Expatriate Leadership Behavior Development: A Social Cohort Perspective

Abstract

Drawing on the social cohort perspective, this study explores the relationships between the age of expatriate leaders, culture flexibility and their leadership behavior consequence. The data were collected from 63 foreign expatriate leaders and 343 of their direct reported Chinese subordinates via the social media platform for professionals—LinkedIn. The study finds that, while an expatriate leader’s age is not directly related to subordinates’ perception of leadership behavior gaps, the expatriate leader’s age is positively related to culture flexibility, and culture flexibility is negatively associated with subordinate’s perception of leadership behavior gaps. Further, our findings also suggest that the negative relationship between culture flexibility and subordinate’s perception of leadership behavior gaps is weakened in a younger cohort than in an older cohort of expatriate leaders. Insights derived from the age-based cohort role in developing effective expatriate leaders are further discussed.