Global Leadership Effectiveness Research Articles

Quality leadership, technology integration and patient care quality across countries: moderating roles of national culture and infrastructure development

PurposeTo better understand the nature and effective delivery of quality health-care globally, this paper aims to study the role of quality leadership on patient care quality (PCQ) delivered in hospitals, including the intervening role of technology integration and two country-level factors – national culture and infrastructure development – in North America (Canada, Mexico and the USA).Design/methodology/approachPCQ comprises four facets: interpersonal, technical, environmental and administrative quality. Using survey data and interdisciplinary theoretical support (e.g. quality management and the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Project [GLOBE] model of national culture), this paper tested for moderated mediation between hospital quality leadership and the four-facet PCQ model with technology integration as the mediator and national culture and infrastructure development as moderators.FindingsResults show that technology integration partially mediates the relationship between hospital quality leadership and PCQ and that national culture and infrastructure development shape the role of hospital quality leadership on PCQ. Hence, these national factors must be considered holistically to understand the impact of hospital quality leadership on patient care.Practical implicationsTo improve PCQ, hospital leaders should broaden their understanding of quality health-care to include technology integration and an awareness of cultural and institutional differences across nations.Originality/valueThis paper used primary data from hospital quality leaders and the four-facet PCQ conceptualization across three large North American nations, offering a more global understanding of service quality in health-care.

Theory testing and replication studies in the global work domain

Global work—any work arrangement that spans multiple countries and involves employees who are collaborating with one another, are culturally diverse and often are geographically dispersed—is a fascinating and timely research domain given the current social, technological, and geopolitical landscape. It may therefore be particularly tempting to explore novel theories and phenomena, and we have indeed seen a proliferation of new theories over recent years. However, we argue the global work domain needs to balance new theory development more carefully with theory testing and replication if it is to build cumulative scientific knowledge. In this editorial, we review established models and newer theories of global work that offer opportunities for theory testing, including (a) expatriate adjustment and adaptation theories, (b) models of global leadership effectiveness and expatriate managerial behavior, and (c) frameworks of global career consequences. We also identify existing empirical studies, whose replications would help advance the global work domain. This involves (a) deductively testing inductively developed models, (b) expanding existing studies to other types of global workers or adding meaningful new variables to a conceptual model that was examined, (c) using alternative methodological approaches to assess the predictions or research questions, or (d) adopting novel measures.

How cultural diversity affects communication and collaboration within global high-performance project teams?

Cultural dimensions and social behavior play a critical role in the success of a project team. Project managers must be aware of these factors and create an environment that fosters effective collaboration and trust. Tuckman’s model for group development consists of five stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. A lack of trust among team members can prevent a team from becoming a high-performance team. Research has shown a correlation between high-performance teams and GLOBE’s cultural dimensions. GLOBE, short for "Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness," is a large-scale research program that explores cultural variations in leadership and organizational behavior. The cultural context and its impact on team dynamics can help organizations create more effective and high-performing teams. Trust is a key component of team performance and can lead to improved communication, collaboration, and problem-solving. In the oil and gas sector, multidisciplinary projects often involve complex engineering and technical challenges, so it is essential to have a team that is skilled, experienced, and focused on project success. The goal of this research is to investigate the influence of cultural dimensions and social behavior on project team success and to explore the role of trust in fostering effective collaboration and creating a high-performance team. The research approach employed in this study was secondary data analysis, utilizing existing data to address the research questions.This study found that cultural dimensions and social behavior significantly influence project team success. Trust plays a key role, and Tuckman’s model highlights its importance for high-performance teams. Overall, the results of this study provide insights and guidance for organizations to navigate cultural diversity, build trust, and enhance team performance. Implementing these findings can lead to improved project outcomes, stronger collaboration, and increased organizational effectiveness in various industries and sectors. However, a systematic review of recent literature on cultural diversity and global team performance is lacking, which highlights the need for further research in this area.

