Leadership and Culture

A study comparing leadership behavior across cultures with the use of a test based on transformational leadership (Rudd, Kent, Blair & Schuele, 2009) shows that US and German leaders are quite similar in their leadership behavior. However, the results indicates that US leaders scored higher than the German leaders on each of the five behaviors studied. The Leader Behavior Inventory (LBI) is used as the test as it has been used in other cultural comparisons (den Hartog, House, Hanges, & Ruiz-Quintanilla, 1999; Quesada, Gonzalez,  & Kent, 2008). Furthermore, the study draws on Hofstede and Hofstede’s (2005) four cultural dimensions.

According to Hofstede (1986),  four distinct dimensions characterize a culture: 1. collectivism/individualism, 2. masculinity/femininity, 3. power distance and finally, 4. uncertainty avoidance. These dimensions influence people’s relations and help assess the leader’s capability to manage change and the attitudes and abilities of their colleagues and  followers to accept and handle it.

References 

Den Hartog, D. N., House, R. J., Hanges, P. J., Ruiz-Quintanilla, S. A., & Dorfman, P. W. (1999, Summer).Culture specific and cross-culturally generalizable implicit leadership theories: are attributes of charismatic/transformational leadership universally endorsed? Leadership Quarterly, 10, 219-257.

Hofstede, G. (1986). Cultural differences in teaching and learning. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 10, 301- 320.

Hofstede, G., & Hofstede, G. J. (2005). Cultures and organizations. New York: McGraw Hill

Quesada, G., Gonzalez, M., & Kent, T. W. (2008). A road for achiving an international measure and understanding on leaders‟ behaviors. Leadership and Organizational Development , 29, 678-692.

Rudd, H. Kent, T., Blair C.A., and Schuele, U. (2009) Leader Behavior Inventory: A Test of Measure Equivalence in Germany and the United States, International Journal of Leadership Studies,(5), 1, 22-36.