Article

 

LEADING BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS IN THE GLOBAL ERA: DECISION MAKING IN CHAOS AND CRISIS SITUATIONS (p.73-89)

by

Evangelia Fragouli, University of Dundee

Keywords : Chaos, crisis, leadership, business, decision making, organizations

JEL classification : M0

Abstract

Chaos is an inescapable part of modern day reality in business organizations across the world. In the midst of globalization, business leaders are constantly confronted with chaos due to various political, economic and social issues. Chaos introduces uncertainty, unpredictability, irregularity and randomness in organizations; and it challenges the conventional leadership theories, models and philosophies. The main objective of this research paper is to explore the concept of chaos in business organizations and how it affects the leadership capacity. It is a literature review based study focusing on the broader definition of chaos; application of chaos in business organizations; how chaos emerges; consequences of chaos; factors influencing and shaping chaos; and how leaders manage business organizations in the presence of chaos. This essay explores also the connection of chaos and crises faced by leaders and the role of decision-making indicating that as world slowly inches deeper into the global era business must slowly adapt and change to successfully fit in. The work concludes by stating the type of leadership needed and decision-making style needed for a business to thrive. It also concludes that complexities and uncertainty associated with chaos are often ignored when business models, practices, strategies and policies are formulated in most organizations, and as a result it becomes challenging for business leaders to deal with chaos when it arises. Application of chaos theory in business organizations provides a promising and pragmatic remedy to business challenges.