Cultural congruence as reflected in communication leaders’ decision-making

Abstract

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to motivate by the desire to better understand the interplay between cultural perceptions, both at the national and the organizational levels, and leadership effectiveness in corporate communication practice. In doing so, the research presented in this paper systematically compared views on communication leadership from senior communication executives in two different national cultures: England and Singapore.Design/methodology/approach– A series of in-depth interviews with the same interview guide were carried out in two leading cities of selected cultures (London and Singapore). A purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit participants for this study. Finally, 20 senior communication executives (n=11 in London andn=9 in Singapore) participated in this study. All interviews ranged from 60 to 90 minutes and were recorded and fully transcribed.Findings– Results suggest that communication executives believe that communication leadership should be treated as a multi-faceted influencing and learning process. Results also reveal that effective leadership qualities go beyond the national cultural boundaries. A more convergent view emerged on communication leadership.Practical implications– Communication executives should definitely tailor their leadership initiatives to fit the different cultural mechanisms that underlie organizational structures across cultures. Although the author agrees that communication strategies should place a great emphasis on the social dimension of cultural values in a given society, leadership initiatives, and actions should also be carried out to embrace the organizational structure and culture.Originality/value– The study provides insights into the impact of cultural orientations on the effectiveness of communication leadership. It is important and unique to confirm that organizational culture inserts a more profound influence on the application of leadership skills if compared to the national cultures.