Abstract:

Greater managerial creativity is mandatory in order to create value from digital age technologies. Johan Wallin in his book, titled Business Orchestration: Strategic Leadership in the Era of Digital Convergence, proposes business orchestration as the alternative leadership in the digital age. In this proposal, the role of leadership is to orchestrate people, information and processes to solve business problems and achieve business objectives, from defining customer needs, to developing products, to distributing products, to servicing them. This research evaluates the four dimensions of leadership orchestration: conductor, architect, auctioneer and promoter as proposed by Johan Wallin blended with the developer dimension of leadership development as the basis for effective digital age leadership in the context of higher education in Kenya. A cross-sectional survey design is used with respondents drawn from a purposive sample of higher education institutions in Kenya based on the Commission for University Education data. Leadership proficiency is estimated on a scale of 1-5 (poor-excellent) and appropriate recommendations made. Leadership dimensions and attributes for the digital age are identified. Correlation is done between leadership and e-readiness. Significant positive correlation, r=0.624 (p<0.001) for the general perceived quality of leadership and e-readiness. The aggregated leadership index and aggregated e-readiness accession index are also significantly correlated with r=0.703 (p<0.001). Investment in digital age leadership development and orientation is recommended in order for higher education institutions to reap the benefits of the digital age.

Keywords:

business orchestration, leadership orchestration, digital age leadership