Leadership styles across organizational and societal cultures

¶ … Organizational Culture, Societal Culture, and Leadership Styles

List of Tables (if tables used) viii

List of Figures (if figures used) ix

Leadership and Cultural Differences

Summary of Chapter and Organization of Remainder of the Study

Culture

Organizational Culture

Societal Culture

Leadership

Culture and Leadership

Leadership Theories

Transformational vs. Transactional Leadership Styles

Cultural and Leadership Attributes

Cultural Aspects of Organizational Leadership

Relationship between Organizational Leadership and Society

Current and Future Trends

Description of the Study Approach

Instruments/Measurements 105

Treatment / Intervention 116

Data Analysis

Field Tests Establishing Validity 119

Research Limitations

Validity and Reliability 122

Ethical Considerations 124

Chapter Summary

CHAPTER 4. RESULTS

Introduction

Studies

Synthesis and Evaluative Action Plan

Recommendations

Chapter Summary

CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS

Introductions

Summary of Major Aims and Objectives

Limitation of Research Designs

Implications for Future Research

Chapter and Study Summary

REFERENCES 131

APPENDIX a. Organization of the Dissertation 168

APPENDIX B. CITI Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative 169

APPENDIX C. Invitation to Participate and Informed Consent Letter 170

APPENDIX D. Capella's IRB Institutional Review Board Application 172

Table 1. Description of Transformational and Transactional Leadership 70

Table 2. Transformational / Transactional Leadership styles 71

Table 3. Bureaucratic, innovative and supportive organizational cultures 75

Table 4. Family-owned and operated organizational culture 76

Table 5. Masculine and collectivist organizational cultures 77

Table 6. Types of organizational citizenship behaviors 86

Table 7 Potential reasons why organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) influence work group and/or organizational performance 88

Table 8 Comparison of Competing Values Framework (CVF) and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ 108

CHAPTER 1.

Introduction

Leadership, or more specifically effective leadership, is every bit as crucial (if not more so) in a functional entity or organizations as it is throughout the world. Functional organizations are no different from others worldwide in terms of striving for performance in order to be globally competitive. As organizations and their environments have transformed quickly over the past years, a new style of leadership, one that is less bureaucratic and more democratic, is required in order to ensure the organization's survival and performance (Johnson, 1995).

This dissertation focused on the relationship between organizational culture, societal culture and leadership styles. In undertaking any research, it is necessary to initially establish the need for such a study and to clearly set out the intentions of the research. By so doing, a point of reference is provided against which the outcomes of the research can be assessed. This is the intention of this chapter in which the research context is set, and the aim and objectives are defined. A brief discussion of the scope of the research, research methodology and main contribution to knowledge of the study is also presented followed by an outline of the way the study is to be researched as depicted in Appendix a.

Given the increased globalization of industrial organizations and increased interdependencies among nations, the need for better understanding of cultural influences on leadership and organizational practices has never been greater. Situations that leaders and would-be-leaders must face are highly complex, constantly changing, and difficult to interpret. More than ever before, managers of international firms face fierce and rapidly changing international competition. The trend toward the global economic village is clear, and the 21st century may very well become known as the century of the "global world" (McFarland, Semen, & Childress, 1993).

This dissertation focused on the relationship between organizational culture, societal culture and leadership styles. The aim of this chapter is to provide the introduction, background and motivation for this research. The problem statement will be discussed, the aims will be specified and the research model will be explained. The paradigm perspectives of the research will be given, including the relevant paradigms, meta-theoretical statements and theoretical models. Thereafter, the research design and methodology will be presented and the chapter layout will be given.

Due to these facts, it is important for firms to be more aware of leadership style and its interrelationship with corporate culture because the fit of both variables has been noted to determine the success of firms in the future (Cartwright and Cooper, 1993; Carey and Ogden, 1998; Block, 2003) since the diverse behaviors and strength from different races and gender are likely to diminish in strong cultures as people attempt to fit in (Deal and Kennedy, 1982; Silverthorne, 2004).

