Leadership & Strategic Management Flashcards

A nonprofit executive director discovers that two senior managers have fundamentally incompatible leadership styles that are disrupting team cohesion. What is the most effective first step?

Answer: Facilitate a structured conflict resolution session to identify shared organizational values

Structured conflict resolution anchored in shared organizational values addresses root causes while preserving institutional knowledge.

Which strategic planning model explicitly links an organization's vision, mission, and values to measurable performance outcomes across multiple perspectives?

Answer: Balanced Scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard translates vision and strategy into performance metrics across financial, customer, internal process, and learning perspectives.

An executive director wants to foster a culture of innovation but faces resistance from long-tenured staff. Which leadership approach is MOST appropriate?

Answer: Transformational leadership that inspires intrinsic motivation

Transformational leadership addresses resistance by connecting innovation to a compelling shared vision and intrinsically motivating staff.

In scenario planning for strategic management, what is the PRIMARY purpose of developing multiple scenarios?

Answer: To prepare the organization to respond effectively under a range of possible futures

Scenario planning builds organizational resilience by stress-testing strategy against multiple plausible futures rather than committing to one forecast.

A CEO is choosing between centralized and decentralized decision-making structures. Which condition MOST strongly favors decentralization?

Answer: Frontline staff possess specialized local knowledge critical to operations

Decentralization is most effective when local expertise is essential, as it empowers those closest to the issue to make informed decisions.

Which of the following BEST describes 'strategic drift' in an organization?

Answer: A gradual, incremental divergence of strategy from environmental change until crisis occurs

Strategic drift occurs when organizations incrementally adjust without matching the pace of external change, eventually reaching a performance cliff.

An executive director must present a major strategic shift to a skeptical board. Which persuasion approach is MOST effective?

Answer: Present data-driven evidence alongside a clear narrative linking strategy to mission

Combining credible data with a mission-aligned narrative addresses both rational and values-based concerns of board members.