culture and leadership

Question 1

culture defined

Answer 1

-learned beliefs, values, roles, norms, symbols, and traditions that are common to a group of people
-shared qualities of a group that make them unique
-the way of life, symptoms & scripts of a group of people
this is not biological
Terms related to culture:
-Multicultural- approach or system that takes more than one culture into account
-Diversity- Existence of different cultures or ethnicity within a group or organization

Question 2

2 dimensions of culture

Answer 2

• Egalitarian- Hierarchical- Degree to which cultures exhibit shared power vs. hierarchical power
• Person- Task orientation- Extent to which cultures emphasizes human interaction vs. focusing on tasks
• relates to Blake and Mouton’s managerial grid

Question 3

nine cultural dimensions

Answer 3

1. Uncertainty avoidance
2. Power distance
3. Institutional collectivism
4. In-group collectivism
5. Gender egalitarianism
6. Assertiveness
7. Future Orientation
8. Performance orientation
9. Humane orientation

Question 4

characteristics of clusters

Answer 4

Anglo- competitive and result orientated
Confucian Asia- result driven, encourage group working together over individual goals
Eastern Europe- forceful, supportive of coworkers, treat women with equality
Germanic Europe- value competition and aggressiveness and are more result-oriented
Latin America- loyal, and devoted to their families and similar groups
Latin Europe- value individual autonomy
Middle East- devoted and loyal to their people, women afforded less status
Nordic Europe- high priority on long term success, women treated with greater equality
Southern Asia-strong family and deep concern for their communities
Sub-Sahara Africa- concerned and sensitive to others, demonstrate strong family loyalty

Question 5

leadership behavior and culture clusters

Answer 5

1. Charismatic/ value-based leadership
2. Team-oriented leadership
3. Participative leadership
4. Humane-oriented leadership
5. Autonomous
6. Self-protective leadership

Question 6

positive leader attributes

Answer 6

• trustworthy
• plans ahead
• positive
• intelligent
• honest
• encouraging
• dependable
• team builder
• communication
• motivational

Question 7

negative leadership attributes

Answer 7

• loner
• irritable
• ruthless
• asocial
• nonexplict
• egocentric
• noncooperative
• dictatorial

Question 8

strengths

Answer 8

• GLOBE study is a major study and, to date, the only study to analyze how leadership is viewed by cultures in all parts of the world
• GLOBE studies provide useful info about what is universally accepted as good and bad leadership
• The study of culture and leadership underscores the complexity of the leadership process and how it is influenced by culture

Question 9

criticisms

Answer 9

• There is no single unified theory ex) therefore cultural leadership is a complex issue
• labels and definitions of cultural dimensions and leadership behaviors are somewhat vague, difficult at times to interpret or fully comprehend the findings about culture and leadership
• the GLOBE studies tend to over simplify
• the reliability of the instruments used to measure leadership characteristics is compromised (language and interpretations of language)