Servant-Leadership with Cultural Dimensions in Cross-Cultural Settings

Author(s):  
David Whitfield

This chapter demonstrates how the power of servant-leadership characteristics and nine cultural dimensions offer intercultural leaders increased capacity in cross-cultural workplaces. Servant-leadership characteristics are paired with cultural dimensions based on their corresponding commonalities to provide intercultural leaders potential tools and strategies to successfully ameliorate cultural barriers, to productively navigate cultural differences, and to build an organizational culture of inclusion, collaboration, and participation. The main objective of the chapter is to increase intercultural leader capacity to lead in culturally mixed organizations, be they domestic or international, resulting in minimizing or avoiding institutional or organizational failure.

2020 ◽  
pp. 204138662096052
Author(s):  
Tina Urbach ◽  
Deanne N. Den Hartog ◽  
Doris Fay ◽  
Sharon K. Parker ◽  
Karoline Strauss

The objective of this conceptual article is to illustrate how differences in societal culture may affect employees’ proactive work behaviors (PWBs) and to develop a research agenda to guide future research on cross-cultural differences in PWBs. We propose that the societal cultural dimensions of power distance, individualism–collectivism, future orientation, and uncertainty avoidance shape individuals’ implicit followership theories (IFTs). We discuss how these cross-cultural differences in individuals’ IFTs relate to differences in the mean-level of PWB individuals show ( whether), in the motivational states driving individuals’ PWBs ( why), in the way individuals’ enact PWBs ( how), and in the evaluation of PWBs by others ( at what cost). We recommend how future research can extend this theorizing and unpack the proposed cross-cultural differences in PWBs, for example, by exploring how culture and other contextual variables interact to affect PWBs.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 837-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gøril Voldnes ◽  
Kjell Grønhaug

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how buyers and sellers in cross-cultural business relationships manage cultural differences to ensure functional, successful business relationships. Failure to consider specific cultural issues may lead to the failure of business ventures crossing national borders. To succeed in today’s global business market, it is critically important to understand and manage cultural differences. Adapting to each other’s cultures is one way of managing cultural differences between business actors. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative, explorative approach examining both sides of the exchange dyad was adopted to obtain insight into adaptation as perceived by both buyer and seller. Findings – The results of this study indicate that mainly Norwegian sellers adapt to the Russian culture and way of conducting business. This is explained by power asymmetry between partners, as well as cultural barriers and lack of cultural sensitivity from the Norwegian partners. Still, the business relationships function well. Practical implications – Knowledge of and applying strategies for managing cultural differences should be helpful for business managers engaged or planning to engage in business ventures with Russia and Norway – especially those doing so for the first time. Originality/value – The study provides new and important information about West-East business relationships and how to manage cultural differences in cross-cultural business relationships. The study shows that business relationships can function well in spite of the absence of some factors previously found to have detrimental effects on these relationships. In addition, the study investigates both sides of the buyer-seller dyad, which is a limitation in previous studies of adaptation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pervez Ghauri ◽  
Veronica Rosendo-Rios

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine organizational cross-culture differences in public-private research-oriented relationships. More precisely, it focusses on the analysis university-industry collaborations partnering for research agreements with the aim of fostering the transfer of knowledge and innovation. It analyzes the key organizational cross-cultural differences that could hinder the successful performance of these agreements from a relationship marketing (RM) perspective. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a comprehensive literature review of organizational culture and RM, a quantitative study was carried out and a structural equation model was proposed and tested. Findings – Cross-cultural organizational differences in private-public sectors are proved to negatively influence relationship performance. Market orientation difference appears as the most significant barrier to relationship performance, followed by time orientation difference and to a lesser extent flexibility difference. Originality/value – By integrating organizational culture and RM literatures, the main contribution of this paper is the cross-cultural analysis of private-public relationships (in this case university-industry relationships) from the perspective of RM. Hence, this research will inform management seeking to develop successful public-private collaborations by enhancing their understanding of cross-cultural factors underlying relationship success and failure.


Author(s):  
John Girard ◽  
Andy Bertsch

This paper chronicles an exploratory, in-progress research project that compares the findings of Hofstede’s cross-cultural research with those of Forrester’s Social Technographics research.  The aim of the project is to determine if a relationship exists between cultural differences and social knowledge creation and exchange.  Part one of the study mapped Davenport and Prusak’s information and knowledge creation theories to the six components of Forrester’s Social Technographics study (creators, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators, and inactives).  Next, the Social Technographics results from 13 nations were compared with Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions (power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity).  The analysis included exploring the relationship visually using 24 scatter diagrams, running correlation coefficients (Peasson’s r) for each relationship, testing for significance of Pearson’s r, and finally conducting regression analyses on each relationship. Although the authors believe that culture influences behaviours, this study did not reveal any reasonable relationships between culture and placement along the Social Technographics.  However, it is possible that there exists problems in the Hofstede scales.  The Hofstede scales have been highly criticized in the literature.  It may be that other cross-cultural models such as GLOBE, Schwartz, Triandis, or others may yield different results.  In this regard, further research is necessary.  The next phase of the project will compare Social Technographics with the GLOBE project findings.


