Cross-cultural leadership

Last updated

Cross-cultural psychology attempts to understand how individuals of different cultures interact with each other. [1] Along these lines, cross-cultural leadership has developed as a way to understand leaders who work in the newly globalized market. Today's international organizations require leaders who can adjust to different environments quickly and work with partners and employees of other cultures. [2] It cannot be assumed that a manager who is successful in one country will be successful in another. [3] [4]

Contents

Implicit Leadership Theory

The Implicit Leadership Theory (ILT) asserts that people's underlying assumptions, stereotypes, beliefs and schemas influence the extent to which they view someone as a good leader. Since people across cultures tend to hold different implicit beliefs, schemas and stereotypes, it would seem only natural that their underlying beliefs in what makes a good leader differ across cultures. [3] [4]

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

One of the most prominent and influential studies to date regarding leadership in a globalized world is the Hofstede dimensions of culture. The study reveals similarities as well as differences across cultures and emphasizes the need to be open-minded to understand the differences in other cultures. Hofstede utilizes six dimensions of culture to compare cultures to give leaders an understanding of how to adjust their leadership styles accordingly. These dimensions include individualism/collectivism, feminine/masculine, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, long-term/short-term orientation, and indulgence/restraint. [5] [ page needed ]

GLOBE

The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Research Project (GLOBE) study incorporated both the ILT and Hofstede's dimensions into one unique research study. The GLOBE study extended the ILT to include individuals of a common culture maintaining a relatively stable common belief about leaders, which varies from culture to culture. They labeled this the Culturally Endorsed Implicit Leadership Theory (CLT). [3] The GLOBE study came up with the nine dimensions of uncertainty avoidance, power distance, collectivism I: societal collectivism, collectivism II: in-group collectivism, gender egalitarianism, assertiveness, future orientation, performance orientation and humane orientation. [2] Some of those dimensions correlate with the respective dimension from Hofstede. However, they differ since the GLOBE dimensions distinguish between cultural values and cultural practices, as opposed to Hofstede.

Leadership styles

Paternalistic leadership

Paternalistic leadership “combines strong discipline and authority with fatherly benevolence and moral integrity couched in a ‘personalistic’ atmosphere”. [6] : 94  Paternalistic leadership is composed of three main elements: authoritarianism, benevolence, and moral leadership. [6] At its roots, paternalistic leadership refers to a hierarchical relationship in which the leader takes personal interest in the workers’ professional and personal lives in a manner resembling a parent, and expects loyalty and respect in return. [7] These leaders want to transform a team into a family-like group. They would like to know employees' quality of the life overall such as hobbies, parents' health condition, and children's education. [8]

A great deal of research has been conducted on the prevalence of this leadership style in non-Western business organizations, indicating the prevalence of paternalistic leadership in countries like mainland China and Taiwan. [9] However, considerably less research has been done on whether paternalistic leadership exists in Western cultures. Recently, there has been an increase in the amount of attention placed on paternalistic leadership in non-Western cultures. Although it is a relatively new area of focus in leadership research, evidence has been found supporting the relationship between paternalism and positive work attitudes in numerous cultures, including those of the Middle East, Latin America, and Pacific Asia. [9] Paternalistic leadership has been found to be positively associated with job satisfaction in India but not in the United States. In both countries, paternalistic leadership was positively related to leader-member exchange and organizational commitment. [10]

Transformational & transactional leadership

Transformational leadership is loosely defined as a charismatic leadership style that rallies subordinates around a common goal with enthusiasm and support. Transactional leadership is characterized by a give-and-take relationship using rewards as an incentive. [11] [ page needed ]

In a 2004 questionnaire study of employees at 10 different banks, responses indicated that only 3 of the 7 factors that were found in the ideal leadership style in Egypt corresponded with the US factors. The other 4 were unique to Egypt or perhaps the Middle East in general. These results indicate an inability to assume that transactional and transformational leadership will succeed in non-western cultures. [12] In a study of transactional and transformational leadership in China and Australia, transformational leadership predicted performance and trust in the Australian population, but only predicted trust, not performance, in the Chinese population. Transactional leadership did not predict trust or performance in either population. [13]

Other findings, however, saw a strong presence of transformational and/or transactional leadership in China, India, Kenya, and the U.S. [14] Allocentrists, similar to collectivists, respond more positively to transformational leadership because they unite individuals around a common goal. Idiocentrists (individuals found in individualistic cultures) are more amenable to transactional leaders who reward individuals for hard work and success and less amenable to leaders who encourage group work and reduce individual identity.

