Abstract
D.Phil.
The purpose with this research is to identify the factors that influence the
complexity of leadership and the manner in which leaders deal with such
complexity.
To achieve this purpose, the following objectives were pursued:
• To identify the key drivers that increase complexity at organizational and
individual level;
• To develop a theoretical competency framework for leaders to deal with
increased complexity; and
• Given this framework, to identify the required leadership competencies
for dealing with increased complexity.
The literature review focused on identifying factors of complexity that impact on
leadership. The identified factors were in turn verified in the qualitative phase of
the research, during which interviews were conducted with ten stratum IV
leaders of different business units in one organization. The results of the
qualitative research were further explored with the aid of quantitative research
on 15 business units in the organization. However, no statistical comparison
was made between the business units due to the insufficient response from
each business unit.
The research results highlighted five factors that contribute to complexity,
namely: (1) values and ethics; (2) the impact of technology; (3) diversity;
(4) roles and processes pertaining to leadership; and (5) roles and processes
pertaining to management. The results further indicated three competency
groups that deal with complexity, namely intrapersonal, interpersonal and
organizational competencies.