Exploring the paradox of gender preferred leadership in Kenya: a GLOBE study on gender egalitarianism and women in leadership

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore gender gaps, values and practices in a Sub-Saharan African (SSA) country, specifically to identify gender inequality in Kenyan leadership and propose suggestions for advancing gender equity.Design/methodology/approachThis Kenya study replicated the research design of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness Project for gathering country data. It sampled middle and upper management in the commercial sector (finance and agriculture) and added the civic sectors of health care and education, using quantitative research (267 managers in over 100 organizations) and qualitative research design (30 interviewees from 23 organizations).FindingsGender had no apparent effect on leadership attributes nor on preferred modes of leadership. Statistical and thematic analysis revealed conflicting values and behaviours regarding gender equality and leadership. A high cultural dimension score on practices reflects a traditional leadership approach for male dominance, referred to as the Bwana Kubwa model. However, a high value score for gender equality reflects a more contemporary perspective, identified as the Inspirational Idealist. The gender gap presents a cultural paradox and a leadership constraint.Research limitations/implicationsThe Inspirational Idealist model advances African leadership theory as it identifies a preferred value-based paradigm of effective performance-based leadership. This is contrary to the prevalent patriarchal practices of the Bwana Kubwa (Big Boss) model, which reflects biased gendered preference.Practical implicationsMale and female leaders need to challenge the status quo and align leadership practices with the articulated cultural values expressed as an Inspirational Idealist model. It has considerable relevance to advancing African leadership theory and informing culturally relevant policies and contextualized practices focused on gender equity in leadership.Originality/valueThis research on practices and values pertaining to gender equality of Kenyan managers is the first in-depth managerial leadership study of any SSA country. It is unique in that it broadened the scope of study to include professional sectors, gender, age and ethnicity variables.

Nascent entrepreneurship in university students: the role of the context

ABSTRACT This paper offers evidence that the context might influence a university student’s start-up process differently, depending on the category of activities and regions. Specifically, it explores the influence of university and national contexts while considering the different categories of the start-up process. Our approach divides the start-up process into three categories (Business planning, Interaction with the external environment, and Financing), four context definitions (University, Industry-technological, Institutional-policy, and Cultural), and three regions (European Union, Latin America, and Asian-African). We drew on the primary dataset of the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey (GUESSS) project that contains 7,628 nascent entrepreneurs from 21 countries, which we complemented with a set of international indexes from the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index, the Global Entrepreneurship Index, and the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness project. Generally speaking, the University context positively influences the start-up activities of students in Europe and Asia-Africa. The Industry and technological context and the Institutional and policy context play a relevant role (sometimes positive or negative) depending on the activity and region. Finally, the Cultural context presents mixed results too, and its influence varies (positively and negatively) depending on the kind of start-up activities and the region.

Cultural contributions to adults' self-rated mental health problems and strengths: 7 culture clusters, 28 societies, 16 906 adults.

It is unknown how much variation in adult mental health problems is associated with differences between societal/cultural groups, over and above differences between individuals. To test these relative contributions, a consortium of indigenous researchers collected Adult Self-Report (ASR) ratings from 16 906 18- to 59-year-olds in 28 societies that represented seven culture clusters identified in the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavioral Effectiveness study (e.g. Confucian, Anglo). The ASR is scored on 17 problem scales, plus a personal strengths scale. Hierarchical linear modeling estimated variance accounted for by individual differences (including measurement error), society, and culture cluster. Multi-level analyses of covariance tested age and gender effects. Across the 17 problem scales, the variance accounted for by individual differences ranged from 80.3% for DSM-oriented anxiety problems to 95.2% for DSM-oriented avoidant personality (mean = 90.7%); by society: 3.2% for DSM-oriented somatic problems to 8.0% for DSM-oriented anxiety problems (mean = 6.3%); and by culture cluster: 0.0% for DSM-oriented avoidant personality to 11.6% for DSM-oriented anxiety problems (mean = 3.0%). For strengths, individual differences accounted for 80.8% of variance, societal differences 10.5%, and cultural differences 8.7%. Age and gender had very small effects. Overall, adults' self-ratings of mental health problems and strengths were associated much more with individual differences than societal/cultural differences, although this varied across scales. These findings support cross-cultural use of standardized measures to assess mental health problems, but urge caution in assessment of personal strengths.

Does fear of failure affect entrepreneurial growth aspirations? The moderating role of institutional collectivism in emerging and developed countries

PurposeBased on social cognitive theory, this study aims to analyze the impact of fear of failure on entrepreneurs’ growth aspirations, the moderating role of collectivist institutional culture and the differences between emerging and developed countries.Design/methodology/approachUsing the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness databases for 27 developed and 15 emerging countries, and Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness, the authors apply multilevel model with individual-level and country-level variables.FindingsThe fear of failure has a negative impact on growth aspirations and that impact differs between developed and emerging countries. One of the main conclusions is that collectivist culture mitigates the negative impact of fear of failure on growth aspirations, and that this result is significant only in emerging countries.Originality/valueThe authors introduce a boundary condition for this study’s predictions, showing that in emerging countries, contrary to developed countries, the moderator effect of cultural context contributes to growth aspirations, despite the entrepreneur’s fear of failure.

