Title: Time to prove: Sustainable leadership versus crisis management - a qualitative study regarding the experience of duality for leaders between two leaderships in a unique and complex environment. Authors: Julia Bülow and Aida Ekberg  Published: 2021–05–24 Supervisor: Jean-Charles Languilaire  Background: The environment is forever changing, and leaders need to adapt according to different factors. Previous research has named this rapidly changing environment as VUCA which is an acronym that stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. To face such an environment, previous research has suggested VUCA prime as a way for leaders to approach the situation using vision, understanding, clarity and agility. When covid-19 entered the context, a situation of unique complexity was created which meant even greater challenges for leaders to navigate. These reinforced challenges are argued for using the external factors of PESTEL which imply political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors. This environment is named as VUCA max is this study, while indicating that the need of crisis management is reinforced at the same time as the need for sustainable leadership remains and has in fact never been more in question. Based on this background, this study aims to research the approach of leaders when faced with the duality of crisis management and sustainable leadership during VUCA max. This concludes the research gap for this study. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand how leaders handle the duality that appears in a situation of crisis, with regards to not compromising the future need of sustainability, while faced with a unique and complex environment.    Research question: How does leaders handle the duality between crisis management and sustainable leadership during VUCA max which is a unique and complex environment?   Methodology: This study has a qualitative approach by the conduction of a case study, consisting of interviews with seven leaders. The main research approach is deductive, with a slight element of inductance. Therefore, the research approach for this study is abductive in its entirety.  Conclusions: The conclusions of this study show that the leaders use crisis management and sustainable leadership in a balanced manner during VUCA max.  Sustainable leadership is therefore not deprioritized due to the increased need of crisis management. Further, the leaders have an enhanced use of clarity in relation to crisis management and understanding in relation to sustainable leadership. Leaders also use approaches such as trust, compassion, the ability to be goal-oriented, brave, take responsibility through self-leadership, and the establishment of a varied network during VUCA max. Finally, the concept development VUCA max-prime is introduced to describe how leaders handle the duality between crisis management and sustainable leadership during VUCA max.

Transaction banking is changing in a fast pace due to digitalization, changes in regulation, new competition in the market etc. This acronym VUCA describes this environment; Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. Due to changes in technology, politics and economics strategic renewal is critical to ensure long term survival. Middle managers play a vital role within strategic renewal and leadership behavior is important to be able to perform strategic renewal.   This study uses a single case study with a qualitative and inductive approach and five middle managers from different functions within transaction banking were interviewed. The interviews were conducted by semi-structured open-ended questions to be able to get an in-depth understanding. Based on the interviews it was possible to draw conclusions on the middle managers role within the strategic renewal process and connect their behaviours to the different leadership behaviours. Strategic renewal consists of four renewal journeys and in transaction banking there is an ongoing transformational renewal journey. It was found that Middle managers within transaction banking will best perform transformational renewal with a leadership behaviour that is transformational rather than transactional.

Allt fler storskaliga organisationer vänder sig till agila projektledningsmetoder för att bli mer konkurrenskraftiga i den snabbrörliga ekonomin, ofta benämnd en VUCA-miljö. Olika ramverk har därför utformats för att hjälpa företag att skala upp det agila arbetet, varav SAFe är det mest populära. Antalet akademiska undersökningar inom ämnesområdet är emellertid fåtaliga. Denna studie söker sålunda bringa klarhet kring varför stora organisationer initierar agila omvandlingar i enlighet med SAFe, vilka utmaningar det medför och hur dessa kan mitigeras. Detta genom en kvalitativ undersökning på Länsförsäkringar AB och Nordea. Resultatet indikerar att transformationer som sådana i synnerhet medför kommunikations- och koordinationsproblem, medan en kontextuell anpassning av ramverket kan vara en lyckad mitigationsåtgärd. Vidare visar resultatet att storskaliga organisationer inte nödvändigtvis är kompatibla med den agila metodiken. Anmärkningsvärt är emellertid att förändringsinitiativet av vissa respondenter också betraktades som ett steg i att bli en attraktivare arbetsgivare, utöver att bli mer effektiva och snabbfotade.

