HR6055 Week 4

Motivation and leadership in

cross-cultural context

Frances Tomlinson
f.tomlinson@londonmet.ac.uk

londonmet.ac.uk
 Motivation and leadership

Aim of session: to review aspects of these well-known

concepts and theories from a cross-cultural perspective,
drawing on both:

Emic approaches: which investigate phenomena

within their specific cultural context

Etic approaches: which attempt to generalise

theories and concepts to other cultures and examine
similarities and differences…

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 Associated with motivation…

Attitudes to work and employment

Working hours, holidays and quality of life

Job satisfaction

The intensity, direction and duration of employees’

behaviour in relation to organisational goals

http://uk.businessinsider.com/countries-world-highest-quality-life-usa-norway-canada-
2016-6

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 Cross-country comparisons
 Long hours and hard work culture: Japan – ‘karoshi’ (death from
overwork); reported average working day of over 12 hours; S
Koreans averaged 2,316 annual working hours (OECD average
1,768) (WSJ 2010)
 Statutory leave entitlement: paid vacation days (excluding public
holidays): Finland, Austria, Denmark 25 days; Russia 20; India 12;
Japan 10; Taiwan 7; China 5.... USA no statutory agreement
(OECD 2014)
 Typical South Korean government worker takes only 6 of the
allotted 23 days holiday (WSJ)
 Yet in a 2001 survey job satisfaction levels in S Korea only 14%
(compared to Denmark 61%, USA 50%, France 24%....)

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 Motivation theories
 Content theories – include Maslow, Herzberg,
McClelland (what motivates...)

 Process theories – include equity and expectancy

theories (how people become motivated...)

 Questioning the universal application of these theories

Hofstede: management by objectives
Triandis: horizontal collectivism; Ubuntu in southern Africa
Impact of more externally oriented cultures e.g. relevance of
expectancy theories in Muslim cultures

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 Leadership
 Think of somebody you personally know who you
consider to be a good and effective leader

What, in your opinion, makes them good and

effective?

 Think of somebody you personally know who you

consider to be an ineffective leader

What, in your opinion, makes them ineffective as a

leader?
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 Transactional and transformational
leadership (Bass 1997)
 Transactional leadership – focus on mutual exchange,
fulfilling role expectations

 Transformational leadership – leaders who inspire

others with their vision, successfully implement their
vision, show personalised concern....

 How universally appealing is the transactional model?

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 Leadership and culture
 ‘Leading from the front’: strong, individualised
leadership, focus on corporate heroes... favoured in
USA, UK, Ireland, Spain but not universally regarded
as the ‘best’
 Finland and Sweden favour more consensus oriented
leadership; common goals more important in Germany;
in France leaders regarded more as strategic thinkers...
 Paternalistic model favoured in SE Asian countries –
social distance, harmony, humane, personalised
relationships
(see Aycan et al (2014; chapter 7)
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 Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Effectiveness (GLOBE) project (started 1996)
 Value based model of leadership: ‘the ability to influence, motivate
and contribute towards the effectiveness of the organisation of
which they [leaders] are members’

 Explored how respondents in 62 countries grouped into clusters

(see next slide) positioned different leadership attributes and
behaviours

 Values framework: PD, UA, collectivism, assertiveness, gender

egalitarianism, humanity, future orientation, performance
orientation

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 GLOBE project on leadership – country clusters
(House et al, 2004)

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 Findings

 Attributes that reflect good leadership across country

clusters: integrity, charisma, team orientation,
decisiveness, intelligence, orientation towards
excellence

 Universally associated with poor leadership: irritable,

egocentric, non-explicit, asocial, dictatorial, ruthless,
uncooperative (self-protective behaviours)

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 Some cultural variations
 Nordic and Anglo cluster : emphasise team orientation
 Southern and East European cluster: diplomacy, face
saving, following procedures is more important than in
other European countries
 Leaders in the Middle East should be familial, humble,
religiously observant (outside values framework)
 USA: managers are more confrontational and critical in
contrast to Japan where feedback is more indirect

Scandura, T. and Dorfman, P (2004) ‘Leadership research in an international

and cross-cultural context’ The Leadership Quarterly 15/2, 277-307

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