Imran Hameed

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National Conference on Global Management 2009FAST School of Business

P A P E R T I T L E

The Role of Contextual Intelligence in Business Leadership

By

Imran Hameed,Assistant Professor

Air University, Islamabad.

[email protected] Contact: 0333 4333601

Keywords: context, contextual intelligence, strategy, environment, businessopportunity, business leadership, entrepreneurship
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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ABSTRACT

The business environment of today is heavily influenced by macro-level factorssuch as economic, political, social and technological forces that constantly change over time. These discontinuous shifts require distinct styles and approaches for leadership.Context is vital in explaining business since it shapes and defines opportunity structurefor industry players. This paper explains contextual leadership as an interaction of contextual realities with leadership patterns. It also identifies contextual intelligence, aconcept attributed to accurately interpretation of macro-level paradigm for identificationof key opportunities threats, challenges, and risks. As a vital step to creation, growth andtransformation of business, contextual intelligence requires a distinct mindset for sensingtime, capacity, and circumstances. It also implies that degree of utilization of opportunities and business execution depends on the nature and quality of contextualinterpretation by organizations.

An important aspect of this paper is studying business leadership patterns thatemerge from the context itself. Typical executive archetypes include entrepreneurs,managers, and leaders. In fact, all three co-exist in organizational environment as vitalforces for new enterprises, growing and optimizing current business, and transforming

business at critical inflection points. In traditional view, business success is credited to personal characteristics such as risk-taking, vision, innovation and charisma. Nevertheless, history and research consider success as not just possession of theseattributes but by their application within unique contextual setting. From determination of strategic direction to creation of organizational structures, institutionalization of efficientsystems, implementation of innovative processes, and from launch of effective functional

practices to stakeholder engagement and employee motivation policies, all path-breaking

organizational practices of the past and current century demanded entrepreneurial,managerial and leadership responses in unique ways. The common pattern includesembracing opportunities, facing risks and challenges, and maximizing potential for success.

Generally, critical factors that influence business include governmentalintervention, global events and trends, demographics, social mores, labor, etc. This paper makes a point that degree, impact, and interaction of context-shaping forces take adistinctive contextual configuration each time. Further, as contextual forces heavilyinfluence customer needs, requirements, behavior, and psychological proclivity, theyspawn unique customer-centric opportunity structure circling around customer demand.

Further, the paper tries to establish that context-based leadership is a special executiveresponse pattern entrepreneurial, managerial, and leadership that gravitates aroundwide ranging overall opportunities and challenges. To blend it all together, contextualintelligence is necessary. It is a characteristic of effective business executives for accurately reading sign of the times, identifying profitable opportunities, and creatingeffective organizational responses resulting in long-lasting customer and business value.

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1. Introduction

Throughout business history, context has presented opportunities needed to becapitalized by business. External circumstances are generally same for all businesses in a

given sector and comparable to all industries in a given economy. Still, determinant of success lies in sensitivity towards understanding the real contextual influences. Theimpact of shifting trends, opportunities and business issues may be same for differenteconomic entities, but businesses require unique management approaches pivotal for success. In light of circumstances facing organizations, managers face issues in decision-making that require reading the environment and its trends very carefully. Termed asContextual Intelligence, the art of correct interpretation of the language of time andenvironment is an extremely valuable skill (Mayo & Nohria 2005). Executives may readdifferently from their environment but if that interpretation is true to their organizational,customer and competitive realities, the impact would always be significant. In other words, winning managers may sense different but if their judgment of external facts

aligns with internal realities of culture, capacities and direction, the outcome is positive.For some it may be opportunities for growth and market share, new products andservices, and for others economies of scale and productivity, technological leapfroggingor rebirth and redefinition of business may be order of the day.

Executives routinely explore and utilize contextual opportunities that complementor extend their own entrepreneurial, managerial and leadership skills and approaches.This makes a business leader take the centre-stage in determining success of anorganization. Nohria et al (2001) found that after controlling for economic conditions,industry factors, and unique company attributes, the impact of a CEO on company

performance appears to be roughly 15 percent which is around the impact of industry on performance i.e. 16 percent. In other words, a CEO has the same impact on companyseconomic performance as the industry in which it operates. This explains the link

between contextual realities, leadership approach, and business performance.

