Forbearance of culturally inappropriate leadership behaviors: a conceptual model

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-19
Author(s):  
Jeffrey C. Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Host Country ◽  
Leadership Behaviors ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
Implicit Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Expatriate Adjustment ◽  
Implicit Leadership Theories ◽  
Inappropriate Behaviors ◽  
Expatriate Manager

Purpose Selection and training of expatriates emphasizes the importance of respecting and adapting to local cultural norms. However, even when motivated to modify their behavior, expatriates tend to act in ways which transgress host country cultural norms. While such transgressions can harm working relationships between expatriate manager and host country nationals (HCNs), this is not an inevitable outcome. The purpose of this paper is to apply the social psychological construct of forbearance to create a model which considers how transgression severity, responsibility attributions made by the HCN, empathy, and expatriate manager reputation influence HCN forbearance in the face of culturally inappropriate leadership behaviors. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper, which proposes forbearance as a process which can reduce dysfunctional outcomes on working relationships resulting from culturally inappropriate behaviors by expatriate managers. Findings The author argues that differences between expatriate and host country implicit leadership theories influence HCN attributions for culturally inappropriate leadership behaviors. These attributions, together with expatriate reputation, HCN empathy, and the severity of the cultural transgression, will determine the extent to which HCNs are likely to exercise forbearance. Research limitations/implications The paper suggests several important lines of research into the initial establishment of an effective working relationship between expatriate and HCN. Suggestions for further elaboration and testing of the model are also provided. Practical implications The model points to important processes (e.g. establishing incoming expatriate’s reputation, managing attributions, and facilitating empathy) which have the potential to reduce difficulties early in the assignment. Originality/value Much research into expatriate adjustment focuses on the expatriate. This paper adopts the perspective of the HCN, providing a framework for better understanding perceptual and attributional processes influencing the relationship.

scholarly journals Host country employees’ negative perceptions of successive expatriate leadership: the role of leadership transference and implicit leadership theories

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylwia Ciuk ◽  
Doris Schedlitzki
Keyword(s):  
Host Country ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Leadership Theories ◽  
Implicit Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Implicit Leadership Theories ◽  
Negative Perceptions ◽  
Expatriate Assignments ◽  
Past Experiences

PurposeDrawing on socio-cognitively orientated leadership studies, this paper aims to contribute to our understanding of host country employees’ (HCEs) negative perceptions of successive expatriate leadership by exploring how their memories of shared past experiences affect these perceptions. Contrary to previous work which tends to focus on HCEs’ attitudes towards individual expatriates, the authors shift attention to successive executive expatriate assignments within a single subsidiary.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on an intrinsic case study carried out in a Polish subsidiary of an American multinational pharmaceutical company which had been managed by four successive expatriate General Managers and one local executive. The authors draw on interview data with 40 HCEs. Twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff who had been managed by at least three of the subsidiary’s expatriate leaders.FindingsThe authors demonstrate how transference triggered by past experiences with expatriate leaders as well as HCEs’ implicit leadership theories affect HCEs’ negative perceptions of expatriate leadership and lead to the emergence of expatriate leadership schema.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that explores the role of transference and implicit leadership theories in HCEs’ perceptions of successive executive expatriate assignments. By focussing on retrospective accounts of HCEs who had been managed by a series of successive expatriate leaders, our study has generated a more nuanced and contextualised understanding of the role of HCEs’ shared past experiences in shaping their perceptions of expatriate leadership. The authors propose a new concept – expatriate leadership schema – which describes HCEs’ cognitive structures, developed during past experiences with successive expatriate leaders, which specify what HCEs believe expatriate leadership to look like and what they expect from it.

Glass Cliffs at middle management levels: an experimental study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saadet Elif Esposito
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Middle Management ◽  
Female Leadership ◽  
Implicit Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Implicit Leadership Theories ◽  
Female Candidate ◽  
Glass Cliff

PurposeA new phenomenon called “Glass Cliff” has formed claiming that women at the higher echelons of organizations are being placed in higher risk positions when compared to men. The purpose of this research study is to examine whether this phenomenon occurs at the middle to upper middle management levels for women. If so, it can possibly be one of the many underlying reasons that contribute to the grounds of why the pipeline problem exists with female leadership at the top-level management positions.Design/methodology/approachThe design considers competing hypotheses based on the emerging, contradictory research on the Glass Cliff and the more established perspective of social norms and implicit biases. The experimental study is conducted on 202 participants to examine the likelihood of occurrence of this phenomenon at middle to upper middle management levels.FindingsCounter to the tenets pertaining to the Glass Cliff phenomenon but consistent with the implicit leadership theories, this research study revealed that when compared to the female candidate, the male candidate was more likely to be assigned to the higher risk position.Research limitations/implicationsThe subjective nature of the study can be the reason for variations of each participant and their biases since it is a specific experiment dealing with perceptions, social norms and prejudice.Originality/valueThis phenomenon is mostly studied at the executive level and can contribute to the pipeline problem for women, hence this study provides insight and examines the phenomenon at the middle to upper middle management levels to examine its likelihood.

