Masters Dissertation: Leadership, Decision-Making, Sustainability

This dissertation explores the impact of leadership and strategic decision-making on an organization's growth and sustainability, focusing on a medical device group. It investigates the differences between public and private sector leadership, examining leadership traits, decision-making processes, and their effects on organizational outcomes. The research includes a case study of a company that experienced challenges after a merger and the appointment of a CEO from a public sector background. The study analyzes the situation using SWOT and PESTEL analyses, along with an examination of various leadership theories, including transactional, transformational, and contingency leadership. The findings highlight the importance of aligning leadership styles with organizational objectives and the potential pitfalls of transferring leaders between the public and private sectors. The dissertation concludes with key findings on the critical role of effective leadership and decision-making in achieving organizational success and sustainability in a competitive market environment.

Organizational behavior
Masters Dissertation
RKC, March 2018
Student ID number: 1550809
Module name: Intro, Chapters 1-5 - DRAFT
Assignment title: Masters Dissertation
Assignment deadline:
Effective number of words used:

Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction:..............................................................................................................................4
Background of the Organization:.............................................................................................................5
Background of Research Topic:...............................................................................................................6
Thesis Statement:....................................................................................................................................8
Research Aims and Objectives:....................................................................................................................8
Research Objectives:...............................................................................................................................8
Research Questions:................................................................................................................................8
Scope of Research:..................................................................................................................................9
Limitations of Research:..........................................................................................................................9
Chapter 2: Literature Review:....................................................................................................................10
Styles of leadership:..............................................................................................................................10
The Public vs. Private sector leader:......................................................................................................11
Theories on leadership:.........................................................................................................................13
Summary:..............................................................................................................................................18
Appendix:..............................................................................................................................................19
O.C.E.A.N Big Five Personality Theory:..............................................................................................19
McKinsey’s 7-S Model:.......................................................................................................................21
Chapter 3: Methodology:..........................................................................................................................24
Data Collection Methods:......................................................................................................................24
External and Internal Factors affecting the organization:..................................................................24
Leadership Theories:.........................................................................................................................24
Personality traits of Managers:..........................................................................................................24
Data collection process:.....................................................................................................................24
Data Analysis Methods:.........................................................................................................................25
Secondary Research Analysis:............................................................................................................25
Case Analysis:....................................................................................................................................25
Chapter 4: Results:....................................................................................................................................27
Organizational Situation Analysis:.........................................................................................................27
SWOT Analysis:..................................................................................................................................27
PESTEL Analysis:.................................................................................................................................28
Leadership Traits Analysis:.....................................................................................................................30

Transactional Leadership Theory:......................................................................................................30
Transformational Leadership Theory:................................................................................................30
Behavioural Leadership Theory:........................................................................................................30
Contingency Leadership Theory:.......................................................................................................31
Trait Leadership Theory:....................................................................................................................31
Great Man Leadership Theory:..........................................................................................................31
Strategic Decision-making Analysis:......................................................................................................32
Key Findings:..........................................................................................................................................32
Chapter 5: Conclusions:.............................................................................................................................34
Bibliography:.............................................................................................................................................37
Chapter 1: Introduction:..............................................................................................................................3
Background of the Organization:.............................................................................................................5
Background of Research Topic:...............................................................................................................5
Thesis Statement:....................................................................................................................................7
Research Aims and Objectives:....................................................................................................................7
Research Objectives:...............................................................................................................................7
Research Questions:................................................................................................................................8
Scope of Research:..................................................................................................................................8
Limitations of Research:..........................................................................................................................9
Chapter 2: Literature Review:....................................................................................................................10
Styles of leadership:..............................................................................................................................10
The Public vs. Private sector leader:......................................................................................................11
Theories on leadership:.........................................................................................................................14
Summary:..............................................................................................................................................18
Chapter 3: Methodology:..........................................................................................................................19
Data Collection Methods:......................................................................................................................19
External and Internal Factors affecting the organization:..................................................................19
Leadership Theories:.........................................................................................................................19
Personality traits of Managers:..........................................................................................................19
Data collection process:.....................................................................................................................19
Data Analysis Methods:.........................................................................................................................20
Secondary Research Analysis:............................................................................................................20

