Top Leaders’ Behavioral Flexibility, Organizational Adaptability and Firm Performance

• Tognazzo, Alessandra ^[2] ; Sassetti, Sara ^[1] ; Gubitta, Paolo ^[2]
  1. [1] University of Pisa

     University of Pisa

     Pisa, Italia

     
  2. [2] Department of Economics and Management University of Padova (Italy)
• Localización: Piccola impresa: = Small Business, ISSN 0394-7947, Nº. 3, 2021
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Top executives must be prepared to adapt not only their leadership behavior but also the organizational structures to meet the challenges of an increasingly uncertain. Grounding on the Flexible Leadership Theory, this study aims to explore the relationship among leaders’ behavioral flexibility, organizational adaptability and organizational performance. This research based on behavioral event interviews (BEI), it involved 87 top leaders of family Italian companies. Findings suggest that top leaders’ behavioral competencies and organizational adaptability play a role in directly shaping firm results only when these two elements are considered together. Thanks to this research, we contribute to extend previous work on the relationship between top leaders’ flexibility and firm performance by answering a call to consider leadership a complex process that takes into account the organizational conditions under which leaders’ behavioral flexibility is effective.