Sustainable Organizational Capability: A Reflection on the Main Building Blocks

Abstract

In this article, we examine the critical leadership practices that herald the capacity of public agencies to effectively meet organizational objectives. In line with best practices in many OECD countries, we selected and screened the leadership and leadership practices in Australia’s public service in an effort to understand and extricate the leadership elements that might be useful for public agencies in developing countries. Drawing largely from evidence-based leadership practices from documented sources, we analyzed the framework of the senior executive service and systematically organized the pertinent performance-based management practices that help organizations to identify the staffing and skills requirements of the changing and future organizational environment. Based on our analysis, we observed that performance-based management practices, which underpin organizational capabilities and performance thereof, are results of effortful learning steered by senior executives with acute leadership foresight and managerial competences. This observation is skewed on the fact that senior executives are the fulcrum on which public agencies revolve as they are looked up to by subordinate cadres for business directions and depended on by political leaders to shape policy choices and guide implementation strategies. It is on these notes we suggest the need for organizations to assess their leadership credentials and performance-based management practices, and benchmark them against best practices outlined in this article.

Keywords: organizational capability, performance, senior executive service, performance-based practices, Australian public service