Service as a leadership competency at Director/CEO level
- Authors: Chilton, Ilse Mercia
- Date: 2022-12
- Subjects: Leadership Moral and ethical aspects , Servant leadership , Compassion , Humility , Integrative thinking , Critical incident technique , Transformational leadership
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419075 , vital:71614
- Description: Given ethical failures in leadership, the actions and decisions of leaders are receiving renewed attention based on the role business plays in society. Business leaders need to demonstrate their willingness to consider their influence on society and not merely consider the demands and expectations of shareholders. Leaders must consider the ethical lens through which their decisions and actions are perceived. Service as a leadership competency can develop ethical leadership. Currently, service is not clearly defined and understood, and Pearse (2017) proposes five interrelated elements of service as a competency, namely individualised consideration, compassion, motivation to lead, humility and integrated thinking. The study examined if the five interrelated service elements are present when a leader at Director/CEO level exercises an act of service towards a follower. The study adopted a qualitative deductive thematic approach, collecting data through semi-structured interviews and using the critical incident technique to guide the interviews. The study's findings support the research proposition that service as a leadership competency consists of the five elements, but with some of these elements expanded. Service as a leadership competency is recommended to develop high-quality social relationships within an organisation, which will positively impact the corporate culture. Organisations can recruit and select leaders based on ethical leadership requirements and integrate these into performance management systems. Recommendations for further research have also been made. , Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Business School, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2022-12
Exploring Ubuntu as service leadership competency
- Authors: Bangushe, Anele Greatjoy
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Leadership Moral and ethical aspects , Ubuntu (Philosophy) , Methodist Church of South Africa , Servant leadership South Africa Makhanda , Christian leadership South Africa Makhanda , Community leadership South Africa Makhanda , Critical incident technique
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/380743 , vital:67488
- Description: This is a case study conducted in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA), Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape. Against the backdrop of identifying and conceptualising ethically oriented leadership competencies, the purpose of this study was to explore service as a leadership competency. The literature reviewed in this research underscored the importance of effective and ethical leadership, but critiqued the Westernised, individualistic orientation of the conceptualisation of service as a leadership competency. Based on a review of the literature, this study proposes that when African leaders are in leadership four components of Ubuntu are involved when they exercise service as a leadership competency. These components are collective consideration, collective compassion, community server and Ubuntu humility. The main aim of this study is to investigate if leaders display these four components when exercising service towards their followers, and if so, how, and why they do so. A conceptual framework of components of Ubuntu, which culminated in research themes and propositions, were produced from the literature chapter. A qualitative research method was adopted in this study in which eight participants were selected through convenience sampling for this case study. One minister and seven Vice-Presidents of various organisations in the Methodist Church were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection and a deductive thematic analysis approach was employed to analyse data. Also, the critical incident technique (CIT) was utilised to structure interview questions, which is best fitting to solicit complex and comprehensive data from the interviewees. In its findings, the study confirmed the presence of the four components of Ubuntu, but several delimitations and limitations are acknowledged. Nevertheless, the study has made some contribution to understanding the display of service as a leadership competency in an African context. The implications for management practice are considered and recommendations made for future research. , Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Business School, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
A case study of the role of leadership behaviour in the formation of organizational culture
- Authors: Moore, Aminah
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Leadership -- Botswana -- Maun , Corporate culture -- Botswana -- Maun , Strategic planning -- Botswana -- Maun , Critical incident technique , Organizational behavior -- Botswana -- Maun , Tourism -- Management , Belmond Safaris (Botswana)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62061 , vital:28103
- Description: This case study research on the effect of leadership on organizational culture, is based on a small luxury tourism organization – Belmond Safaris – based in Maun, Botswana. The study set out to determine critical incidents that occurred during the tenure of the current general manager with the intention of uncovering her leadership behaviour and how it has shaped the culture of the organization. The literature review identified quantitative and qualitative approaches to researching organizational culture, but settles on Schein’s theory of organizational culture (Schein, 1992; 2010) as the approach adopted in this study. Furthermore, it reviews the various roles of strategic leaders and how these affect the culture of the organization. The study follows a qualitative methodology and applies the Critical Incident Technique to explore how, as a leader, the behaviour of the general manager shaped the organization’s culture. Data triangulation is achieved through the use of multiple sources – interviews, analysis of company documents and the examination of minutes of management meetings. Following the fieldwork, the evidence within the findings of the study required a theoretical reorientation and a shift from strategic leadership to a new focus on relational leadership, highlighting the prominence of social exchanges between the general manager and employees, as opposed to economic exchanges. The study concludes by acknowledging the limitations and delimitations of the study, which include time constraints as well as the deliberate exclusion of certain participants (e.g. camp managers) from the study. In its conclusion the study also presents recommendations for future studies. The researcher recommends a broader study within the tourism industry, as well as a larger and more inclusive sample size, in order to obtain better insights into the study of culture and leadership within organizations.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Professional development among counselling psychology interns : exploring critical incidents