1.1. Nature of Contextual IntelligenceThe skill of correctly reading ones circumstances require a keen sense of contextualunderstanding along with an appreciation of history. This willingness to learn from pastsuccesses and failures leads to avoidance of losses in future and anticipation of upcomingopportunities and challenges. Amabile (1996) suggests that the creativity skills of entrepreneurs determine the extent to which entrepreneurial actions depart from previous

behaviors. Executives need to stay in touch with present context culture, demography, political and economic trends. Contextual intelligence seriously requires a person to break out of ones own world and get into facts and moments of truth. Fact-baseddecision making demands physically getting out in the competitive arena, talking tocustomers, meeting suppliers and partners, getting the slice of their minds and puttingones self to the stakeholders shoes. Furthermore, there is no alternative to utilizing fromcollective wisdom industry conferences, trade and commerce associations, think tanks,etc. This firsthand knowledge and experience of the market has the potential to make onevisualize things much clearer than others. The payoff of correct envisioning of future is

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immense. Companies that acquire the intellectual advantage of sensing context better than the others are always better in terms of ability, readiness and willingness to act at theright moment.

Figure 1: Drivers of Contextual IntelligenceContextual intelligence requires a multi-dimensional thinking. As Figure 1 shows,

executives need to be cognizant to the idiosyncratic contextual configuration of their industries and businesses. This view needs to be aligned with correct notion of customer-centric opportunity structure to be utilized. Both factors need to be consistent withinternal organizational realities and their managerial approaches. Success in new venturesor in established businesses often need an entrepreneurial approach. For established firmsfacing growth or maturity, a managerial tendency for scale, size, capacity, cost-and scale-economies may be the right way to go. And for organizations that require change andturnaround, strong leadership is essential for redefinition of business and sustainability of influence over environment.

1.2. Managerial DeterminantsBusiness executives in literature are marked with how they brought a sense of

purpose in creating a difference to their organizations. Successful businesspeople realizea common spirit and understanding among people. For leaders, the art of emotionalintelligence is both understanding and adjusting to the wavelength of co-workers and

partners. It requires managerial focus on commonalities and convergence of ideas than ondifferences and divergence of thought. Furthermore, at every point of time there are keysocial, economic, and environmental factors that influence the direction taken byexecutives. Foresight, as a management attribute, is important to exploring range of creative possibilities to be exploited. Managers who display a sense of vision and senseof direction often stay nimble and aware of inflection points that signals opportunity,crisis or challenge. The third important managerial determinant is strategic approach thatacts as key differentiator between high- and low-performance in a competitive arena.Contextually vigilant executives are better equipped with a plan and a course of actionthat is either more efficient or effective than others or sometimes both. A sound businessstrategy requires proper and methodical execution with a deep knowledge of thecircumstances and key drivers of success and failure.

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Context-BasedLeadership Business Value

Customer-CentricOpportunity Structure

Unique ContextualConfiguration


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2. Unique Contextual Configuration

2.1. Contextual IdiosyncrasiesThroughout history, business executives have been influenced by contextual pressures

of their times. These influences provide a unique opportunity to understand and assesschanging business landscape thus defining the opportunity structure for entrepreneurs,managers and leaders. Every decade of the twentieth century brought a differentconfiguration of opportunities, threats, and challenges. It thus characterized every decadewith a distinctive configuration of environmental factors such as governmentintervention, global affairs, demography, social mores, technology and labor.

