Is the Nation State in Decline Because of Globalization ?
Global Crises Need Global Solutions Global crises require global solutions, so goes the new motto of policymakers around the world. As the world confronts economic crises that are systemic, climate change that cannot be solved by individual nations acting independently and security and other risks that need global responses, it is time to ask the […]
Setting Up a Virtual Team
The early phase of development of a virtual team is crucial for its success. Just like the foundation defines the strength of the building, the steps involved in establishing a virtual team goes a long way in contributing to its successful functioning in later stages. The two basic questions give skeleton to this phase – […]
Challenges for an Effective Negotiation
When individuals find it difficult to adjust with each other, the best way is to sit together and discuss among themselves and adopt the middle path. Instead of fighting with each other, it is better to discuss things and come to an alternative benefiting all. Negotiation takes into account the personal interests of all and […]
Limitations of Reinsurance Contracts
In the previous few articles, we have studied how reinsurance contracts work. We now have a deep understanding of the type of relationship between the ceding insurance company as well as the reinsurer. We now know about the various types of clauses which are commonly included in the reinsurance contract as well as the financial […]
Leadership Ethics – Traits of an Ethical Leader
Ethics refer to the desirable and appropriate values and morals according to an individual or the society at large. Ethics deal with the purity of individuals and their intentions. Ethics serve as guidelines for analyzing “what is good or bad” in a specific scenario. Correlating ethics with leadership, we find that ethics is all about […]
Business leaders in the 21st century operate in a vastly different terrain than those who led their companies to success in the earlier decades. The landscape that confronts the business leaders of today is characterized by what is known as the VUCA principle or the Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity characteristics.
This term has been coined by the noted futurist and member of the Institute for the Future, Robert Johansen, who points to the increasingly unstable and unpredictable world that the business leaders have to navigate.
If we take volatility first, it is clear that consumer preferences and trends are ever changing and the rapid turnover in brands, products, and companies is proof that business leaders cannot take their leadership position for granted anymore.
For example, the Finnish Mobile maker, Nokia that used to be the market leader a few years ago is now nowhere in the reckoning because astute and agile players like Samsung and Apple saw the emerging trend of Smartphones and quickly launched their products.
As many people who watch cricket attest, one has to see the ball early and only then, one can hope to succeed.
Similarly, the business landscape that is characterized by extreme volatility means that business leaders have to focus on getting there early and staying there for the future.
In other words, business leaders have to channelize their energies so that they know the future to compete in the present.
The next aspect of uncertainty is closely tied with the points made in the previous paragraph. Therefore, the next feature that is discussed here is complexity, which means that business leaders have to adopt a non-linear approach to solving problems and must think out of the box.
Further, they would have to ensure that they not only solve the problems but the business dilemmas brought on due to too much complexity which means that they would have to choose between several competing alternatives that are all attractive but cannot be actualized together.
The world has become so complex even for the layperson that the complexity in the business world is of much higher magnitude and is multilayered meaning that the landscape is now no longer a simple equation where profits mean success.
In other words, the business leaders would have to ensure that they take into account the laws, regulations, and policies as well as social and environmental costs of doing business in an increasingly interconnected world where conditions in one region are markedly different from conditions in other regions.
The fourth and the final aspect that business leaders must confront is ambiguity, which means that the business landscape presents problems and dilemmas that cannot be reduced to simple yes and no type of solutions and black and white approach to problem solving.
Instead, most of the problems that business leaders face now are of the type where the complete information is lacking, where there are no clear solutions in sight, and where the reality of the marketplace is multilayered and multidimensional meaning that leaders would have to resort to unconventional ways of solving problems and confronting situations.
Ambiguity also manifests in conjunction with the other features like uncertainty and complexity and as discussed next, each of these features feed into each other creating a melange that is tough to handle for many firms.
Taken together, the VUCA Paradigm is an apt metaphor for leaders who have to lead from the front and have to steer their companies through turbulent and choppy waters.
As mentioned above, each of the features in the VUCA paradigm are interrelated and feed into each other with the result that the overall picture one gets is a business landscape that is chaotic, fluid, and ever changing.
Indeed, this is where the true and great leaders can distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack through their vision and sense of mission.
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