Poland, a workforce in transition: Exploring leadership styles and effectiveness of Polish vs. Western expatriate managers

Abstract

Given the cultural differences between Western Europe and Poland, differences are expected in leadership styles and behaviours between Polish and Western managers. Our study explored Polish employees’ perceptions and attitudes toward expatriate Western versus local managers. The main method was surveying Polish employees working under Western managers in three mid-size companies. We supplemented the survey with in-depth interviews with five West European middle managers working in Poland. We found that perceptions of local and foreign managers differed on several dimensions. While Polish employees generally perceived Western managers’ style as more preferable, they also demonstrated ambivalence about working with expat versus Polish managers.