Abstract

This study examined the relationship between strategic leadership and organizational resilience in manufacturing companies in Abia State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigated the relationships between strategic decision making and operational adaptability, communication effectiveness and risk management capability, and innovation orientation and business continuity capacity. A correlational survey research design was adopted. The population comprised 2,900 staff members of 20 selected manufacturing companies in Aba and Umuahia, Abia State, from which a sample of 352 respondents was selected using the Taro Yamane formula and a multistage sampling procedure. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that strategic decision making was practiced to a high extent (M = 4.04, SD = 0.73), as was operational adaptability (M = 3.91, SD = 0.76). Communication effectiveness and risk management capability also recorded high mean scores of 3.94 (SD = 0.77) and 3.79 (SD = 0.82), respectively. Innovation orientation recorded a mean of 3.88 (SD = 0.80), while business continuity capacity recorded a mean of 3.72 (SD = 0.86). Inferential analysis showed significant positive relationships between strategic decision making and operational adaptability (r = .57, p < .001), communication effectiveness and risk management capability (r = .51, p < .001), and innovation orientation and business continuity capacity (r = .48, p < .001). The study concluded that the examined dimensions of strategic leadership are significantly associated with important dimensions of organizational resilience among manufacturing companies in Abia State