GLOBE Research Project: Cross-Cultural Leadership Explained

Introduction

As the process of globalization erodes trade barriers, heightens multinational corporate activity, and creates ever more culturally diverse organizations, it is incumbent upon businesses to adapt. How this adaptation takes place, however, is highly contingent upon dimensions of national culture, meaning that each nation involved in the process of economic globalization will face its own distinct opportunities, challenges, strengths, and weaknesses as it makes room for and optimizes the presence of multinational and multicultural businesses. In many instances, the success with which a nation integrates multiculturalism into its corporate identity is tantamount to the economic success that nation is likely to experience as the scope of globalization continues to widen. There is, thus, a particular value to an endeavor that seeks to provide metrics for — and consequently seeks to measure the progress of — individual nations in managing the cultural implications of globalization in the context of organizational behavior. For the purposes of the research conducted hereafter, the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Research Project (GLOBE) will serve as such an endeavor.

The research conducted hereafter will examine the role played by the GLOBE project in measuring cross-cultural leadership as it exists in 62 distinct nations. This will include consideration of the importance of this role to business practices in each context, the value of this role where the furthering of investigation in the social sciences is concerned, and the implications of this role where such correlated matters as international labor rights, human rights, and environmental standards are involved. Consequently, the study will give some consideration to the impact that the GLOBE project may have on the future of cross-cultural leadership and of organizational behavior in multinational, multicultural contexts.

What Is Global Leadership?

The process of globalization is not just changing the way that nations interact or the way that firms prospect growth. It is also having a dramatic transformative impact on the way that leadership must be oriented both within nations and within firms. This is a central premise in defining the concept of "global leadership" — a notion which scarcely existed in the context of business just a few decades ago, yet has proven increasingly important as a way of ensuring that business practices align with the cultural needs of the countries that host them. With the list of potential host nations expanding substantially with the ratification of every international free trade agreement, the need to achieve a clear understanding of global leadership has become ever greater.

According to Goldsmith et al. (2003), catalyzing changes are now occurring which are diminishing the relevance of many historical leadership theories — particularly those that make no account for the implications of cross-cultural interaction. As Goldsmith et al. explain:

"Traditional business patterns are changing as globalism spreads. Convergence within industries, marked by the mergers of the 1980s and 1990s, has been compounded by convergence between industries. Alliances, partnerships, and strategic outsourcing create new global models, never experienced before, which give access to the full range of skills, resources, and market offerings that success now demands. Executive leadership models of the past provide little guidance for creating models of the future. In a complex global business environment, no specific, single model will fit the broad range of situations that leaders will encounter." (Goldsmith, p. 1)

This passage may offer the single most instructive feature by which to define global leadership. The fact that no singular approach to leadership is sufficient to account for the cultural needs of the whole global community has significant implications for how we define and pursue the concept. Most importantly, without acknowledgement of the cultural diversity that so often dictates the expectations of leadership, the label "global" will not meaningfully apply. This provides the appropriate segue into a discussion of how culture functions to determine leadership effectiveness in a globalizing business environment.

The Interrelation of Culture and Leadership Effectiveness

In the simplest terms, House et al. (2002) introduce the idea of culture into this discussion by observing that geographical differences have contributed to a wide variance of concurrently evolving but wholly distinct cultural histories. They also note that within today's business world, these distinct cultural histories are undergoing a dramatic coalescence unlike anything previously experienced by humankind. As House et al. explain, "throughout mankind's history, geography, ethnicity, and political boundaries have helped create distinctions and differences among different peoples. Over time, societies have evolved into groups of people with distinguishable characteristics that set them apart from other human communities. It is only in the latter part of the 20th century that advances in technology and improvements in telecommunication and transportation have enabled societies to quickly and easily learn about and from others." (House et al., p. 3)

This has placed a number of challenges before us as we attempt to navigate multicultural endeavors while still conditioned by many of the geographical factors that have distinguished us along cultural features such as ethnicity, gender dynamics, family dynamics, and power dynamics. ITAP International (2011) points out that as we attempt to navigate these cultural differences, we come face to face with a wide spectrum of behavioral expectations. Within the context of organizational dynamics, these expectations will especially influence the ways in which leadership structures are formed and sustained. The result is a highly complex set of layered perceptions of leadership that differ as a function of culture. As ITAP International notes, "in order to develop leaders who can effectively lead global operations, it is important to understand what makes leaders effective across cultures. Culture shapes how we think about what is good leadership, and the definitions of an 'effective leader' vary from one culture to another. In fact, effective leadership behavior in one culture could (and will) be completely ineffective in others." (ITAP International, p. 1)

Here, we can see that the interrelation of culture and leadership effectiveness is one of relativity. Leadership effectiveness will be substantially shaped by how well leaders are equipped to manage cross-cultural expectations and perceptions of authority.

Works Cited

Goldsmith, M. (2009). Being an Effective Global Leader. Harvard Business Review.

Goldsmith, M.; Greenberg, C.; Robertson, A. & Hu-Chan, M. (2003). Global Leadership: The Next Generation. FT Press, 1st Edition.

Grove, C.N. (2005). Introduction to the GLOBE Research Project on Leadership Worldwide. Grovewell.com.

Hoppe, M.H. (2007). Culture and Leader Effectiveness: The GLOBE Study. GLOBE.

House, R.J. (1999). GLOBE Research Project: Progress Report. Wharton School of Business.

House, R.J.; Hanges, P.J.; Javidan, M. & Dorfman, P.W. (2002). Understanding Cultures and Implicit Leadership Theories Across the Globe: An Introduction to Project GLOBE. Journal of World Business, 37, 3–10.

House, R.J.; Hanges, P.J.; Javidan, M.; Dorfman, P.W. & Gupta, V. (2004). Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies. Sage Publications.

ITAP International. (2011). Global Leadership Development. Itapinti.com.

Knowledge @ Wharton. (1999). How Cultural Factors Affect Leadership. Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Training; AMA & i4cp. (2011). Developing Successful Global Leaders. Trainingmag.com.