Effects of cultural values in management

Differences in performance of management functions (Planning, Organizing, Commanding, Coordinating, controlling) across countries arise from different value orientations.

Time focus

Different cultures have different perceptions of time according to their environment, history, traditions and general practices.

  • Monochronic - Planning is task-oriented; Organizing is structured, linear and task-focused; Commanding - put emphasis on making and following plans, managing the inflow and distribution of detailed information; Coordinating is focused on the shorter term, meets immediate needs and requirements; Controlling use control systems that depend on detailed information and involve strict deadlines. [15]
  • Polychronic - Planning is people-oriented; Organising is less structured, more holistic in nature and people-focused; Commanding - flexible, react to changing circumstances, give priority to people over plans, relies on sharing knowledge and information; Coordinating - is focused on the longer term, with concern for building relationships over time; Controlling use more flexible control systems involving people in addition to information. [15]

Time orientation

  • Past orientation - Planning put emphasis on continuing traditions; Organizing decisions are made within the context of the customs of the society, past goals and precedents guide the process of organizing; Commanding - develop vision and mission statements with emphasis on company's values and reputation; Coordinating - involves slower adapting of the criteria by which the management select and train employees; Controlling develop performance objectives in keeping with customary goals.
  • Future orientation - Planning put emphasis on long-term plans and long-term results; Organizing - work and resources are divided and co-ordinated to meet long-range goals and projections for the future ; Commanding - develop vision and mission statements with focus on achieving long-term benefits; Coordinating involves selecting and training employees to meet long-term business goals; Controlling develop performance objectives in the context of long-term goals. [16]

Power

  • Hierarchy - Planning - autocratic; Organization structure is tightly controlled, authority and responsibility are centralized; Commanding - employees are closely supervised and feel comfortable with a directive supervisor; Coordinating - subordinates expect bosses to take initiative to train, develop and promote them; Controlling - personal control preferred over impersonal control systems.
  • Equality - Planning - participative planning; Organizational structure encourages individual autonomy, authority is decentralized to lowest possible level; Commanding - participative or consultative management style, employees are not afraid to disagree with their managers; Coordinating - work relationships are not strictly prescribed in terms of behaviours and roles; Controlling - subordinates work with bosses to develop, implement, monitor and alter performance objectives. [17]

Competitiveness

  • Competitive - Planning - emphasis on speed and task performance; Organization structure individual achievement is encouraged in organizing the work, managers have more of leadership role; Commanding - leader's role is to track and reward achievement, higher stress in working process; Coordinating - employees are selected on their ability to work independently; Controlling - performance-based systems.
  • Co-operative - Planning - emphasis on maintaining relationships in plan implementation; Organization structure group integration, positive working environment, convenient schedules, managers have facilitating role; Commanding - leader's role is facilitate mutually beneficial relationships; Coordinating - employees are selected on their ability to work well in group; Controlling - task performance and team effectiveness. [18]

Activity

  • Doing cultures - Planning - developing measurable, time-framed action steps; Organizing involves action-oriented documentation for project management with clearly spelled out tasks; Commanding - managers are effective if they have the necessary expertise and competence; Coordinating - employees are chosen on their ability to carry out organizational tasks; Controlling - estimates task performance and the way how it was done.
  • Being cultures - Planning - strong focus on the vision or ideal a company wishes to attain; Organizing more focused on common vision and personal trust; Commanding - managers are effective if their personal philosophy, values and style are seen are compatible; Coordinating - career development is based not only on performance but also on personal and social criteria; Controlling - estimates effectiveness and adaptability. [19]

Space

  • Private - Planning - usage of individualistic or systematic forms of planning; Organizing approaches are centred on tasks; Commanding - managers and employees do not share the same office; Coordinating - explicit information about how staff should be employed; Controlling - managers use explicit measures of performance. [20]
  • Public - Planning - usage of group-oriented or authoritative forms of planning; Organizing approaches are centred on relationships; Commanding - location and size of office where employee works does not reflect that person's rank in the company; Coordinating - implicit information about how staff should be employed; Controlling - managers use explicit measures of performance.