What matters most in leader selection? The role of personality and implicit leadership theories

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 360-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Carnes ◽  
Jeffery D. Houghton ◽  
Christopher N. Ellison
Keyword(s):  
Selection Process ◽  
Selection Methods ◽  
Leadership Theories ◽  
Leadership Selection ◽  
Implicit Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Implicit Leadership Theories ◽  
Future Leaders ◽  
Formal Leadership ◽  
Leader Selection

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the primary basis upon which raters make decisions in the context of selection for formal leadership positions. Specifically, this paper examines the applicant’s personality, the rater’s personality, and the congruence between the applicant’s personality and the rater’s implicit leadership theories (ILTs) as predictors of interview scores. Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses were tested via random coefficient modeling analyses using HLM software with the control variables included in Step 1 and the main effects entered in Step 2, and interaction effects in Step 3 as appropriate. Findings – Analyses suggest that both applicant and rater personality impact interview scores, but raters do not appear to select leaders on the basis of their conceptualization of an ideal leader. Research limitations/implications – The results suggest that raters may not consider their own ILTs when attempting to identify future leaders. Given this lack of a natural tendency toward selecting individuals that match one’s perceptions of an ideal leader, future research should focus on adapting current selection methods to leader selection and the development of new selection methods that are more valid. Practical implications – These findings suggest that current staffing practices may not encompass the most effective tools for selecting future leaders of the organization. These results highlight the importance of clarifying the outcome goals of the selection process in advance by giving raters a clear representation of the qualities and ideals that should be present in potential leaders. Originality/value – This study is among the first to examine the relationships between personality and ILTs in the context of a formal leadership selection process and makes a significant contribution to the literature by providing insight into the influence of both rater and applicant personality differences along with rater conceptualizations of ideal leadership in the context of formal leadership selection.

scholarly journals Being suspicious in the workplace: the role of suspicion and negative views of others in the workplace in the perception of abusive supervision

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgit Schyns
Keyword(s):  
Implicit Theories ◽  
Abusive Supervision ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Destructive Leadership ◽  
Leadership Theories ◽  
Implicit Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Implicit Leadership Theories ◽  
Leadership Perception ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeResearch reported in this manuscript focuses on the relationship between trait suspicion and the perception of abusive supervision. Based on previous research, the authors assume that suspicion is positively related to the perception of abusive supervision. The role implicit theories play in this relationship is examined.Design/methodology/approachTwo studies are presented to examine the relationship between trait suspicion and the perception of abusive supervision as moderated by implicit leadership theories. The first study is a survey study, and the second study is an experimental vignette study.FindingsResults of both studies indicate that suspicion is positively related to the perception of abusive supervision and that implicit leadership theories moderate the relationship between suspicion and the perception of abusive supervision.Research limitations/implicationsResults are interpreted in terms of biases in leadership perception as well as the reversing-the-lens perspective.Originality/valueWhile there is progress in taking into account follower characteristics and the resulting perceptual biases in the study of constructive leadership phenomena such as transformational leadership, less is know about the follower perception aspect of destructive leadership phenomena. With this research, the authors extend research into the influence of follower characteristics on the perception of abusive supervision and also look at boundary conditions of this relationship by including implicit leadership theories as a moderator.

Host country national support to expatriates: a motivated information processing perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Jae Yoon ◽  
Arup Varma ◽  
Anastasia Katou ◽  
Youngjae Cha ◽  
Soohyun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Expatriate Adjustment ◽  
Host Country Nationals ◽  
Epistemic Motivation ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Motivated Information Processing

