ROLE OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP IN ENHANCING ETHICAL PRACTICES: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Authors

  • John Kimani Gichuhi School of Business, Africa Nazarene University, Kenya
  • Lucy N Karuoya Department of Business Administration, Kenya Methodist University, Kenya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53555/eijbms.v3i3.53

Keywords:

Strategic leadership, ethical practices, vision, mission, objectives, core competencies, human capital, corporate culture, core values, strategic controls

Abstract

This paper reviews literature on the role of strategic leadership in enhancing ethical practices. Management theorists and business leaders have a saying that ``good conduct is good business’’. They have in time and again asserted the need to facilitate good behavior in organizations to help safe guard reputation and also to convey a commitment to responsible practice to both society and all the other stakeholders. It is evident that ethics is core to an organization and ethical conduct should be seen as a driver of business growth and therefore demanding the leadership’s attention. Scholars have identified six critical roles of strategic leadership comprising of determining the firm's purpose and vision, exploiting and maintaining core competencies, developing human capital, sustaining an effective organizational culture, emphasizing ethical practices and establishing balanced strategic controls (Ireland & Hitt, 2005; Hagen, Hassan & Amin, 1998; Jooste & Fourie, 2010; Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2011; Serfontein, 2010).This paper examines the leaders role in these six areas. The paper is presented in five sections. Section one introduces the topic under review. Section two discusses the concept of leadership, followed by concept of strategic leadership in section three. The six critical roles of strategic leadership are discussed in section four while conclusion is found in section five.

References

. Anwar, J., & Hasnu, S. A. F. (2013). Ideology, Purpose, Core Values and Leadership: How they influence the Vision of an Organization? International Journal of Learning and Development, 3(3), 168-184.

. Candemir, A. & Zalluhoglu, E. A. (2013). Exploring the innovativeness and market orientation through mission and vision statement: The case of Istanbul Stock Exchange Companies. Presidia- social and Behavioral Sciences, 99, 619-628.

. Chikwe, G. C, Anyanwu, P. C., & Edeja, S. M. E. (2016). Examination of Strategic Control and Continuous Improvement as Competition Enablers in Small and Micro Enterprises: A Study of Selected Pure Water Manufacturing Firms in Ebonyi State. Advance Research Journal of Multidisciplinary Discoveries Business Management, 1(1).

. Collins, D. (2010). “Designing ethical organizations for spiritual growth and superior performance: An organization systems approach”. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 7(2), 95-117.

. Daft, R. L. & Marcic, D. (2013). Management: The new workplace. South-Western; Cengage Learning: Australia.

. Daft, R. L. (2011). The leadership experience. (5th Ed.). Cincinnati, Ohio: Cengage Learning South-Western.

. Daft, R. L. (2014). The leadership experience. Cengage Learning Gerras, S. J., Clark, M., Allen, C., Keegan, T., Meinhart, R., Wong, L., & Reed, G. (2010). Strategic leadership primer. Army War College Carlisle Barracks PA.

. Gharieghi E. Nikbakht, F. & Bahar, G. (2011). A survey of relationship between the characteristics of mission statement and organizational performance. Research Journal of Business Management, 5(3) 117-124.

. Gill, R. (2011). Theory and practice of leadership. London: Sage publications-Thousand Oaks.

. Hagen, A. F., Hassan, M. T. & Amin, S. G. (1998). Critical strategic leadership components: an empirical investigation. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 63(3), 39-44.

. Hitt, M. A., R. Ireland, D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2011). Strategic Management, Competitiveness and Globalization, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, USA.

. House, R. J., & Aditya, R. N. (1997). The social scientific study of leadership: Journal of management, 23(3), 409-473.

. Ireland, D. & Hitt, M. (2005). Achieving and maintaining competitiveness in the 21st century: the role of strategic leadership, Academy of Management Executive, 19(4), 63-77.

. Joyce, Philip. 2014. The Culture of Ethics That the Public Sector Needs. Governing, October 15. http://www.governing.com/columns/smart-mgmt/col-cultureethics- Public-sector-needs.html [accessed March 31, 2016].

. Jyothimon, C. (2014). Mission, vision and objective. Retrieved August 20, 2016 from

www.slide.share.net/joythimonc/vision-mission-objective-goal.

. Makori, Z. K. (2014). The strategic intent formulation process of the organizations listed in Nairobi securities exchange: Military versus business perspective (MBA Thesis, University of Nairobi).

. Masood, T. (2010). Impact of human resource management (HRM) practices on organizational performance: a mediating role of employee performance (Doctoral dissertation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah University Islamabad).

. McIsaac, E., Park, S., & Toupin, L. (2013). Shaping the Future: Leadership in Ontario's Nonprofit Labour Force. Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation, University of Toronto.

. Mutia, P. M. (2015). Strategic leadership and its influence on church growth in Kenya. DBA Thesis (Unpublished), Nairobi: USIU-Africa

. Odita, A. O., & Bello, A. (2015). Strategic Intent and Organizational Performance A Study of Banks in Asaba, Delta State Nigeria, Information and Knowledge Management, 5(4), 60-72.

. Ozdem, G. (2011). An Analysis of the Mission and Vision Statements on the Strategic Plans of Higher Education Institutions. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 11(4), 18871894.

. Peter, S. (2014). Organizational objectives. Retrieved on 21/08/2016 from

wwwvAaltofi/fi/tutkimus/peter tyopsykologia/julkaisut/tyopape it/mamtere-sill

. Powers, E. L. (2012). Organizational mission statement guidelines revisited. International Journal of Management & Information Systems. 16, 281-290.

. Serfontein, J. J. (2010). The impact of strategic leadership on the operational strategy and performance of business organizations in South Africa (Doctoral dissertation), Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

. Steinbauer, Robert, Robert W. Renn, Robert R. Taylor, and Phil K. Njoroge. 2014.

. Ethical Leadership and Followers’ Moral Judgement: The Role of Follows’ Perceived Accountability and Self-Leadership. Journal of Business Ethics 120(3): 381– 92.

. Szpakowski, S. (2011). Making sense of strategy in an uncertain world, Oxford Leadership Journal, 2(1).

. Thompson, A. A., Peteraf, M. A., Gamble, J. E., & Strickland, A. J. (2014). Crafting and executing strategy: The quest for competitive advantage. Concepts and cases. (9th Ed.). Singapore: McGraw-Hill.

. Volberda, H.W., Morgan, R.E., Reinmoeller, P., Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D., & Hoskisson, R.E. (2011). Strategic Management Competitiveness and Globalization, Concepts and Cases (9th Ed.). Hampshire: United Kingdom.

Downloads

Published

2017-09-27