2.12: Culture and Leadership

What is the importance of understanding cultural value dimensions in businesses? Like other cultural systems, organizational culture controls the behavior, values, assumptions, and beliefs of organizational members. It is a combination of organizational members’ own beliefs and the values, beliefs, and assumptions of the organization. It is the role of the organizational leader, as a change agent, to help create a positive organizational culture that meets the demands of a competitive environment, board and shareholder expectations, and employee career satisfaction.

Since the mid-1990s, the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE)House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta (Eds.) (2004). research of 62 societies has served as a significant study for understanding how cultural value dimensions are expressed in different cultures—whether societal or organizational. Knowledge and awareness of cultural values can enable leaders and managers to effectively manage and work through intercultural conflict and interactions. Over 17,000 managers from 951 organizations in 62 societies participated in focus groups, questionnaires, and interviews for this study.

Cultural Value Dimensions

The GLOBE study found that nine core dimensions of cultures exist in different societies. The first six dimensions in the chart below originated from the cultural value dimensions Geert Hofstede proposed in the 1980s. Table 2.4 "Cultural Dimensions as Researched in the GLOBE Study" lists other dimensions, as well as their definitions, as described in the GLOBE study.House & Javidan (2004), pp. 11–13.

Based on the responses generated by the study and using other research, the GLOBE researchers grouped societies into regional clusters. The clusters were a way of creating meaning around societal views of culture and leadership. Each cluster had characteristics specific to their region, language, religion, history, and shared cultural understanding. Table 2.5 "GLOBE Clusters of Societies" and Table 2.6 "Clusters of Societies and their Cultural Value Dimensions" lists each cluster and the countries that were grouped into the clusters.

Leadership Behaviors and Culture

The findings of the GLOBE study served to help organizations and societies understand what made an effective or ineffective leader. Many leadership behaviors are similar across societies, pointing out that no matter the cultural difference or society in which a leader is from, there are specific leadership behaviors that are viewed as effective. The GLOBE project was significant in indicating how cultures perceive effective and ineffective leadership, which is helpful to leaders in facilitating intercultural interactions.

The study revealed six global leadership behaviors, which were used in the study to understand how the clusters perceived leadership. These six are charismatic/value-based, team-oriented, participative, humane-oriented, autonomous, and self-protective. Using their understanding of leadership behaviors and perceptions of leadership from each cluster group, the researchers were able to identify a leadership profile for each cluster. Table 2.7 "GLOBE Study of Key Leadership Behaviors" and Table 2.8 "Leadership Behavior Profiles for Clusters" list the six leadership behaviors and their characteristics as well as the leadership profile for each cluster.

Table 2.4 Cultural Dimensions as Researched in the GLOBE Study

Globe Dimension	One Extreme	Other Extreme
Uncertainty avoidance	Need for established social norms, rituals, and practices	Comfortable with ambiguity and predictability
Power distance	Egalitarian and nonhierarchal	Hierarchy, authority, disparity in status and wealth
Institutional collectivism	Collective actions and sharing of resources encouraged	Individual actions and goals are encouraged
In-group collectivism	Expressions of pride, loyalty, and cohesion	Noncohesiveness, loyal to oneself and one’s needs
Gender egalitarianism	Nurture, care, relationships, sharing	Ambition, assertiveness, control
Assertiveness	Assertive, confrontational, and aggressive in social relationships	Timid, submissive, and tender in social relationships
Future orientation	Planning, investing, and delays of individual or collective gratification	Spontaneity, enjoying the present
Performance orientation	Encourages and rewards group performance and excellence	No rewards and encouragement for goals; more relaxed in terms of achievement
Humane orientation	Encourages and rewards individuals for being fair, altruistic, friendly, generous, caring	Concerns for self, not sensitive, not encouraging of social supports and community values

Adapted from House et al. (2002) The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

The study also highlighted the perceptions of cultures related to universally desirable and undesirable attributes in leaders. The desirable attributes were viewed as characteristics that were valued and that facilitated the leadership processes. Undesirable attributes were viewed as obstacles and challenges to effective leadership. Table 2.9 "List of Desirable and Undesirable Leadership Attributes from the GLOBE Research" illustrates the positive and negative attributes of effective leadership.