PurposeThe support of host country nationals (HCNs) is a key determinant of expatriate adjustment and performance. The purpose of this paper is to explore underlying motivations for their support to expatriates. Previous research has shown that HCNs with pro-social motivation are more likely to help expatriates. Drawing upon motivated information processing in groups (MIP-G) theory, the authors test whether epistemic motivation moderates the observed relationship between pro-social motivation and HCNs’ support toward expatriates.Design/methodology/approachThe authors ran two correlational studies (N = 267) in the USA (Study 1) and South Korea (Study 2). Across two studies, epistemic motivation and social motivation were measured using their multiple proxies validated in previous research. The authors also measured HCNs’ willingness to offer role information and social support to a hypothetical expatriate worker.FindingsResults lend support to our hypotheses that pro-social HCNs are more willing than pro-self HCNs to provide role information and social support to the expatriates, but this occurs only when they have high rather than low epistemic motivation.Originality/valueThe current paper contributes the literature on HCNs helping expatriates by qualifying the prior results that a pro-social motivation (e.g. agreeableness and collectivism) increases the willingness of HCNs to help expatriates. As hypothesized, this study found that that case is only true when HCNs have high, rather than low, epistemic motivation. Also, previous research on MIP-G theory has mainly focused on the performance of small groups (e.g. negotiation, creativity and decision-making). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first attempt to test MIP-G theory in the context of HCNs helping expatriates.

Leadership through love and fear: an effective combination

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 326-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia C. Dahm ◽  
Bruce E. Greenbaum
Keyword(s):  
Polynomial Regression ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Leader Effectiveness ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Leadership Theories ◽  
Implicit Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Implicit Leadership Theories ◽  
Effective Combination ◽  
Multi Level

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how employees’ sentiments of fear and companionate love toward their leaders relate to leader effectiveness and follower loyalty. Design/methodology/approach The analysis uses multi-level survey data (n=728) from a professional services firm. Proposed relationships are examined using multi-level modeling, polynomial regression and response surface analysis. Findings Companionate love moderates the relationship between fear of a leader and leader effectiveness and follower loyalty. At high levels of companionate love, leader effectiveness and loyalty increase with fear, but at low levels of companionate love, fear negatively relates to leader effectiveness and loyalty. There are diminishing returns at relatively high levels of love and fear or when love becomes relatively much greater than fear. Research limitations/implications Findings suggest that employees may incorporate sentiments of love and fear into their implicit leadership theories (ILTs), though the authors do not measure ILTs. Practical implications Leaders may consider incorporating behaviors that elicit sentiments of both love and fear for greatest follower loyalty and effectiveness. Originality/value This study is the first to examine the combination of sentiments of love and fear. In contrast to the extant literature, which posits that fear has primarily negative effects, the results suggest that fear may have a more nuanced relationship with perceptions of the leader.

International adjustment of female vs male business expatriates. A replication study in Switzerland

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Salamin ◽  
Eric Davoine
Keyword(s):  
Host Country ◽  
Cultural Adjustment ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
International Assignments ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Expatriate Adjustment ◽  
Host Country Nationals ◽  
French Speaking

Purpose – Reasons for women’s underrepresentation in international assignments include stereotypical assumptions within organizations about their ability to adjust abroad and more broadly a lack of trust from the corporate headquarters. Female expatriates’ adjustment may strongly vary depending on the host country and on host-country nationals’ attitudes toward them. Yet up until today, very few studies have examined female expatriate adjustment in a single and non-Asian host country. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by comparing the cross-cultural adjustment of male and female expatriates in Switzerland. Design/methodology/approach – This study replicates Selmer and Leung’s (2003a) study design in order to compare adjustment of male and female expatriates working in multinational companies in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Based on 152 valid questionnaires collected, the authors performed a multivariate analysis of covariance and further analyses of covariance to compare male and female expatriate adjustment. Findings – The authors find that female expatriates have significantly higher interaction and work adjustment levels than their male counterparts, while no significant differences between men and women were observed in terms of general adjustment. These findings in a European context are consistent with those of Selmer and Leung in an Asian context. Originality/value – Very few studies to date have examined the adjustment of female expatriates in a western host-country context, despite the fact that host-country cultural norms might strongly influence women’s experiences. The research brings new empirical evidence about cross-cultural adjustment of female and male expatriates in a western location. Contrary to persistent stereotypical assumptions, results emphasize again that women are able to adjust better or at least as well as their male counterparts.

scholarly journals Hatékony leadership magatartások szlovák szervezeti környezetben (Effective leadership behaviors in Slovak organizational environment – Introduction to the Slovak implict leadership theories –Results of the GLOBE research)

2014 ◽  
pp. 66-85
Author(s):  
Dávid Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Behaviors ◽  
Global Leadership ◽  
Organizational Environment ◽  
Leadership Theories ◽  
Implicit Leadership ◽  
Organization Behavior ◽  
Implicit Leadership Theories ◽  
Successful Leadership ◽  
Leadership And Organization ◽  
Leadership Dimensions