Effects of individual differences, society, and culture on youth-rated problems and strengths in 38 societies.

Clinicians increasingly serve youths from societal/cultural backgrounds different from their own. This raises questions about how to interpret what such youths report. Rescorla etal. (2019, European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 1107) found that much more variance in 72,493 parents' ratings of their offspring's mental health problems was accounted for by individual differences than by societal or cultural differences. Although parents' reports are essential for clinical assessment of their offspring, they reflect parents' perceptions of the offspring. Consequently, clinical assessment also requires self-reports from the offspring themselves. To test effects of individual differences, society, and culture on youths' self-ratings of their problems and strengths, we analyzed Youth Self-Report (YSR) scores for 39,849 11-17 year olds in 38 societies. Indigenous researchers obtained YSR self-ratings from population samples of youths in 38 societies representing 10 culture cluster identified in the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavioral Effectiveness study. Hierarchical linear modeling of scores on 17 problem scales and one strengths scale estimated the percent of variance accounted for by individual differences (including measurement error), society, and culture cluster. ANOVAs tested age and gender effects. Averaged across the 17 problem scales, individual differences accounted for 92.5% of variance, societal differences 6.0%, and cultural differences 1.5%. For strengths, individual differences accounted for 83.4% of variance, societal differences 10.1%, and cultural differences 6.5%. Age and gender had very small effects. Like parents' ratings, youths' self-ratings of problems were affected much more by individual differences than societal/cultural differences. Most variance in self-rated strengths also reflected individual differences, but societal/cultural effects were larger than for problems, suggesting greater influence of social desirability. The clinical significance of individual differences in youths' self-reports should thus not be minimized by societal/cultural differences, which-while important-can be taken into account with appropriate norms, as can gender and age differences.

Branding through visitors: how cultural differences affect brand co-creation in independent hotels in Iran

PurposeIn most countries, independent hotels are a major contributor to both national economy and the hospitality sector, but to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is a lack of any study on brand co-creation (BCC) in independent hotels. This study aims to examine the interrelationship of moral judgement (MJ), self–brand connection, customer–brand engagement (CBE), electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and how BCC occurs in independent hotels and contrasts visitors’ perspectives between two different Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness clusters in independent hotels. Furthermore, this study also examines the moderating impact of privacy concern (PC) on the relationship between eWOM and brand co-creation.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from two groups of tourists, Iranian (290) and European (224), who visited and stayed in independent hotels in some major cities in Iran. The structural equation modelling using AMOS 22 was adopted to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe study’s findings revealed that there are significant differences between two culturally different travellers in terms of selected variables, suggesting that MJ is a main antecedent of CBE, which leads to eWOM among Iranian travellers, which consequently leads to BCC. Moreover, the study’s data indicates that European travellers show a high level of PCs while staying in independent hotels in Iran, which prevents them from sharing and getting engaged in the social media, which could delay the BCC process especially in international level.Originality/valueThis study contributes to literature by providing new insights on the differences in the concept of brand co-creation between two culturally different groups in the context of independent hotels, which require special attention of independent hotel managers.

The Impact of Culture on the Perception of Young Japanese and Germans in the Management of the Corona Crisis by their Government

This article addresses the extent to which culture has an impact in crisis management at the government level, exemplified by the corona crisis in Germany and Japan. The cultural dimensions of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness study provide a central framework for the study, enabling a comparison of the cultures. The findings suggest that cultural principles can shape crisis management in practice. However, values and ideals are significantly modified by the crisis. Through our developed framework, the cultural and crisis barriers can be identified and thus solutions can be found to operate more efficiently a successful crisis management.

Ad Agency Leadership in the US, UK, and Australia: A Mixed-Method Analysis of Effective Attributes and Styles

Unlike the extensive scholarship on leadership in related disciplines, research on leadership in advertising is almost nonexistent. This study investigates practitioner views on attributes and styles of effective agency leaders in the US, UK, and Australia using GLOBE’s (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) Culturally Endorsed Leadership Theory. All three regions are part of GLOBE’s Anglo cultural cluster. The research examines whether the theory’s central proposition—that leadership in global contexts has universally endorsed elements but is also culturally contingent—is valid in an advertising setting. Using a mixed-method approach, data were collected from agency staff and leaders via 255 survey responses and 40 in-depth interviews. Findings indicate that the best leaders are seen as people-focused, collaboration-driven, and future-oriented. Integrity, vision, and inspiration are top leadership attributes, with collaborative and performance-oriented leadership styles considered the most effective. Views were fairly consistent across regions, with some nuanced differences. One interesting difference from main GLOBE findings is the emphasis on soft skills as a core component of effective leadership. Future research should examine this further, as well as the relationship between leadership and agency culture, millennial and gender differences, and leadership training challenges and also examine advertising leadership across other GLOBE cultural clusters.

How national culture affects IPO decisions? Evidence from Europe and Asia

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate which cross-country characteristics influence the going-public decisions and how the cultural values of the countries affect initial public offering (IPO) firms’ profitability and risk of financial distress. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of privately held and firms that went public on the European and Asian Stock Exchanges between 2007 and 2011, this paper applies probit model and ordinary least squares regression to examine which cross-country characteristics could affect the decision to go public and how cultural values affect the profitability and risk of IPO firms.[AQ1] In addition, to overcome multicollinearity concerns caused by the use of Global Leadership and Organizational Behavioural Effectiveness culture dimensions, this paper factor analyses the dimensions using principal component analysis. Findings The results are as follows. First, this paper finds that firms in tradition-oriented countries are less likely to go public, while firms in result-oriented countries are more likely to hold an IPO. Second, this paper finds that country characteristics (i.e. financial deepening and taxation) affect the going-public decision. Third, this paper documents that IPO firms in traditionally and result-oriented countries have positive profitability and less risk of financial distress. Practical implications This study is intended for all those European and Asian policymakers and managers who want to improve their knowledge about what different indicators can establish the decision of firms that going-public facing different stages of their lifecycle. Specifically, policymakers wishing to promote IPO-activity in their countries may find it useful to strengthen the set of formal-institutions both to reduce corporate-taxation and to reduce the uncertainty associated with first-time share issuance and investment in such initiatives. This study is also intended for managers of companies that are not yet publicly-traded on their national stock-markets to be helpful to their decision-making processes. Originality/value This paper aims to extend the growing literature on the effects of cross-country factors on economic decision-making in finance and particularly adds to research that investigates the influence of these factors on the IPO decision of European and Asian firms.

An Experimental Evidence on Eco-Friendly Advertisement Appeals and Intention to Use Bio-Nanomaterial Plastics: Institutional Collectivism and Performance Orientation as Moderators.

Plastic waste management has become a serious environmental and health concern owing to large amounts of plastic deposits globally. Recently, innovative and sustainable solutions have been introduced (e.g., bio-nanomaterial plastics) to overcome the growing environmental threats. Hence, green marketers need to develop effective advertising campaigns to enhance the usage of bio-nanomaterial plastics. Past literature has suggested that cultural value-laden advertising appeals can give sustainable behavioral cues to consumers. Hence, this research unfolds the underlying cultural dimensions between the value-laden eco-friendly advertising appeals and intention to use bio-nanomaterial plastics (henceforth IBP). The present study proposes a moderating model in which two dimensions presented in the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (henceforth GLOBE) framework interact with the individuals’ perception of eco-friendly advertising appeals (henceforth IPEA) to drive bio-nanomaterial plastics usage. The model was tested by conducting an experimental study on a sample of 364 Pakistani consumers. Findings of structural equation modeling show a significant difference in the relationship between IPEA and IBP, which is moderated by the performance orientation (henceforth PO) and institutional collectivism (henceforth IC) dimensions with diverse intensity. These findings validate the effectiveness of PO and IC (as cultural dimensions) and eco-friendly advertisements that can potentially promote the consumption of bio-nanomaterials plastic.

Leader-member exchange and subjective well-being: the moderating role of metacognitive cultural intelligence

PurposeThis study examines employees' metacognitive cultural intelligence as a moderator in the relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and employees' subjective well-being.Design/methodology/approachWe tested the conceptual model using regression analysis from a sample of 462 migrant workers in Australia.FindingsThe results demonstrated that employees' metacognitive cultural intelligence moderated the relationship between LMX and employees' subjective well-being in such a way that the effect was stronger among those employees with lower levels of metacognitive cultural intelligence.Research limitations/implicationsThe cross-sectional design, with self-reporting at one point in time, could affect a causal relationship among variables, although each relationship was built on strong theoretical perspectives. However, prior research emphasizes that a single source is not considered to be an issue when interactions are examined.Practical implicationsOne way to improve metacognitive cultural intelligence for global leadership effectiveness could be through the introduction of diversity and cross-cultural training, such as didactic programs provided either in-house or by external institutions.Originality/valueDrawing on Conservation of Resources theory, this paper contributes to the literature by demonstrating that employees' metacognitive cultural intelligence is a boundary condition that alters the strengths of the LMX–subjective well-being relationship.

