Leadership research in an international and cross-cultural context (original) (raw)
Related papers
2016
This chapter summarizes the field of cross-cultural and global leadership research. It starts with a brief historical overview and descriptions of international landmark projects of high impact until today. The progress achieved in the field since about the mid 1990s is critically reviewed along fundamental research questions, for example: Which definitions of leadership are appropriate for cross-cultural study? Which approaches to culture are suitable for studying leadership? Which focus on leadership to take – leadership differences or communalities across cultures? What is the magnitude of cultural effects on leadership? What is the moderating role of culture on the relationship between leadership and other relevant variables? What methodological issues have been and still need to be resolved in crosscultural leadership research? With that as a foundation, the chapter delineates how the findings of contemporary cross-cultural leadership research can enhance managerial practice. T...
Global leadership has been identified as a critical success factor for large multinational corporations. While there is much writing on the topic, most seems to be either general advice (i.e., being open minded and respectful of other cultures) or very specific information about a particular country based on a limited case study (do not show the soles of your shoes when seated as a guest in an Arab country). Both kinds of information are certainly useful, but limited from both theoretical and practical viewpoints on how to lead in a foreign country. In this paper, findings from the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) research program are used to provide a sound basis for conceptualizing worldwide leadership differences. We use a hypothetical case of an American executive in charge of four similar teams in Brazil, France, Egypt, and China to discuss cultural implications for the American executive. Using the hypothetical case involving five different countries allows us to provide in-depth action oriented and context specific advice, congruent with GLOBE findings, for effectively interacting with employees from different cultures. We end the paper with a discussion of the challenges facing global executives and how corporations can develop useful global leadership capabilities.
Cross-cultural leadership: leading around the world
Current Opinion in Psychology, 2016
Situational models of leadership have been discussed since the mid-1960s. In this paper, we review the evidence concerning one such contextual variable, societal culture. The traditional cross-cultural literature shows how culture affects the kind of leadership characteristics, attributes, and behaviors desired and believed to be important in a society. The research also shows that culture moderates the outcomes resulting from different styles of leadership. The newly emerging global leadership literature focuses on leadership when followers are culturally diverse. We review the current state of these literatures and provide research suggestions.
Research on leadership in a cross-cultural context: Making progress, and raising new questions
The Leadership Quarterly, 2003
It is almost cliché to say that there has been an explosion in the amount of research on leadership in a cross-cultural context. In this review, we describe major advances and emerging patterns in this research domain over the last several years. Our starting point for this update is roughly 1996-1997, since those are the dates of two important reviews of the cross-cultural leadership literature [specifically, House, Wright, and Aditya (House, R.
An exploration of two perspectives on leadership in globalised contexts
European J. of International Management, 2013
This paper explores two models of leadership in the globalised context, one rooted in instrumentality and the other in appropriateness. While the logic of instrumentality assumes that leadership practices are universal across national and institutional borders, the logic of appropriateness is sensitive to cross-national cultural and institutional differences. These two standpoints and their relation to multinational enterprises (MNEs) are traced in organisational global leadership theory. Ultimately, the consequences of implementing either of these two thought processes while designing leadership development programs are identified. We argue that applying the logic of instrumentality uncritically to leadership in the globalised context of multinational enterprises is fraught with great risk because this logic tends to ignore the diversity and complexity of MNEs and their environments. It is suggested that the logic of appropriateness in leadership constitutes a viable, suitable and complementary alternative.
2019
This study addresses the challenges of effective global leadership communications across cultures in our digital society. To address this global leadership challenge, the purpose of this study will be to explore tactics to reach and engage individuals across cultural borders. Globalization is a key progression for corporations to achieve new growth. Leaders and management professionals identify the benefits of managing resource costs when building teams and relationships across borders to maximize the return on innovative opportunities. Abilities to inspire and motivate individuals must also stretch across the digital ether and with that necessity brings in new cultural challenges. With our ability to provide instantaneous direction and receive prompt reactions across global time zones, leaders and managers have added a new dimension to drive effective communications with followers to bridge cross cultural practices. Two dimensions of cultures are identified in terms of high-context...
2021
The world today is more integrated than ever before, with international trade and multinational corporations being a prominent part of global commerce. To lead successfully through such globalization, leaders must bring global mindsets and perspectives to their organizations to navigate critical differences in behaviors and worldviews by each unique country or culture. This study explores whether global, cross-cultural leaders make better decisions which ultimately lead to better outcomes for global corporations by exploring the relationship between cross-cultural leaders and successful organizations as measured by customer satisfaction, employee engagement and development, innovation, social responsibility, financial strength, and stock performance. This study collected data on 120 publicly traded companies headquartered in the United States. I hypothesized that there is a positive relationship between cross-cultural leaders and successful companies. The results indicate that cross...
