ABSTRACT
We now turn our attention to organizational governance and strategic leadership in this age of sustainability. Strategic leaders are top managers who are generally responsible for the long-term direction of their firms, including chief executive officers, chief operating officers, chief financial officers, chief sustainability officers, boards of directors, and so forth. These are the executives who are responsible for choosing and implementing portfolios of strategies, instilling value systems, building spiritual capital, creating organizational designs, developing support systems, and developing transformational change processes that support a high level of triple-bottom-line performance. The environment they operate in is rife with growing demands for improved economic, ecological, and social performance, and they are being asked to exercise leadership not only in their own firms but also in complex strategic alliances and business ecosystems where they are being called on to be agents for social change. Given this context, effective governance mechanisms and strategic leadership processes are critical success factors for firms implementing sustainable strategic management (SSM).