Communication

  • Low-context - Planning - explicit, detailed, quantifiable and information-based; Organizing - task-responsibility guidelines are explicit; Commanding - managers get work done through others by outlining specific goals and ways to achieve them, explicit communication and depersonalized conflict; Coordinating - detailed contracts of employment and explicit performance appraisals; Controlling -task driven control in accordance with monitoring and control procedures used to ensure performance objectives.
  • High-context - Planning - implicit, less detailed in terms of instructions; Organizing - job descriptions and responsibilities are implicit and understood according to the context; Commanding - managers get work done through others by giving attention to relationships and group processes, conflicts must be resolved before work can progress; Coordinating - criteria, methods for recruitment, selection, appraisal process and firing are not explicit; Controlling -process-driven. [21]

Structure

  • Individualism - Planning - those, that involved in planning will take initiative to present their views; Organizational structure emphasize the individual in tasks assignments and resources allocation; Commanding - leaders expect employees to meet or exceed their responsibilities and defend their own interests; Coordinating - organizations are not expected to look after their employees' career development; Controlling tends to be exerted by individual standards of excellence, fear of losing self-respect discourages deviance from standards. In their research, Dickson, Den Hartog, and Mitchelson (2003) delve into the nuances of how individualism shapes leadership dynamics across different cultures. They suggest that the cultural backdrop significantly influences how leaders develop their individualistic qualities, which in turn affects their decision-making and leadership styles. [22]
  • Collectivism - Planning - plans are developed within the shared values used for measuring and justifying activities in the organization; Organizational structure emphasize the group, the team is assigned tasks and resources; Commanding - leaders expect loyalty in exchange for protection, group or top-down decisions are the norm; Coordinating - promotion is based primarily on seniority, managers are evaluated according to how well they conform to organizational or group norms; Controlling deviation from standards and expectations is discouraged through group-oriented pressure. [23]

Definitions

Organizational leadership and culture

In the leadership literature, there is a lack of consensus over how to define and refer to cross-cultural leadership. In the GLOBE study, researchers don't specifically define cross-cultural leadership; rather they outline it in two components; organizational leadership and culture. The authors describe organizational leadership as “the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members”. [2] : 494  The authors note that there is no universal definition for culture, but GLOBE's definition includes “shared motives, values, beliefs, identities, and interpretations or meanings of significant events that result from common experiences of members of collectives and are transmitted across age generations”. [2] : 494–495 

International executive

Another term for a cross-cultural leader is "international executive", defined as “an executive who is in a job with some international scope, whether in an expatriate assignment or in a job dealing with international issues more generally”. [24] : 7  International executive plays an important role in the development of enterprises, the success of multinational corporations (MNCs) largely depends on the adaptability of their leadership and the effectiveness of managing people across borders (Cullen and Parboteeah Citation 2013; Yukl Citation 2019; Javidan, Waldman, and Wang Citation 2021).

Global Leadership

Global leadership has been defined as “a process of influencing the thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of a global community to work together synergistically toward a common vision and common goals”. [25] : 204  Six core dimensions of competencies of a global leader have been identified: cross-cultural relationship skills, traits and values, cognitive orientation, global business expertise, global organizing expertise, and visioning. [25]

Operationalizations

In researching the international executive, Spreitzer et al. (1997) found that general intelligence, business knowledge, interpersonal skills, commitment, courage and ease in dealing with cross-cultural issues are traits that resonate throughout the literature in illustrating a successful international executive. They indicated a lack of academic research predictors of “international executive” success, but agree that open personality, flexibility, drive and language skills all contribute to a successful international executive. [24]

Rather than delineating a term for the leader, Rentsch, Mot, and Abbe (2009) describe a specific trait that is attributed to multicultural leadership known as multicultural perspective-taking: the ability of such leaders to “take the perspective of another within the cultural context, to apply cultural lenses, and to adapt quickly when encountering individuals or groups from unfamiliar cultures”. [26]

Cross-cultural organizational behavior refers to the overall behaviors that a cross-cultural leader should embody; that is, “cross-cultural similarities and differences in processes and behaviors at work, and the dynamics of cross-cultural interfaces in multicultural domestic and international contexts”. [7] : 480  In international business, cross-cultural competence refers to “an individual’s effectiveness in drawing upon a set of knowledge, skills, and personal attributes in order to work successfully with people from different national cultural backgrounds at home or abroad”. [27] : 530  The focus here is not on acquiring knowledge, but rather on how the individual uses knowledge they already have acquired.

In a similar study conducted by Abbe, et al. (2007), this same concept of cross-cultural competence (here referred to as 3C), was found to enable leaders to interact in any culture, as opposed to language and regional knowledge, which only work in specific cultures. 3C is dynamic and subject to develop over time. The authors established three components of cross-cultural competence, which include knowledge and cognition, cultural awareness, cross-cultural schema, and cognitive complexity. Abbe et al. (2007) found that a leader will be successful working in another culture if personal, work, and interpersonal domains are met. [1]

Implications for practice

Implications of this need for cross-cultural leaders can be seen in the human resource departments within these global organizations. There is a strong agreement across the literature that the selection process plays a key role in hiring the people who will be most effective cross-cultural leaders. The articles detail specific personality traits and individual differences that promote quality cross-cultural leadership for multicultural settings. They also all emphasize across the board the need to hire individuals who already have prior extensive international experience, beyond vacationing in a given country. [1] [24] [25] [27] [28] [29] [30]

Additionally, there have been many studies published regarding the effect of intercultural training on expatriate success. While some disagree and question the effectiveness of training, most authors indicate that there is some, if only minor, success factor in intercultural training. There is no disagreement about the need for intercultural sensitivities and communication skills; it is the process of attaining these skills that is in question. [24] [29] [28] [31]

Spreitzer, McCall Jr., Mahoney (1997) believe that executives attain these skills through continuous learning, and an array of differentiated projects and experiences which all lead to an accumulated knowledge. [24] Mintzberg and Gosling (2002) agree that executives learn through experience and note that they get to their level because of those experiences. They add that it would be detrimental to the executives to remove them from their experiential learning to sit them in a classroom and instead encourage a learning technique that incorporates classroom learning during short breaks from their job, roughly two weeks of every sixteen months. [29] Hechanova et al. (2003) add that in effective cross-cultural training that is provided by many organizations is actually more detrimental than none at all. [31]

According to Kealey and Protheroe (1996), the three most important ingredients to successful work overseas include the aptitudes and motivations of the expatriate and his immediate family, the aptitudes and motivation of the local counterparts and the overall organization of the project. [28] : 144  Therefore, while training is important, only a piece of one of the three aspects, expatriate's personal aptitudes, can be altered by training.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Abbe, Allison; Gulick, Lisa M. V.; Herman, Jeffrey L. (2007). Cross-cultural competence in Army leaders: a conceptual and empirical foundation (PDF). U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  2. 1 2 3 4 House, Robert; Javidan, Mansour; Dorfman, Peter (1 October 2001). "Project GLOBE: An Introduction". Applied Psychology. 50 (4): 489–505. doi:10.1111/1464-0597.00070. ISSN   1464-0597.
  3. 1 2 3 Javidan, Mansour; Dorfman, Peter W.; Luque, Mary Sully de; House, Robert J. (2006-02-01). "In the Eye of the Beholder: Cross Cultural Lessons in Leadership from Project GLOBE" (PDF). The Academy of Management Perspectives. 20 (1): 67–90. doi:10.5465/amp.2006.19873410. ISSN   1558-9080. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-01-30. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  4. 1 2 Brodbeck, Felix C.; Frese, Michael; Akerblom, Staffan; Audia, Giuseppe; Bakacsi, Gyula; Bendova, Helena; Bodega, Domenico; Bodur, Muzaffer; Booth, Simon (2000). "Cultural variation of leadership prototypes across 22 European countries". Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. 73 (1): 1–29. doi:10.1348/096317900166859. hdl:1871/18661. ISSN   2044-8325.
  5. ↑ Hofstede, Geert H.; Hofstede, Gert Jan (2005). Cultures and organizations: software of the mind (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN   978-0-07-143959-6. OCLC   964793633.
  6. 1 2 Farh, Jiing-Lih; Cheng, Bor-Shiuan (2000). "A Cultural Analysis of Paternalistic Leadership in Chinese Organizations". Management and Organizations in the Chinese Context. Palgrave Macmillan, London. pp. 84–130. doi:10.1057/9780230511590_5. ISBN   978-1-349-41020-0.
  7. 1 2 Gelfand, Michele J.; Erez, Miriam; Aycan, Zeynep (2007). "Cross-Cultural Organizational Behavior". Annual Review of Psychology. 58 (1): 479–514. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085559. PMID   17044797. S2CID   2071366.
  8. ↑ Mingzheng, Xiao; Xinhui, Wu (2014-03-21). "Chinese Leadership". Public Integrity. 16 (2): 165–172. doi:10.2753/pin1099-9922160204. ISSN   1099-9922. S2CID   146823585.
  9. 1 2 Pellegrini, Ekin K.; Scandura, Terri A. (June 2008). "Paternalistic Leadership: A Review and Agenda for Future Research" (PDF). Journal of Management. 34 (3): 566–593. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.1015.8690 . doi:10.1177/0149206308316063. ISSN   0149-2063. S2CID   145758040. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-07-06. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  10. ↑ Pellegrini, Ekin K.; Scandura, Terri A.; Jayaraman, Vaidyanathan (1 August 2010). "Cross-Cultural Generalizability of Paternalistic Leadership: An Expansion of Leader-Member Exchange Theory" (PDF). Group & Organization Management. 35 (4): 391–420. doi:10.1177/1059601110378456. ISSN   1059-6011. S2CID   144037126.
  11. ↑ Bass, Bernard M (1985). Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. New York: Free Press. ISBN   978-0-02-901810-1. OCLC   318324450.
  12. ↑ Shahin, Amany I.; Wright, Peter L. (1 September 2004). "Leadership in the context of culture: An Egyptian perspective". Leadership & Organization Development Journal. 25 (6): 499–511. doi:10.1108/01437730410556743. ISSN   0143-7739.
  13. ↑ Casimir, Gian; Waldman, David A.; Bartram, Timothy; Yang, Sarah (1 March 2006). "Trust and the Relationship Between Leadership and Follower Performance: Opening the Black Box in Australia and China". Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. 12 (3): 68–84. doi:10.1177/107179190601200305. ISSN   1548-0518. S2CID   143881823.
