ders to use collaboration, community, and the politics of commonality by seeking common positions among stakeholders. Diversity, by contrast, requires leaders to consider independence, individuality, and the politics of differences. The connective leader, thus, identifies common positions among stakeholders that the positions advocated by the stakeholders precludes identification by themselves. The environment of the connective era, according to Lipman-Blumen, is characterized by the following states:
1. Shorter time frames for making decisions.
2. The need for long-term thinking to avoid making decisions that might preclude later steps.
5. The consequences associated with technology, which include its role in innovation, problem diagnosis, problem solving, and the creation of new ethical dilemmas.
The Hadi Clinic proposal for an open-heart surgery facility must be pursued within the environment that is specific to Kuwait. The total population of Kuwait approximates 1.8 million persons. Population growth in Kuwait is rapid (in excess of five-percent per annum). Most of the country's population growth is through immigration, as workers are being brought in from India. In Kuwait, non-citizens outnumber citizens. Approximately 1.5 million of Kuwait's population of 1.8 million persons are over the age of 15 years old. Kuwait is a wealthy country because of the country's crude petroleum industry. The country's per capital gross domestic product (GDP) is US$17,000.
As almost every person on the planet is aware, Kuwait was invaded and occupied by Iraq in 1990. The Gulf War of 1991 forced the withdrawal of Iraq from Kuwait. Iraq, however, continues to represent a threat to Kuwait's security, and, thus, to the country's economic and political stability. Nevertheless, in the seven years since the end of the Gulf War, Kuwait's economy has rebounded, and has posted growth in the area of three-percent per annum. T...