The themes of technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and organizing

CONCLUDING COMMENTS

Rapid changes in the business world over the last two decades have made most of the prevail­ing management constructs obsolete. In a global business environment of limited time and scarce resources, strategic leaders have to seek and de­velop innovative ways to keep ahead of change. This necessity is especially important for global corporations. Global corporations have to expand their reach and sophistication to create sustainable solutions, integrated systems, and robust structures that are proactive and unique. Good is no longer good enough. Global corporations have to lead change and become sustainable enterprises. They have to incorporate sustainability and SD in their models and ensure that they can exceed customer and stakeholder expectations and outperform competitors.

Strategic leaders have to preemptive the market and competitive situations through strategic in­novations that open the doors to new possibilities and success. They have to think about the whole enterprise and ensure that solutions and systems are fully aligned and providing successful outcomes for all contributors and recipients.

Globalization without a multi-dimensional perspective is a prescription for enduring ongoing problems, challenges, and instability. Solutions have to be multifaceted and holistic. They have to produce win-win outcomes. They must avoid creating tensions and conflicts among people across the world. For instance, simply shiftingjobs to low-wage countries to obtain low-cost products may result in cost-effective products that people in the developed countries cannot afford to buy because they lack employment opportunities and personal income.

The model discussed in the chapter provides a framework for creating win-win outcomes that are balanced in terms ofthe social, political, economic, technological, environmental and ethical forces. Good solutions require an integrated approach with strategic leaders and contributors working together using strategic innovations. For most global corporations, the focus shifts from “busi­ness as usual” approaches to creating sustainable solutions and developing holistic systems and structures to deploy the solutions.

From a strategic perspective, the decision making methodology for strategic innovations has to become more comprehensive and farsighted. Decision makers have to be proactive. They have to use learning and acquire new knowledge to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the realities. They must be thorough in their as­sessments of context to obtain insights about what the solutions have to be. Ultimately, they need to use their imaginations to envisions how to create the best strategies, solutions, and outcomes and to use the judgments of all of the participants in the decision making process. Great decisions are based on the collective wisdom and intellectual capital of the people involved.

True globalization may only be possible in the context of sustainability, SD and strategic innovation. Otherwise, short-term successes may turn into complex challenges and difficulties that limit long-term performance and outcomes. For instance, pollution and wastes are critical factors that have to be eliminated via clean technologies and new-to-the-world products, if solutions are to endure. Future developments may be stymied because resources have to be allocated for cleaning up the messes created due to poor decision making or simply not available because of resource deple­tion. It is critical that business leaders, government officials and people understand, develop, produce and deploy sustainable solutions and achieve sus­tainable success. With true globalization, global corporations have to adopt a more inclusive and comprehensive model oftheir external and internal context, ifthey aspire to obtain competitive advan­tages, achieve outstanding business performance, and enjoy sustainable success. The underpinnings must focus on protecting future generations of people, preserving the natural environment, en­suring that the economic, social, environmental and financial interests of businesses and society continue well into the future.