This research addresses the following issue: Traditional strategic planning philosophies and methodologies were not created or developed to reflect or support organizational participation in missio Dei (God’s mission). The following questions provided the focus for the research— Can the concept of a journey: • provide a more biblically and missiologically-aligned, helpful, and effective basis for creating new ways of leading and participating in organizational thinking and planning in and among mission and church organizations?” • address organizations’ desires to flourish in and respond to the complex local and global environments of today and tomorrow? • be effective in multicultural and global contexts? The questions above were addressed through three key areas of research: Metaphor and strategy, multi-cultural impressions of journey, and journey and Scripture. A process of qualitative inquiry drew from literature review, survey and case studies. The literature review included contributions from theology, missiology, business, history, and literary classics. The research was also enriched by the wisdom, cultures, contexts, and experiences of survey and case study participants, organizational leaders from more than forty nations. The findings come together to make a unique contribution to the study of strategy as relates to organizations that seek to be a part of God’s mission. The research primarily, but not exclusively, addresses the needs of Christian organizations, including churches. The study of strategy metaphors and the journey concept could be of benefit to any organization’s leaders. The research is informed by the work and journey of the Wycliffe Global Alliance, but the application potential and implications of the research are broader and deeper than any one group or type of organizations. Exploring the concept of journey led to findings concerning the importance of metaphor, the near-universality of journey as a metaphor, and the many rich facets of this concept when voices from many nations are heard. The case studies and research associated with the literature review also provided insights into how the journey concept can be practically applied across cultures and in ever-changing, and often complex, global and local contexts. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Biblical and Religious Studies / PhD / Unrestricted

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2020 kommer troligen sammanfattas i historieböckerna som ett mycket turbulent år, många kommer minnas det som ett år fyllt av ångest och oro. Pandemin har orsakat världsomfattande restriktioner vad gäller resmönster, fysiska restriktioner och länder har stängt ned helt. Detta har inte bara förändrat våra vardagliga rutiner, ändrat våra levnadsmönster, utan omdefinierat mycket av det vi finner normalt. I företagsvärlden har många organisationer utmanats både i uthållighet men också verksamhetens flexibilitet. För att kunna överleva har det varit avgörande för organisationer att ändra sitt sätt att arbeta. De har varit tvungna att anpassa stora delar av organisationen till det nya normala. Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka organisationers anpassningar av sitt arbete med kvalitetsledning och kvalitetsutveckling under pandemin. Ambitionen har varit att bidra med kunskap som förklarar delar av de omställningar som gjorts under det senaste året. Denna uppsats sammanfattar en handfull organisationers anpassningar med avseende på både företagets struktur och deras förmåga att vara stabil i en värld i förändring. Denna studie baseras på semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra olika organisationer, aktiva inom både privat och offentlig sektor. Resultaten visar att alla deltagande organisationer i sin kontext har varit framgångsrika i sina anpassningar under det senaste året. Vi kan dra slutsatsen att anpassningar som gjorts är likartade i varje organisation, med störst inverkan på arbetsmiljö och kommunikation. Inom området kvalitetsledning och kvalitetsledningssystem har ingen av de deltagande organisationerna gjort någon betydande förändring. Resultat som visar att det är Quality Management Systems (QMS) som har gjort det möjligt för organisationerna att vara stabila över tid. QMS har varit en möjliggörare för bibehållen kvalitet i produktionen. En begränsning i studien är att ingen av de studerade organisationerna har misslyckats med att anpassa sig. Det är möjligt att organisationer som inte har varit lika framgångsrika avstått från att delta i undersökningen. Det är möjligt att det inte är så attraktivt för en organisation att öppet erkänna att de inte var utrustade för de förändringar och krav som pandemin orsakat. / The year of 2020 will go down in history as a year with a lot of turbulence, it's likely to be remembered by many as one of the most agonizing years in modern times. Due to the pandemic, we have seen countries shut down completely from one day to another. The world spread disease has caused worldwide restrictions in travel patterns, physical regulations and lockdowns. This has not only changed our everyday routine, the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. But it has also tested the corporate world to the limits. Organisations have been challenged both on their resilience and endurance. The need for adaptation has never been greater. To be able to survive in this uncertain world, it has been crucial for