- Authors: Teixeira, Beverley
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Counseling psychologists -- Training of -- South Africa , Critical incident technique , Career development -- South Africa , Internship programs -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3265 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017888
- Description: The journey towards becoming a counselling psychologist, in South Africa, includes the completion a 12 month internship. The internship year holds many challenges and demands for novice professionals and aims to assist them in making the transition from student to professional. This study aims to explore the subjective experiences of intern counselling psychologists and the critical incidents which assist them in making this transition. In addition, it aims to identify experiences impacting on the interns’ professional development and professional identity. Three registered counselling psychologists, who completed their internship at a South African university counselling centre within the last year, were recruited and participated in individual interviews. These interviews were semi-structured and followed the Critical Incident Technique method. Each interview was voice recorded and transcribed. The data collected was analysed using thematic content analysis. As the research design is qualitative, using a phenomenological approach, the focus is on presenting information-rich and detailed descriptions of participants “lived” experiences of their internship year. It attempts to understand significant incidents or events which influenced the participants’ professional and personal development as they navigate through this ambiguous period to become independent and ethical practitioners. Four predominant themes emerged from the data collected, which include a discussion pertaining to professional boundaries and limitations, learning within the internship environment, the effects of professional and personal support and, lastly, the transition from dependent to independent professional functioning.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Strategic thinking during a period of turbulence : a case study of the BancABC Zimbabwe
- Authors: Mberi, Mary-Jane
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: BancABC (Zimbabwe) , Strategic planning -- Case studies , Strategic planning -- Zimbabwe , Inflation (Finance) -- Zimbabwe , Problem solving -- Zimbabwe , Crisis management -- Zimbabwe , Decision making -- Zimbabwe , Critical incident technique
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:861 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020603
- Description: A review of strategic thinking literature indicates that research has tended to focus on experiences contributing to strategic thinking, the strategic thinking perspectives that executives are likely to follow based on the environments in which they have developed their strategic competencies, and examining executives’ cognitive maps within the context of strategic management (O’ Shannassy 2003; Kutschera, and Ryan, 2009; Meyer, 2007). As an expansion of these principles and foundations of strategic thinking, this research was a study of the extent to which strategic thinking perspectives are utilised during macro environmental turbulence. According to Cravens et al. (2009: 31) volatility, reinvention, and fundamental changes in markets present unprecedented challenges to researchers and executives. “Unfortunately, too often traditional conceptual models and theories fail to provide adequate insight for coping with this new and rapidly changing business environment. Traditional market perspectives and conceptual logic may even blind researchers and strategic decision makers to the real threats present in the changing competitive landscape and new market space, and to opportunities for added value which can be uncovered and exploited” Cravens et al. (2009: 31). Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe was a major problem from 2003 to April 2009, when the country suspended its own currency and for the next five years the country continued to struggle with various macro environmental challenges. It is this backdrop that makes this research intriguing, where the soundness of any organisation is said to be crucially linked to the soundness of the macro environment, including macroeconomic policies as well as internal governance, market discipline; regulation and supervision (Louw and Venter, 2010). The research was a case study of BancABC Zimbabwe and focused on the period 2009 to 2013. BancABC Zimbabwe is a subsidiary of ABC Holdings Limited which is listed on the Botswana and Zimbabwe stock exchanges (BancABC, 2012). The aim of the study as the first key activity was to explore and describe how the BancABC executives responded to the critical macro environmental incidents identified, at a management or executive team perspective, and secondly, whether the rational reasoning or generative reasoning perspective was dominant during the period of turbulence. The goal is to gain insights of the strategic thinking process followed by executives during a period of macro-environmental turbulence. Literature defines strategic thinking concept as the cognitive process undertaken by executives in relation to problem solving in the business context. Two main perspectives are discussed: Strategic thinking as a science (rational thinking) is the prescriptive, structured nature of strategic thinking; arguments are that it is a less complex perspective for executives to adopt. Strategic thinking as an art (generative thinking) is the perspective that allows the strategist to think outside the box and be more creative about solving strategic problems. The discussion presents how the two perspectives can be used to complement each other and provide a more robust strategic thinking framework. The multi-perspective approach to strategic thinking recommends the right balance between analysis, intuition and creativity can be used to create new frameworks and innovative solutions. The ability to balance these strategic thinking perspectives enables executives to solve strategic problems (Linkov, 1999). The research findings highlighted the effect of time and availability of information on the strategic thinking perspective adopted by executives during times of uncertainty. It was noted that when time and information were available, executives appeared to use the rational strategic thinking perspective, while if there was limited time and information to solve problems the generative thinking perspective was dominantly used. Further the importance of integrative strategic thinking which facilitates the use of both intuition and analysis when solving strategic problems in a turbulent macro environment was also highlighted. The research thesis adopted the structure of a case study, relying on the critical incident technique to create the context of the study; and can be used to explore and discuss strategic thinking for teaching purposes. The results of the study can be recognised as a contribution towards the development of strategic thinking particularly in times of turbulence. It can also form the basis for future studies in the context of strategic thinking.
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- Date Issued: 2015