Related topics
Cited by
Leadership Behaviors around the WorldThe Relative Importance of Gender versus Cultural Background
International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 2008
This study examined the associations of gender and cultural clusters with two classical leadership styles: consideration and initiating structure. We used a unique database for this study: 64,000 subordinates evaluating the leadership behaviors of their direct supervisors (N = 13,595), representing 42 countries. Hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression analysis for cultural clusters. As hypothesized, culture had a stronger impact on leadership behaviors than gender, particularly on initiating structure. In line with predictions, female managers around the world used more consideration. Yet, unexpectedly, women also used more initiating structure. The results suggest that gender differences in managerial behavior are predominantly present in western societies. Results contradict classic stereotypes regarding male and female managerial behaviors. More theory is needed to understand the interaction between gender and culture in relation with leadership. Outcomes have practical implications for HRM practices in international firms and cross cultural leadership training, which should aim at reducing stereotypical thinking on female and male leadership attributes in different cultures.
Journal of International Business Studies, 2008
As competition for human capital intensifies, understanding how employees perceive their fit in a company can assist companies in harnessing the knowledge and skills needed to achieve competitive advantage. Building on the person-organization fit theoretical framework, we suggest that individual employee perceptions of globalization-related career opportunities represent a fit between individual and company capabilities and values. We find both similarities and differences between the relationships of individual-and company-level globalization capabilities and attitudes towards women (an important capability source) and globalization-related career perceptions within samples of 96 Iranian and 210 US employees.
Gender ratio, societal culture, and male and female leadership
2010
Top management teams are worldwide largely composed of men, with relatively few female members. The gender ratio in top management is indicative of the position of women in management within the organization, as well as related to leadership behaviours of male and female managers. In the present study, the relative importance of societal culture, organizational, and individual characteristics in explaining leadership behaviours and the associations of gender and gender ratio with leadership behaviours are studied. Hypotheses are tested with multi-level analyses using a dataset with information from subordinates rating leadership behaviours of 12,546 managers in 437 organizations in 32 countries. The results show that in a three-level model (i.e., societal, organizational, and individual level) to explain leadership behaviours, differences in leadership behaviours are predominantly explained by individual differences, followed by organizational and societal differences. Further, after controlling for societal influences, a higher gender ratio (relatively more female managers), was positively associated with consideration and negatively related to initiating structure. Moreover, for male managers, there was a negative association between gender ratio and initiating structure, indicating that male managers in organizations with more female managers tend to engage less in initiating structure, whereas the leadership behaviours of female managers were not associated with the gender ratio.
Gender and managerial level differences in perceptions of effective leadership
Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 2011
Purpose -This paper seeks to examine gender-and management-level differences in perceptions of effective leadership within a framework of new leadership models that focus on the processes of influencing self and others rather than leadership based on hierarchy. Design/methodology/approach -A self-report questionnaire was distributed to a sample of council employees. The responses were analysed using thematic matrix displays. Findings -Males and non-management employees (when compared with female and management) perceived effective leadership as that which emphasises fairness, equality and honesty, develops staff, fosters workplace harmony, and is trustworthy. Female employees emphasised communication, decision-making ability, and supporting the leader as being important to how a work unit could contribute to organizational leadership effectiveness. Employees at the management level underscored vision, supporting the leader, and integrity as being important to how a work unit could contribute to organizational leadership effectiveness. Female and non-management employees highlighted employee development, contingent reward, communication and vision as being central to how organizational leadership could contribute to the effectiveness of the work unit. Originality/value -Unlike the literature that differentiates between charismatic and transformational forms of leadership, this paper views these two constructs as both being components of transformational leadership.
Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 2016
The main purpose of this study is to investigate how factors such as cultures, genders, education, working experience or financial situation of the company influence the effectiveness of transformational leaders. By using transformational leadership (TL) sand cone model, together with an analytic hierarchy process-based questionnaire and TL indexes as well as a descriptive research approach, we measure the TL effectiveness for 86 middle managers located in 21 countries at the same company. We find that highly educated leaders, female leaders or leaders in a business unit with stable financial status were more effective (higher TL index) than the leaders in the opposite counterparts. Surprisingly, senior leaders and leaders of multicultural teams seem to be less effective (lower TL index) than fresh leaders who recently (within 1–5 years) joined the company. The implications of the findings for both theory and practice as well as directions for further studies are also discussed.
