**4. Venture leadership and ethics**

In a business textbook, ethics is usually a tricky topic to discuss. A large portion of individuals who succeed in business is unfamiliar with these concepts. Also, because there are several different points of view on the subject matter, many business executives regard it as "muddled" and hard to grasp [40]. Ethics can be easy or difficult. It is easy when people decide to live by a few principles guiding them irrespective of the situation. On the other hand, ethics is difficult for people who believe ethics can be bent and that situations should be assessed separately to determine the best plan of action [41]. Essentially, integrity is defined as acting based on your word and saying only what you intend to mean or intend to do. Integrity is a great starting place when developing ethical standards. It would be tough to claim that integrity is unimportant or that integrity is not critical to success in the venture. The majority of successful leaders will affirm the importance of integrity. The majority of business is conducted within a structure of trust. Leaders believe that those they work with will implement the commitments they have both agreed on. Honesty is another principle that should be closely linked to integrity. The virtue of honesty can also be referred to as "transparency" in business [21]. When a leader practices this ethic, this means that the business will be functioning properly. Humility is a final ethical principle to be discussed and appears to be critical for business success. Humility is frequently described as a personality trait, but it can also be defined as an ethical principle. A person who demonstrates humility recognizes that many of the good and bad things that happen in life and business are often the result of random events. The majority of success is due to a complex combination of personal ability, luck, and happenstance. Leaders who understand this will be successful in maintaining a genuine humility during the success period while also being more stable individually during a time of difficulty. Many authors coined the term "ergonomics" to describe the importance of controlling one's pride and cultivating humility [42]. Four red flags that show when a person's ego has taken charge are listed by these authors: Being defensive, being comparative,

seeking acceptance, and showcasing brilliance. It is critical to understand the way humility fits into the range of possible character identities, ranging from a vacant ego to self-indulgence. Humility reflects a balanced and perceptive understanding of one's own distinct skill and talent while avoiding the destructive power of arrogance and egoism.

#### **5. Leadership in the Thai context**

Thailand is a vital business hub in the Southeast Asia region. It is a collectivist nation where people value and commit to their relationships. It is more important and valued to be accepted than it is to grab attention among the crowd, therefore an assertive and competitive attitude is not supported or considered desirable. The individualism vs. collectivism scale is a cultural dimension developed by Hofstede et al. [43], individualist cultures mostly refer to themselves as "I," whereas collectivist societies view themselves in the context of "we." People are more likely to subordinate their personal goals to those of their group in collectivistic societies. The style of communication is implicit and is dependent on the context of what is said. The self-perception of belonging to an in-group implies that people consider their job and the organization for which they work to be a part of their self-identity [44]. The subordinate-superior relationship is based on an exchange of loyalty for protection [43].

Thai society is known for being resistant to change and for being risk-averse, which is why there is control over everything, which is manifested by strict laws, policies, rules, and regulations [45, 46]. Thailand, with its collectivist culture, is an ideal setting for transformational leadership to thrive. Transformational leadership has more chance of success in collectivist cultures than in Western individualistic cultures, Schmidt [47] reiterated that Followers in collectivist societies expect their leaders to look after them while identifying with their leaders' vision and showing their loyalty. This aligns with several studies that show a positive significant effect of transformational leadership on collectivists' employee creativity than individualists' [48]. This leadership style is the secret to venture leadership in Thailand [49]. Good leaders motivate their workers to challenge the system and try new and innovative approaches to their work. They put a lot of effort into intellectually stimulating their workers [50, 51].

For instance, these leaders challenge employees' imagination and inspirations, while recognizing their innovative values, mindset, and beliefs, as well as developing the capabilities of individual and work teams. They also provide support and resources as well as energize followers to put more effort to meet higher goals. Vora and Kainzbauer [49] while identifying themes in Thai humanistic leadership in culturespecific ways infer those leaders must engage in humanistic leadership practices that are appropriate for the Thai context to be successful. Human resource departments may want to focus on these behaviors when recruiting, selecting, and developing new employees. The success of the Thai economy which recorded a growth rate of almost 7% in the late 80s and early 90s, with an even better GDP performance of double digits making Thailand the fastest growing economy in the world over the same period was tied to the strategic leadership management of business entities [52]. In Thailand, family-run businesses frequently retain senior management for decades, and the predictable result is that they seek consistency rather than greatness. Leaders must shift their focus away from functional issues and toward developing independent thinkers and future successors.

They can stop telling people what to do and start listening to insightful feedback and ideas if they foster creativity [53]. According to studies, employees' perceptions of empowerment and support are major sources of innovation [48]. *Venture Leadership under Uncertainty: An Emerging Country Perspective DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102870*

All of this contributes to the followers' development of a creative identity. As a result, the quality of Thailand's leaders has a significant impact on the country's venture leadership success. In organizational learning, the transformational leader will act as a facilitator, trainer catalyst, and coach. The Thai leadership nexus has keyed into this paradigm, where the leaders are open to technological reforms in business industries such as agriculture, automobile, bioengineering, biotechnology, electronics, healthcare, and nanotechnology, and increasing the development of new technologies such as aviation, digital innovations, logistics, and robotics. These are indications that the leadership model operated in Thailand emphasizes innovation and creativity [14, 54]. Studies have revealed that creative leaders are more effective at promoting positive change and inspiring their followers than leaders who are not creative [32, 55]. Hofsteede [56] stated that in Thailand, the people are used to an imbalance of power in organizations because they accept easily that power is distributed unevenly based on some of the characteristics outlined below:


What is discernible from the above narrative is that privileges are assigned a rank and are respected accordingly. Employees demonstrate loyalty, respect, and obeisance for protection and security. Each rank is accorded its own set of benefits, and employees are expected to demonstrate loyalty, respect, and deference to the leadership, giving rise to a paternalistic management relationship between leaders and followers [56]. As a result, the attitude toward managers has become more formal. The flow of information is hierarchical and managed with the leaders at the top of the totem pole because of the privileges and functions ascribed to them in society. Somech [17] further affirms that leaders are the main drivers that either support or hinder organizational innovation management. According to Bel [25], various leadership styles tend to have different effects on employee loyalty and participation, influencing the climate for innovation management. Exploring from the work of Deschamps [40], he highlights that the failure of innovation projects is most likely due to ineffective leadership skills.

There are assertions in the growing literature on change leadership that the root cause of many change problems is leadership behavior [48]. Trust and lack of trust, in particular, are regarded as major factors in failed change projects. In general,

trust in leadership has been identified as an important role in innovation and change research [13, 32]. Leadership is important in increasing organizational creativity, launching, driving, and implementing innovation projects, and overcoming resistance [24, 41]. These have been all evident in growing the Thai economy as discussed from the studies reviewed. Employee perceptions of how much creativity is encouraged at work and how much organizational resources are devoted to supporting creativity influence their creative performance. The perception of an innovative climate among employees encourages risk-taking and the challenge of using creative approaches at work. For the sustenance of the innovations in the economic and end technology sectors, Thailand must continuously produce the right leaders with a mind-set of enhancing creativity and innovation and setting the right examples for followers.
