerges on top because it optimizes the
best of visionary leadership and managerial leadership. It is like an
equilibrium of visionary and managerial leadership styles that produce
synergetic outcomes for the organization. Therefore, strategic leadership is
essential for top-level management with both foci on the long-term and shortterm view of the organisation.
While some philosophers argue that leadership is inborn as some people tend
to have more leadership traits than others, strategic leadership theory
explains that this form of leadership is taught and learnt through experience,
education, mentorship or observation. It is transformational as it brings new
ideas (Ullah, Khattak, Khan, & Sana, 2019). Therefore, all employees have
an opportunity to become great leaders. As presented in this paper, many
philosophers have produced research work that indicates that optimal
decisions are prominent in organisations that have a mix of old and young
strategic leaders. Experience and expertise equally influence strategic
decisions. The more experienced a leader becomes, the higher the expertise
and ability to make prompt intuitive decisions. Strategic decisions border on
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uncertainty and risk; therefore, an organization should have an acceptable
level of risk tolerance and appetite that all strategic decision-makers would
be willing to take. Finally, the position of a leader in the organisation
influences the decision-making process to motivate and inspire others.
Other modern-day philosophers argue that organisations that have a gender
balance make better strategic decisions. So many factors, therefore, influence
the strategic decision-making process, but the spirit is obtaining optimal
results from the diverse leaders in the organisation from the operational level
through to the executive level of management and vice versa.
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Appendices
Figure 1: the three leadership styles
Figure 2: Organisational performance and leadership styles
Figure 3: Organogram for Bank of Zambia
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