Working with Language: A Refocused Research Agenda for Cultural Leadership Studies
International Journal of Management Reviews, 2016
This article critically reviews existing contributions from the field of cultural leadership studies with a view to highlighting the conceptual and methodological limitations of the dominant etic, cross-cultural approach in leadership studies and illuminating implications of the relative dominance and unreflective use of the English language as the academic and business lingua franca within this field. It subsequently outlines the negative implications of overlooking cultural and linguistic multiplicity for our understanding of culturally sensitive leadership practices. In drawing on lessons from this critical review and the emergent fields of emic, non-positivist cultural leadership studies, this analysis argues that the field of cultural leadership studies requires an alternative research agenda focussed on language multiplicity that enables the field to move towards emic, qualitative research that helps to empower individual cultural voices and explore cultural intra-and interrelationships, tensions and paradoxes embedded in leadership processes. The article concludes by offering suggestions on methodological approaches for emic cultural leadership studies that are centred on the exploration of language as a cultural voice.
Thunderbird International Business Review
The current study examines the determinants of cross-cultural leadership adjustment (CLA) and explores any potential linkage with performance. CLA adaptions are observed using a sample of leaders from two cultural regions, the United Kingdom and Germanic-Europe, with expatriate experience at a British multinational enterprise (MNE) in seven different countries, including non-European nations. Using data from a single company in multiple regions helps to isolate the firm, industry and regional effects. We adopted mixed method approach to address the question on what mode of adjustment leads to better performance and the antecedents of CLA which leads to better work-performance. The results indicated that most expatriate leaders used the exploration mode of adjustment, under which both they and subordinates made substantial behavioral adaptations. This mode of adjustment addressing cultural differences had a positive impact on work-performance along with replication mode. Additional antecedents here, such as differences relating to hierarchy, decisionmaking and language/ communication, also impacted CLA.
Journal of Public Relations Research, 2014
We conduct a dictator game experiment in which recipients in an initial game become dictators in a second game. When the subjects paired remain the same, the amount sent back is strongly correlated with the amount received, despite the fact that the interaction is anonymous and is known to be one-time and zero-sum in nature. When the initial recipient is instead paired with a third subject, a less significant and lower-valued correlation between amounts received and sent is exhibited. Intelligence and personality test results, gender, and other characteristics also help to predict sending behavior and degree of reciprocity. (JEL: C78, C91, D64)
International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 2009
This article provides an account of meanings and connotations of `African leadership' emerging from research with a cohort of participants on a Pan-African leadership development programme. We begin by reviewing current approaches to leadership, and how they have been applied to the study of leadership and management across cultures, before introducing the notion of the `African renaissance', which calls for a re-engagement with indigenous knowledge and practices. The findings from our study indicate a tension between accounts and representations of leadership and the potential for leadership development to act as a forum in which participants can work through these issues. In developing an Afro-centric perspective on leadership, we propose that development activities that promote relational, critical and constructionist perspectives on leadership, with an emphasis on dialogue and sharing experience, could be an important means for surfacing new insights and understandings. ...
Mineral economics, 2023
The mining industry faces specific challenges related to the working conditions and safety of employees. Studies indicate that the leadership behaviours, working conditions and health of managers are of importance for the working conditions and health of subordinates. Therefore, the aim here is to study these factors in a large international mining company with its head office in Sweden. The specific focus is on identifying similarities and differences that may exist between managers in Sweden and managers outside Sweden. An online survey with validated questions has been distributed to all managers in the company. The main findings are that both managers in and outside of Sweden report relatively high values regarding relation-, structure-and change-oriented leadership behaviours. In addition, managers also rated HEL (healthy and effective leadership) behaviours with relatively high values. The managers in Sweden rate relation orientation with the highest value and the managers outside Sweden rate structure orientation with the highest value. These differences have been confirmed by a regression analysis that identified significant associations between the group of managers based outside Sweden and higher structure orientated leadership behaviours. Both manager groups rate relatively high values regarding job satisfaction and self-rated health. However, they rate relatively high work demand values. The main conclusions are that there are different patterns in leadership behaviours between these two manager groups that can be related to cross-culture factors. Further investigation of the reasons for these differences is important in this industrial sector.
Related papers
University of South Wales, 2020
Globalization and industrialization in human society demands cross cultural leadership because domestic leadership models that work in one country fails in another environment. This paper seeks to ascertain if leadership principles and theories are impacted by local color and cultural nuances in different societies and how leaders and student of leadership can adequately counteract such cultural nuances in a globalize society.