An investigation of characteristics of effective global leaders

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to unite research in cultural intelligence (CQ), core confidence and multitasking to examine how these characteristics interplay in the perceptions of global leadership effectiveness.Design/methodology/approachThe sample comprised 149 employees, mostly managers from 21 countries with 18 native languages spoken who had global leadership experience while working fulltime for international organizations. Relationships were examined using the hierarchical linear regression of survey data.FindingsSupport is found for core confidence moderating the relationship between CQ and other-rated and self-rated perceptions of global leadership effectiveness such that the relationship is stronger when leader core confidence is high. Moreover, support is found for CQ and core confidence having positive relationships with self-rated perceptions of global leadership effectiveness, and the study found a positive relationship between CQ and multitasking.Practical implicationsThe relationships studied provide practitioners with information to supplement the employee selection process for global leaders. The ability to assess current or future employees and hedge organizational risk in assignment to global leadership positions could have a significant impact.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by investigating individual characteristics contributing to the perceptions of global leadership effectiveness. Because perceptions are often acted on as if reality and globalization in our personal and work lives is expansive, understanding these relationships is important.

Cultural values and definitions of career success

AbstractThis paper examines how national culture relates to the ways that individuals define career success. Data are drawn from interviews with 269 professional services employees in 15 countries. Interviews are content coded and linked with country‐level Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness measures of cultural values. We test our hypotheses using a multilevel multinomial logit model. The results demonstrate that the ways in which employees define career success vary across countries, due in part to differences in cultural values after controlling for gender, occupation, job level, and national economic development. We find that employees from countries high in future orientation, uncertainty avoidance, and performance orientation are more likely to define career success in terms of interpersonal outcomes, and those from countries high in collectivism (institutional and in‐group), humane orientation, and gender egalitarianism are more likely to prefer intrapersonal outcomes. We find that employees from countries that are high in assertiveness, uncertainty avoidance, and performance orientation are more likely to define career success in terms of achievement‐oriented outcomes. Finally, we find that employees from countries high in power distance report career success definitions in terms of safety and security outcomes. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of cultural differences in careers across countries.

Managing change in transnational companies: does cultural distance matter

Employees' commitment to change is an important prerequisite for change management success. We test how a direct manager's transformational leadership and top management communication impact employees' commitment to change and how, in a transnational organisation, these relationships are moderated by cultural distance. We measure cultural distance using GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness Research) dimensions. The results of the study in a German technology company (N = 939 employees, operating in 30 countries) show that transformational leadership and top management communication are positively related to affective and normative commitment to change. Cultural distance positively moderates the direct manager's transformational leadership-affective commitment relationship and reduces the influence of top management communication on normative commitment to change.

Managing change in transnational companies: does cultural distance matter

Employees' commitment to change is an important prerequisite for change management success. We test how a direct manager's transformational leadership and top management communication impact employees' commitment to change and how, in a transnational organisation, these relationships are moderated by cultural distance. We measure cultural distance using GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness Research) dimensions. The results of the study in a German technology company (N = 939 employees, operating in 30 countries) show that transformational leadership and top management communication are positively related to affective and normative commitment to change. Cultural distance positively moderates the direct manager's transformational leadership-affective commitment relationship and reduces the influence of top management communication on normative commitment to change.

U.S. Latino Leaders Versus the GLOBE’s Latin American and Anglo Cluster

The current study compares the leadership preferences among Latino leaders in the U.S. and the GLOBE’s Latin American and Anglo Clusters. The study was done with a national sample size of 188 Latino leaders from all over the U.S. The surveying instrument used was sections 2 and 4 of the Alpha form of The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Questionnaire (GLOBE) by House et al. (2004) and a demographic survey developed by the researcher. t-Tests were used to compare the overall mean score of the research sample with the grand mean score of both the Latin American and Anglo clusters. Results indicate that Latino leaders in the U.S. had different leadership preference than the GLOBE’s Latin American and Anglo cluster. One of the main contributions of the research to the body of knowledge is that it brings to light the uniqueness of the Latino leadership preferences and shows how dissimilar their preference is from the Latin American and Anglo Clusters of the GLOBE.

GLOBE Phase 4: Improving Culture Dimension Measures and Measuring Trust Across Cultures

The GLOBE project (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) is a continuing multi-phase, multi-method, and multi-country research program examining interrelationships between so...