Table 2.5 GLOBE Clusters of Societies

Cluster	Countries
Anglo	Canada, United States, Australia, Ireland, England, South Africa (White sample), New Zealand
Confucian Asia	Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan
Eastern Europe	Greece, Hungary, Albania, Slovenia, Poland, Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan
Germanic Europe	Austria, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany-East, Germany-West
Latin America	Ecuador, El Salvador, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, Argentina, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Mexico
Latin Europe	Israel, Italy, Switzerland (French-speaking), Spain, Portugal, France
Middle East	Turkey, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco, Qatar
Nordic Europe	Denmark, Finland, Sweden
Southern Asia	Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Iran
Sub-Saharan Africa	Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Nigeria, South Africa (Black sample)

Adapted from House et al. (2002) The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Table 2.6 Clusters of Societies and their Cultural Value Dimensions

Cultural Dimension	High-Score Cluster	Low-Score Cluster
Uncertainty avoidance	Germanic Europe	Eastern Europe, Latin America
	Nordic Europe	Middle East
Power/hierarchy	No Clusters	Nordic Europe
Institutional collectivism	Nordic Europe	Germanic Europe, Latin America
	Confucian Asia	Latin Europe
In-Group collectivism	Confucian Asian, Eastern Europe	Anglo, Germanic Europe
	Latin America, Middle East Southern Asia	Nordic Europe
Gender	Eastern Europe	Middle East
	Nordic Europe

Adapted from House et al. (2002) The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Table 2.7 GLOBE Study of Key Leadership Behaviors

Dimension	Behaviors
Charismatic/value-based leadership	Inspires others, motivates, expect high performance; visionary, self-sacrificing, trustworthy, decisive
Team-oriented leadership	Team-building, common purpose, collaborative, integrative, diplomatic, not malevolent
Participative leadership	Participative and not autocratic; inclusive of others
Humane-oriented leadership	Supportive, considerate, compassionate and generous; modesty and sensitivity
Autonomous leadership	Independent and individualistic; autonomous and unique
Self-protective leadership	Ensures the safety and security of the leader and the group; self-centered, status conscious, face-saving, conflict-inducing

Adapted from House et al. (2002) The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Business leaders have tremendous power to change the organizational culture by utilizing several methods that address the underlying assumptions, beliefs, and values of its members; however, this is not an easy task. Culture, as explained, is oftentimes manifest in unconscious behaviors, values, and assumptions that develop over time and change as new employees enter an organization. The significance of the GLOBE study is that it helps leaders to understand the role of culture in leadership. By understanding one’s culture, as well as that of others, it brings you to awareness of different perceptions of leadership and how cultures come to understand leaders. Recognizing the elements in leadership and culture enables you to leverage the differences that cultures create and to use that to create positive intercultural growth.

Table 2.8 Leadership Behavior Profiles for Clusters

Cluster	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Eastern Europe	Autonomous	Self-protective	Charismatic	Team Oriented	Humane	Participative
Latin America	Charismatic	Team	Self-protective	Participative	Humane	Autonomous
Latin Europe	Charismatic	Team	Participative	Self-protective	Humane	Autonomous
Confucian Asia	Self-protective	Team	Humane	Charismatic	Autonomous	Participative
Nordic Europe	Charismatic	Participative	Team	Autonomous	Humane	Self-protective
Anglo	Charismatic	Participative	Humane	Team	Autonomous	Self-protective
Sub-Sahara Africa	Humane	Charismatic	Team	Participative	Self-protective	Autonomous
Southern Asia	Self-protective	Charismatic	Humane	Team	Autonomous	Participative
Germanic Europe	Autonomous	Charismatic	Participative	Humane	Team	Self-protective
Middle East	Self-protective	Humane	Autonomous	Charismatic	Team	Participative

Adapted from House et al. (2002) The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Table 2.9 List of Desirable and Undesirable Leadership Attributes from the GLOBE Research

Desirable Leadership Attributes	Undesirable Leadership Attributes
Trustworthy	Loner
Just	Asocial
Honest	Noncooperative
Foresight	Irritable
Plans ahead	Nonexplicit
Encouraging	Egocentric
Positive	Ruthless
Dynamic	Dictatorial
Motivational
Builds confidence
Intelligent
Dependable
Team builder
Communicator

Adapted from House et al. (2002) The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage