Leadership styles at Twente University and Novancia University: a cross-cultural comparison

¶ … Intercultural Differences and Similarities Between University Life in the Countries of France and Holland: Twente University vs. Novancia University

The objective of the research in this work in writing is to compare leadership styles in Holland and France and specifically, to compare leadership styles at Twente University in Holland and Novancia University in Paris. This will be achieved through a review of literature in this area of study. There are diverse concepts among various cultures of leadership and as noted in the work of Richard D. Lewis (1999) Leaders "can be born, elected, or trained and groomed. Others seize power or have leadership thrust upon them. Leadership can be autocratic or democratic, collective or individual, meritocratic or unearned, desired or imposed." (p.59)

It is not possible to easily transfer a leader from one culture to another culture. Lewis states for example that Japanese Prime Ministers "would be largely ineffective in the United States; American politicians would fare badly in most Arab countries, mullahs would not be tolerated in Norway." (Lewis, 1999, p.59) Business managers find the change from one to another culture rife with challenges however "such transfers become more and more common with the globalization of business, but the composition of international teams and particularly the choice of their leaders requires careful thought." (Lewis, 1999, p.59)

The work of Budrina (2011) states that one of the primary leadership tests is the task of "managing a diversified and dispersed workforce at home and internationally…" (p.1) It is reported that approximately 90% of leading executives from sixty-two countries "named cross-cultural leadership as the top management challenge for the next century." (Budrina, 2011, p.1) Budrina states that human resource policies in addition to "motivational strategies and performance reviews may need to be adapted for various cultural groups represented among team members. There is a need for leaders who can help teams form a local identity while still retaining the values of the organization as a whole." (2011, p.1) Budrina also states that cultural intelligence

"…is needed to achieve the right blend of flexibility and rigidity, which means "to embrace the local culture, but not to make any retreats on your values. One will get respect from the locals, if one shows understanding for the local culture/religion/behaviour, but equally respect will be gained if the locals can learn something useful from you. It is a two-way avenue, where best results and great working atmosphere is created when locals and expats are learning from each other." (2011, p.1)

There are five stated reasons for cultural intelligence including:

(1) understanding customers

(2) managing personnel

(3) recruiting talent

(4) adapting leadership style, and (5) communicating respect. (Budrina, 2011, p.1)

These five are the "most consistent reasons identified by leading executives across the world." (Budrina, 2011, p.1)

II. Leadership Style in France

Lewis (1999) reports that in the country of France that authority is "centered around the chief executive. Top managers, are individuals who have been "groomed in one of the grandes ecoles and are well-trained, charismatic, and extremely autocratic. They often appear to consult with middle managers, technical staff -- even workers, but decisions are generally personal and orders are top-down. Managers at this elite level and rarely fired when they make blunders." (Lewis, 1999, p.64)

IV. Comparison of Leadership: France vs. Netherlands

France and the Netherlands have two things in common historically and that being that each of these European powers that were the runners-up in the global seizure of land…" (Clancy-Smith and Gouda, 1998) Historically, imperial administrators are reported to have carefully studied each other's strengths and weaknesses." (Clancy-Smith and Gouda, 1998) In this endeavor the European collective knowledge of as well as power over Asians and Africans developed and there was a great concern for diversity of the people forming these regions of the world. Writings during the period of the settler societies wrote extensively in French, Dutch, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German or Italian and whenever the Europeans discussed the rights and responsibilities of