The configuration and intensity of contextual factors differ from time to time

depending upon degree, impact, and interaction of macro-economic forces. Trends keepon evolving and shifting such as power within government circles, policy influence of government on business and vice versa, advancement of innovation and technology, and

major global trends such as outsourcing, employee rights, consumer activism,competition intensification, etc. All continuously pose opportunities and challenges for entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders in a different perspective and manner. This dynamic

phenomenon puts a tremendous bearing upon business creation, its growth, and industrialtransformation. For example, in the last century, U.S., business context was largelyshaped by three trends: governmental intervention in business affairs during and after thefirst decade of twentieth century; business growth in the post World War II and 1950sera; and rise of information-technology and its pervasiveness during and after 1990s.Above developments brought with themselves paradigm shifts with changing role of government and business, growing consumer rights and environmental concerns, andmany others. Each influence had a different meaning in its own time and impactedacross-the-board from small to large businesses, multinationals, and from businesssectors to entire industries.

2.2. Key Contextual DriversInterventionist government policy forms the first and foremost factor effecting

industrial and business context. The degree of autonomy that a business founder or executive could exert can be explained and predicted by the extent of government

policies. This intervention can be mild and severe at same or different times. For example, in U.S. during the Depression era of 1930s and war mobilization of the 1940sand at other times in the history, the federal government policies were considered aslaissez-faire. In the passage of time as government intervention reflected its full colors,executives increasingly found themselves under pressure to adapt to the changing

business environment which was at times easy going for somenew opportunities,unfettered competition and tough for others as they forced firms for compliance,retrenchment, and even divestiture. The impact of global paradigm on business decisionmaking can never be underestimated. For businesses, the ability to adapt to optimizeglobal events and trend patterns has a strong effect on their performance outcome. Asinternational competition, its pervasiveness and toughness is rule of the day, it isimportant that domestic businesses met their international competition, both inside and

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outside their homeland. This may take the shape of retrenchment or head-on collisionwith the competition. Furthermore, the concept of competition may be taken asopportunity or threat by businesses competing for domestic and global hegemony.Another dictate of identification and pursuance of markets is awareness of shiftingdemographic trends. The world saw a shifting pattern in demographic structure soon after

the World War II when the baby boomer generation exploded in Europe and the U.S. In passing decades, this effect got complemented with rapid immigration in the later part of the twentieth century, a phenomenon that was earlier experienced in the initial part of thesame century. Business activity relied on industrialization greatly took it as anopportunity for growth and expansion. This effect brings forward diversity in populationand workforce in almost every corner of the West and especially the U.S. Demography,as an art and science of knowing about people and their profile, has strong implicationson managing global workforce as well as marketing products and services at internationalscale.

Stakeholders, be it internal such as employees, partners or external including

investors, suppliers etc., are greatly impacted by their immediate and overarching socialmilieu. Social factors often play a role in determining businesses that will flourish andfail. These elements influence approaches to competition and nature of products, marketsand services. Normally, businesses that succeed are the ones with their executivesshowing most adaptability and flexibility in interpreting social factors of their times(Mayo & Nohria 2005). Similarly, technological breakthroughs with their twisting naturecan always shape the demand pattern in terms of economic sense and productivityconsiderations. For twentieth century, the role of technology has been pivotal indetermining the quality of human life, its productivity and impact on other macro-economic forces. Businesses have greatly contributed in furthering technology as well asutilizing from its application for efficiency and productivity. Almost all industries haveexperienced growth from technology and automation, creating new businesses andopportunities.

It is hard to comprehend execution of any business operation without consideringlabor availability and movement of human resource within industries, markets, regions,and even continents. In developed economies, the labor movement that is tied toeconomic circumstances experiences cycles of progress and crunch. This entailsopportunities for firms who show a serious concern for their employees. In the midst of opportunities and threats across the board, executives that recognize the worth of human

potential and synergy are the candidates for outstanding results. This requires managing before-the-fact with foresight of moving conditions of labor and supply factors.

3. Customer-Centric Opportunity Structure

In businesses, time and again, we have seen successful entrepreneurs, managers, andleaders giving birth to new entities, leveraging scale and scope, aligning resources withcapabilities, and redefining their businesses. This necessitates applying right levers for attaining greatest possible value. Business executives who display contextual intelligenceare not necessarily all CEOs of high growth firms; managers may come from all types of

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background, qualifications and contextual base. History shows entrepreneurs buildingupon on path-breaking experiences of prior entrepreneurs; second- or third-generationmanagers from family firms turning their forerunners ideas and spirit into vital, long-term business success; and leaders transcending their businesses to new frontiers fromstagnant, mature entities into vibrant and profitable entities.

