From Contingency to Adaptive: A Synthesis of Leadership Frameworks in Strategic Decision-Making within Contemporary Organisations

Abstract

This article aims to map and synthesise the latest literature on the relationship between leadership and strategic decision-making in contemporary organisations, with a particular focus on the shift in discourse from contingency and situational frameworks, towards transformational frameworks, and finally to adaptive leadership frameworks. Using a systematic literature review approach, this article examines national (SINTA) and international (Scopus, Emerald) journal publications issued between 2021 and 2026, with an emphasis on findings from the last five years. The results of the synthesis indicate that the effectiveness of decision-making is determined by the interaction between the alignment of leadership style with the situation (contingency), the capacity for emotional regulation and psychological dynamics, the principles and decision-making paradigms employed, the leader’s involvement in policy implementation (transformational), and the extent to which leaders adopt an adaptive approach in the face of uncertainty. This article demonstrates that these three frameworks are complementary, rather than mutually exclusive, in explaining the quality of strategic decision-making under volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) conditions. Theoretical and practical implications are formulated for the development of leadership capacity in the education, business and government sectors.