THE ROLE OF SHARED LEADERSHIP IN THE STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING PROCESSES OF NEW TECHNOLOGY BASED FIRMS

The dynamic business environment is seen by many as requiring a significant change in our thinking about leadership. Shared leadership is one alternative to the 'classic' vertical model and implies that either no individual performs all of the leadership functions or that within an organisation, there is a set of individuals who collectively perform such functions. This emerging model of leadership is seen to be of particular relevance to the management of new ventures; however, both the construct of shared leadership and leadership within new ventures remain under-researched areas. This paper reports the results of a pilot study that employed a case study approach to analyse the factors integral to the appointment of a CEO, the criteria upon which founders and CEOs make their decisions and the process by which decisions are made after a CEO has been appointed.