3.1. Unique Contextual Framework Learning from their context, leaders display an ability to identify hidden potential

with a confrontationist approach towards change. In transforming their businesses,leaders tackle some of the most difficult and intractable challenges. Contextualmanagement requires an understanding of the circumstances and an ability to shape alongthe business as the context changes. This adaptive capacity as termed by Bennis andThomas (2002), provides flexibility and adaptability to new situations and contexts. Theauthors classify such organizations as first-class noticers in recognizing talent,identifying opportunities, and avoiding pitfalls.

History of business suggests that for long-term success, one cannot ignore the impactof context neither can we rely solely on business leaders personality and character.Organizations risk being either overtaken or victimized by competitors without their leaderships sensitivity to context in which they operate. Success or failure of a

businesses and industries are best explained in their contextual framework or else there isa chance of putting too much emphasis on individuals and personalities. Too often, focusgets divulged into future opportunities without link to the past what worked, whatdidnt, and why it didnt. This tendency to overlook the context of past success andsimply to glorify an individual is a serious leadership lapse. In order to link with theshaping landscape of business environment, it is important to connect with historicalcontext.

3.2. Opportunity StructureWhatever contextual changes emerge at any time or space, the role of consumers

and their importance in business growth remains at the centre stage. In fact, all contextualfactors and forces revolve around consumer demand. Customers can leverage their importance to determine ultimate acceptance or rejection of new forms of technology.With their changing needs and want patterns that are influenced by social mores,demographic shifts and economic realities, consumer demand differentiates enduring

products, services, brands, and industries from the non-enduring.

Successful business executives realize that under similar contextual circumstancesapproaches differ in attaining objectives. The key is determining alignment between theexecutive approach (entrepreneurial, managerial, leadership), firms strengths inresources and capabilities, and life-cycle stage of the company and its industry (birth,growth, maturity, decline). A proper realization of the connection between the threedimensions is necessary for attaining response synchronicity. Based on identification of unique contextual configuration and their inter-connections, business leaders can answer

basic questions of strategic choice much effectively. For example, shaping or adapting to

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uncertainty? Making strategic commitments now or later? Following a focused or diversified strategy? (Courtney, 2001).

3.3. Adaptive CapacityBusiness executives must possess courage to adapt for difficult decisions in times

of changing contextual realities. The importance of adaptability is not just important for

business profitability and growth but also for long-term survival. The courage andflexibility to change directions and gears as the environment changes is an attribute of competitive spirit. This requires a strong ability for adaptation and keen awareness of changing contextual landscape. The term, adaptive capacity, established by WarrenBennis and Robert J. Thomas in their work on leadership (2002) was based upon their interviews with over 40 top leaders from public and private sector enterprises. Theyexplain adaptive capacity as ability to correctly read ambiguous situations, understandnecessities and demands, and adjust with suitable leadership style to guide throughturbulent and precarious conditions. This requires a passion for discovery and learning, a

process that guides leaders to explore new social realities and new modes of interactingwith technology and people. As their personal and organizational investigations progress,

a sense of transfer of learning takes place where knowledge gained in a certain context isapplied to a different situation. Similarly, adaptive capacity leads serial entrepreneurs todiscover and utilize value in new and unexplored products, markets, and geographicterritories.

3.4. Time and FocusSince stakeholders commit themselves into business activity, understanding the

business context is essential be it suppliers, labor or partners. This is especially true for venture capitalists, bankers and other funding sources. Understanding the events andtrends is essential to maximizing returns and mitigating risks. These actors, with their unique vantage position, can deliver a pragmatic advice to business leaders as to whenshould they adjust for the changing times. Providers of capital can, in turn, protect andfurther their financial interests at all stages, whether startup or growth, looking at theevolving contextual landscape in which businesses operate under their investment.Similar to investors, employees can also benefit from reading situations before takingtheir career decisions in firms. Career-seekers can take advantage by aligning their

personal strengths and preferences with life-cycle stage and context of their potentialemployers. For both employers and employees, people need to understand their capacityand performance track record under varying contextual landscapes as to ascertain under which environments did they succeed or fail. This sensing capacity provides a great dealof thought-clarity to utilize opportunities for personal development and professionalgrowth.

