Leadership challenges in multinational organizations across Eastern and Western cultures

.....multinational organization determines to integrate its leaders. Which of the leaders will experience the greatest challenges to their power, influence, and authority: the Eastern leaders coming into Western offices or the Western leaders coming into Eastern offices? Why?

This question is problematic because it has several underlying assumptions that need to be addressed. First, there is no indication of where the multinational organization is based, which would impact its core organizational culture and vision. Second, the question assumes homogeneity among people considered "Eastern" and "Western." These are value-laden as well as outmoded binaries. Moreover, an Eastern person can be Indian or Chinese, or Korean, or any number of other Asian cultures with completely different attitudes and practices regarding power, influence, authority, and leadership styles.

For example, Indian leaders and American leaders both tend to be "hard drivers," but one is technically "Eastern" and one is "Western," according to this binary (Bersin, 2012). The "Western" person could be from an "Eastern" background and thus have a blend of leadership and communication styles. Within a cohort of Indian leaders, there are diverse ethnic groups and gender factors that might impact power, influence and authority. Likewise, an American will have different leadership styles and attitudes towards power, influence, and authority versus someone from Scandinavia.

The background and experience level of the leaders, their exposure to diverse workplace environments and organizational cultures, the organization's policy toward diversity, and its gender composition will all have strong bearings on whether "the Eastern leaders coming into Western offices or the Western leaders coming into Eastern offices" will experience the greatest challenges. For example, Froese, Kim & Eng (2016) found that "implementing a common corporate language and making their organizations more multicultural" helped all leaders -- both inpatriates and expatriates (p. 283). Lisak & Erez (2015) found that "cultural intelligence, global identity and openness to cultural diversity" were far more important qualities for leadership integration than whether the person was "Eastern" or "Western," (p. 3).

References

Bersin, J. (2012). How Does Leadership Vary Across the Globe? Forbes. 31 Oct, 2012. Retrieved online: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2012/10/31/are-expat-programs-dead/#35d85da31e07

Froese, F.J., Kim, K. & Eng, A. (2016). Language, Cultural Intelligence, and Inpatriate Turnover Intentions: Leveraging Values in Multinational Corporations through Inpatriates. Management International Review 56(2): 283-301.

Lisak, A. & Erez, M. (2015). Leadership emergence in multicultural teams: The power of global characteristics. Journal of World Business 50(1): 3-14.

2. What is the most difficult adjustment a new leader entering a multicultural workplace should expect to encounter? Why? What behaviors, styles, and traits should the leader use to ease the adjustment? Why?

A new leader entering a multicultural workplace should expect to encounter a colleagues who are open-minded, tolerant, and who score high on the three global characteristics most evident in multicultural teams: "cultural intelligence, global identity and openness to cultural diversity," (Lisak & Erez, 2015, p. 3). The new leader should endeavor to adopt these three traits too, to ease the adjustment and promote social harmony in the organization.

This is in fact the benefit of a multicultural organization: it has officially adopted an organizational culture of openness, which allows the new leader to express his or her leadership traits. Emotional intelligence and listening skills will help, but even behaviors like these do not mean that all new leaders will smoothly fit into their new environment. One of the most significant challenges for any new leader shifting to a new culture could be language, which is why adopting a formal corporate language can be helpful in a multicultural organization (Froese, Kim & Eng, 2016). It also depends on where the organization is located, and what "multicultural" actually means. The behaviors, styles, and traits of leaders in a Singaporean multicultural organization will be different from one in Germany or the USA. A multicultural organization is by definition dedicated to policies, programs, procedures, and protocols that encourage and facilitate cross-cultural dialogue, conflict resolution, and ongoing supports. Therefore, a new leader entering an organization that is not multicultural or which is outright homogenous might have a far greater difficulty adjusting, especially if the new leader is from a culture that is in the minority in the new organization. Gender issues might be far more pertinent, too. A new female leader entering an organization that is patriarchal in nature, even if it is multicultural, might have a much harder time adjusting than her male counterpart would because of the normative behaviors, communication styles, and leadership traits exhibited in the organization. If the new leader is not used to working in a multicultural environment, then he or she might need to undergo cultural sensitivity training.

References

Froese, F.J., Kim, K. & Eng, A. (2016). Language, Cultural Intelligence, and Inpatriate Turnover Intentions: Leveraging Values in Multinational Corporations through Inpatriates. Management International Review 56(2): 283-301.

Lisak, A. & Erez, M. (2015). Leadership emergence in multicultural teams: The power of global characteristics. Journal of World Business 50(1): 3-14.