The Role of the Ceo in Corporate Transformation: The Story of Dairibord Zimbabwe Limited

By Joe Mutizwa

The Role of the CEO in Corporate Transformation is a narrative research study on how four successive CEOs influenced the transformation of their company over a thirty-year period.

The book is intended for students of business leadership as well as for business leaders seeking to understand better the dynamics of leadership and corporate transformation.

The book argues that what leaders do to lead and how they lead is significantly influenced by the context of the operating environment as well as by the dynamics of their interaction with key stakeholders.

The thesis is that to understand the role of leaders in strategic change consider their responses to constraints and challenges and what enactments they engage in.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Africa
• Release date: Mar 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781482806526

Joe Mutizwa

The author is a leading consultant on leadership development in Southern Africa. He has authored six books on various aspects of leadership. He writes from insights developed over thirty years in senior executive positions in the private sector. A Graduate of the London School of Economics, University of Zimbabwe, HEC-Paris and Oxford University’s Said Business School. He is a certified executive coach and a certified mediator. He Lives in Zimbabwe

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Joe Mutizwa.

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4828-0653-3

                Softcover        978-1-4828-0654-0

                eBook             978-1-4828-0652-6

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Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter One: RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Chapter Two: INTRODUCTION AND Company History: Transformation amidst Turbulence (1912-2010)

Chapter Three: DOES LEADERSHIP MATTER IN ORGANIZATIONS?

Chapter Four: DATA ANALYSIS

Chapter Five: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

Chapter Six: REFLECTIONS ON CASE STUDY LIMITATIONS

Notes

About The Author

Other Joe Mutizwa Leadership Series Books

1. Personal Crucibles: Learning to Lead Through Adversity and Struggles (2014)

2. The Arc of Awareness: Broadening the Gaze and Widening the Heart of Leadership (2014)

3. Leading Without Command: A Humane Leadership Perspective For a VUCA World (2015)

Acknowledgements

This story is based on a narrative research study that I carried out as part of the requirements for the Master of Science degree (Consulting and Coaching for Change) through HEC-Paris and Oxford University’s Said Business School (2012-2014).

As a leadership development practitioner I recognized the need to modify the thesis for use by students in business and strategic management faculties at universities and colleges. I hope that this study will contribute towards the building of a resource base enriched by practical and relevant leadership content that will be available to both students and teaching staff at these institutions.

This study would not have been possible without the support of the board and management of Dairibord Zimbabwe Limited including its four successive CEOs between 1980 and 2010 who agreed to be interviewed for this research. Eddie Cross, Mishek Nyamupingidza, Kumbirai Katsande and Anthony Mandiwanza all gave me their time over long interviews and I am truly grateful to them for their contribution to this study. Access to these CEOs who were in office at different times over the company’s thirty year journey of transformation allowed me to follow the unbroken thread over a period characterized by far reaching corporate transformation. Antony Mandiwanza the CEO of Dairibord Zimbabwe Limited at the time this research was conducted (2013) went out of his way to facilitate my meetings with key players in the industry.

The co-operation of various former senior officials of the Government of Zimbabwe and members of the Commercial Farmers’ Union of Zimbabwe was also invaluable.

I also acknowledge the contribution of Marc Thompson of Said Business School – Oxford University, who supervised my research project and gave me invaluable guidance.

Preface

The Role of the CEO in Contributing to Transformative Change at Dairibord Zimbabwe Limited between 1980 and 2010

This study explores the history of Dairibord between 1980 and 2010 with special focus on the role of the CEO in influencing the strategic changes that took place during this historical journey of corporate transformation.

Utilizing narratives from four CEOs of Dairibord as well as from leaders from two of the company’s key stakeholder groups – The Government of Zimbabwe and the National Association of Dairy Farmers (NADF) – the study highlights the importance of the interplay between historical context and stakeholder dynamics in defining the role that the CEO can play within an organization when it comes to influencing strategic developments within the organization and its environment.

By bringing into sharp focus the dominant discourses and defining struggles characterizing the era of each CEO’s tenure of office, the study draws out insights on the repertoire of leadership enactments that define each CEO’s special contributions.

This study is an abridged version of a narrative research study conducted by the author on Dairibord through interviews of current and former senior company officials and key officials from within the company’s stakeholder community. A total of 12 people were interviewed using purposeful sampling and semi-structured interview techniques within a qualitative narrative research framework. For the sake of brevity, the full discussion of research methodology has been excluded.

This case study is designed for use by students of strategic management, leadership and business strategy at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It can also be used as a resource book for teaching staff.

Chapter One

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Overview: The Nature of the Problem

My interest in the subject of leadership in general, and, in particular, on the extent to which leaders contribute to the fortunes of the organizations that they lead started in the early years of my career in business.

My personal experience over the years in senior management positions, including experience as CEO of Delta Corporation Limited in Zimbabwe (2002-2012) fuelled my curiosity regarding this subject.

My observation of the widely differing performance of companies and nations suggests that leadership capabilities account for the differences in performance more than anything other factor. This impression has morphed into a belief system which is encapsulated in my personal leadership motto:- "If it is to be, it is up to me".

As a leader, I have tried to infuse this belief into the cultures of organizations that I have been associated with over the years.

As my learning has grown, however, I have been reflecting a great deal on the validity of my assumptions on this matter. I have had to consider whether everything hangs on leadership or whether there are other important factors other than leadership that influence outcomes in organizations.

This research project was, indeed, part of my quest to challenge and put to the test my long held world view that leadership-particularly at the level of the CEO - makes all the difference in organizations. Throughout this study, I have used the CEO as the closest proxy for top leadership.

At the level of practicing leaders – I have encountered many in the private and public sectors – across the world – who refuse to take responsibility for organizational or national outcomes blaming these on factors outside their control or so-called exogenous factors.

A cursory glance at leadership literature and pronouncements yields very divergent views on the role of leaders in organizations. At one extreme, for example, Harold S Geneen – the former CEO of ITT strongly expressed the view that leadership accounts for as much as 80 to 90 percent of a company’s success.¹

At the other extreme Alvesson and Spicer in their book Metaphors We Lead By warn us about getting so obsessed with leadership that we end up believing that leadership is the panacea to every problem we face in the world.²

Yet others