Case Analysis:....................................................................................................................................20
Chapter 4: Results:....................................................................................................................................21
Organizational Situation Analysis:.........................................................................................................21
SWOT Analysis:..................................................................................................................................21
PESTEL Analysis:.................................................................................................................................24
Leadership Traits Analysis:.....................................................................................................................25
Transactional Leadership Theory:......................................................................................................25
Transformational Leadership Theory:................................................................................................26
Behavioural Leadership Theory:........................................................................................................26
Contingency Leadership Theory:.......................................................................................................26
Trait Leadership Theory:....................................................................................................................27
Great Man Leadership Theory:..........................................................................................................27
O.C.E.A.N Big Five Personality Theory:..............................................................................................28
Strategic Decision-making Analysis:......................................................................................................29
McKinsey’s 7-S Model:.......................................................................................................................30
Chapter 5: Conclusions:.............................................................................................................................33
Bibliography:.............................................................................................................................................35

Chapter 1: Introduction:
The researcher studies the impact of leadership and strategic decision-making on the growth and
sustainability of an organization. The success of leadership also depends on the context and the scenario
in which the leader is required to offer his leadership. For example, a manager who has worked
previously in a public organization and has been an extremely successful leader in the organization
might not be able to offer the same quality of leadership in a private organizational setup and culture.
This is implied as the work culture of a public-sector organization is entirely distinct from that of a
private firm. This occurs primarily due to the separate business motives of public and private sector
firms. In case of the public-sector organizations the focus of the management is not on the making of
profits. It is rather based on serving the people of the country with a variety of products and services
that will help them in different aspects of life. The idea is to ensure that the services and products those
are offered to the customers are ethical, fair and just because the people of the country are paying taxes
for various products and services that they are purchasing from different private and public-sector
organizations..
The citizens of the country expect that they receive true and fair products and services from the public
organizations in return for the taxes they are paying to the government. Therefore, the management
personnel have the focus to offer the services to the people as per their desired expectations. The public
organizations do not focus much on the profitability and therefore, the minds of the managers are not
too much inclined towards profitability and extreme competition. In case of the private sector firms the
situation is entirely different. The primary objective of a private sector firm is to make profits and ensure
sustainability. The customer service is definitely important to the private sector establishments however
it is not the primary focus of the firm as the objective that gains precedence in case of private sector
organizations is the profit-making. Therefore, it is extremely essential for an organization to understand
the impact of the leadership style on offering prudent managerial decision-making. It is always advisable
for an organization to recruit leaders from the same background for ensuring that the leader is able to
understand the nature of the business and the organizational objectives effectively.
The research questions were developed to address leadership. They are divided into the Primary and the
Secondary Research Questions.

The research focuses on leadership, decision-making, and their impacts on sustainability of an
organization. The research attempts to discover the various traits and characteristics of leadership in
terms of the ways it differs between the managers in the public and private sectors. The researcher also
attempted to determine the impacts of leadership traits on managerial decision-making along with
finding out the impact of managerial leadership on the sustainability of an organization. For this
particular research study, the case of a medical device group has been investigated. The company
manufactures and sells various emergency drugs and medical devices in around the world. The
organization markets its products across all continents with focus on the US, China and a few other
Asian countries. Three years back, the company has entered into a merger with one of its suppliers and
after that some issues have emerged related to the quality of some of the medical products those
needed to be recalled. There was some lack of managerial leadership and effective decision-making that
was observed following the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). A CEO that was
appointed as the head of the newly formed company.
A SWOT Analysis has been conducted by the management in order to identify the major strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the organization after the appointment of the new CEO. It
facilitated the findings of the main research. This decision to appoint a new CEO was later on speculated
to be non-effective and counter-productive for the organization. The current CEO belonged to a
governmental organization that was a part of the non-profit seeking sector of the industry. The
individual lacked the managerial leadership and decision-making skills required in a much competitive
private sector. Moreover, the CEO was not a person from the medical background and was not able to
provide an impactful and goal-oriented leadership in this newly formed organization. The leadership
skills nurtured and developed in the public-sector are quite different than those needed to direct a
private sector organization which has more competitive, dynamic, and different work culture. Prior
researches have revealed that qualities and traits of leaders tend to differ across the public and private
sectors because of several factors like difference in business objectives, work culture, employee
relationships and others (Andersen, Public versus Private Managers: How Public and Private Managers
Differ in Leadership Behavior, 2010) This makes it challenging and difficult for a person coming from the
public-sector to provide effective leadership in a private sector organization. This is the same scenario
with the organization referred to in this research.
Background of the Organization:
The organization referred to in this research study is an enterprise that deals with the production and
distribution of various medical devices and emergency medicines across the world such as the US, China,
and many other Asian nations. The medical devices industry is booming across the globe with the
unprecedented growth and advancement in technology in this sector and the market opportunities are
increasing every year as the overall market awareness about healthcare products have increased over
time (Gilani, 2014). The organization has recently undergone a change where it has entered into a
merger and acquisition with one of its American suppliers. This has called for a change in the
management strategies and organizational structure. The new CEO of the organization happened to be
one of the existing shareholders of the company who has been appointed as the CEO based on his warm
relationship with the current management and good reputation. He belonged to a public-sector