Past studies show that a positive corporate culture and effective leadership style can enhance organizational commitment and increase the consistency of employee behavior (Ogbonna and Harris, 2000; Lok and Crawford, 2004). Leaders empower subordinates through their hierarchical position (Hirschhorn, 1997). The role of hierarchical position brings about some changes in leadership roles. The leader willingly becomes dependent on followers and vulnerable to their mistakes because he or she is supported by the empower subordinates. A leader hoping to manage their vulnerability actually makes the organization more vulnerable. It leads to open organizational culture (p. 139). The postmodern organization sustains a "culture of being open to others," i.e., a "culture of openness." Without such a culture the postmodern organization is likely to fail.

As leadership research has grown and expanded, an even broader focus has emerged which encompasses organizational culture (Schein, 1985). For leaders to be effective, according to this view, issues related to the culture must be clearly identified. The study of leadership coincides with the study of cultures; how leaders evolve from societal dictates and how societal dictates mold and evolve new leaders. Over the past decade, 'culture' has become a common term used when thinking about and describing an organization's internal world, a way of differentiating one organization's personality from another. In fact, many researchers contend that an organization's culture socializes people.

Hofstede (1977) studied culture within organizations. Leaders and their styles influence the way people understand society. The leader's job is to create conditions for the team to be effective (Ginnett, 1996). It is very important that an organization understand the cultural environment and recognize which type of leadership style best serves the organization's culture in order to ensure operational continuity. This research study encompasses the question of what relationship there is between organizational culture, societal culture and leadership styles.

Research on organizational culture has increased over the last three decades because researchers have concluded that culture is an important factor that contributes to the overall effectiveness of an organization (Hofstede, 1998a). Organizational culture is a cognitive phenomenon, and employees have common norms, values and beliefs; consequently, it becomes a direct link to understanding and influencing how people in an organization think and act (Trice & Beyer, 1993). The researcher sets to explore the relationship between culture and leadership and to determine the extent of cultural influence on leadership. As leadership research has grown and expanded, an even broader focus has emerged which encompasses organizational culture (Stein, 1985b). For leaders to be effective, according to this view, issues related to the culture must be clearly identified.

Before defining leadership, leadership empirical studies have focused on the characteristics of efficient leadership, leadership practices or the skills and characteristics of a leader. How should a leader go about the task of coping with change? What types of behavior should one use to be most effective? What are the special leadership dynamics that occur in the typical organizations? Is there a preferred leadership model for use in the typical organizations? Is there a leadership model that is uniquely unsuited for use in the typical organizations? Leadership is one of the world's oldest preoccupations. It occurs in all groups of people regardless of geography, culture, or nationality. Leadership in organizations often plays a critical role, and is frequently, although not always, one of the major drivers of the success or failure of a company (Bass, 1990).

Leadership is one of the world's oldest preoccupations (Bass, 1990). It occurs in all groups of people regardless of geography, culture, or nationality. Leadership in organizations often plays a critical role, and is frequently, although not always, one of the major drivers of the success or failure of a company (Carl & Javidan, 2001; Dorfman & Howell, 1997).

As leadership research has grown and expanded, and even broader focus has emerged which encompasses organizational culture (Stein, 1985b). For leaders to be effective, according to this view, issues related to the culture must be clearly identified. One such cultural issue that is relevant to studies of leadership is the concept of change (Ouchi, 1981). Leaders and the organizations they serve must be able to adapt to change (i.e., shift to other, more appropriate behaviors), as the environments shifts and develop. Baron (1995) found that organizations that have tried to resist change in the external environment (e.g., new technology, mergers and acquisitions, global competition, environmental concerns, unstable economy) have experienced more difficulties than organizations that have responded positively to change. Leaders must also be able to successfully manage the internal environments of the areas they oversee through regulation of such features as budgeting, project management, labor cost, recruitment and retention, policies and procedures, and federal and state regulations. Managing the internal environments and the changes that must take place helps leaders develop the culture of the organization.

Over the past decade, 'culture' has become a common term used when thinking about and describing an organization's internal world, a way of differentiating one organization's personality from another. In fact, many researchers contend that an organization's culture socializes people (Stein, 1985) and that leadership styles are an integral part of the culture of an organization. A culture-specific perspective reflects the view that the occurrence and the effectiveness of certain leadership behaviors (as well as constructs) is likely to be unique to a given culture.