  14. ↑ Walumbwa, Fred O.; Lawler, John J.; Avolio, Bruce J. (1 April 2007). "Leadership, Individual Differences, and Work-related Attitudes: A Cross-Culture Investigation" (PDF). Applied Psychology. 56 (2): 212–230. doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2006.00241.x. ISSN   1464-0597. S2CID   144069957.
  15. 1 2 Roger Price, Marie-Joelle Browaeys (2008). Understanding cross-cultural Management. Rearson Education Limited. p. 97–. ISBN   978-0-273-70336-5.
  16. ↑ Roger Price, Marie-Joelle Browaeys (2008). Understanding cross-cultural Management. Rearson Education Limited. pp. 98–. ISBN   978-0-273-70336-5.
  17. ↑ Roger Price, Marie-Joelle Browaeys (2008). Understanding cross-cultural Management. Rearson Education Limited. pp. 100–. ISBN   978-0-273-70336-5.
  18. ↑ Roger Price, Marie-Joelle Browaeys (2008). Understanding cross-cultural Management. Rearson Education Limited. pp. 101–. ISBN   978-0-273-70336-5.
  19. ↑ Roger Price, Marie-Joelle Browaeys (2008). Understanding cross-cultural Management. Pearson Education Limited. pp. 101–. ISBN   978-0-273-70336-5.
  20. ↑ Roger Price, Marie-Joelle Browaeys (2008). Understanding cross-cultural Management. Rearson Education Limited. pp. 102–. ISBN   978-0-273-70336-5.
  21. ↑ Roger Price, Marie-Joelle Browaeys (2008). Understanding cross-cultural Management. Rearson Education Limited. pp. 104–. ISBN   978-0-273-70336-5.
  22. ↑ Dickson, Marcus W.; Den Hartog, Deanne N.; Mitchelson, Jacqueline K. (2003-12-01). "Research on leadership in a cross-cultural context: Making progress, and raising new questions". The Leadership Quarterly. 14 (6): 729–768. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2003.09.002. ISSN   1048-9843.
  23. ↑ Roger Price, Marie-Joelle Browaeys (2008). Understanding cross-cultural Management. Rearson Education Limited. pp. 105–. ISBN   978-0-273-70336-5.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 Spreitzer, Gretchen; W. McCall, Morgan; D. Mahoney, Joan (1 February 1997). "Early Identification of International Executive Potential". Journal of Applied Psychology. 82: 6–29. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.82.1.6.
  25. 1 2 3 Osland, Joyce; Bird, Allan; Mendenhall, Mark; Osland, Asbjorn (1 January 2006). Developing global leadership capabilities and global mindset: A review. doi:10.4337/9781845428235.00017. ISBN   9781845428235.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  26. ↑ Rentsch, J.R.; Mot, I.; Abbe, A. (2009). Identifying the core content and structure of a schema for cultural understanding (Report). Technical Report. Vol. 1256. Arlington, Virginia: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. p. 1. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017.
  27. 1 2 Johnson, James P.; Lenartowicz, Tomasz; Apud, Salvador (1 July 2006). "Cross-cultural competence in international business: toward a definition and a model". Journal of International Business Studies. 37 (4): 525–543. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400205. ISSN   0047-2506. S2CID   28089540.
  28. 1 2 3 Kealey, Daniel J.; Protheroe, David R. (1 March 1996). "The effectiveness of cross-cultural training for expatriates: An assessment of the literature on the issue". International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 20 (2): 141–165. doi:10.1016/0147-1767(96)00001-6. ISSN   0147-1767.
  29. 1 2 3 Mintzberg, Henry; Gosling, Jonathan (1 September 2002). "Educating Managers Beyond Borders". Academy of Management Learning & Education. 1 (1): 64–76. doi:10.5465/AMLE.2002.7373654. ISSN   1537-260X.
  30. ↑ Yamazaki, Yoshitaka; Kayes, D. Christopher (1 December 2004). "An Experiential Approach to Cross-Cultural Learning: A Review and Integration of Competencies for Successful Expatriate Adaptation". Academy of Management Learning & Education. 3 (4): 362–379. doi:10.5465/AMLE.2004.15112543. ISSN   1537-260X. S2CID   55321921.
  31. 1 2 Hechanova, Regina; Beehr, Terry A.; Christiansen, Neil D. (1 April 2003). "Antecedents and Consequences of Employees' Adjustment to Overseas Assignment: A Meta-analytic Review". Applied Psychology. 52 (2): 213–236. doi:10.1111/1464-0597.00132. ISSN   1464-0597.

