Leadership strategies in developing the complex adaptive systems : the case of industrial clusters

Abstract

The emergence and development of the complex adaptive systems (CAS), such as industrial clusters, call for a radically different managerial approaches and leadership strategies than in the classical stable hierarchical systems. Their leaders have to take into account the key attributes of CAS, such as self-organization, inter-relatedness, adaptiveness and emergence. The complex adaptive leaders have to address the contradictory qualities of networks and tensions stemming from the dynamic interactions of their actors. This paper aims to present and discuss the different strategic approaches to the development of industrial clusters as CAS, based on the findings of research carried out in nine Lithuanian clusters representing a variety of industrial settings. The semi-structured interviews with cluster leaders as “boundary spanners” of networks enabled to distinguish 3 different strategic approaches at 2 different stages of cluster development. At the initial stage of cluster legitimation, the experimentation strategy, external agent strategy and strategy of ad hoc clustering of fellow professionals can be distinguished.