In contrast, leaders in the culture-universal position contend that certain leadership constructs are comparable across cultures and that many universal leadership behaviors do exist. Only recently, based on the review by Bass (House, 1998), has the leadership research community begun to realize that universal and culture-specific leadership behaviors and constructs are not mutually exclusive categories, but can rather coexist in a single culture at the same time.

Conventionally the culture literature is divided into two broad streams (Smirchich, 1983). One stream approaches culture as an 'attribute', something an organization 'has', along with other attributes such as structure and strategy. Another stream of literature regards culture more globally as defining the whole character and experience of organizational life, i.e. what the organization 'is'. Here organizations are construed as cultures existing in, and reproduced through, the social interaction of participants. Some scholars view the 'organization as culture' approach as but one of a range of paradigms used in organizational analysis. From that relativist perspective, a global definition of organizational culture may be termed as the 'culture as metaphor' approach (Smirchich, 1983).

While the debate over "nature vs. nurture" continues, many authorities agree that some leaders are born while others can learn how to become effective leaders in an organizational environment. As in all these debates, the answer often lies in the simplistic premise that both are right, and both are wrong. In the past, leaders have been traditionally seen in many cultures as those who have been advantaged by their heritage, but current theorists and researchers view leadership as learned behaviors (Bernard, 1926; Blake, Shepard, & Mouton, 1964; Drath & Palus, 1994; Fiedler, 1967; House & Mitchell, 1974). Organizational culture is shaped by varying aspects of organizational life, such as strategies, interpersonal relationships, and context (Dension & Mishra 1995) which vary across and within cultures. Because virtually everything that characterizes a society is based on humanity, and a society's culture is based on what humans do, say, want and feel the relationship between organizational culture and the larger society in which it exists are absolutely inextricable.

In the increasingly multicultural society that exists in the United States today, these issues have assumed new relevance and importance. Touraine (2000) explored the question of how we might live together in a globalizing society in which our differences are being heightened, as communities increasingly define their identities against the encroaching forces of globalization. He argues that under the global conditions, our cultural distinctiveness increasingly risks being eroded by homogenized mass culture, making us increasingly introverted as we fight to defend ourselves against outside forces. As Fairholm (1994) pointed out,

Of all the new and pressing problems the chief officers in our large-scale organizations face day-to-day one stands out. It is the challenge of creating and maintaining an organizational culture, that fits the nature of the work done and the character and capacities of its growingly diverse workforce" (p. 7).

According to Parvis (2003), the issue of cultural diversity has received an increasing amount of attention in recent years for several reasons, including (a) "the melting pot" has been replaced by the term "multiculturalism"; (b) the influx of immigrants into many major metropolitan areas of the United States has generated multiple concerns. These concerns have advocates from civil and human rights organizations demanding unprecedented attention from local authorities; and - following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a number of American organizations have identified a need to provide educational workshops in cultural diversity for their employees to diminish tensions in the workplace. While it is reasonable to posit that everyone can contribute to the accomplishment of an organization's goals. But managing people to act in a common direction to achieve a common goal can be one of the hardest things mere humans every have to do in their lives, and when a number of different cultures are involved, the task can assume gargantuan proportions.

In the essay, "Of Reason, Morality, and Ethics: The Way of Effective Leadership in a 'Multicultural Society,'" Campbell (2000) noted early on that,

The concept of the United States being the 'Great Melting Pot,' creating a stronger whole from the diversity of its members. Not only is it no longer true, but the very opposite seems to be actively occurring: Differences between our citizens be they real, pseudo-cultural, substantial or insignificant are being used as catalysts to stratify the melting pot. Commonalties of our society are being ignored in favor of differences" (p. 23).

These problems, though, are certainly not unique to the School District in Miami-Dade County in the State of Florida. In the United States and across Europe in general; and the United Kingdom in particular, for example, multiculturalism is the theme and increasing social unrest has been the response. Connor (1994, 2004) was among the first to argue that an increase in international contacts is often accompanied by an increase in international conflict. Some contacts are bound to generate clashes, not encounters, and further separation, rather than the fusion of cultures.