32. Kumaresan, Venkat (2019). Father Of Your Team.India: BUUKS. ISBN   978-9389113891

Related Research Articles

Industrial and organizational psychology "focuses the lens of psychological science on a key aspect of human life, namely, their work lives. In general, the goals of I-O psychology are to better understand and optimize the effectiveness, health, and well-being of both individuals and organizations." It is an applied discipline within psychology and is an international profession. I-O psychology is also known as occupational psychology in the United Kingdom, organisational psychology in Australia and New Zealand, and work and organizational (WO) psychology throughout Europe and Brazil. Industrial, work, and organizational (IWO) psychology is the broader, more global term for the science and profession.

Management is the administration of organizations, whether they are a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administration respectively. It is the science of managing the resources of businesses, governments, and other organizations.

Virtual management, is the supervision, leadership, and maintenance of virtual teams—dispersed work groups that rarely meet face to face. As the number of virtual teams has grown, facilitated by the Internet, globalization, outsourcing, and remote work, the need to manage them has also grown. The following article provides information concerning some of the important management factors involved with virtual teams, and the life cycle of managing a virtual team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leadership</span> Quality of one individual or group influencing or guiding others based on authority

Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "lead", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team building</span> Term for activities used to enhance social relations and define roles within teams

Team building is a collective term for various types of activities used to enhance social relations and define roles within teams, often involving collaborative tasks. It is distinct from team training, which is designed by a combine of business managers, learning and development/OD and an HR Business Partner to improve the efficiency, rather than interpersonal relations.

Historically there have been differences among investigators regarding the definition of organizational culture. Edgar Schein, a leading researcher in this field, defined "organizational culture" as comprising a number of features, including a shared "pattern of basic assumptions" which group members have acquired over time as they learn to successfully cope with internal and external organizationally relevant problems. Elliott Jaques first introduced the concept of culture in the organizational context in his 1951 book The Changing Culture of a Factory. The book was a published report of "a case study of developments in the social life of one industrial community between April, 1948 and November 1950". The "case" involved a publicly-held British company engaged principally in the manufacture, sale, and servicing of metal bearings. The study concerned itself with the description, analysis, and development of corporate group behaviours.

Gerard Hendrik (Geert) Hofstede was a Dutch social psychologist, IBM employee, and Professor Emeritus of Organizational Anthropology and International Management at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, well known for his pioneering research on cross-cultural groups and organizations.

Team management is the ability of an individual or an organization to administer and coordinate a group of individuals to perform a task. Team management involves teamwork, communication, objective setting and performance appraisals. Moreover, team management is the capability to identify problems and resolve conflicts within a team. There are various methods and leadership styles a team manager can take to increase personnel productivity and build an effective team. In the workplace teams can come in many shapes and sizes who all work together and depend on one another. They communicate and all strive to accomplish a specific goal. Management teams are a type of team that performs duties such as managing and advising other employees and teams that work with them. Whereas work, parallel, and project teams hold the responsibility of direct accomplishment of a goal, management teams are responsible for providing general direction and assistance to those teams.

Organizational behavior or organisational behaviour is the: "study of human behavior in organizational settings, the interface between human behavior and the organization, and the organization itself". Organizational behavioral research can be categorized in at least three ways:

In cross-cultural psychology, uncertainty avoidance is how cultures differ on the amount of tolerance they have of unpredictability. Uncertainty avoidance is one of five key qualities or dimensions measured by the researchers who developed the Hofstede model of cultural dimensions to quantify cultural differences across international lines and better understand why some ideas and business practices work better in some countries than in others.According to Geert Hofstede, "The fundamental issue here is how a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: Should we try to control it or just let it happen?"

Power distance refers to the unequal distribution of power between parties, and the level of acceptance of that inequality; whether it is in the family, workplace, or other organizations.

Japanese values are cultural goals, beliefs and behaviors that are considered important in Japanese culture. From a global perspective, Japanese culture stands out for its higher scores in emancipative values, individualism, and flexibility compared to many other cultures around the world. There is a similar level of emphasis on these values in the cultures of the United States and Japan. However cultures from Western Europe surpass it in these aspects. Overall, Japanese society exhibits unique characteristics influenced by personal connections, consensus building, and a strong sense of community consciousness. These features have deep historical roots and reflect the values ingrained in Japanese society.

Organizing or organising is the establishment of effective authority-relationships among selected works, persons and workplaces in order for a group to work together efficiently, or the process of dividing work into sections and departments, which often improves efficiency.

