STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION IN COMMERCIAL BANKS: SOUTH SUDAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to establish the influence of strategic leadership on strategy
implementation in commercial banks with specific reference to South Sudan. The subsequent hypothesis
was that there is no significant relationship between strategic leadership and strategy implementation. The
research was anchored on the Upper Echelon theory and Dynamic Capabilities Theory. The study applied
positivism philosophy and cross-sectional research design. The population of the study was all the thirty
(30) commercial banks in South Sudan and therefore census survey was utilized. Primary data was
collected using semi-structured questionnaires. Data was analyzed using inferential statistics specifically
regression analysis to test the hypothesis. The findings of the study showed that strategic leadership
significantly influences strategy implementation. The study recommends that shareholders of the
commercial banks need to unlock the value of their investment through effective strategic leadership by
improving the management and development of strategic areas of capacity building and management
policies that would be geared towards enhancing strategy implementation and also develop a framework
for adoption by commercial banks, designed to address strategy implementation challenges that continue
to hinder realization of key objectives.
Key Words: Strategic leadership, strategy implementation, commercial banks, South Sudan perspective.