Most change in complex systems is emergent; that is to say it comes about as a result of the interactions between the 'agents' in the system. In an organization the agents are people -- "themselves complex systems said Mihata (1997). The same forces that are inexorably driving globalization are also fueling these multicultural trends, and like it or not, the workplace of the early 21st century is going to be a vastly different place than what many people have experienced in the past. Consequently, Parvis (2003) first points out that, "In every society, community, and workplace alike, diversity is prominent," and then recommends, "We should not only focus on diversity within each culture, but also address cultural diversity as a national theme states (p. 37)

Most diversity experts believe that there is significant distinctions in culture diversity are race, ethnicity, culture, religion, language, nation of origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical abilities, occupation, and class" Parvis (2003, p. 37). Because all organizations exist and compete within a larger social and cultural sphere, this learner suggests that it is therefore important for organizations of all types to seek to reflect this diversity in their own workforces as well.

In fact, Bajdo and Dickson (2001) emphasize that the issue of gender is frequently overlooked in studies of organizational culture, and the fact that most organizational cultures have been shaped predominantly by men suggests that gender views of the larger society in which the organization competes will be mirrored in their organizations to assure equity and diversity.

Bajdo and Dickson (2001) stated the following:

Organizations tend to reinforce the value system of the dominant gender. For example, in cultures predominantly shaped by men, there is an emphasis on hierarchy, independence, and top -- down communication. In cultures primarily influenced by women, there is likely to be more emphasis on interpersonal relationships and the sharing of power" (p. 399).

Because of anti-discriminatory laws in the United States, more companies can be assured a likely pool of heterogeneous employees. Davidson (1999) claimed, "Above all, given the changes in today's world, we need to live our lives, and manage our workplaces to promote the benefits of diversity for humankind now and the generation to come" (p. 1). Unfortunately, most businesses ignore the consequences of global and local demographic changes on their business operations. Obviously, different organizations are at varying stages in this transformation of understanding the ramifications of diversity.

These are also other important considerations for organizational leaders who are already faced with an increasingly competitive marketplace and a shaky economy and many companies may not enjoy the luxury of experimenting with various combinations of cross-cultural workers to identify a perfect mix and there is no room for false starts and experimentation when people are involved. Indeed, these fundamental shifts in demographic composition have introduced a number of challenges to leaders of all types of organizations today. In doing so, identifying best practices becomes particularly difficult in view of the increasingly competitive and dynamic globalized marketplace in which these companies are competing. Certainly, it is possible and therefore desirable to discern some good examples from bad when it comes to effective leadership in various organizational settings in this environment today, and this relationship between organizational culture and the larger society in which it exists is the focus of the proposed study which is to be further discussed.

Because globalization has increased over the last twenty five years, leaders must now pay close attention to multiculturalism because it has become even more important to monitor the influence of various national cultures on overall organizational performance and team effectiveness (Trice & Beyer, 1993; Hofstede, 1998a & 1998b). Using this study, the writer will explore the relationship between culture and leadership and determined the extent of cultural influence on leadership. Increasing the body of knowledge by understanding which leadership styles work best in discrete organizational cultures will most definitely improve organizations' ability to apply this knowledge to select the best leaders for the culture.

In order to investigate systematically this empirical relationship between culture and performance, it is necessary to have a conceptual framework that brings together in a logical manner all the essential aspects to be investigated, and provides appropriate parameters and points of reference for investigating culture within an operational context. The dissertation consists of five (5) chapters, organized as shown in Appendix a. Chapter one outlines the context within which the research is undertaken, and sets out the aim and objectives. The scope and the research methodology applied are also briefly outlined, and then the main contributions of the research to knowledge are presented. The study ends with the discussion and interpretation of results, followed by discussion on limitations of the study and proposals for further research.

Background of the Study

Deming (1986; 2000) and Drucker (1998) strongly advocate the need for organizations to constantly transform to fit the reality of their environment. The environmental contexts of organizations encompass the society, the markets, and the customer base and technology fields in which they operate. This complex context is clearly influenced by the make up of the population and only a continually responsive and learning manager can address this. This research provides a means to managers on how to transform organizations in response to a continually changing population profile.

