Determining leadership consistency with organizational culture during business scaling

Abstract

The paper presents a study of the consistency of leadership styles with the type of organizational culture in the context of organizational transformations, in particular, when scaling a business. A comparative analysis of four leadership styles (Transactional, Transformational, Supportive and Bureaucratic) was conducted to determine the applicability of each of them in the processes of strategic change and business scaling. We hypothesized that the effectiveness of applying a particular leadership style at scaling is limited by the current organizational culture. Based on the Competing Values Framework (CVF) model, we assessed the suitability for organizational transformations of each of the four types of organizational cultures: Clan, Market, Adhocracy, and Hierarchy. The principles of the CVF model were applied to assess the consistency of leadership styles with types of organizational cultures. It was determined that despite the greatest level of applicability for scaling the Transformational leadership style, it may be ineffective in cultures other than Adhocracies. We identified combinations of culture and leadership that reinforce each other, creating opportunities for successful transformations, as well as combinations that conflict with each other, making it impossible for transformational initiatives to succeed. We assessed the potential of each combination of leadership and culture, and identified areas of consistency and areas of conflict. There were proposed the directions of the manager's actions in the case of a conflict between the current organizational culture and leadership style. The proposed model allows us to assess the potential of the suitability of organizational culture for transformational development, in particular business scaling, and to select the most applicable type of leadership in the current culture. Determining the level of consistency of the selected leadership style with the current organizational culture allows us to avoid conflict, reduce resistance to change, and gently shift the organizational culture in the direction more suitable for business scaling.