A Historical Qualitative Single Case Study on the Founding Leadership of Singapore

The purpose of this qualitative historical single-case study was to identify the leadership elements and management strategies used by the Republic of Singapore's nation building leaders. A content analysis was conducted on 47 years of publicly available archival secondary data to identify the leadership element and management strategies used by Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Keng Swee, and Sinnathamby Rajaratnam from November 1961 to September 2008. Data were compared against the leadership elements and management strategies postulated as key for private sector business success by J. Collins (2001), R. Collins (1988), and Grant (2007). Research revealed 15 significant leadership elements and management strategies used by Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Keng Swee, and Sinnathamby Rajaratnam during Singapore's nation building. Findings revealed during Singapore's nation building Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Keng Swee, and Sinnathamby Rajaratnam used 14 of the 18 private sector business leadership elements and management strategies postulated by J. Collins (2001), R. Collins (1988), and Grant (2007). The study identified one new leadership element and management strategy not previously postulated by J. Collins (2001), R. Collins (1988), or Grant (2007). The study results suggested a correlation between Singapore's nation building success and the leadership elements and management strategies identified as key for private sector business success