3.5. Putting Right Person at the Right TimeAs success is a contextual factor depending upon a number of conditions, winning

executives know that past success may not be the indicator for future performance. Thatis, success in one time, place, or environment may not repeat itself in other conditions.Rather, for leaders, the focus should rotate around individuals ability to understand,

judge, and adapt according to the demands of the situation. For corporations preparing for leadership transition, it is important to look at factors that contributed to success or

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failure of the company in the past. Corporation boards should pay attention to abilities of candidates filling in the top position for flexibility in changing contexts. Boards mustconsider environmental conditions under which candidates for CEO-ship operate. Doesthe person in question possess strong managerial qualities if, for example, maximumgrowth is the companys objective? On the other hand, if business context is turbulent

with anticipated crises or decline, does the candidate possess leadership qualities to getthrough? Candidates for the top slot must possess strong qualifications in aligning their strengths with companys contextual reality. This requires openness and willingness tosee beyond ones own experiences along with analytical and imaginative skills to feel the

pulse of time and environment.

4. Context-Based Leadership

4.1. Business Leadership ArchetypesWinning business executives are in tune to time and space under which they

operate. As timing holds the key to right or wrong decision, the same act too early or too

late can bring different outcomes. Examples of success is revealed in three approaches:entrepreneurs who venture into unknown to create new business forms as advocated bySchumpeter (1961), managers who stretch to the limits of efficiency and productivity inleveraging opportunities in the light of Chandler (1977), and leaders who brought newvision and approach for transformation as explained by Bennis and Nanus (1985). Thecontextual ability of business executives to sense, identify, analyze, execute and finallycapitalize on given opportunities is a major component of their success. Among themsome have a specialty of revitalizing and reinvigorating their industries and businesses,some with skills in setting consumer trends, and some following trends with highestlevels of efficiency and productivity.

Last century saw emergence and dominance of three types of executives that weremost aligned with challenges of their times. Entrepreneur as an executive type, envisagedin the early twentieth century, was considered to be obsessed with creation of new

businesses. Similarly, the manager or the organization man in the post World War II50s era focused upon growing and optimizing businesses. And the change agent of the80s era was believed to shoot at critical inflection points for transforming their

businesses and industries.

4.2. Entrepreneurial Business CreationEntrepreneurs are traditionally not bound by limitations of their times. The thrust

behind entrepreneurial spirit is the innovativeness, risk-taking ability, and proactivity thatresult in breakthrough ideas, business models and processes that transform not just

businesses but entire demand patterns and industries. One main attribute of this breed ismarshalling resources. Entrepreneurs are marked with conquering limitations, obstacles,and challenges for exploring the new and the unknown. Their inquiry-based mindset setsin identifying new opportunities that are congruent with resources and strategies for the

purpose of new venture creation.

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Entrepreneurs with their pursuit from bootstrap to high growth stage have always been a symbol of ingenuity, perseverance, and determination. Schumpeter in his work,Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1950) carefully studied industrialization of American economy with expanding marketplaces and innovative ideas for products andservices, and described the function of entrepreneurs as to reform or revolutionize the

pattern of production by exploiting an invention, or more generally, an untriedtechnological possibility for producing a new commodity or producing an old one in anew way, by opening up an new source of supply of material or a new outlet for products,

by reorganizing an industry and so on. He, however, admits that entrepreneurialcharacteristics are not widely available as the ability to overcome resistance and

persevere in the creation of new entities was present in only a small fraction of the population. In his later work, Schumpeter (1961) describes entrepreneurs in aninteresting way: the carrying out of new combinations we call enterprise, theindividual whose function it is to carry them out we call entrepreneurs. He explains anentrepreneur as more self-centered than other types (traditional managers), because herelies less than they do on traditions and connection and because his characteristic task

theoretically and historically consists precisely in breaking up old and creating newtradition.