organisations to change their way of work. The purpose of this study is to explore how organisations have adapted to the variation caused by the pandemic. Contributing with knowledge explaining what have been the hardest transitions along the past year. This thesis summarizes a handful of organisations adaptations, regarding both the company's structure and their capability to be stable in a world in change. This study is based on semi structured interviews with four different organisations, three of them active in the private sector whilst the other one in the public sector. Results show that all the participating organisations have been successful in their transitions over the last year. We can conclude that there are similarities within the companies' adaptations strategies, with the biggest impact regarding the working environment and communication. In the field of quality management and quality management systems, none of the participating organisations have made any significant change. Results showing that it's the QMS that have enabled the organizations to be stable over time. A limitation of this study is a bias related to that none of the participating organisations have failed to adapt. It is possible that organisations who are not as successful, decline to participate in surveys and interviews. It may not be that attractive for an organisation to admit that they were not equipped for the dramatic changes the pandemic caused. / <p>2021-06-06</p>

Bakgrund: Ledare i dagens samhälle leder sina organisationer och medarbetare under ständig förändring. VUCA världen, en osäker och komplex värld som saknar en tydlighet om vad som komma skall för morgondagen. Vilket sätter ledare i en svår situation när att arbeta och leda utifrån ett hållbarhetsperspektiv för att säkra upp för framtiden i en VUCA värld. Syfte: Att tolka hur ledare praktiserar ett hållbart ledarskap i kontexten av en VUCA värld. Metod: Studien antar en induktiv ansatsmetod med en kvalitativ strategi. En fallstudie har genomförts med sex semistrukturerade intervjuer för att samla in relevant empiriska data. Resultatet från empiriinsamlingen har analyserats genom en induktiv tematisk analys där fyra huvudteman framkom: Målsättning och beslutsfattande, Teamarbete: Individuella ledarskapet – vem ingår i ditt team, Delegering och Rätt kompetens i huset. Slutsats: Analysen av studiens empiri har påvisat att det hållbara ledarskapet praktiseras utifrån fyra byggstenar: Hållbar målsättning och beslutsfattande, Hållbart och framgångsrikt teamarbete, Hållbar och effektiv delegering, samt Hållbar och långsiktig kompetensförsörjning. Dessa fyra byggstenar består av 2–3 underteman som påvisar hur det hållbara ledarskapet ska praktiseras. Exempelvis Hållbar målsättning och beslutsfattande består av följande underteman: Leva som vi lär, Alla mål har olika vägar samt Inte bara se till organisationens behov utan även de anställda = nöjd personal = motiverad personal. Vidare har studien påvisat hur det hållbara ledarskapet består utav flertalet ledarskapsstilar: autentiskt ledarskap, etiskt ledarskap, tillitsbaserat ledarskap, tjänande ledarskap samt situationsanpassat ledarskap. Det hållbara ledarskapet praktiseras genom de fyra ovan nämnda byggstenarna i relation till hållbarhetsaspekterna: sociala, ekonomiska och miljömässiga där den sociala aspekten är övervägande i fokus i kontexten av en VUCA värld. / Background: Leaders today are leading their organizations and employees through constant change. The VUCA world, an uncertain and complex world that lacks clarity about what’s coming for tomorrow. This puts leaders in a difficult situation when leading from a sustainability perspective to secure the future in a VUCA world. Purpose: To interpret how leaders practice sustainable leadership in the context of a VUCA world Method: The study takes on an inductive approach with a qualitative strategy. A case study has been conducted with six semi-structured interviews to collect relevant empirical data. The results of the empirical data collection have been analyzed through an inductive thematic analysis where four main themes emerged: Goal setting and decision making, Teamwork: Individual leadership – who is in your team, Delegation, and The right competence in the house. Conclusion: The analysis of the study’s empirical data has shown that sustainable leadership is practiced based on four building blocks: Sustainable goal setting and decision making, Sustainable and successful teamwork, Sustainable and effective delegation, and Sustainable and long-term competence management. These four building blocks consist of 2-3 sub-themes that demonstrate how sustainable leadership should be practiced. For example, Sustainable goal setting and decision making consists of the following sub-themes: Living as we learn, All goals have different paths and Not only looking at the organizational needs but also the need of the employees = satisfied employee = motivated employee. Furthermore, the study has demonstrated how sustainable leadership consist of several leadership styles: authentic leadership, ethical leadership, trust-based leadership, servant leadership and situational leadership. The sustainable leadership is practiced through the four building blocks mentioned above in relation to the sustainability aspects: social, economic, and environmental where the social aspect is predominantly in focus in the context of a VUCA world.

