Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Management

Advisor

Dorothy Hanson

Abstract

Failure to change and adapt to changing conditions can result in organizational stagnation, leading to imminent business extinction. Business leaders in parastatal companies who fail to adapt to changing conditions may be unable to sustain business operations resulting in business failure. Grounded in McKinsey’s 7S framework, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies business leaders in parastatal companies use to adapt to continuous environmental change to sustain their business operations. Participants were 4 Zambian business leaders who successfully implemented strategies to adapt to continuous environmental change and had evidence of sustainable business operations through their strategies. Data were collected from interviews, publicly available organizational documents (provided by the participants), and organizational websites. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The 3 key themes of the findings were effective leadership, strategic planning, and employee training. A key recommendation is for business leaders in parastatal companies to lead using an effective leadership style, such as transformational leadership, to provide a sense of direction in the organization and enable all stakeholders to have a shared vision that facilitates successful organizational change. Implications for positive social change included the organizational leader’s potential to invest in business-driven social change practices to adapt to continuous environmental change, improving people and communities’ living standards in their societies.

Included in

Business Commons

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