Dramatic social change (COVID-19) moderating complexity leadership and organisational adaptability in Zimbabwean SMEs

Abstract

Purpose Major social changes, such as those induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, intensify the need for organisations in Africa to accelerate adaptation. Leadership plays an important role in their organisations’ adaptation. This study focuses on how leaders can build adaptive organisations through appropriate complexity leadership practices by establishing which of these most predict organisational adaptation. The study aims to contribute to dramatic social change (DSC) theory and to empirically confirm conceptual relationships between complexity leadership theory and perceptions of organisational adaptability (OA). Design/methodology/approach The convenience non-probability sample include 126 senior management respondents from 24 small and medium enterprises in Zimbabwe. The study focuses on these individual senior managers’ perceptions of their organisations’ adaptation, leadership practices and the social changes during COVID-19. The questionnaire used a five-point Likert scale, based on some items from existing scales on entrepreneurial, operational and enabling leadership of complexity leadership and items on OA and DSC. The study applied structural equation modelling using SmartPLS and SPSS software. Findings The study formulates recommendations for the boundary conditions under which each or a combination of the complexity leadership practices will bring about the appropriate level of adaptability. The enabling and entrepreneurial leadership practices required, include brokering, decentralisation and establishing multilevel collaboration. Originality/value The study contributes insight for leaders to differentiate between the levels of adaptation their organisations require at particular times in particular contexts. Different adaptations will require a different combination of complexity leadership practices. When the adaptation sought is internal, operational leadership is more appropriate, whereas if the motive is market adaptation, entrepreneurial leadership is more appropriate.

COVID-19 and Supply Chain Disruption Management: A Behavioural Economics Perspective and Future Research Direction

“…However, much of the work in this area has primarily discussed surface-level components of the topic, such as the cruciality of leadership, reflections on the actions of leaders, and how leadership impacted the firm-level responses throughout the duration of the pandemic and other disruptions [2,[291][292][293][294][295][296][297][298]. Otherwise, much of the literature discusses how leadership (most commonly, transformational leadership) impacted employee well-being and performance throughout the pandemic [299][300][301][302]. A much smaller sect of the research discusses gendered leadership, particularly focusing on difficulties in female leadership roles and lessons that could be learned from female heads of state [299,303].…”

“…Otherwise, much of the literature discusses how leadership (most commonly, transformational leadership) impacted employee well-being and performance throughout the pandemic [299][300][301][302]. A much smaller sect of the research discusses gendered leadership, particularly focusing on difficulties in female leadership roles and lessons that could be learned from female heads of state [299,303].…”

Exploring the impact of managerial abilities on the competitive advantage and performance of creative industries in Indonesia during the post-pandemic recovery phase

“…This ability can facilitate the establishment of a competitive advantage and bolster superior business performance (Chiappini et al, 2022;Jebran & Chen, 2022;Martinez-conesa et al, 2017;Pansiri, 2008;Yung & Chen, 2018). Adaptability and agility (Chingwena & Scheepers, 2022), driven by strong managerial abilities, have enabled SMEs to respond promptly to rapidly changing market conditions and consumer demands. Those businesses that leveraged their competitive advantage, whether it be in product differentiation, innovation, or efficient supply chain management, were better positioned to withstand the disruptions caused by the pandemic.…”

Operations Improvement Function and Organisational Adaptability of Petroleum Tank Farms in South-South, Nigeria

“…Rodriguez [10] assessed the practices of continuous quality improvement among teacher education institutions in Basilan. Furthermore, a review of extant literature showed that previously suggested predictors of organisational adaptability include: scenario planning [11]; complexity leadership [12]; organisational intelligence and efficiency [13]; locus of control, organisational structure and communication [14]; and career management [15].…”

“…Despite the avalanche of studies on organisational adaptability, it has been observed that only a few studies have considered the context of operations improvement function [11] [12] [13] [15]. Therefore, the motivation for this study is to fill the existing contextual gap in extant literature by assessing the nexus between operations improvement function (contingency planning, benchmark-ing and continuous improvement processes) and organisational adaptability, as a means of attenuating the effects of the concomitant challenges of the Petroleum tank farms in South-South, Nigeria.…”