Dr. Victor Abbey, a retired military officer, and corporate strategist has called on corporate leaders in Ghana and other parts of the world to be abreast of change management.
In his book, ‘Ghana-VUCA World and the Future of Corporate Strategy & Leadership’ he said corporate leaders must be abreast with change management, be agile and be abreast with prevailing COVID-19 and age-cohort induced circumstances in the corporate environment.
The book, which was launched at the Burma Hall, Burma Camp in Accra last Thursday, impacts the prevailing corporate strategy practice and adds a new dimension to the prevailing thinking in corporate strategic management and leadership.
Maj (Dr) Ebenezer Kwakye Agyemang (Rtd), a senior executive of Abosso Goldfields Limited, who reviewed the book found it suitable as a desk guide and traveling companion for every knowledge-seeking executive. The language is seamless and very professional.
The Reviewer further added that the challenge in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) world was to find a middle way between implementation and adaptation of a strategy.
“To overcome VUCA and remain resilient, one needs another reverse version of VUCA – that is, vision, understanding, clarity, and agility,” Dr. Agyemang added.
The 228-page book, published by the Advent Press, is a product of more than a decade of Dr. Abbey’s experience in defence and security, his involvement in corporate leadership practice, research, interactions with corporate leaders, colleagues and the observed gap in finding a stop shop for a solution to the challenge of corporate strategy and leadership.
The book runs a journey of Six Chapters. These include the VUCA World and its Challenges, Corporate Strategy, Strategic Leadership, Future Success Factors, and Change Management.
Touching on chapters of the book, Dr. Agyemang noted that chapter one covers the origins of VUCA and rests with the significance of understanding this disruptively chaotic environment.
Chapter two generally looks at strategic leadership which he found very appealing, especially the aspect which clearly articulates how leaders could re-discover themselves and become effective strategic leaders.
Dr. Agyemang further added that the author succinctly isolates and methodically outlines the challenges or impediments to traditional corporate strategy and leadership for the achievement of set goals.
Chapters three and four examine the core of the issues of strategic leadership Challenge. In these chapters, Dr. Agyemang found it gratifying to note how Dr. Abbey weaves the requirement for effective strategic leadership into the prevailing VUCA environment, and his identification of the prevailing environment as a challenge and therefore submits key processes that could be used to overcome them.
“Interwoven with diagrams and sketches, the author does not lead the reader into despair for solutions to the problem. Rather, the author itemises and methodically provides recommended solutions, for each of the challenges identified”.
In his remarks during the launch, the author, Dr. Abbey noted that “at any point in time throughout human history, specific knowledge sets of leadership competencies are required, which must be well aligned with the demands of the time for organisational success or effectiveness. Therefore, different economic circumstances, technological landscapes, cultures and social values require or determine different approaches to corporate strategy and leadership”.
He further stated that since the onset of the new millennium in 2001 when the global economy and/or corporate milieu has been characterised by what has been described as VUCA, corporate leaders have been obliged to pursue a new set of operating procedures that have the flexibility to change with each VUCA predicament.
BY TIMES REPORTER