The main thrust of entrepreneurial spirit is new venture creation. This involvesopportunities with the outcome of creation and innovation. Entrepreneurial minds cangrasp a potential opportunity or technology early on, and with their sense of dedicationand persistence, are able to build a successful new enterprise altogether. For example,Dee Ward Hock of Visa International was an enterprising figure who envisioned aninterconnected world of electronic communication interchange. He established Visa asname synonymous to financial services over the electronic distribution. Similarly,American entrepreneurs such as Sam Walton, Walt Disney, Ray Kroc, Henry Ford, andBill Gates are synonymous to high-stretch imagination and ground-breaking pursuit for exploring new frontiers of growth.

4.3. Management: Business GrowthThis breed is skilled at efficiencies for optimized results. The main element in

managerial control is shaping existing business into a profitable venture following growth prospects. The art of management is endowed with discipline, structure, and organization.This includes focus on resource allocation, organizational alignment of systems and

processes, scale and scope efficiencies, and predictability of superior business results.Managers have a knack of understanding circumstances facing businesses and how toharness environmental forces for creating successful organizations. Managerial potentialis the key in getting organizations reach full potential for growth and productivity.

Alfred Chandler (1977) highlighted the role and relationship between firm and themanager in his work. His focus was organic business growth and growth through mergersand consolidations resulting in standardization and large-scale business efficiencies.Chandler saw the visible hand of management countering the invisible forces of marketthat had shaped business for a long period of time. He prescribed distinct roles at variousmanagerial levels to harness industrialization and technological innovations. Chandler

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saw value creation as a consequence of standardization and organizational structure,systems and processes that should speed up commercialization and productivity in U.S.and other parts of the world. Middle managers, for Chandler, suited monitoring andcoordinating of production and distribution units. In his view, the top managementreplaced market forces in allocating resources for future production and distribution in

addition to evaluating and coordinating the work of middle managers. As a result,Chandler depicts, in order to carry out these functions, the managers had to invent new practices and procedures which in time became standard operation methods in managingAmerican production and distribution.

4.4. Leadership: Organizational TransformationBusiness leaders are fundamentally oriented towards anticipating and capitalizing

on change. This involves decisions such as turnarounds, reinvigoration that incorporatecultural change, business consolidation, product and service reformulation, restructuringor organizational processes and its lifecycle extension. Leadership is the secondarchetype of business executive. Leader as a change agent is considered to embrace,

survive and thrive in a toughest times and seemingly impossible situations. Leadersknown for their vision see extraordinary possibilities and opportunities either unseen or abandoned by others This breed instills new life in declining businesses and industrieswith their profound sense of hope and purpose through reinvention, and reengineering of the enterprise.

For the corporate world, Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric, is synonymous togrowth and transformation from a faltering industrial conglomerate to a financial

powerhouse known for its product and services worldwide. Warren Bennis looks atleadership as architect of change and transformation. Bennis and Namus (1985) expecteffective leadership to move organizations from current to future states, creating visionsfor potential opportunities, instilling commitment to change within cultures, and shapingstrategies to mobilize energy and resources. They view leaders and leadership to emergefrom complexities and problems that cannot be solved by unguided evolutions. For Bennis and Namus, leaders take charge and responsibility for adapting to environmentalchange by reshaping organizational practices, empowering people to seek new ways of doing things, and overcoming resistance to change by invoking confidence and masteryof new organizational practices. Another perspective of leadership takes it to a notion of astory-teller. According to Howard Gardner (book, leading minds) a good leader canquench followers thirst in words, can inspire narratives, even embody those narratives.