organization and lacked the experience and expertise to lead in a private sector enterprise. Moreover,
he was not from the medical background and therefore, there were some emerging issues related to his
style of leadership and organizational decision-making. There have been several issues related to the
quality of some of the products sold by the company of late.
This has been attributed to the lack of proper management and leadership from the top-level
management under the new CEO that has been responsible for lack of adequate employee motivation
and that culminated into some unethical actions taken by some management personnel like purchasing
of low quality of raw materials to enhance profitability. Therefore, the research has been undertaken to
determine the areas where the leadership and management under the new CEO has gone erroneous
and a number of bottlenecks has emerged. Now, the management is thinking of enhancing the revenue
through growth in new market segments by reducing overall cost of sales and raising profitability. The
management also wishes to optimize the marketing and business development departments by creating
a single marketing department serving across all the different territories of the business. The
management has plans to enhance the investment in research and development such that new
technologically upgraded products might be produced and sold in order to achieve growth and
sustainability in the dynamic market environment. The management has also planned for reducing the
production cost and starting up a new production facility in the US and open up new sales branches in
the Indo-China markets
Background of Research Topic:
The research addresses various concepts of leadership, organizational decision-making and
organizational sustainability. The researcher attempted to establish a link between the management
leadership, its impact on decision-making, and the organizational sustainability. This chapter reviews the
concepts in detail.
Organizational Leadership:
Leadership is one of the key elements that determine the future of an enterprise. Every enterprise
requires effective and strong leadership for achieving optimum effectiveness. Organizational leadership
encompasses human psychology along with prudent business tactics. The leadership that is provided by
the management personnel or the managers within the organization needs to be relevant to the current
business dynamics. Leadership should ensure that it is able to guide and motivate the subordinates in
tough times of the organization and yet be able to make the business grow and sustain amidst such
crisis (16 Personalities, 2014). An effective leader should be able to implement proper control and
coordination among the group members such that they obey the instructions. In this regard it should be
understood that organizational leadership is not about dominating and dictating the subordinates. It is
more about offering guidance and direction to the subordinates such that they are able to understand
their respective job responsibilities and able to achieve their individual goals and objectives along with
those of the organization. Therefore, an efficient organizational leader should be a selfless individual
with the focus on being the mentor, role model and the one that leads from the front. This will inspire
the juniors to look up to him and respect him as an able leader in the organization (Management Study
Guide, 2017).

