Chapter 14 leadership research findings practice and skills 7th edition

• Describe how cultural factors, including values, influence leadership practice.. • Explain the contribution of cultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence to leadership effectivenes

Chapter Fourteen

International & Culturally Diverse Aspects of Leadership

LEADERSHIP

Andrew J DuBrin, 7th Edition

Learning Objectives

• Explain the potential ethical and competitive advantage from leading and managing diversity

• Describe how cultural factors, including values, influence leadership practice

• Explain the contribution of cultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence to leadership effectiveness

• Explain how global leadership skills contribute to leadership effectiveness

• Pinpoint leadership initiatives to enhance the acceptance of cultural diversity

Work Force Trends

• Work forces are becoming more diverse and cultures of inclusion are becoming more common

• Globalization is compelling businesses to send more workers to other countries

• Leaders are traveling and working abroad in greater numbers

• Workers with international experience and skills are increasingly more sought-after in the workplace

• Human characteristics that make people different from one another.

• Leaders should be the champions for valuing the inclusion of these differences.

Understanding the “Differences”

• The sources of our individual variations are complex, but are generally grouped into two

categories:

• Those over which we have little or no control

• Biologically determined – race, sex, age, certain physical attributes, the family and society we are born into

• Those over which we have some control

• Through our conscious choices and deliberate efforts

• Work, background, income, marital status, military experience, political beliefs, geographic location, education

Advantages of Managing Diversity

• Reduction of turnover and absenteeism costs

• Managing diversity well offers a marketing advantage

• Companies with a favorable record in managing diversity are at a distinct advantage in recruiting and retaining talented people

• Heterogeneity in the work force may offer the company a creativity advantage, as well as improve its problem-solving and decision-making capability

• Diversity and inclusion programs help local economies thereby boosting social responsibility

Cultural Factors Influencing Leadership Practice

• Multicultural leaders have skills and attitudes to relate effectively to and motivate people across

race, gender, age, social attitudes, and lifestyles

• One way to understand how national cultures differ is to examine their values or cultural dimensions.

• The values embedded in a culture influence the behavior of leaders and managers as well as the behavior of other workers

• Relationships between people in a society are affected by the values programmed in the minds of these people.

Dimensions of Cultural Values

European Styles of Management

• French managers – who work in a strong culture of class - tend to behave in a

superior, authoritarian, and bureaucratic manner.

• German managers tend to avoid uncertainty, and are dispassionate, assertive,

straightforward, and stern.

Malaysian Managers

• Culture emphasizes collectivism and is human-oriented.

• Culture discourages aggressive, confrontational behavior, preferring harmonious relationships.

• Managers show compassion but are more autocratic than participative.

• Managers act logically, decisively, and remain resolute.

• Managers adopt a more formal, diplomatic style to avoid conflict and show

consideration of others.

Northern US vs Southern US Managers

• Southern managers are low key and people-oriented.

• Northern managers are more brusque, efficient, and task-oriented.

• Culturally-based differences in leadership style are not as important as practices that work in every culture, for all businesses.

Cultural Sensitivity and Cultural Intelligence

• Cultural Sensitivity is an awareness of and a willingness to investigate the reasons why people of another culture act as they do.

• Cultural Intelligence is an outsider’s ability to interpret someone’s unfamiliar and ambiguous gestures the way that person’s compatriots would.

Global Leadership Skills

• Refer to the ability to exercise effective leadership in a variety of countries

• The essence of global leadership is the ability to influence people who are dissimilar to the leader and stem from different cultural backgrounds

• Excellent global leaders have a leadership style that generates superior corporate performance in terms of:

• Profitability and productivity

• Continuity and efficiency

• Commitment and morale

• Adaptability and innovation

Leadership Initiatives for Achieving Cultural Diversity

• Hold managers accountable for achieving diversity

• Establish minority recruitment, retention, and mentoring programs

• Conduct diversity training

• Conduct cross-cultural training

• Encourage the development of employee networks

• Avoid group characteristics when hiring for person-organization fit

• Modify products and services for targeted demographic groups

• Attain diversity among organizational leaders

• The modern leader must be multicultural

• Managing for diversity brings a competitive advantage to the firm

• The leader must be aware of overt and subtle cultural differences to influence, motivate, and inspire culturally diverse people

• Differences in cultural values help explain differences among people

• Cultural values influence leadership style as well as the behavior of other workers

• Cultural sensitivity is essential for inspiring people from different countries

• Global leadership skills help improve a company’s reputation and contribute to a sustainable competitive advantage

• Top management commitment to valuing diversity is clearest when valuing diversity is embedded in organizational strategy