The Role of Leadership in Implementing Strategies - Term Paper Example

Research Proposal on strategic management By The objective of the research is to identify the role of leadership in implementing strategies. The paper explains in the context the leaderships in the current world, especially the business world. The paper pays special attention to strategies that are important in rebuilding the business. The leaders should lead the way in implementing these strategies. In addition, the paper shall highlight the success factors leaders should pay attention while implementing these strategies. Then, the research shall highlight important recommendations that would help businesses that lack the right leadership. The results in this research will be very useful in improving various businesses across the world. 1. Introduction 1.1 Research question The research shall identify the various factors that make leadership the main tool in implementing business strategies. The paper shall highlight the type of leadership important in promoting business strategies in order to maximize production 1.2 Background of study Leadership is very important in strategic management. The leadership organization is very broad and does not only include a single executive. It comprises of an effective team that offers the way for the organization. The team should posses certain leadership traits such as honesty, trustworthy, risk taker, innovative. With the traits in place, the team could lead the organization in implementing certain strategies. The study will find the specific role that the leadership has to play in implementing these strategies. 1.3 Significance of the study The study is very important in spreading the awareness message of the importance of leadership in any organization. In addition, the primordial importance of the study is to provide necessary leadership information to the leaders of various businesses. The information may include their specific roles in implementing various strategies that are important in their organization. In the end, it would assist in improving the leadership skills of these leaders. Thus, the study would be an important tool in improving the production level of various businesses. The study will be the basis of identifying various tools in strategic management. The tools will be important in implementing different strategies in the organization. Furthermore, it would help business develop the important phases used during implementation of the strategies. 1.4 Purpose of study The study aims at identifying the role of management or leadership in the implementation of strategies. The study shall show the importance of leaders when it comes to formulation of strategies. The strategies are the backbone for any organization. A strategy is like another form of a business plan. The paper shall explain why without leaders, the process of implementation of strategies is doomed to fail. It will show the critical role of leadership in sustaining the business or entrepreneurship. In addition, the paper shall highlight why most businesses fail because of poor strategies. The study will show the importance of leaders in developing visionary strategies. The strategies should have a purpose and a mission to fulfill. Moreover, the paper shall explain the importance of firms setting goals. Goals and objectives are the basis for the creation of successful strategies. 1.5 Hypotheses The research has many clear statements that the study will test. The research will test whether leaders are the ones who are responsible in implementing business strategies. It would further test on the importance of vision in strategic management. The study will create a connection between leadership and process of development of strategies. It will test the significance of management in the execution of these strategies. 1.6 Definition of terms Strategic management- implementation of crucial business plans by the top management in a company Leadership- It is social influence of certain people in the society, who assist in the implementation of certain policies. Entrepreneurship- It is the process of identifying new business opportunity and developing it to greater heights. 1.7 Literature review 1.7.1 Importance of leaders Leaders are important in implementing business strategies. The leaders are the top organ of any business. The government did research on the importance of leaders in implementing strategies and came up with reasons (Well, 2010, pp. 2-50). The research indicates that leaders are important in developing the vision of any organization. The vision will guide the business throughout the future. A research by (Sahar, 2010, pp. 2-15) indicated that leaders have to guide the organization in achieving the vision. It is possible if the leaders develop ethic norms aimed at regulating the behavior of employees. The norms will help the organization realize the fruits of the visions. 1.7.2 Qualities of good top management Furthermore, (Tabatoni, 2010, pp. 2-36)conducted a research and highlighted the significance of the top management in strategic management. The management has to demonstrate certain qualities in order to prove they are ready to manage effectively the strategies. Leaders have to give their full commitment in strategic planning and implementation because they are the facilitators. The leaders have to posses enough knowledge on strategic management. They have to be equipped with necessary skills important in the implementation of strategies. In addition, the study indicated that the leaders have to understand various deployment methodologies. They have to ensure all their employees have participated in the planning of these strategies. 1.7.3 Role of management in implementation of strategies A study by (WESTLEY, 1989, pp. 2-10) indicated that leaders have to be on the forefront in changing the way their organizations respond to changes. The changes come in the form of strategies. Furthermore, the study showed that six months is the maximum time for any organization to implement its first strategy. In the period, the leaders have to consult deeply on the pros and cons of the strategies. The management should be ready to bear blame for any negative impacts, which strategies have brought to the organization. 1.7.4 How to attain success in strategic implementation To achieve success in strategy implementation, (JAMES, 2005, p. 3) argues in his report that leaders have to be accurate in deployment. They have to assign roles with much consideration. The study further indicates the mid-level leaders as the important participants in implementing the strategies. The leaders should avoid scenarios where there is no plan in functional focus. It is important for top managers to delegate certain duties to mid-level managers. They would assist in the day-to-day supervision of operations. The mid-level managers would be in charge of lower level strategies. The study by (APPELBAUM, 2010, pp. 1-10) found that, leaders have to set priorities if they need to ensure success of important strategies. The study shows the importance of the management in prioritizing in objectives. The management has to categorize the objectives according to their importance. It is important to categorize because the whole plan of implementing strategies is an iterative process. 2. Theoretical framework Leaders have a role in changing the way of doing business operations. It is evident they will face certain challenges while implementing the strategies. They have to remain committed to their vision. The graph shows the change curve always common in businesses when leaders want to implement certain strategies (Tools, 2013, p. 3). In the above curve, there is slow response to change. It is a case where there is no leadership or the leadership is of low quality. In a situation like this in the above graph, a business will take long to implement important strategies. With good leadership in place, the business will implement their strategies quickly and save costs, as shown below (Tools, 2013, p. 3). The research targets to indicate the importance of leaders in any organization. In the above diagram, good leadership would see the organization quickly adapt to strategies as shown in stage 3. Employees will understand the importance of strategies in bringing change. 