Researchers have been discussing the definition of leadership for many years with differing results however; most agree that leaders have a perceived influence on organizational members (Bohn & Grafton, 2002; Rost, 1991). Over the past two decades there has been some concurrence among organizational behavior scholars concerning leadership styles such as transactional (actions) and transformational (changes). The research on transactional and transformational leadership was developed by Burns (1978) and further refined by Bass (1985); and will be applied to situational efforts throughout the dissertation.

The focus of all leadership research shifting from traditional to transactional models of leadership has charisma as the central concept (Pillai, Schriesheim, & Williams, 1999). Transformational (change) leadership studies have demonstrated leaders who will be charismatic and visionary are those who inspired followers to transcend their own self-interest for the good of the organization. It is against this backdrop that this research project is being undertaken with research hypotheses designed to provide answers about the extent to which organizational culture varies with functions, and the effects that these various cultures have on performance outcomes. These answers will help bridge the clearly identified gaps in knowledge that have informed this investigation, relating for instance to the existence or otherwise of differences in cultural orientations on work projects, and if the existence of such differences lead to significantly different performance outcomes. Such an empirical study of the relationship between organizational culture and work performance will provide a significant contribution to the body of knowledge on culture as it relate to performance in a predominately foreign born employee work environment.

Transformational leadership is explained using a combination of behavioral and trait theories. Hence, to some, the transformational leader is seen as a change agent (Doyle & Smith, 2001). To change not only requires great skills in management and leadership but the willingness and ability not only to adapt to human nature and societal norms but to recognize the cost/benefit of the change. It is this direction that this study will be focused and developed.

The leadership of an organization is bound to affect the culture, but why and to what extent is unclear. The researcher decided to focus on the above aim by addressing a gap in the literature. Therefore, this research is not only designed to identify any such gaps, but to focus and develop on scholarly and peer-reviewed literature; which exhibit and support any relationship that exist between organizational and societal cultures and leadership styles.

Statement of the Problem

Business Management education does not adequately prepare its operational leaders to create or foster an effective organization. Likewise, it does not prepare these leaders to diagnose and remedy an organization that has become ineffective in combating its greatest challenge: a chronic lack of morale and performance. While there are many studies pertaining to food service leadership, only a few have utilized an organizational culture model to anticipate and/or recruit individuals who exhibit the abilities to shift among appropriate leadership roles

The success or failure of an organization depends largely on the quality of its management and leadership people; however, the highly involved, inspirational leader may not be the optimal solution or connection for all circumstances. At times it takes a very small but significant attribute to make such a connect. Specifically, to the extent that a company's management fails to fully understand and appreciate its workers' unique culture is likely the extent to which the company's leadership style will be ineffective in achieving its organizational goals. Therefore, the problem to be addressed by the study envisioned herein is to determine the relationship, between organizational leaders' knowledge of their corporate culture and their employees' culture as measured by Bass's (1985) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ).

The population to be studied in this dissertation will be a select of 23 cafeteria supervising coordinators and 106 secondary school cafeteria managers who are assigned within the Miami-Dade County School District, in the State of Florida, but there will be a specific focus on how these issues affect organizational culture and leadership styles in promoting organizational citizenship behaviors in practice.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study will be to develop a leadership-management culture model to which can be adapted as standard operating procedure in the organization with multi-cultural attributes. Much research has been conducted on both leadership and organizational culture as separate and distinct subject areas. However, the relationship between the two concepts has been given much less attention (Alvesson, 1993; Butler, Cantrell, & Flick, 1999; Howell & Hall-Marenda, 1999).

Additionally, a majority of leadership research has been done on top executive management and has embraced a narrow definition of leadership (Ayman, Chemers, & Fiedler, 1995). McCall (1978) suggested that a leadership team of an organization does not act in isolation, but within the context of the organizational environment. The leadership of an organization is bound to affect the culture, but why and to what extent is unclear. Therefore, this research will be focused on the relationship between organizational culture, societal culture and leadership style.

