(Posted 06th November 2026)
Courtesy of Mr. Alex Koech and AeroTrail Limited
I am pleased to share our latest research, published in the Journal of Air Transport Research Society, co-authored with Prof. Eric Tchouamou Njoya of DCU Business School and Dr. Caroline Marete, Ph.D. of Purdue University School of Aviation and Transportation Technology.
The study examines how strategic leadership shapes strategy implementation under conditions of environmental uncertainty in the airline industry in emerging markets, drawing on empirical data from airlines operating in Nairobi, Kenya.
We conceptualise strategic leadership as a higher-order construct comprising four dimensions:
Strategic Direction and Control (SDSC)
Developing Human Capital (DHC)
Maintenance of Effective Organisational Culture (MEOC)
Exploitation and Maintenance of Core Competencies (EMCC)
Our findings reveal that strategic leadership has a strong positive effect on strategy implementation and significantly reduces perceived environmental uncertainty. In turn, environmental uncertainty negatively affects strategy implementation and partially mediates the relationship between strategic leadership and implementation outcomes.
At the dimensional level, Strategic Direction and Control (SDSC) demonstrates the strongest mediated contribution in the hashtag#univariate model, while Developing Human Capital (DHC) accounts for the largest mediated proportion in the separate dimension-specific (hashtag#bivariate) models.
The central insight: Strategic leadership influences strategy implementation through two complementary pathways: a direct execution pathway and an indirect buffering mechanism through which leadership helps organisations mitigate perceived environmental uncertainty.
These findings highlight the critical role of strategic leadership not only in providing organisational direction and driving strategy execution but also in strengthening airlines’ resilience and adaptability in an increasingly volatile operating environment. This includes navigating major disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical instability, evolving regulatory requirements (including SAF mandates and emissions trading schemes), currency fluctuations, fuel price volatility and other external market shocks.
If this research is of interest to you, subscribe to the wide range of services offered by AeroTrail Limited to stay ahead knowing about aviation across Africa.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2941198X26000278?via%3Dihub#cebibl1
