USINGEMERGENT STRATEGIES TO LEAD EFFECTIVELY
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
In times of fast-paced change, global leadership requires careful attention to strategic goals. Forward planning, however, is likely to be undermined by unforeseen events. Dr Sue Shortland explores the role of emergent approaches to strategy formulation and implementation for organisations in the current climate.
S
trategy concerns the scope and direction that an organisation may take over the long-term. Its purpose is to achieve a competitive
advantage in a changing environment through the best use of internal and external resources to maximise the expectations of stakeholders. In essence, strategy is necessary to identify future goals and objectives, and to plan out the approaches needed to achieve them. Strategy involves global leaders making choices, each of which will have intended – but also unintended – consequences. As such, strategic decision-making requires careful attention to the options and the paths to be taken in the future.
DELIBERATE APPROACHES TO STRATEGY Classical approaches to strategy typically use deliberate, planned actions and processes to achieve profit-maximising outcomes. Drawing upon the field of economics, classical strategy formulation usually involves top-down planning based upon a conscious, rationalistic decision- making process, with strategy formulation separated from implementation. This means that top global leaders (such as chief executives) determine strategy, formulating the plans to be enacted, which are then operationalised through policy and practice. Classical approaches to strategy formulation and implementation are premised on the
Putting people at the heart of global organisations, governance,
engagement, inclusion and culture
existence of a hierarchical organisational structure, with operational managers responsible for strategy implementation. Long-term strategic planning and
strategy implementation in the classical style is, of course, subject to organisational and environmental complexities. With rapidly changing internal and external conditions,
including flattening
organisational hierarchies and changing demands in stakeholder expectations, this control and command style of strategy determination and application is becoming less appropriate. For example, with the increasing scientific knowledge that we see concerning environmental issues such as climate change, classical strategic
28 | RELOCATE | SPRING 2020
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