Rationale

Because resources are by definition scarce, it is important for a company's leadership team to take advantage of opportunities for improvement and avoid the missteps and pitfalls that frequently go hand in hand with expanding operations into unknown cultural territories. Therefore, to the extent that an organization's leader is able to overcome these challenges and take advantage of the benefits that are afforded to diverse workplaces, is the extent to which the company will be able to remain competitive in an increasingly globalized marketplace.

To achieve these lofty goals a careful assessment of the culture of an organization and how it promotes an atmosphere that is conducive to workplace harmony rather than chaos is required. A recurrent theme that runs through the literature on effective leadership in virtually any cultural setting was the need to align an organization's interests and core values with those of its employees.

Fairholm (1994) emphasized,

Leaders are identified, flourish, and grow in situations where they and their followers share unifying values, ideals, and goals. Leaders are successful when they unite individuals in collaborative action without losing too much of the individual freedom they and their followers want" (p. 7).

There is clearly a reciprocal element involved in this process, wherein good leaders become even better and then become able to inspire followers to even greater accomplishments. Although such synergistic organizational settings are the exception rather than the rule, some companies have managed to succeed where others have failed and these issues are discussed in general and as they apply to leadership, organizational culture and the larger societal culture in Chapter 2.

Significance of the Study

This study is important from several perspectives. The significance of the proposed study relates to the ongoing need for effective leadership in all types of organizations and how these leaders go about accomplishing organizational goals. Organizations invest considerable time, effort, and money into initiatives that are designed to gain a better understanding of the culture and the performance needs of employees, particularly managers and leaders. Identifying which leadership styles work best for the organization and then determining what type of culture exists requires critical, accurate, and reliable measurement to insure cultural understanding is at its best

Fairholm (1994) emphasized,

Leaders are identified, flourish, and grow in situations where they and their followers share unifying values, ideals, and goals. Leaders are successful when they unite individuals in collaborative action without losing too much of the individual freedom they and their followers want" (p. 7).

This study is significant for leaders and managers in any organization serving a diverse workforce. The analysis may be useful in helping these leaders and managers to become more effective in managing a diverse staff, addressing staff needs, and providing services that meet the needs of workers. Because many organizations are characterized by a diversity of cultures in the workplace today, it is important to understand how such differences can positively and adversely impact an organization's performance.

Many organizational leaders may view the current trends towards multicultural workplaces with alarm, and believe that nothing good can come of such differences in organizations. Today, we are in a position to do something about it. Many leadership theorists have found that ineffective leadership in any organization seems to be the major cause of diminishing the organization's productivity and downward positioning of North American corporations on the international scale (Yukl, 1994).; thus the need to be ever aware of the multicultural attribute. Still others, though, have taken another approach by identifying opportunities on how best to take advantage of such diversity within their organizations.

Many leadership theorists have found that ineffective leadership in any organization seems to be the major cause of diminishing the organization's productivity and downward positioning of North American corporations on the international scale (Yukl, 1994). In this regard, Parvis (2003) emphasized that,

Although some people think that diversity does nothing but create problems and challenges, it offers remarkable benefits. Among the benefits is variety in local customs, ideas, and styles, forms of devotion, vision, creativity, innovation, histories, and lifestyles. This variety enhances and enriches our lives in many ways" (p. 37).

Notwithstanding these potentially "remarkable benefits," it is reasonable to suggest that many people from the mainstream culture may view such diversity with the same alarm as their leaders. Unfortunately, longstanding prejudices, stereotypes and misperceptions can disrupt even the most effective organization. As Parvis (2003) pointed out,

Difficulties arise from workplace challenges to diversity such as disparage treatment, racism, sexism, homophobia, and ageism, which can disrupt and create a hostile environment. These challenges, if not detected and resolved via constructive leadership, will lead to loss of innovative potential and ultimately to failure in the undertakings of an organization" (p. 37).

Therefore, it is expected that this research would add insights into understanding the relationship between organizational culture, societal culture and leadership styles.

