8/09/2022

IBUS 6002
Cross Cultural Management

Week 6 Lecture

Global Leadership

Lecturer and Course Coordinator:

Dr Connie Chui S. Chan
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Are leaders born or bred?

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Who is the leader? Why?

Front or Back or middle > < [ ]

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Theories

• Refer to Module 6.2

• Students’ posts?

• Comments
o how useful are these theories?

o assumptions, context, personalities, organisations, situations

o country or universal - MNEs

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Trait theories
• Search for personality characteristics and predetermined traits of “great” leaders

• Subjective: positive or negative traits

o Extrovert? Compassionate? Assertive? Tough? Decisive?
o Caring? Trustworthy? Creative? Intelligent?

• Insufficient for selection of the “right” people for “success”

(as defined by the manager, organisation, industry, and national, global environments)

• Unable to predict leadership successes

• Which traits are more important? In which context?

• Neglect the role of followers

• Did not apply to situations

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Different conceptualization of leadership

Theories originating in North America and Europe assume that:
• Leaders intentionally exert influence on others to achieve outcomes
• Structure relationships in an organisation

• Traditionally leaders are seen as transactional (short-term motivation)

• However, the leader is more than just a manager.
• Managers need to engage, build relationships, coordinate different interests,
and ensure stability within an organisation
• Modern leadership includes vision, building trust, inspiring employees and
more, expected to be transformational.

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Behavioural Theories
• Focus on what leaders do, leadership is more than traits

• Research shows that:

• Most task-oriented behaviour can be measured but results are inconsistent

• Relationships with employees and linkage to satisfaction

• However, it is difficult to generalise

• Neglect followers and situations

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Contingency Theories
• Address the shortcomings of traits and behavioural theories

• Situational approach, it depends …

• Contrasts with universal approach which assumes one best formula

• Process : decision-making and achievement of goals

• Symbolic gestures and meanings

• Example: Toyota President and CEO Akio Toyoda told US Congress he accepted full
responsibility for mechanical problems. In another congressional testimony, BP’s British CEO
Tony Hayward avoided responsibility for oil spill in the Gulf.

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Perception of Leadership

Leadership is in the eye of the beholder

Who is the leader?

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Implicit leadership
Assumptions about effective leadership are unconscious and can be biased.

Leader acceptance Leader effectiveness

Leader acceptance Leader effectiveness

Followers may have different ideas of accepted images and behaviour of a leader.

Actual effectiveness of the leader remains to be assessed

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GLOBE Culturally Endorsed Leadership dimensions

• Charismatic: motivate and inspire core beliefs

• Team-oriented leader exhibits diplomatic, integrative and collaborative behaviors toward the
team, and implement group goals

• Self-protective: leadership focuses on ensuring the safety and security of the individual and
group through status enhancement and face saving

• Participative leader delegates decision making and encourages subordinates to take

responsibility

• Humane leader is supportive and considerate; includes compassion and generosity

• Autonomous: the degree to which leaders are independent and individualistic

• Extension of the concept of implicit leadership

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Culturally endorsed leadership dimensions

• Charismatic / Value-Based
• Team-Oriented
• Self-Protective
GLOBE
• Participative
• Humane-Oriented
• Autonomous

The scores presented for each country are based on a scale from 1 (the opinion that
those leadership behaviours would not be regarded favourably) to 7 (that those
behaviours would substantially facilitate effective leadership)
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GLOBE: Culturally Endorsed Leadership Theory

globeproject.com

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GLOBE dimensions: national comparisons

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Universality vs Contingency
• 22 attributes universally regarded as positive
(e.g. trustworthy, excellence oriented)

• 8 attributes universally regarded as negative

(e.g. irritable, dictatorial)

• 35 attributes that are “culturally contingent”

(e.g. cunning 1.26 – 6.38, sensitive 1.96 - 6.35, risk taking 2.14 - 5.96)

(GLOBE project)

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How does national culture influence leadership?

• Individualism vs. collectivism

• Power distance

• Uncertainty avoidance GLOBE project:

- Cultural values and practices
• Gender egalitarianism
- Culturally endorsed leadership
• Assertiveness

• Performance orientation

• Future orientation

• Humane orientation
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Module 6.3 Check your answers

Cultural dimensions High Low

Individualism

Power distance

Uncertainty avoidance

Gender egalitarianism
Assertiveness

Performance orientation

Future orientation

Humane orientation

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Module 6.3 GLOBE leadership and cultural dimensions

Cultural dimensions High Low
Individualism autonomous leadership, emphasizing individual effort paternalistic leadership, emphasizing group
and task accomplishment maintenance, face-saving, relationship building,
nurturing
Power distance autocratic leadership is more likely to be accepted equality, empowering employees; transformational
leadership is more likely to be accepted
Uncertainty avoidance less tolerant of mavericks; good leaders have good leaders have more informal norms;
meticulous records; formalise processes; leaders who greater tolerance for rule-breaking
provide highly structured work environments, even
through bureaucracy, and who enhance stability, tend to
do well.
Gender egalitarianism more female leaders Fewer female leaders in top management
(GLOBE not the same as Hofstede!) (Note: this is not Hofstede masculinity dimension)
Assertiveness value leaders who take initiative, have a can-do attitude, value leaders who emphasise integrity and loyalty,
expect demanding targets view merit-pay as destructive to harmony, stress
equality, solidarity and quality of life
Performance orientation value training and development, emphasize results value societal and family relationships; emphasise
loyalty, seniority and experience
Future orientation emphasize visionary leadership, capable of seeing emphasise leadership that focuses on repetition of
patterns in the face of chaos routine sequences
Humane orientation modest, tolerant, sensitive, concerned about humanity Autocratic, insensitive
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Pyramid model
Global Leadership Competencies System Skills
visionary, transformational, agile
ethical decisions,
span boundaries,
develop stakeholder
community & change