3. Methodology The focus for the research was to identify the role of management in implementing business strategies. The study entails many complex issues, which demands the researcher to do an extensive study. The task of doing the research has both utilitarian and cognitive characteristics. It is evident the scope of work is very large and requires the researcher to quickly adapt to various methodology. The adaptation would help the researcher cover individual tasks with ease. It would demand provision of wide range of research tools, for a better clarification of results. The researcher used various methods, for example scientific methods. The technique was crucial in critically analyzing of various literatures. The literatures covered the issue of strategic management. There was involvement of action research to cover deeply the context of strategic management. Furthermore, the researcher relied on critical thinking to define the scope of the research. Logical deduction accompanied critical thinking. The research had to explain the role of employees on implementation of strategies, and the significance of mid-level managers. Information about the role came mainly from review of numerous literatures. In addition, the researcher had to rely on the method of critical thinking to deduce further information. The research demanded for a practical dimension of leadership in its role in managing strategies. In order to present the practical dimension, the paper relied on action research. Furthermore, logical deduction came in handy when defining the role of top managers in implementing organizations strategy. Literature review was important because it would provide the source for critically appraisal of the connection between leadership and strategic management. It would help synthesis information on the importance of leaders in any organization, their skills, and recommendations. Action research involved communication between the researchers and the participants. The researcher used his practical experiences in conducting the action research because of experience in conducting researches. The research wanted to prepare the best protocol in reliability case study. To ensure it was the best, the researcher prepared research questions. The answers for questions would help in answering the research question. A database stored all the interviews and documentations in the field. The rationale for conducting survey was to get a generalized view of the importance of leadership in strategic management. The researcher triangulated the findings from the survey against empirical data. The empirical data came from the interviews present in the database. It helped to identify the theoretical framework that described the importance of leadership. The researcher used the internet to further study on the relationship between leadership and strategic management. Furthermore, the library was a very good source of crucial information. The information came from latest journals and book sections. The journals gave latest information on the current trends in strategic management. In addition, magazines were important tools in providing information. 4. Implications of research The research found out that success in leadership does not indicate success in strategic management. Leaders have to accept their weaknesses. They should improve on their weaknesses and effectively deal with strategic management (Finkelstein, 2009, p. 100). The study identified the characteristics that successful strategic managers pose. A successful manager in strategic issues has to be a good navigator. He has to take the business through hard times and identify the opportunities that would benefit the business. He has to possess the skills of resolving issues. A good leader has to be strategists. He should have the ability to develop long-range strategies that would see the business prosper. He has to set attainable goals and set vision for his organization (Stringham, 2012, p. 50). A good strategic manager has to be an entrepreneur. The study found out that people who identify business opportunities are highly likely to formulate and lead in implementation of strategies. He has to identify new products and services that would benefit the organization. In addition, he has to contain the ability to mobilize. The ability is useful in putting together various stakeholders who support the organizations strategy. Being in a position to mobilize, the leader could accumulate the necessary resources needed to implement the strategies. For example, he could align stakeholders to contribute funds towards a given strategy (Schmidt, 2009, p. 200). The leadership that promotes strategies always identifies special talents. They help in advocating for more talents. The talented individuals are important in assisting the business implement their strategies effectively. A leader that promotes talent will be motivating other employees. The workers will give all their best to meet the business needs. The leader has to be a captivator. The skill will assist him in building passion in the working environment. Passion will result to improvement of commitments from employees, who would work in implementing a common goal (Walker, 2010, pp. 200-300). The study found out most public policies advocate for leadership that is a global thinker. It would assist the business garner enough information, which will help influence the organizations performance. In addition, a global thinker will accumulate various strategies with diverse perspective that would be advantageous to the organization (Walker, 2014, pp. 300-400). The study found out a leader who is a change driver is the best strategic manager. The leader would promote an environment that embraces change across different aspects of life. It would be easy for his organization to implement strategies, even if they are radical. The leader, furthermore, has to be an enterprise guardian. It would assist the leader in making important decisions that supports enterprise. The leader will highlight his courageous characteristics and would assist his business in implementing important strategies. References APPELBAUM, L., 2010. WHAT SENIOR LEADERS DO:THE NINE ROLES OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP. White paper, p. 10. Finkelstein, S., 2009. Strategic Leadership: Theory and Research on Executives, Top Management Teams, and Boards. Chicago: Oxford University Press. JAMES N. FULLER, 2005. The Leader’s Role in Strategy. The Leader’s Role in Strategy, p. 3. Sahar, R., 2010. SRATEGIC MANAGEMENT. strategy in business world, p. 19. Schmidt, T., 2009. Strategic Project Management Made Simple: Practical Tools for Leaders and Teams. Washington: Wiley. Stringham, S., 2012. Strategic Leadership and Strategic Management: Leading and Managing Change on the Edge of Chaos. New York: iUniverse. Tabatoni, y. P., 2010. Strategic Management. p. 36. Tools, M., 2013. Accelerating Change, and Increasing its Likelihood of Success. The Change Curve, p. 4. Walker, R., 2010. Strategic Management Communication for Leaders. Chicago: Cengage Learning. Walker, R., 2014. Strategic Management Communication for Leaders. Chicago: Cengage Learning. Well, D. L., 2010. Strategic Management for Senior Leaders. A Handbook forImplementation, p. 300. WESTLEY, F., 1989. VISIONARY LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT. Strategic Management Journal, p. 16. Read More