Strategic Leadership Analysis: Risks, Opportunities, and Theories

This essay delves into the realm of strategic leadership, with a specific focus on Iceland Foods UK. It begins by highlighting the significance of strategic leadership in organizational health and then explores the challenges faced by strategic leaders in a dynamic environment. The essay examines various risks and opportunities, such as incorrect communication and the need for innovation, as well as strategic challenges like financial management and declining profits. It further discusses the application of strategic theories, including empowerment and human capital development, in evaluating Iceland Foods' strategic position. The essay also considers different leadership styles, such as team leadership and transformational leadership, relevant in diverse contexts. Finally, the essay concludes by summarizing the key takeaways regarding the risks, challenges, and opportunities associated with strategic leadership, and the applicability of relevant theories.

Running head: STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
Strategic Leadership
Name of the Student-
Name of the University-
Author note-

1STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
Introduction
Aiming to understand the various aspects related to strategic leadership and leaders, this
essay endeavors to shed light on the important arenas related to Iceland Foods UK. The
following paragraphs will argue for the fact that strategic leadership is one of the most important
aspects related to the health of the organizations. The following paragraphs will delve deeper
into the discussion of various aspects such as risks and opportunities.
Discussion
1.
It has to be accepted that strategic leaders have to face innumerable challenges related to
risks and opportunities. In the changing world, the strategic leaders face the challenge posed by
various risks in formulating strategies. The risk of incorrect communication is rampant in
strategic leadership of the time. In the case of Iceland Foods, UK, the risk that is faced by
strategic leaders points towards the idea of the realization of goals and objectives that are
distributed amongst the various departments. A closer look at the strategy of Iceland Food will
reveal that the organization focuses on inculcating innovative ideologies (About.iceland.co.uk
2019). Taking into consideration this aspect, it can be agreed that this is one of the opportunities
that is available for the strategic leaders. Through the inculcation of innovation, the strategic
leaders can enhance the performance of the organizations.
2.
In the time of economic recession, the organizations face innumerable strategic
challenges. the risks and opportunities confronting strategic leaders in a changing world. One of

2STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
the major challenges faced by the organization is the financial management. The challenge of
financial management also includes the idea of financial reporting (Francis et al. 2015). In the
case of Iceland Foods UK, it is seen that the overall sales of the organization has increased over
the years (Anon 2017). However, in order to meet the pressing demands of the economic
upheavals, it is necessary to revamp the financial management. Further, organizations also face
the strategic challenge of declining profits and revenue during the time of economic depression.
This is one of the most challenging issues because it is directly related to the factor of employee
retention and motivation. In times of economic growth, organizations like Iceland Foods face the
challenge of managing the rising employment levels.
3.
The strategic theory of empowerment can assist in understanding the participation and
involvement of people in the strategic decision making model. This is intricately connected to
the idea of Human Capital Development. This can be applied to evaluate the strategic position of
Iceland Foods in the development and evaluation of the Human Capital. A closer look at the
company will reveal that it adopts and upgrades regular policies to enhance the human capital
and the performance. The theoretical perspective of strategic leadership and management also
encompasses the idea of the policies and performance that are intrinsically connected to the
environment of the business organization. Iceland, UK has adopted the strategies relevant for
market penetration (Butler 2017). In addition to this, Iceland Foods UK’ strategic policies also
need to take into consideration the future prospects aligned to the organization.
4.

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Due to the changing preferences and contexts, various leadership styles differ from each
other. The leadership style of Team Leadership is relevant in cases where there are varied groups
designed to meet the common goals. This style assists in the collation of the efforts. Depending
on the context, the style of transformational leadership is also applicable. This refers to the
manner in which leaders can bring forth transformational changes.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the aspect of strategic leaders and leadership faces risks,
challenges as well as opportunities. It can also be concluded that the theories can be applied to
assess the strategic leadership policies.

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References
About.iceland.co.uk (2019). Our Strategy – About Iceland. [online] About.iceland.co.uk.
Available at: http://about.iceland.co.uk/our-strategy/ [Accessed 1 Mar. 2019].
Anon, (2017). [ebook] Available at:
https://about.iceland.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Iceland-Topco-Ltd-2017-results.pdf
[Accessed 1 Mar. 2019].
Butler, S. (2017). How did Iceland become the top online supermarket?. [online] the Guardian.
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/18/how-did-iceland-become-the-
top-online-supermarket [Accessed 1 Mar. 2019].
Francis, B., Hasan, I., Park, J.C. and Wu, Q., 2015. Gender differences in financial reporting
decision making: Evidence from accounting conservatism. Contemporary Accounting
Research, 32(3), pp.1285-1318.