5. Business Value

Business value is all about identifying and exploiting opportunities in the context of turbulent and volatile business environment. Drucker (1986) looks at business value inthe light of profitability. He considers profitability to fulfill three purposes a) measuringnet effectiveness and soundness of a business b) identifying risk premium, that coversthe cost of staying in business, and c) ensuring the supply of future capital for innovationand expansion. As business entities are strongly affected by environmental conditions,Hitt et al. (2002) believes contextual changes play an important role in bringing new

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winners unexpectedly and quickly. And at the same time, it makes established leadersdecline or disappear. The researchers see an unanticipated increase of winners in thecompetitive landscape of the new millennium. Interestingly, these winners will rely onunique business models dependent upon entrepreneurial and discovery-driven mode. Inother words, new business models with reliance upon opportunity-seeking and

advantage-seeking behavior is an integrated framework for future competition (Hitt et al.,2002). Similarly, for reaping a better results, Chesborough (2006) advocates an open business model to create value and capture a portion of it. His observes that firms thateffectively build or change to open business model in an effort to exploit global trendsand opportunities are more amenable to succeed. Amit and Zott (2002) identified

business model as a unit of analysis that enables the examination of new approaches inwhich value can be created. According to the authors, a business model refers to thestructure, content and governance of transactions enabled by a network of firms,customers, supplies, and complementors. Although applicable to both on-line andtraditional businesses, they have used this view of new business model to especiallyanalyze the interactive, rapid growth of electronic (e-commerce) markets.

For business leaders, Ram Charan (2004) looks at their value-generating behavior withfresh look at business fundamentals. These include efforts that a business puts in to

prosper their clients, quality of sales force that shapes and customizes a unique value proposition for customers, pricing that is tied to the attributes highly valued bycustomers, and finally information that is extracted about customers needs in everyinteraction with them, and relaying that information to the people and departments in best

position to satisfy those needs.

Conclusion

Contextual shift is vital to be incorporated by entrepreneurs, managers, and businessleaders in their response framework. Strategies that neither manage the risk nor takeadvantage from prevailing opportunities may not deliver desired results. This paper

proposes that every environment of a particular time and space bears a unique paradigm,and a distinct opportunity structure. Business executives need to accurately understandthe level of uncertainty, risks and challenges facing the organization. Context, therefore,shapes the way businesses serve their stakeholders in unique manners that are attributedto the context itself. The hallmark of contextual-leadership is a better, informed businessdecision.

References

Amabile, T.M. (1996). Creativity in context. Boulder: Westview Press, U.S.

Amit Raphael, Zott Christoph (2002), Value Drivers of e-Commerce BusinessModels, Creating value; Winners in the New Business Environment, BlackwellPublishing, Oxford, U.K.

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Bennis, Warren G., Nanus Burt, Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge (NewYork: Harper & Row, 1985), 17-18

Bennis, Warren G., Thomas, Robert J. (2002), Geeks and Geezers: How Era,

Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders, Harvard Business School Press, BostonMassachusetts.

Chandler, Alfred D. Jr., The Visible Hand (Cambridge, MA; Harvard UniversityPress, 1977), 7

Charan, Ram (2004), Profitable Growth is Everybodys Business, CrownBusiness, New York, U.S.

Cesbrough, Henry (2006), Open Business Models, Harvard Business SchoolPress, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

Courtney, Hugh (2001), Twenty-Twenty Forsight: Crafting Strategy in anUncertain World, Harvard Business Press, Boston Massachusetts

Drucker, Peter F. (1986), The Practice of Management, HarperBusiness, NewYork, U.S.

Hitt, Michael A., Amit Raphael, Lucier Charles E., Nixon, Robert D. (2002),Creating value; Winners in the New Business Environment, Blackwell Publishing,Oxford, U.K.

Mayo. J. Anthony, Nohria, Nitin (2005), In their time: the greatest businessleaders of the twentieth century, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts.

Noam Wasserman, Bahrat Anand, and Nitin Nohria, When Does LeadershipMatter? working paper 01-063, Harvard Business School, Boston, 2001; also see S.Lieberson & J.OConnor, Leadership and organization performance: A study of largecorporations American Sociological Review 37: 117-130.

Schumpeter, Joseph A., The Theory of Economic Development, (Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press, 1961), 74

Schumpeter, Joseph A., Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (New York:Harper & Row, 1950), 132.

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