Global Interpersonal skills global behaviour

mindful communication, create & build trust

cultural intelligence
Multicultural competence
global mindset: cognitive complexity -- cosmopolitanism

Bird & Oslon (2004)

Threshold Traits
integrity -- humility - - inquisitiveness - - resilience

Global knowledge
understanding of economic, political, social and tech environment

Cambridge: Textbook ch 6 19
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Leadership models
Universal
Leadership is generalizable - East vs West

Normative
Leaders should have a cluster of skills

Contingency
Leader adapts to local environment

❖ meaning of leadership as a cultural construct (foundation & evolution)

❖ variations in local expectations

(Sanchez-Runde, Nardon & Steers, 2011)
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Business leaders

What do they have in common? In which areas do they differ?

Consider the subtle differences in the terms used for a leader.

Boss, head, supervisor, director, mentor, coach, manager, master, chairperson, CEO, statesman, etc.

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Process of developing global managers

Understand:

- challenges facing global managers

- the operating context

- necessary skills
Cambridge textbook ch 6

To develop multicultural competence and global management skills

takes effort and time

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Leadership goals
• Inspire and motivate others

• Effective communication, including verbal, written and nonverbal

• Provide direction and training

• Understand context, assess situations, critical thinking and problem-solving

• Seek the help of experts

• Ability to work with a team

• Seek improvement

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Self Development Strategies

1. Understand oneself (your traits, skills, mindset, expectations of yourself)

2. Understand others (expectations of followers of you as leader; how followers meet

your expectations as leader)

3. Assess situations and environment (adapt / not to adapt / what / how / how much)

4. Continuous learning, interact, listen to feedback

5. Be mindful, flexible and sincere

(Apply to tutorial case study discussions)

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Leadership and decision-making

• Authority of the leader

• Top down vs consultative

• Different processes

• Combinations of
o hierarchical

o egalitarian

o consensus

• Countries

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Examples
• German leaders are granted a great deal of formality by staff and are knowledgeable

• Contrast with US leaders – formal and informal, manage, coordinate, take risks

• Arabs respect their leaders as long as they are in power

• Malaysians expect their leaders to be humble, modest, and dignified

• French expect leaders to be refined and cultivated

❖ Refer to module 6.1 and 6.2

❖ Apply different theories to understand perception of leadership in different countries.
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What and how much to change, why?

• UK born Howard Stringer

• A balancing act

• Sony culture in Tokyo

• Adapt + achieve corporate objectives

• Challenging, discover, rewarding experience

• (Sanchez-Runde, Nardon & Steers, 2011)

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Leadership in culturally similar societies

• Americans expect leaders to be inspiring, commanding and communicative

• Australians will follow and respect a leader who is not arrogant

- vertical vs horizontal individualism

What is going on here?

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Leadership in culturally similar societies

“We found out that they were quite upset with me because as president of the
company, I had not rounded everyone up at the end of the night and made a big
speech. This is what American presidents do. They were expecting a lot of fist
pumping in the air and that kind of thing, but in Australia, you would be stared at if
you did that.” (Linde, BRW, 2010)

https://www.businessnewsaustralia.com/articles/apollo-s-luke-trouchet-on-building-an-international-business--one-step-at-a-time-.html

(Refer to the case of Bunnings in Week 3 tutorial)

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East Asians
Why are East Asians underrepresented in leadership positions in the US
compared to South Asians?

– prejudice?

– less motivated?

– less assertive?

“low assertiveness is incongruent with American norms concerning how leaders should
communicate. The bamboo ceiling is not an Asian issue, but an issue of cultural fit.”

Lu, Nisbett, & Morris (2020)

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Asian leadership gap

- Collectivist society (emphasize harmony, humility, group over self)

- Individualist values (speak up, language, self promotion, assertive)

- Stereotype backlash if overly assertive (not according to common expectations)

- Dilemma

- Implications: MNEs could be underutilising talents

Nie, Xiao & Barsoux (2017)

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Lessons
• Foundation: leadership theories, concepts, traditions and models

• Limitations of conventional theories (traits, east vs west)

• Importance of context

• Perception of leadership shaped by culture

• Strategies for developing global leadership skills

• Keep learning, reflecting and practising

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Week 6

• Reminder: please complete Quiz 2 before Friday 11:59 pm

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Group Assignment

• Refer to Canvas module 6.4

• Reminder: In your email to tutor, please c.c. all the team members

(put their addresses in the email as recipient)

• Create groups in People on Canvas (group video presentation project)

o timetable tutorial code_ group number_colour (if any)_tutor

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Week 7
• Group assignment due on Week 7 Monday 11:59 pm

• Topic: Communications

Please do necessary prework: Canvas and tutorial

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Questions?

Canvas Discussions

Email: Connie
chui.chan@sydney.edu.au

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