Collective intelligence in strategic leadership

Abstract

Collective intelligence is forecasted to transform businesses and the way companies make decisions. However, many senior business managers have a poor understanding of collective intelligence and thus they face challenges in utilizing it. The main objective of this study was to provide understanding of collective intelligence and examine how it can benefit strategic leadership.

The research was conducted by using the methods of a qualitative case study. The study combines literature review with empirical research. The research method used in the empirical data collection was semi-structured thematic interviews. The interview material was examined by using the methods of inductive content analysis.

The findings of the study suggest that collective intelligence can benefit strategic leadership in several ways. When harnessed and applied collective intelligence can provide valuable insight from broad audiences and hence improve decision-making. Collective intelligence can increase companies’ strategic agility and the process of harnessing collective intelligence can also have a positive effect on employee engagement.