Az itt bemutatott kutatás célja az volt, hogy azonosítsa és feltárja a szlovák vállalati környezetben követett és kívánatosnak tartott leadership dimenziókat és bemutassa azokat az implicit leadership elmélet alapján meghatározott magatartásokat, amelyek a sikeres leadershipet támogató magatartásokként jelennek meg (az implicit leadership elmélet szerint az egyének magatartásokhoz kapcsolódó hiedelmeik, meggyőződéseik és értékítéleteik alapján határozzák meg, kit tekintenek vezetőnek, illetve hogyan különböztetik meg a hatékony vezetést a nem hatékonytól). Ehhez a GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organization Behavior Effectiveness) kutatását használta fel a szerző empirikus alapként. A faktorelemzéssel előállított kutatási eredmények azt bizonyítják, hogy definiálhatók a nemzetközi mintán elkülöníthető implicit leadership elméletektől jól megkülönböztethető szlovák implicit leadership elméletek. Statisztikai próbáinak eredményei azt mutatják, hogy léteznek olyan leadership faktorok, melyek a szlovák és a magyar vállalati környezetben is megjelennek, illetve feltárhatók olyan implicit leadership elméletek, melyek megítélése ebben a régióban egységesnek tekinthető. _____ The aim of this research is to identify and explore the committed and desirable leadership dimensions in the Slovak organizational environment. This article presents those on the basis of implicit leadership theories identified behaviors which appear as successful leadership supported behaviors. To it the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organization Behavior Effectiveness) research is used as the empirical basis by the author. Research results which were produced by factor analysis demonstrate that the Slovak implicit leadership theories can be identified because those can be clearly distinguished from implicit leadership theories available in the international sample.

Burden or support? The influence of partner nationality on expatriate cross-cultural adjustment

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Davies ◽  
Albert Kraeh ◽  
Fabian Froese
Keyword(s):  
Host Country ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Cultural Adjustment ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Relational Demography ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Expatriate Adjustment

Purpose – The family and specifically, the partners of expatriates are unfortunately the major cause of expatriate maladjustment. Drawing from and extending the concept of relational demography, the purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the nationality of expatriates’ partners, conceptualized as host, home or third country nationality, on expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data from 299 expatriate academics in China, Japan and South Korea were analysed. The authors used confirmatory factor analyses to validate the scales and ANCOVA to test the hypotheses. To further understand the interactions effects the authors conducted simple slopes analysis. Findings – Results show that differences in expatriate academics’ cross-cultural adjustment are not per se based on the different nationality of their partners, but are mainly due to an interaction effect of partner nationality and length of stay in host country. Expatriates with host country national partners perceived the highest increase in cross-cultural adjustment over time, followed by those with third country national partners, whereas those with home country partners did not experience any increase in cross-cultural adjustment. Research limitations/implications – The study was based on a cross-sectional survey of expatriate academics in Asia. Thus, longitudinal, multisource data from various contexts would increase validity and generalizability of findings. Despite these limitations, the study provided new and intriguing findings. The theory and empirical evidence underscore the importance of expatriate partner nationality and thereby, relational demography between expatriate partners and expatriates. Practical implications – The research aims to emphasize the important role that expatriate partners can play concerning the success of expatriate cross-cultural adjustment. Greater attention should be paid to the adjustment processes of expatriates and their partners to facilitate expatriate cross-cultural adjustment. Originality/value – The authors are among the first to study the influence of nationality, conceptualized as host, home country or third country nationality, of expatriates’ partners on expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment by applying the concept of relational demography. Moreover, the authors look at the role that time in the host country has on the partner’s influence on expatriate adjustment.

Personality traits and expatriate adjustment in Malaysia

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 594-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Richardson ◽  
Guat-Hoon Tan ◽  
Shaian Kiumarsi
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Implicit Assumption ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Expatriate Adjustment ◽  
Multicultural Personality ◽  
Societal Culture ◽  
Asian Context ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This paper aims to investigate and reflect upon the effects of personality traits on expatriate adjustment within the context of Malaysia’s multicultural society. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the multicultural personality questionnaire (MPQ) and extrapolating from the literature on expatriate adjustment, the authors introduce five hypotheses, which are then tested based on data derived from 101 expatriates working in Malaysia. Findings The results indicate a positive relationship between both open-mindedness and adjustment as well as between flexibility and adjustment. However, the authors did not observe any significant positive relationship between the three remaining MPQ personality traits and expatriate adjustment. Originality/value While various studies have investigated the relationship between personality and expatriate adjustment in an Asian context, the majority have been conducted in largely monocultural settings, or at least on the implicit assumption of a single societal culture within the host country. This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the relationship in the context of a multicultural Asian host country.

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