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The world needs to pave a path towards sustainable development to solve global poverty and inequality, thereby ensuring that no one is left behind. The transformative changes brought about by the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), encompassed by the new world of work (NWOW), pose a significant threat to the displacement of jobs, especially in developing contexts, where many jobs are susceptible to automation. This results in a tension between the stakeholder and shareholder perspectives, which results in the phenomenon referred to in this study as the People Versus Profit Paradox. The purpose of this study is to determine business leaders’ perceptions of this paradox by generating an in-depth understanding of its nature and potential consequences. This study generated insights through a generic qualitative research design based on 10 semi-structured interviews with business leaders from multiple industries in developing countries. This study’s major contribution is the development of an up-to-date understanding of business leaders’ perceptions of sustainable development with respect to the 4IR and the People Versus Profit Paradox in developing countries. The two main findings of the study reveal that organisational purpose has changed towards a more inclusive stakeholder perspective, and that business leaders’ perceptions reveal a relative state of bias regarding the current impact of the 4IR in developing contexts. This study aims to inspire business leaders in developing contexts to embrace sustainable development and the disruptive changes brought about by the 4IR, to usher in a sustainable future where no one is left behind.

Organizational studies fail to examine organizations in terms of the several environments in which they operate, both internally and externally. That is, studies tend to focus on climate, or time, or trust, or leadership. This chapter builds on academic research that discusses organizational environments in ways that show all of these environments are important for organizational understanding, especially for organizational leadership. In particular, this chapter offers a paradigm of understanding organizational leadership realities through multi-level understanding of the organizational environments of climate, knowledge, ethnos, and time.

The chapter first discusses five enviroscapes – climate, knowledge, ethos, time, and leadership. Each of these enviroscapes has two phenotypes – business and commerce. Each of these enviroscapes, with its concomitant phenotypes, is used differently at multiple levels of management and leadership by senior managers, middle managers, and entry-level managers. The scope of organizational reach, in terms of global, regional, and local levels of analysis, provides additional context for the use of enviroscapes. After a review of the theoretical bases for each enviroscape, the chapter applies appropriate theory and models to an extended time case study of land purchase in Indonesia.

This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.

Several scholars have maintained that corporatist arrangements may contribute to a national consensus between groups with opposing interests (Katzenstein, 1985; Siaroff, 1999). Some have even described (neo) corporatism as a strategy for consensus building (Woldendorp, 1995). These general viewpoints seem to imply that participation in the various channels and networks in a corporatist system may influence participants to moderate their ideological attitudes, to become more centrist. Participation has a “civilising” effect. In a study of the Swedish industrial relations system Öberg and Svensson (2002) concluded, however, that there is not much trust across the class borders, a finding which questions the validity of these assumptions. It seems therefore appropriate to test these assumptions empirically in a variety of national settings.

The purpose of this paper is to present an innovative leadership development program, which forms part of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) outreach. The program aims to develop the leadership of school principals in under-resourced communities in South Africa, while simultaneously developing the business partners paired with these principals. Through creatively combining various leadership development interventions, the human and social capital of the school principals and collaborating leaders are expanded to prepare them for an uncertain, volatile environment. This paper focuses on the learning experiences of the business partners. The program exposes business leaders to scenarios that develop unique leadership skills.

An empirical study was conducted with a purposive sample of 73 business leaders who completed the 12-month leadership development program. A qualitative approach was followed, consisting of an online survey that predominantly required a narrative description of leaders’ perceptions and experiences. The qualitative feedback was thematically analyzed.

The findings indicated that the use of combined leadership development interventions is important in adequately preparing leaders for the challenges of a changing and unpredictable environment.

The findings of the research are limited by the small sample of 73 business leaders from a population of 294. Inferential statistics could not be conducted and responses to the survey cannot be regarded as representative of the total population. Possible bias may exist through utilizing a purposive sampling technique; however, this was counteracted through rigorous research, cross-checking and quality assurance initiatives.

The presented program innovatively combines the benefits of a CSR program with shared value in human and social capital. Business leaders are exposed to various leadership development interventions. This approach effectively prepares business leaders to deal with multifaceted contextual issues within a diverse, complex and volatile environment. The present paper shows that through successfully cultivating better leadership development initiatives and adopting appropriate and pertinent development programs, human and social capital available for economic progress are appropriately managed and channeled. Furthermore, resource exchange is enhanced through establishing strong interpersonal relations. This collaboration acts as a forerunner to business success. Hence, through adopting such intervention programs and teaching their processes and procedures, the development and implementation of positive public policy can be assisted.

The value of the current research on public attitude is that its results imply and create the belief and acceptance that uncertainty and disparity can be alleviated through developing strong interpersonal relations that improve the exchange of resources through the collaboration of public and business stakeholders.

This paper introduces an innovative leadership development program, which, as part of a CSR initiative, aims to improve the leadership of school principals in under-resourced schools, while simultaneously developing the business leaders involved in the initiative. This is done through partnering a school principal with a business leader in a formal participatory leadership development program. Research shows that the unique combinations of leadership development interventions cultivate school principals and business leaders who are emotionally and culturally intelligent, resilient and well prepared to push willingly beyond and across boundaries in unfamiliar environments.

This study examines how women and men in family firms respond differently when asked about perceptions of financial performance. The study poses three research questions around this topic: Are there differences among female and male responses, do those perceptions change if men and women are leaders of the family business and does the family's socioemotional wealth (SEW) influence such responses.

This study uses a quantitative research design to determine if financial performance perceptions of family firms differ based on the gender of the respondents and their leadership position, and second, if SEW's dimensions influence those perceptions, using data from the Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices (STEP) survey in 2015.

