10 WRAPPING UP AND LOOKING FORWARD
10.1 WRAPPING UP
The notion of strategic leadership, as conceptualized, operationalized, validated and applied in this
dissertation, provides an answer to the gap between the historical-social context of the 21st century and
the contemporary leadership research context (chapter 1). This chapter summarizes the research
findings, describes theoretical and practical implications and identifies areas for further research.
HISTORICAL-SOCIAL CONTEXT
The historical-social context of the 21st century is characterized by organizations that organize
themselves more and more horizontally (across organizational boundaries) (Bamford et al., 2003), no
longer merely depending on their traditional vertical organizational structure (Czajkiewicz et al.,
2008; Lewin & Stephens, 1993; Schein, 1996). Likewise, there has been an apparent trend of
increasing complex and competitive organizational landscapes. Knowledge has become the primary
organizational asset (Uhl-Bien et al., 2007). In this Knowledge era, most organizations rely on their
social assets rather than on their physical assets (McKelvey, 2001; Zohar, 1997). Traditional
departments are replaced by highly autonomous teams, organized around clients or services. Decisions
are pushed downward to where relevant knowledge and information reside. Whereas, in a typical
bureaucracy, bigger is better, the current context shows organizations in terms of smaller units
(Czajkiewicz et al., 2008), which are thought to be more responsive to market requirements and better
able to adapt rapidly to external changes.
Organizational vitality and survival can no longer depend on internal steering of the organization,
optimizing the production and physical flow of products as used to be the common way in the
Industrial era (Boisot, 1998; Schneider, 2002). More and more, organizational functioning is (equally)
defined by the interaction of these organizations with their respective environments (Hitt et al., 2007).
Hence, while traditional thinking perceived organizations as closed systems with a solid hierarchical
structure (Wheatley, 2006), contemporary trends show both a horizontal and outward move. The
leadership literature should follow suit.