Transforming Public Sector Organisations in Non-Western Economies Through a Sustainability Leadership Approach: Lessons From the Collapsed Banks in Ghana

Transforming Public Sector Organisations in Non-Western Economies Through a Sustainability Leadership Approach: Lessons From the Collapsed Banks in Ghana

Francis Donkor
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 20
DOI: 10.4018/IJSEM.302650
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Abstract

Dynamics in the business environment today is affecting every facet of human endeavor. The traditional leadership behavior has had its own share. Several researchers have written on sustainable development and corporate governance practices as a sure way of profitability and growth in a contemporary business organization. In this article, the author ignites the debate to transform public sector organizational leadership in the non-western economies to embrace the sustainability leadership approach. This is as a result of poor corporate governance and unethical corporate cultural practices and lack of stewardship theoretical approach that has brought seven domestic banks to their knees in Ghana in 2017 and 2018. The study further proposes a strong organizational culture that keeps values and ethical behavior as well as regulatory framework in checks for long-term survival and profitability in the public sector organizations that take away the vulnerability and unethical practices.
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Introduction

The concept of sustainability has attracted a great deal of interest in recent years. International and national political leadership dialogues relating to sustainable economic development goals have confirmed the need for sustainable action at the organizational level. To ensure long term survival of public sector organization against divestiture in the postmodern non-western economy where competition and chaos is the order of the day, leaders of such institutions need to transform their entities in order to adapt to environmental challenges. This may not be a new approach in the extant literature though as the competitiveness of these entities has long been recommended by literature (for example, (Ansoff 1979). He recommended that leadership in the organizations should do well to change the organizational status to meet the growing demand of the new customers, new social control dimensions and questions the role they play in the society they find themselves. This could be done through a collaborative effort with the various stakeholders and incorporate their feedback into their business decision- making (Harley, Metcalf, & Irwin, 2014;Mintzberg, 1989). This points to the fact that traditional leadership is unable to answer much-pressing issues faced by postmodern leaders. Metclaf & Benn, (2013) suggest a much broader view of leadership where it is perceived as a function of engaging with diverse participants in the social system. Leadership models have revealed that postmodern leadership is more diverse, robust, more focused and multifaceted (Gardner, Lowe, Moss, Mahoney, & Cogliser, 2010; Yukl, 2010; Metclaf, & Benn, 2013). This has raised the need for a paradigm shift in the extant literature to move the emphasis in the theoretical point of view from leader-member relationship to where the whole organizational environment is integrated into leadership decision-making (Daft 2008). Based on these learnings, organizational leaders of public sector (PSOs) need to act responsibly and ethically to solve complex and often sensitive sustainability challenges. Complexity PSOs in developing countries has increased from advances in science, technology, and knowledge, which puts pressure on public sector leaders to make sustainable decisions. Despite these increased pressures, studies exploring issues surrounding corporate sustainability challenges and managerial issues in the public sector are scarce in the literature (Tang, Robinson & Harvey, 2011). Bossink, (2007) realized the need for further research that explores leadership attitudes and behaviors of managers that promote sustainability and stewardship theory (Segal & Lehrer, 2012). As a result, the clamor for addressing organizational sustainability challenges in our public sector organizations has resulted in the need to do more studies that would aim to explore the sustainability leadership of public sector managers (Avery & Bergsteiner, 2011; Kantabutra & Avery, 2012;Metclaf & Benn, 2013;Wolfgramm, Flynn-Coleman & Conroy, 2013; Wong & Avery, 2009).

However, most of these studies on sustainability leadership relate to western nations and have overlooked organizational behaviors in the developing world. Until recently, research by (Kantabutra, 2011; Kantabutra, & Avery, 2012; Kantabutra & Saratun, 2013) and (Khan, & Lund-thomsen, 2011) explored CRS and sustainability in the developing world. Indeed, sustainability leadership in PSOs in the developing economies is a mirage. For instance, in Ghana, seven financial institutions (i.e., universal banks) have collapsed due to unethical and unregulated practices within 2017 and 2018 financial year.

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