Strategic Management And Leadership Key To Organisational Perfomance Findings From Zimbabwe

This paper examines the application and implementation of strategic management frameworks by strategic leaders of corporations and its role in the success or failure in corporate sector in Zimbabwe. The success will depend on understanding strategy and having effective leadership. An overview of collapsed companies in Zimbabwe revealed that poor application of strategic management principles lack of understanding of the impact of the environmental changes organisational capabilities and shareholder expectations and purposes on strategy the importance of setting objectives and establishment of strategies to achieve the objectives coupled with poor leadership skills and poor financial management was the main cause of businesses collapsing. The understanding of organisations position in the environment the determinants of strategic capability resources and competences the factors that shape organisational purposes corporate governance business ethics and the cultural context structure and management of change was lacking inmost of these companies. The study is based on a questionnaire survey obtained from employees of 10 failed companies and 5 declining companies on the verge of collapse. The study indicates that managers of these organisations have little or no knowledge of strategy as a whole and its importance in sustaining the business.