Year: 2005
Type: dissertation
Abstract: With the advent of democracy, South African business leaders are confronted \nwith numerous challenges like globalisation, cultural diversity, Black economic \nempowerment, transformation etc; that require innovative thinking, re-engineered \napproaches and improved competencies. \nThis study focused on the leadership competencies required of South African \nbusiness leaders within the financial services industry to deal effectively with \nthese challenges and explored how the developmental needs of business \nleaders should be addressed. \nContrary to initial predictions, transactional leadership was still prevalent within \nthe industry and both White and Black executives continued to advocate and \npractice these competencies. However, corporate and individual strategies have \nbeen re-defined to incorporate transformational leadership competencies. This \nhas required executives to modify their operating styles and leadership \nbehaviours. \nWith regard to servant leadership, legislation has required business leaders to \nfocus on their interaction with employees, economic welfare and to increase \nsocial contribution. However the overall conclusion is that while banks are \nbecoming “caring organisations” the primary focus will still be on shareholders. \nThis business model is unlikely to change under the present capitalist and \nmarket driven economic systems. \nThe application of African leadership competencies was a contradiction in \npractice. White executives were of the impression that their organisations had \nadopted African leadership competencies, but Black business leaders were more \nsceptical about its adoption. The core reason was that White executives did not \nnecessarily fully understand these values, while Black executives were not \nrepresented in sufficient numbers to implement these values in practice. \nLeaders are further required to concentrate on their EQ maturity, as this will \nempower them to become more self-conscious, learn from experience and \ninterpret the behaviour of others. \nThe study concluded that for business leaders to be successful in the longer \nterm they would need to display, advocate and practice the competencies of \ncharisma, intellectual stimulation, inspiration and transformation, in conjunction \nwith an appreciation of cultural diversity and Ubuntu. The most fundamental \nvariable that proved successful for leaders was that they exhibited time for their \npeople.
Author: Reshma Baicher
Language: English
Subfield: Strategy and Management
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1496826374