From the above discussion it is obvious that culture affects the performance of organizations and it is highly embedded in societal norms and value system. Learning culture is a best-practice attribute tool when appropriately used, not only to identify organizational problems, but as a vehicle to address cultural diversity in the work-place. Moreover, it is important to understand the socio-cultural values of society while studying the culture of organizations. Furthermore, this study informs organizational culture theory development through the explication of empirically verified dimensions of organizational culture found in high-level hiring of foreign born workers.

Assumptions and Limitations

All research (whether quantitative or qualitative) is based on some underlying assumptions about what constitutes 'valid' research and which research methods are appropriate. Regarding the limitations of this study, even though thorough literature reviews on empirical organizational culture studies have been carried out, there still might be relevant literature not yet included in the analysis. Studies that examine similar type of issues but do not explicitly state to study organizational culture will be not included. Regarding the paths for future work, clearly more empirical organizational culture studies are needed to understand in depth the turbulent and constantly changing contexts of technological development and use, and the role culture plays in the implementation of the different kinds of organizational change efforts

Related to this, this study stresses the importance of a priori assumptions regarding the object of study. It depends on the conceptions of culture and change the researcher has adopted how'd (he) sees and understands the world, and what kind of conclusions s (he) arrives at. Documents, interview, and focus group participants will be selected based on their availability and relevancy, and thus may reveal only certain aspects of the organization and programs (Patton, 1990).

Furthermore, interview and focus group data relied on hand-recorded notes, less preferable to audio-recordings (Maxwell, 1996) but a necessary delimitation. Organizational results of this study are not affected by the inclusion of multiple organizations. It was assumed that all organizations that participated in this study will be similar in nature, and unique qualities did not significantly impact the findings. Information provided by the respondents will be accurate.

Results will be sufficient to assess the relationship between leadership styles and organizational culture. Results will be sufficient to assess the relationship between leadership styles and organizational effectiveness outcomes. As always, bias is a possibility, because "stories that tell history are always biased; none can ever document the truth" (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000, p. 375

Nature of the Study

The dissertation expected to identify pertinent traits that characterize effective leaders in various organizational, societal and leadership settings. The importance of these outcomes relates to the increasingly multicultural society in the Miami-Dade County School District, within the State of Florida, in practice as well as for the United States and the forces that are not only fueling individual organizations but globalization of the marketplace.

Leadership and Cultural Differences

The theories and models on organizational culture that will be explored for further examination are contained in the research of Denison (1990); Stein (1990); Kotter and Heskett (1992); and Goffee and Jones (1998). The organizational culture is the character of the corporation and is made up of several components, some of which are directly observable and others which are based on beliefs, values and underlying assumptions. Together these form the foundation of an organization's management system and practices and will be introduced here.

Hofstede (1991) defined culture as "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group of society from those of another" (p. 5). Cultural distance has been defined as "the extent to which different cultures are similar or different" (Shenkar, 2001, p. 163). According to Hofstede (1991; 2001), each nation is characterized by cultural dimensions, such as: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism and masculinity/feminity. The variation of these dimensions across nations creates cultural differences that drive nations to behave differently with respect to leadership. The GLOBE research project, initially defined by House in 2001, focused on the relationship between organizational culture, societal culture and leadership (House et.al, 2002; Javidan & House, 2001). The results of this study managed to identify attributes that are either universally positive or universally negative or culturally contingent for inhibiting and/or promoting good leadership.

There are many different leadership styles to adapt-- some more effective than others. Transactional and transformational leadership styles have been studied extensively. There has been a great deal of interest over the past 20 years in testing a new paradigm of transformational and transactional leadership (Avolio et al. 1999; Bass, 1998a; Bass & Avolio, 1994). This researcher examined the relationship between leadership styles, organizational culture, and organizational leadership effectiveness outcomes.

Cultural influence on leadership is a difficult topic to study. The cross-cultural nature of research increases the research design complexity, complicates data gathering procedures and makes the interpretation of the obtained results more difficult. A substantive complication in cross-cultural research was that the variety of contexts in which multicultural surveys will be embedded means that salient alternative explanations and hypotheses multiply, as did the sources of error and bias that complicate and hinder understanding. Therefore, although many studies on cultural influence on leadership have been conducted to date, the results remain ambiguous and contradictory. Consequently, two opposing views on the nature of cultural influence on leadership coexist simultaneously, both partially supported by empirical studies.