Leadership Strategies in Cross-Culture Settings
Advances in Logistics, Operations, and Management Science
Leadership in cross-cultural settings has become more and more demanding in the current complex world. Globalization on one hand and local aspirations on the other is creating a need of new breed of leadership who can manage the workforce and organization spread across multiple cultures in a cohesive manner to produce sustained business results. This chapter presents a detailed inquiry of cultural issues and outlines the factors behind their emergence. It also provides a framework to understand the leader preparation required and best practices to be used to be successful. For students and academicians, the topics of this chapter would provide a theoretical roadmap as well as practical insights bringing out unique understanding of this important subject. For managers, this chapter is comprehensive insight laced with practical wisdom which is ready for implementation. The word leader is used to cover managers at all levels who have to manage diverse multi-cultural teams.
Purpose -This paper aims to present an empirically informed model of the underlying factors that enable effective cross-cultural leadership. It also outlines procedures for using the model to assist expatriate managers to develop the capacities that underlie effective cross-cultural leadership. The model encompasses the complexity of cross-cultural leadership issues in China, the importance of having some theoretical knowledge on the topic, and the need to be flexible and pragmatic in applying this knowledge. Design/methodology/approach -A conceptual framework of the factors that interact to produce effective cross-cultural leadership was developed from the literature. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 32 Western expatriate managers and 19 local Chinese managers working in Australian businesses operating in Shanghai and Beijing. Within each interview, respondents were asked what they believe are the keys to successful leadership in Australian-Chinese cross-cultural workplaces. Findings -The interviews revealed a core series of cross-cultural leadership competencies that call upon all three of transformational leadership, emotional intelligence, and cultural intelligence. Practical implications -The findings and perspectives presented here should assist organizations in their selection and development of expatriate leaders. The paper argues that organizations should focus less upon skills and more upon underlying attitudinal and cognitive enablers. Originality/value -Whilst most cross-cultural leadership studies to date have focused on examining and explaining cultural differences and their influence on leadership effectiveness, this paper focuses on individual orientation and capacities.
Applicability of Cross Cultural Leadership
Servant, Transformational, and Autocratic Leadership are the theories explored in this work. Each of these theories will be compared and contrasted to cultures that are Democratic, Socialist and Clan/Tribal. The goal of this project is to analyze the above leadership theories, and identify which theories would be most effective when applied to the three for mentioned cultures. As a result of established cultural norms, certain leadership styles would not obtain desired results, nor receive a rating of approval within these cultures, this study seeks to identify the factors that make this statement true. “The attributes and entities that distinguish a given culture from other cultures are predictive of the practices of organizations and leader attributes and behaviors that are most frequently enacted, acceptable, and effective in that culture” (House, Javidan, Hanges, & Dorfman, 2002). Cultural norms greatly influence leadership. “Societal cultural values and practices affect what leaders do” (House et al., 2002). Differing cultures have differing worldviews that influence how they lead and respond to leadership behaviors (Moodian, 2009, p. 9). Leaders employ leadership practices that align with their cultures. Understanding this will explain why a specific type of leadership will work in certain cultures and not in others. Keywords: Servant, Transformational, and Autocratic Leadership
Effective Leadership in Cross-Cultural Situations
Culturally apt leadership styles have become a new-age phenomenon of relevance in today's society, where globalisation has become the norm. This paper endeavours to dissect a plethora of leadership styles, and the benefits and challenges associated with their implementation within a culturally diverse workforce for managers, organisations and governments. This paper highlights three main forms of leadership style's that can be adapted to suit, transformational/charismatic and value based, team-orientated and participative leadership. The main finding is that transformative leadership, whereby leaders are charismatic and inspire change within their employees was found to be the most effective form to employ. We see that team-orientated leadership requires an administratively adept leader who encourages completion of goals through group participation. This form, although promising does not inspire a heightened sense of cultural cohesiveness. Participative leadership requires employee's to participate in decision-making, which may not be practically applicablein all work environments.
Dynamic cross-cultural competencies and global leadership effectiveness
Journal of World Business, 2012
Analyzing data from a sample of 420 global leaders (matched with 221 supervisors), we found a combined effect of personality characteristics (extraversion, openness to experience, and lower neuroticism) and cross-cultural experiences (organization-initiated cross-cultural work experiences and non-work cross-cultural experiences) as predictors of dynamic crosscultural competencies (tolerance of ambiguity, cultural flexibility, and reduced ethnocentrism). These competencies, in turn, are predictors of supervisors' ratings of global leadership effectiveness. Our study suggests that developmental cross-cultural experiences occur through both work-related and non-work activities. The results suggest that both selection and development are critical for building a pipeline of effective global leaders. I.
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.