Different forms of Leadership:
Leadership in organizational context can vary by type depending on the personality and attitude of the
leader. The most popular types of leadership are the Autocratic, Democratic, Transactional,
Transformational, Laissez Faire, and Situational. The researcher elaborates on these types later in this
paper.
Differences of Leadership in Public and Private Sectors:
Leadership traits are found to differ across the private and the public sectors. This results from
differences in the goals and objectives of public and private sector organizations. Some of the major
differences include the strategies such as, for a private sector firm, the emphasis is on generating the
maximum possible financial returns on investments for the benefit of the stakeholders (Get Smarter,
2017). In the case of the public-sector organizations, the main business motive is to offer various
products and services for the benefit of the public. Profitability is not the primary objective of this type
of organization. Apart from this, the private sector organizations are found to have more clearly defined
objectives focused on enhancing profitability as compared to the public-sector enterprises where the
clarity of goals and objectives of the employees is much lower (GetSmarter, 2018). This is one of the
prime reasons behind the form of leadership varying between the private and the public sectors. The
other major area of difference between leadership traits in public and private sector organizations is the
stakeholder expectations. In the case of the public-sector organizations, the major stakeholders are the
public or the citizens of the country (J. Dudovskiy , 2013). Their expectation is to make the most efficient
use of the tax money that they are paying to the government. They expect products and services
designed to suit their needs and demands directly from the government. On the contrary, there are
several stakeholders in respect of a private sector firm such as investors, suppliers, employees,
customers, etc. Handling the demands of the stakeholders is much more challenging and requires much
intricate and varied strategy to satisfy the demands of each one of them. Thus, leadership traits and
characteristics need to differ in case of handling stakeholder needs in case of public and private
organizations (Dudovskiy, Leadership Differences between Private and Public Sector Organisations:
literature review, 2013).
Organizational Decision-making:
Decision-making is one of the key functions of a manager in an organization. Some key strategic
decisions are undertaken by the management personnel. The others must be addressed by the
managers on a regular basis in their respective departments within the enterprise. This decision-making
process needs to be done in several phases sequentially in order to ensure that it culminates into a
prudent strategic decision in the end. There are seven steps involved in a prudent decision-making
process. These steps would be discussed in the literature review.
Leadership and Organizational Sustainability:
Modern organizational leadership should culminate into achieving long-term sustainability of not only
the organization but also its various stakeholders. Managerial leaders should play the role of sustainable

leaders. It refers to the managerial decision-making and strategies focused on the well-being of the
various stakeholders such as employees, customers, investors, suppliers, and others. The objective of
this form of leadership is not restricted to profit making and achieving of personal objectives only, but
also achieving a holistic sustainability for the organization and all its stakeholders. An organization
operates within the society and community and therefore, leadership should endeavour to ensure
sustainability and development of the society, community and environment as a whole. This has
become an important aspect of managerial leadership, especially in this era of globalization
(Šimanskienė & Župerkienė, 2014).
Thesis Statement:
The thesis statement for the research aims to validate the expected outcomes of the research. For, this
particular research, the thesis statement is as follows: “Organizational leadership is one of the key
factors that influence the managerial decision-making in order to achieve sustainability of the
enterprise.”
Research Aims and Objectives:
Research Objectives:
The objectives of this research are enumerated as follows:
 Identifying the impact of organizational leadership on prudent strategic decision-making;
 Determining the differences in leadership between a public and private organization;
 Assessing the difficulties those might be faced by a leader from a public organization to lead in a
private work culture;
 Ascertaining the required changed organizational structure to cope up with the changed
organizational strategies; and
 The extent to which successful leadership and strategic decision-making can ensure
organizational sustainability.
Research Questions:
Primary Research Questions:
Is it possible for a manager from a governmental sector who has a combination of traits such as
autocratic leadership style to provide effective leadership in a private sector organization after a
merger?

