Competencies of strategic leadership towards business sustainability in emerging pharmaceutical business of South Africa: A case of Alpha distribution

Abstract

AbstractIn today’s complex, ever-changing, and unpredictable global economy, strategic leadership is more critical than ever. To accomplish the wholesale pharmaceutical industry goals, all strategic leaders in the same field must demonstrate proficiency in specific areas of strategic leadership. Therefore, successful wholesalers of pharmaceuticals work so hard at strategic planning, business process simplification, culture management, and human resource development. A pharmaceutical company based in Durban was the focus of this exploratory research into how strategic leadership can keep a company competitive in an ever-changing industry. This paper examines the strategic leadership skills and responsibilities of a pharmaceutical company in Durban, South Africa, and how they contributed to the company’s long-term competitive advantage. Ten prominent pharmaceutical strategic leaders were consciously chosen for this research. The strategic leaders were interviewed in-depth using a semi-structured interview guide. The thematic analysis defined themes illustrating how strategic leadership’s skills and responsibilities help maintain a company’s competitive edge. Findings indicate that Alpha Pharma’s ability to sustain competitive advantage in Durban was impacted by four facets of strategic leadership: strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, diversity management, and the promotion of collective leadership. The study also found that strategic leadership was involved in distinct activities: establishing a course of action; dealing with the complexities of doing business, advocating for a new organisational structure; shaping the company’s culture, and developing its human resources. Strategic leadership is a competitive advantage for pharmaceutical companies as they develop their internal capabilities and adapt to an ever-changing industry and marketplace.

Keywords

• strategic leadership
• sustainability
• competitive advantage
• competencies
• pharmaceutical distribution
• sustainable leadership