Abstract
Previous research on cross-cultural leadership has examined the effects of leadership-society congruence withoutexplaining how positive outcomes might result when there is a fit between leadership and societal culture, andvia which mechanisms the effects of such congruence are transmitted. We fill this gap by developing a culturallycontingency model of leader-society value congruence effects. First, we provide an account of the mechanismsthat help understand the relationships between leader-society value congruence and outcomes. Next, we developpropositions to suggest how differences in societal values provide bases for predicting the strength of thesemediating mechanisms.
Highlights
Cross-cultural leadership research has long recognized that managerial processes and leadership styles are expected to be differentially effective depending on congruency with the societies’ culture (Dorfman, Javidan, Hanges, Dastmalchian, & House, 2012; Elenkov, 1998; Hofstede, 2001; Javidan, Dorfman, de Luque, & House, 2006; House, Wright, & Aditya, 1997; Pasa, Kabasakal, & Bodur, 2001; Robert, Probst, Martocchio, Drasgow, & Lawler, 2000; Schuler & Rogovsky, 1998)
Previous research on cross-cultural leadership has examined the effects of leadership-society congruence without explaining how positive outcomes might result when there is a fit between leadership and societal culture, and via which mechanisms the effects of such congruence are transmitted
It has been argued that the congruency between leadership behaviors and the societal norms and expectations is an important determinant of the leadership success (Dorfman, Sully de Luque, Hanges, & Javidan, 2010)
Summary
Cross-cultural leadership research has long recognized that managerial processes and leadership styles are expected to be differentially effective depending on congruency with the societies’ culture (Dorfman, Javidan, Hanges, Dastmalchian, & House, 2012; Elenkov, 1998; Hofstede, 2001; Javidan, Dorfman, de Luque, & House, 2006; House, Wright, & Aditya, 1997; Pasa, Kabasakal, & Bodur, 2001; Robert, Probst, Martocchio, Drasgow, & Lawler, 2000; Schuler & Rogovsky, 1998). A closer look at this body of work reveals that various mechanisms, i.e., interpersonal attraction, predictability, and interpersonal communication (Edwards & Cable, 2009; Meglino & Ravlin, 1998) that provide the basis for understanding the relationships that link value congruence to outcomes might account for the effects of leader-society congruence This suggests that the focus of cross-cultural leadership research need not be limited to practice-culture fit, because followers who are subject to managerial processes and leadership behaviors are affected more by what they sense than by what they see and hear (Fu, Tsui, Liu, & Li, 2010). Our conceptual framework gives a more sophisticated view of the interaction effects of societal level values and mediating mechanisms to predict how positively the leader-society value congruence will be related to communication between leader and followers, the degree of leader predictability, and the degree of leader attraction in different cultural settings
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