Can a governmental sector manager succeed in adopting the different business motives of a private
sector organization?
Secondary Research Questions:
The primary research questions has led to the development of the secondary research questions those
are as follows:
 What is the best-suited structure for the company to ensure that it regains the lost stability?
 What are the effective strategies needed to ensure growth and sustainability?
 What are the effective traits and style of leadership for ensuring that the company is able to
achieve the desired targets?
Scope of Research:
The researcher attempts to identify the impact of leadership on organizational sustainability. The aim of
the research was to determine the consequences of difference in leadership styles and traits owing to
the variation in the work cultures between public and private sector organizations (Hansen & Villadsen,
Comparing Public and Private Managers' Leadership Styles: Understanding the Role of Job Context,
2010). The research tried to identify the major causes of differences in leadership between a private and
public-sector organization. Through the course of the research study it has been identified that there are
differences in business objectives between a public and private sector organization (Andersen, Public
versus Private Managers: How Public and Private Managers Differ in Leadership Behavior, 2010). While
the aim of a private sector organization is to achieve sustainability through profitability, the objective of
a public-sector organization is to achieve sustainability through its services to the people and there is no
profitability intent (Flemming, 2016). This is one of the major underlying differences in operating
objectives between a public and private sector organization. The purview of the research consists of an
in-depth analysis of the organization that has included the implementation of the various models and
techniques such as the 7-S Framework, SWOT Analysis, Balanced Scorecard and PESTLE Analysis. The
scope of the research included the analysis of the organizational situation before and after the merger.
Apart from these, the research also encompassed the studies on various theories on leadership such as,
the Great Man Theory, Behavioural Theory, Contingency Theory, Trait Theory, Transactional Theory and
Transformational Theory.
Limitations of Research:
The research had some limitations. Future research should address these issues that might be resolved
in a better manner. For example, one limitation was the lack of existing adequate literature on the
private sector enterprises managed by leaders originating from public-sector backgrounds or vice-versa.
This has been a difficult area for the research study due to which the task of gathering information from
the various literature sources was a challenging proposition the research amidst these limitations has

the opportunity of exploring something new that has not yet been successfully and satisfactorily
explored with conclusive results.

Chapter 2: Literature Review:
The researcher scoured existing literature for authentic and reliable information that served as a
foundation for the study. The literature review helped for the purpose of analysing the case study of the
medical devices group. The analysis of the results was framed on the findings of the literature review.
The literature review includes the various aspects such as leadership differences in between public and
private sector employees as well as theories on leadership and other domains those ensure
organizational growth and sustainability.
Styles of leadership:
Khan and Khandaker (2016) suggest that leadership styles are important aspects for any business
organizations. They differ according to the organizations. Leadership is the skill and the quality that
helps the organizations to grow and develop. The majority of the organizations depend on the
leadership style. Irrespective of the type and the sector of the organizations, leadership is one of the
utmost important aspects. The success of any business depends on the right leadership style. The skills
and qualities of the leaders help the organizations to achieve the desired result and outcomes (Leviticus,
2017). The leadership style depends on many factors. The organizational culture exerts immense
influence on the leadership style. The leadership style makes the employees to work as per the
specifications and requirements (leadershipnow, 2017). The stakeholders who have interests in the
outcomes of the organizations also influence the leadership styles (Cecil, 2013). The leadership differs in
the style and conduct and makes the organizations different. There are basic differences between the
private and public-sector organizations. The private and public-sector organizations differ in the styles of
the leadership and the decision-making process also differ. The aims and objectives of the private and
public-sector are different and that makes the differences in the leadership styles. The ways in which the
organizations belonging to both sectors deal with changes also depend on the styles of leadership. The
researchers have studied the organizations in both private and public-sector to analyze the reasons
behind the differences in the leadership styles in private and public-sector (Khan & Khandaker, 2016).
Dudovskiy (2013) identifies the main difference in the leadership styles and the private and public-sector
organizations lies in their objectives. The profit maximization is the main objective of the private sector
organizations whereas providing different products and services and serving the customers and the
public. The private sector organizations are more inclined in earning more returns in financial terms. The
investors are interested in the returns on their investments. The aims and objectives of the private
sector and public-sector organizations are different. It makes the situations different for different
leaders. The profit maximization is the main aim of the private sector organizations. The stakeholders of
the public and private sector organizations have different expectations when they are associated with
private or public-sector organizations. The stakeholders expect to get higher returns on their
investments. For example, the employees being the internal stakeholders expect fair and desired
compensations and payouts for their efforts in the organizations (Iqbal, Anwar, & Haider, 2015). The
customers expect high quality deliverables at affordable prices. The leadership depends on these
factors. The public-sector organizations are more secured in respect to the job and the employees get