The VUCA (which stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) conditions have overshadowed the national and global higher education systems, and social and economic systems are increasingly becoming dependent on knowledge and innovations. There is a call for the global higher education systems to attain a new set of quality standards (Waller et al., 2019). Traditional teaching methodologies and outdated pedagogical frameworks lowered motivation and engagement in the learning processes and fueled the rising of the gap between theory and practice (Ferns, Rowe and Zegwaard, 2021; Hays, 2014). Work Integrated Learning is a pedagogical framework that holds tremendous potential for bridging this gap through up to date alternative means while reinforcing a sustainable engagement between industry, students and academia (Hays, 2014). This study was investigating the cause of contemporary challenges and the impact of emerging VUCA conditions in the ecosystem of students, academia, and industry. In the following, the main features and potential utilities of work-integrated learning (WIL) as a framework for presenting interactive learning innovations were explored. Moreover, the paper was also looking at the concept of the knowledge economy as a growth paradigm under the influence of the emerging internet tools which pave the doors for conducting simulated or virtual work-integrated learning by changing the ways of knowledge creation and its delivery. The primary research is based on a quantitative survey shared with a sample space of 35 KTH masters students, who were purposively selected due to, firstly their remote education experience, and secondly their participation in the learning through a scenario-based gamified online course. The research aims to identify the main areas that VUCA threatening higher education while assessing the utility of work-integrated learning to bridge the theory and practice gap and form a sustainable partnership between industry, students, and academia.  This study indicated the learning process in the higher education systems needs to be innovated by replacing the traditional teaching methods with more interactive alternative means. Hence, learning transformation per se can be considered as a major stimulus factor increating turbulence and VUCA conditions which affect student life, the higher education systems and the economic system as a whole. Our findings confirm students' high level of satisfaction in the experience of learning throughthe scenario-based simulated game, students experienced more engagement and collaborationwhile acquiring knowledge and skills in a more practical way. They also expressed a positive adaptive behaviour toward increasing the deployment of these alternative learning methods. Despite unfulfilled students' expectations with respect to soft skills developement and the quality of remote learning experiences, most of these issues are falling within the scope of pedagogical capabilities and collaborative features of work-integrated learning and are resolvable through systematical deployment and quality supervision of innovative learnings under these pedagogical frameworks. / VUCA (består av volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) förhållanden har överskuggat de nationella och globala systemen för högre utbildning, och sociala och ekonomiska system blir alltmer beroende av kunskap och innovationer. Det finns ett krav på att de globala högre utbildningssystemen ska uppnå en ny uppsättning kvalitetsstandarder (Waller et al., 2019). Traditionella undervisningsmetoder och föråldrade pedagogiska ramarsänkte motivationen och engagemanget i inlärningsprocesserna och satte fart på klyftan mellan teori och praktik (Ferns, Rowe och Zegwaard, 2021; Hays, 2014) Work Integrated Learning är ett pedagogiskt ramverk som har en enorm potential för att överbrygga denna klyfta med aktuella alternativa metoder och samtidigt öka ett hållbart engagemang mellan industri, studenter och akademi (Hays, 2014). Denna studie undersökte orsaken till samtida utmaningar och effekterna av framväxande VUCA-förhållanden i ekosystemet för studenter, akademi och industri. Vidare undersöktes huvudfunktionen och potentiella nyttan av arbetsintegrerat lärande (AIL) (WIL) som ett ramverk för att presentera interaktiva inlärningsinnovationer. Dessutom tittade uppsatsen på konceptet kunskapsekonomi (Knowledge Economy) som ett tillväxtparadigm under inflytande av de framväxande internetverktygen som skapar möjlighet för att genomföra simulerat eller virtuellt arbetsintegrerat lärande genom att förändra sätten att skapa ochleverera kunskap.  