Author(s):  
Diğdem Eskiyörük

This chapter aims to explain how the differences in national cultures have an impact on understanding the concept of leadership and leadership styles in an intercultural perspective. Leaders need to recognize the culture of their community and be aware of cultural differences. These cultural characteristics affect the behavior and attitudes of the leaders. Leaders need to understand the effects and possible consequences of these cultural differences at the organizational and managerial levels for effective management and organizational success. In this respect, the concept of leadership and the process of development of leadership are examined in a literature review. Following the analysis of leadership theories and leadership styles, the cultural dimensions of Hofstede are examined in the section of cultural differentiation and dimensions. Finally, national culture dimensions in cross-cultural leadership were examined.


Author(s):  
Slagjana Stojanovska ◽  
◽  
Kristina Velichkovska ◽  

This paper aims to examine the challenges of cross-cultural communication in multicultural teams and the resolution of conflicts arising during that process of communication. For this purpose, a survey was conducted on individuals coming from various cultural backgrounds to determine how cultural differences affect the organizational communication styles, their perception of conflict situations and the choice of conflict resolution procedures. The study is underpinned by a literature review of cross-cultural communication and theories on culture, conflict resolution and multicultural team dynamics. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory will be used to define the cultural differences using four dimensions: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism vs collectivism, and masculinity vs femininity. The outcome of the study assesses the intercultural communication competence of employees in North Macedonia and gives recommendations on how to improve communication and avoid conflicts that plague multicultural teams.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 743-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Caiazza ◽  
Tiziana Volpe

Purpose – Italy is traditionally one of Egypt’s main trading partners, ranking first both as import and export partner. However, Italian firms face several cultural problems in Egypt. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of cross-cultural differences faced by Italian firms’ operating in Egypt. The investigation of cross-cultural differences is facilitated by the examination of interaction between Italian and Egyptian culture using Hofstede and GLOBE’s cultural attributes and dimensions. Design/methodology/approach – The qualitative analysis has been conducted through face to face interviews of individuals working for Italian firms operating in Egypt. These interviews were structured to specifically identify the impact of cultural differences on the interaction between Italian and Egyptian firms. Findings – The results show that Italy is one of the most important commercial partners of Egypt. However, cultural diversity results in Italian small and medium enterprises facing risks when operating in Egypt. Cultural distance is a problem for Italian firms investing in Egypt. Thus, interaction between Italian and Egyptian firms requires a common understanding of cultural diversity. Italian firms must develop an understanding of Egyptian culture if they are to avoid cultural clash. Egyptian policy-makers must adopt policies that open national culture to international interactions. Research limitations/implications – The paper is based on a sub-set of the cultural attributes identified in Hofstede and GLOBE’s study. The results presented in this paper may be complimented through a future quantitative analysis, evaluating the relationship between religious values and other cultural dimensions. Originality/value – This paper provides an insight into the interaction between Italian and Egyptian culture. It contributes to the extant literature by filling a gap in the existing literature on cross-cultural diversity and interaction between Europe and Middle East.


Management ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao C. Chen ◽  
Huan Wang

Cross-cultural communication is a field of study composed of two streams: (i) cross-cultural comparisons of how individuals from one culture communicate differently than those from another culture and (ii) communication dynamics involving interactions of people from different cultures. The critical difference between the two streams is that the former does not necessarily involve interactions among members from different cultures whereas the latter does. Nevertheless, cross-cultural communication and intercultural communication are often used interchangeably, partly because intercultural communication is fraught with cross-cultural communication differences and assumes such differences as given. Therefore, cultural differences are the dominating frameworks, such as Hofstede’s national culture dimensions (Hofstede 1980, cited under Hofstede’s National Cultural Dimensions and Communication), for studying both cross-cultural communication differences and intercultural communication dynamics. Many references included here adopt the term “intercultural communication,” yet the content is primarily about cross-cultural differences in communication; a few, however, are exclusively devoted to interactions of people from different cultures. The bibliography that we have built therefore centers around how various cultural dimensions affect and account for between culture communication differences and inter-cultural communication dynamics and how cross-cultural or intercultural communication competence affects intercultural-communication effectiveness.


Author(s):  
Monica Faraoni ◽  
Lala Hu ◽  
Riccardo Rialti ◽  
Lamberto Zollo

AbstractThe objective of this research is to investigate how cultural differences affect consumers’ online purchase behavior. We reviewed the recent literature on cross-cultural studies on online behavior and building on Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), we developed a conceptual model exploring how the dimensions of national culture influence perceptions of website usability, trust, and perceived risk, which in turn impact on intention to use and online purchase behavior. A web-based questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 350 European and Asian consumers actively using Alibaba e-commerce platforms. The conceptual model was validated through a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), while structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to empirically test the hypothesized relationships among variables. Results showed how culture significantly influenced website usability and perceived risk in European consumers and, in turn, their intention and behavior. Differently, culture significantly influenced trust of Asian consumers, as well as their intention and online behavior. With this study, we contribute to the literature on consumer online purchase behavior from a cross-cultural perspective. As culture emerged among the significant antecedents of mechanisms explaining online purchase behavior, e-tailers should tailor digital marketing strategies according to consumer cultural differences.


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