A review of the literature revealed that firms are inherently influenced by leadership in the upper echelons of the organization. The seminal paper of Hambrick and Mason (1984) has sparked much interest in the realm of organizational leadership. Studies involving organizational leadership have concentrated on leadership styles, the manner in which leadership takes place, leadership succession and organizational performance in an attempt to understand the dynamics of the senior leadership of organizations. Research has also explored how changes in the top management of firms has impacted its performance. This research has primarily been concerned with how a firm is impacted, once succession takes place, and has focused on financial performance, change in strategy and stockholder reaction (Shen & Cannella, 2002; Barron, Chulkov & Waddell, 2011; Friedman & Singh, 1989). Although their predisposition will largely influence the manner in which the incoming CEO acts, the literature has largely neglected the role the incoming CEO must fulfil, and how he/she steers the company, once appointed. In response, the following aim was developed to address this gap: To describe how the roles of two CEO's of the same company differed, during different time periods. The CEO assumes various strategic leadership roles, which they carry out in the context of their new environment once succession has taken place. From the literature, six strategic leadership roles were identified, which formed the foundation of this study. These were strategy formulation, strategy implementation, developing organizational culture, emphasizing ethical practices, managing the firm's resource portfolio and establishing balanced controls. The study set out to comparatively analyze two CEO's of the same firm during different periods. Both CEO's were investigated from the perspective of strategic leadership roles, allowing a comparison of their behaviour. The study analyses and describes these roles, and how they differed between the CEO's, in reaction to differing situational factors and in the context of succession. The study employed a deductive qualitative case study research design. This allowed the researcher to examine the complex phenomenon which have previously been studied at a more superficial level using quantitative methods (Baxter & Jack, 2008; Parrino, 1997; Jooste & Fourie, 2009). A qualitative methodological approach allowed the researcher to examine the topic through a lens which takes into account human variables and processes (Baxter & Jack, 2008). Data was sampled using purposive and convenience sampling while applying the critical incident technique. Data was collected through information sources such as news articles, press releases, annual reports, online interviews, news websites and other documents. Thematical analysis was used during the analysis phase of the study and allowed for patterns and links to be drawn between the collected data. The succession from one CEO to the next served as the comparative element of the study, which allowed for a contrasting of how both CEO's carried out their strategic leadership roles by adapting to their environment, and how they guided the strategic trajectory of the company. The study also took into account what both CEO's were confronted with at the start of their tenure and how this influenced how they carried out their leadership roles. It was found that Cynthia Carroll exercised her roles in a manner which addressed ethical and stakeholder engagement issues within the business. This was translated directly into how she guided the trajectory of the company. Upon appointment, Mark Cutifani exercised his roles in a manner which addressed the organizational performance and financial well-being of the company. This translated directly into how he shaped Anglo's trajectory in an attempt to better its financial performance. Given how they exercised their strategic roles in the company, each CEO influenced Anglo American's direction in a different way, which in turn, influenced the performance of the organization. It was shown that Cynthia Carroll improved the stakeholder engagement, communication and safety within the company, demonstrating behaviour that emphasized the importance of the ethics of the company. When the business had been carrying out its ethical practices effectively, but underperforming financially, Cutifani demonstrated the roles which would be geared toward resurrecting the organizational performance of the organization. Recommendations are made for further research including applying the same research method to investigate how these roles are carried out in companies which operate in a broad spectrum of industries.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:rhodes/vital:27832 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Ball, Leslie |
| Publisher | Rhodes University, Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Business School |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Thesis, Masters, MBA |
| Format | 83 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Ball, Leslie |
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