The findings indicate that due to the lack of theory regarding gender as a social construct, empirical data collected for family business studies should take under consideration if respondents are women, men, leaders and the family influence in the family business when collecting data from surveys and asking for perceptions of financial performance. Results show that women in family businesses tend to have more positive perceptions of financial performance than men, but if women are leaders, those perceptions not only decrease but become negative. In addition, the family's socioemotional wealth (SEW) exacerbates those tendencies.

This study contributes to the literature by helping to understand the potential limitations of subjective measures of financial performance, as women increasingly become family business leaders. It also contributes to gender studies by demonstrating that there is a lack of gender theoretical perspectives specifically, gender roles, suggesting that differences in self-promotion and self-evaluation between men and women leaders of their family firms. Finally, this study adds to the study of SEW as a multidimensional construct by showing the different effects, or lack of them by each dimension and showing the strong effect of family continuity on the perception of financial performance.

By applying Parameshwar’s (2005) ego-transcendence model to two influential business leaders, the purpose of this paper is to examine how social innovation is promoted by business leaders through spiritual leadership.

The study used research tactics available within a phenomenological framework.

Based on the analysis of the two business leader case studies, several links between spiritual leadership and social innovation were identified. The central role of a higher purpose in enacting spiritual leadership as well as bringing about social innovation was most significant.

Use of secondary data, the inherent weaknesses in analysis based on a single individual’s interpretations and the analysis of only two business leaders were key limitations. A unique overlap was found between Dawson and Daniel’s (2010) social innovation model and Parameshwar’s (2005) ego-transcendence model.

As higher purpose was a key element in enacting spiritual leadership, leaders could look for the seeds of a higher purpose within the challenging circumstances of a situation. By shaping one’s behaviour to a higher purpose-related social cause than merely following rules and procedures or social conventions, leaders are more likely to develop their own personal decision-making style. By highlighting the importance of paying attention to the suffering of others rather one’s own suffering, the study also have implications for reducing the ego-based practices in day to day leadership in organisations.

Ego-transcendence model explains the link between social innovation and spiritual leadership in a non-organisational setting. The current study applies this link to the leadership context in business.

Approximately half of all new businesses fail within the first five years of operation. This study was undertaken to understand the behavior of small business (SB) leaders, including their decision-making processes and adaptive leadership practices that enable their organizations to survive during periods of general crisis and intense competition.

In order to understand the lived experiences of our research participants, a constructivist grounded theory approach was used. Thirty-two CEOs and leaders from fifteen organizations were interviewed.

It was determined that successful SB leaders avoid organizational complacency by being continuous learners, who are agile and flexible in determining appropriate management strategies. Additionally, they leverage time management processes, build strong and productive relationship networks and create positive family-oriented workplace cultures to increase their odds of survival.

This qualitative study was limited to interviews, observations and analysis of organizational archetypes; therefore, the authors can establish a pattern in behavior but cannot make a causality claim.

The findings provide SB leaders with effective concepts, practices and strategies from members of their peer group, which they can test, refine and implement.

The impact of business failures is often devastating financially and emotionally for the families and employees involved. Learning methods for strategic adaptation that may help avoid business closures could provide a positive societal contribution.

There is little empirical research about how SBs strategically adapt during challenging periods. This study helps fill that gap and provides an understanding of how SB leaders adapt to continuous challenges, create value and remain competitive in difficult business environments.

A self‐help guide to achieving success in business. Directed more towards the self‐employed, it is relevant to other managers in organizations. Divided into clear sections on creativity and dealing with change; importance of clear goal setting; developing winning business and marketing strategies; negotiating skills; leadership; financial skills; and time management.

The aim of this paper is to examine how organizations can support their leaders in taking on the challenges of their leadership roles, including how to effectively manage talent on a larger scale as they move up the ranks. The author aims to discuss the findings of a study by Corporate Executive Board (CEB) into the support required to move from being a business leader to a talent champion. This study built upon previous CEB research, which had shown that the way managers manage their teams can have a significant impact on key business outcomes. It aimed to explore practical ways for organizations to support executives in making the leap from managing an individual team to facing the challenge of leading a business unit or business function comprising a broad portfolio of talent effectively.

In 2009, CEB undertook a 360‐degree survey of more than 8,000 business leaders based in North America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa exploring managers' skills, their knowledge, the proportion of time they spent on tasks related to their role and their attitude towards talent management. The survey was also opened up to their own managers and their direct reports. CEB followed this by interviewing hundreds of heads of HR globally, to determine how involved business leaders are in succession planning and their accountability for talent and business outcomes.

The research found that there are four distinct types of managers when it comes to talent management, ranging from those who are committed and effective talent managers to those who are neither. The data showed that while strong talent management can raise employee effort levels by 25 per cent above average, less than a fifth of senior executives have the required levels of commitment to talent management alongside the effectiveness in delivering talent management practices required to drive these outcomes.

The research led to three key steps for organizations to take in order to encourage their business leaders to become effective talent managers. They are: forging a closer link between a strategic and business plan and its talent plan; supporting leaders to identify, develop and manage high‐potential employees; and establishing a culture of “soft” accountability practices for talent outcomes such as ranking and publicizing managers' effectiveness at retaining talent. The author concludes with two case studies of organizations supporting leaders in developing leadership skills.

This paper studies how organizations can support their leaders in taking on the challenges of their roles. The research identified four distinct types of managers when it comes to talent management and led to the formulation of three key steps for organizations to take to encourage their leaders to become effective talent managers.