Den primära forskningen är baserad på en kvantitativ undersökning som delas med ett urvalav 35st KTH-masterstudenter, som valdes ut medvetet på grund av både deras erfarenhet av distansutbildning, samt deras deltagande i lärandet genom en scenariobaserad gamifierad onlinekurs. Forskningen syftar till att identifiera de huvudsakliga områden av högre utbildning som hotas av VUCA samtidigt som man bedömer nyttan av arbetsintegrerat lärande för att överbrygga teori- och praktikklyftan och bilda ett hållbart partnerskap mellan industri, studenter och akademi. Denna studie visade att lärandeprocessen i de högre utbildningssystemen måste förnyas genom att ersätta de traditionella undervisningsmetoderna med mer interaktiva alternativa metoder. Därför kan inlärnings transformation av sig själv anses vara som en viktig stimulansfaktor för att skapa turbulens och VUCA-förhållanden som påverkar studentlivet, det högre utbildningssystemet samt det ekonomiska systemet som helhet. Våra resultat bekräftar elevernas höga nivå av belåtenhet i upplevelsen av lärande genom det scenariobaserade simulerade spelet, elever upplevde mer engagemang och samarbete samt tillägnade sig kunskaper och färdigheter på ett mer praktiskt sätt. De uttryckte också ett positivt adaptivt beteende mot att öka användningen av dessa alternativa inlärningsmetoder. Trots ouppfyllda elevers förväntningar med hänsyn till utveckling av mjuka färdigheter och kvaliteten av deras distansutbildning uplevelse, faller de flesta av dessa brister inom ramen för pedagogisk förmågor och samarbetsegenskaper som arbetsintegrerat lärande erbjuder och är lösbara genom systematiskt utnyttjande och kvalitetsövervakning av innovativa lärande inom dessa pedagogiska ramar.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The purpose of the present study is to enrich academic knowledge, the understanding of management theory, and professional management practice for leaders in a South African Higher Education Institution (HEI) under volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) conditions. Due to increased globalisation and rapid changes in the technological, social, economic, and political spheres, the environment in which organisations function has become increasingly VUCA. These factors create a unique set of challenges for the leaders of these organisations. Traditionally tested and proven methods of leading organisations no longer guarantee high performance. The dynamic environment is challenging leaders to find new ways to be successful. To further complicate matters, the speed, frequency, and intensity with which the organisational environment is changing are ascending in nature. The field of Higher Education in South Africa demonstrates the challenges and opportunities VUCA imposes on organisational leadership.

Organizational leaders in the 21st century face relentless changes in the business environments in which they operate. The diversity, intensity, and rapidity of these changes create volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA), which challenge leaders on ways to lead effectively as existing methods prove inadequate. The problem in this study was that of inadequate leader preparedness to lead and win in VUCA environments. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of 15 Nigerian corporate executives about their VUCA business environment and the strategies they employed for VUCA-readiness and success within the manufacturing sector. The research question guiding the study related to the lived experiences of corporate executives in manufacturing companies in Nigeria regarding VUCA-readiness and succeeding in a VUCA environment. Chaos theory and complexity leadership theory were used to frame the study. Data collection occurred through snowball sampling to interview 15 participants who are senior executives in large manufacturing corporations in Lagos, Nigeria. Data was analyzed through Ricoeur’s theory of interpretation and member checking. As a result, 4 key themes that emerged were business agility, strategic workforce and demand planning, recovery management for organizational resilience, and conscientious and value-based leadership. The study findings may contribute to positive social change in providing strategies for organizational sustainability, business readiness, responsive leadership, and enhanced employee well-being in VUCA. Recommendations include VUCA training for preparedness and organizational resilience.