Conceptualizing the Role of Leadership Strategy in the Context of Strategic Management Process: A Review of Literature

A focus on the nature of strategic management process and its contribution to answer fundamental question of how firms achieve sustainable competitive advantage and improved performance through use of suitable leadership has led to organizational leaders formulating strategies through approaches that are systematic, rational as well as logical to strategic choices at corporate, business and functional levels. This has continued to be a major milestone in strategic management process in establishing a clear strategy that makes an organization competitive through suitable management of its workforce and application of strategies that are not easily imitated. This calls for an appropriate leadership strategy aimed at eliminating the gap in human capital that exists in various levels of strategic management process in an organization between the current and desired state of leadership in the future that will address the organization deficiencies by considering the right number of leaders required by the firm for the next at least 5 years with required leadership qualities, skills, behaviour, team capabilities and appropriate culture. This study has focused on a comprehensive review of conceptual and theoretical literature that brings out the role of leadership strategy in the context of strategic management process that leads to improved organizational performance. The concept of organizational capabilities and organization context were found to play a relevant role that mediate and moderate this relationship respectively. The study has proposed a suitable theoretical framework that links leadership strategy, organizational capabilities, and context and organization performance based on the identified gaps for guiding future research on leadership strategy. Six theories including; Pasmore model as lead theory, Path-Goal theory, Contingency theory, transformational leadership, Resource based view and Upper echelon theory underpinned the study in understanding the constructs. In summary, based on the reviewed literature, the study on leadership strategy is found critical for organization success and this calls for further testable empirical data and analysis to validate this claim.