Talent management (TM) is the anticipation of required human capital for an organization and the planning to meet those needs. The field has been growing in significance and gaining interest among practitioners as well as in the scholarly debate over the past 10 years, particularly after McKinsey's 1997 research and the 2001 book on The War for Talent. Michaels, Ed; Handfield-Jones, Helen; Axelrod, Beth (2001). The War for Talent. Harvard Business Press. ISBN 9781578514595. Talent management in this context does not refer to the management of entertainers. Talent management is the science of using strategic human resource planning to improve business value and to make it possible for companies and organizations to reach their goals. Everything done to recruit, retain, develop, reward and make people perform forms a part of talent management as well as strategic workforce planning. A talent-management strategy should link to business strategy and to local context to function more appropriately

Training and development involve improving the effectiveness of organizations and the individuals and teams within them. Training may be viewed as related to immediate changes in organizational effectiveness via organized instruction, while development is related to the progress of longer-term organizational and employee goals. While training and development technically have differing definitions, the two are oftentimes used interchangeably and/or together. Training and development have historically been topics within adult education and applied psychology but have within the last two decades become closely associated with human resources management, talent management, human resources development, instructional design, human factors, and knowledge management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory</span> Framework for cross-cultural communication

Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory is a framework for cross-cultural psychology, developed by Geert Hofstede. It shows the effects of a society's culture on the values of its members, and how these values relate to behavior, using a structure derived from factor analysis.

Global leadership is the interdisciplinary study of the key elements that future leaders in all realms of the personal experience should acquire to effectively familiarize themselves with the psychological, physiological, geographical, geopolitical, anthropological and sociological effects of globalization. Global leadership occurs when an individual or individuals navigate collaborative efforts of different stakeholders through environmental complexity towards a vision by leveraging a global mindset. Today, global leaders must be capable of connecting "people across countries and engage them to global team collaboration in order to facilitate complex processes of knowledge sharing across the globe" Personality characteristics, as well as a cross-cultural experience, appear to influence effectiveness in global leaders.

Individualistic cultures are characterized by individualism, which is the prioritization or emphasis of the individual over the entire group. In individualistic cultures people are motivated by their own preference and viewpoints. Individualistic cultures focus on abstract thinking, privacy, self-dependence, uniqueness, and personal goals. The term individualistic culture was first used in the 1980s by Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede to describe countries and cultures that are not collectivist, Hofstede created the term individualistic culture when he created a measurement for the five dimensions of cultural values.

Cultural communication is the practice and study of how different cultures communicate within their community by verbal and nonverbal means. Cultural communication can also be referred to as intercultural communication and cross-cultural communication. Cultures are grouped together by a set of similar beliefs, values, traditions, and expectations which call all contribute to differences in communication between individuals of different cultures. Cultural communication is a practice and a field of study for many psychologists, anthropologists, and scholars. The study of cultural communication is used to study the interactions of individuals between different cultures. Studies done on cultural communication are utilized in ways to improve communication between international exchanges, businesses, employees, and corporations. Two major scholars who have influenced cultural communication studies are Edward T. Hall and Geert Hofstede. Edward T. Hall, who was an American anthropologist, is considered to be the founder of cultural communication and the theory of proxemics. The theory of proxemics focuses on how individuals use space while communicating depending on cultural backgrounds or social settings. The space in between individuals can be identified in four different ranges. For example, 0 inches signifies intimate space while 12 feet signifies public space. Geert Hofstede was a social psychologist who founded the theory of cultural dimension. In his theory, there are five dimensions that aim to measure differences between different cultures. The five dimensions are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, and Chronemics.

A leadership style is a leader's method of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. Various authors have proposed identifying many different leadership styles as exhibited by leaders in the political, business or other fields. Studies on leadership style are conducted in the military field, expressing an approach that stresses a holistic view of leadership, including how a leader's physical presence determines how others perceive that leader. The factors of physical presence in this context include military bearing, physical fitness, confidence, and resilience. A leader's conceptual abilities include agility, judgment, innovation, interpersonal tact, and domain knowledge. Leaders are characterized as individuals who have differential influence over the setting of goals, logistics for coordination, monitoring of effort, and rewards and punishment of group members. Domain knowledge encompasses tactical and technical knowledge as well as cultural and geopolitical awareness.

References

See also

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.