Strategic Leadership and Organizational Performance: A Comparative Study of Multinational Corporations in Emerging Markets
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53797/ujssh.v4i1.49.2025Keywords:
Strategic Leadership, Organizational Performance, Multinational Corporations (MNCs), Emerging Markets, Cultural IntelligenceAbstract
This study investigates the critical relationship between strategic leadership and organizational performance within multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in the dynamic and complex environments of emerging markets. Employing a robust quantitative methodology, a cross-sectional correlational design was utilized, collecting data from 200 strategic leaders across diverse MNCs through a structured self-administered questionnaire. The research aimed to identify prevalent strategic leadership approaches and comprehensively assess their differential impact on key organizational performance indicators, including market share growth, sales revenue growth, profitability, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency. Findings reveal significant positive correlations across all examined strategic leadership dimensions—Strategic Direction Setting, Resource Management, Cultural Management, Human Capital Development, Ethical Leadership, and Local Responsiveness/Cultural Intelligence—and various facets of organizational performance. Crucially, Cultural Management and Local Responsiveness/Cultural Intelligence consistently demonstrated the strongest positive associations with superior performance outcomes. These results underscore the paramount importance of culturally intelligent and adaptable leadership for MNC success and sustained competitive advantage in rapidly evolving emerging economies. The study offers valuable theoretical contributions by extending leadership theories to under-researched contexts and provides actionable practical implications for MNCs in developing effective leadership strategies and talent management initiatives tailored for these markets.
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