Newman and Stanley (1996) wrote,

The basic argument of the culture-specific position is that different environments create different leaders. What represents appropriate leadership in one setting does not have to be appropriate for a differently programmed group of followers. The basic argument of the universalistic perspective is that leadership is a basically universal phenomenon, common to all cultures, which may sometimes vary because of local cultural idiosyncrasies, but it is generally more similar than different across cultures. Both perspectives will be reviewed in more detail in the reset of this section (p. 779)

Proponents of the culture-specific perspective maintain that the occurrence and effectiveness of leadership is likely to be unique to a given culture. They argue that the values, beliefs, norms, and ideals that are embedded in a culture affect leadership behavior and goals, as well as structure, culture, and strategies of organizations. Newman (1996) further stated:

National culture is a central organizing principle of employees' understanding of work, their approach to it, and the way in which they expect to be treated. National culture implies that one way of action or one set of outcomes is preferable to another (p. 773).

Based upon these ideas, culture creates conceptions of leadership. Some authors believed that the entire concept of leadership is perceived differently in different societies, such as Africa or Asia. In a behavioral tradition of leadership research, Sinha (1980) argues that concern for task and concern for people are integrated in a specific way in the Indian "nurturant-task leader." The personal character of the relationship with a father-like role for the leader appears to be the most outstanding feature of such leadership.

The nurturant-task leader "understands the expectations of his subordinates. He knows that they relish dependency and personalized relationship, accept his authority and look towards him for guidance and direction" (Sinha, 1980, p. 95). In many cases, observed cross-cultural differences are a product of research design limitations and flaws (such as unmatched sampling and disregard for confounding variables), or the differences could be attributed to some variables other than culture. Consequently, the magnitude of "pure" cultural influence on leadership might be negligible and insignificant.

Finally, forces of modernization and globalization are boosting cultural congruence, at least at the level of organizational and business practices. These are strongly influenced by contingencies such as the size of organizations, organizational technologies, organizational strategy, and the stability of the organizational environments. It is likely that such variables have a much more direct and significant impact on leadership than culture (Kerr, 1983; Blyton, 2001).

The study of culture over the last 25 years has become important because organizational effectiveness requires logical, tactical and strategic thinking to enhance a culture by it leaders (Bass & Avolio, 1993). Leaders using these paradigms are able to create and build a vision for the organization's future and shape an organizational culture that will be supportive of and committed to their shared vision.

Ultimately that vision could determine the organization's success and the leadership's effectiveness (Bass & Avolio, 1993).

Bass (1985) pointed out that an organization's culture is built from its leadership. For example, transformational leaders who understand cultural variables could adjust the culture, realigning it to fit a changed organization, and then revise cultural values and norms. These types of leaders believes that if the organizational culture is supportive, innovative and satisfying; then leaders can continue to strengthen the organizational values, motivate followers to increase productivity, empower followers to take on responsibilities in ways that promote organizational and leadership effectiveness (Bass, 1985; Bass & Avolio, 1993).

On the other hand, transactional leaders work with the existing rules, norms and procedures of the organization's culture, and reward followers for positive work, and also work to maintain the existing culture (Bass, 1985). The transactional leaders base their decision-making and actions on existing norms, values, and procedures (Bass, 1985). Transactional leaders, on the other hand, can deter organizational success and leadership effectiveness (Bass, 1985).

Leadership style has received a great deal of attention from human resource development researchers (HRD) in the past years (Woodwall, 2000). Some studies will be focused on building a HRD knowledge base in countries where this is low or inexistent (Kuchinke, 1999), whereas others try to identify the compatibility between different leadership styles and the national cultural characteristics. Ardichvili and Kuchinke (2002) used Hofstede's cultural dimensions and the extensive theory developed by Bass and Avolio to determine the leadership styles that are more likely to be correlated to different cultural characteristics in former USSR countries, Germany and the United States.

The results suggested that leadership development based on national dimensions as described by Hofstede should be considered with caution because countries with similar cultural features and geographical proximity may display different leadership styles. Further