On the generality of leadership style measures across cultures*

Abstract

I t is proposed that cross-cultural studies of leadership style have failed to distinguish adequately between global characterizations of style and the specific behaviours which leaders need to use in a given culture if a particular style is to be attributed to them. A study is reported of perceptions of electronics plant supervisors in Britain, the USA, Japan and Hong Kong, derived from Misumi's PM leadership theory. The findings indicate that characterizations of P(Performance) and M(Maintenance) leader style have a similar factor structure in each culture. However, the specific behaviours associated with those styles differ markedly, in ways which are comprehensible within the cultural norms ofeach setting. The study illustrates how a series of emic correlations within each culture sample may be used to test the validity of etic models of leader style.

Perceived effectiveness of influence tactics in the united states and china

“…Several of the studies included Chinese managers, but, in most cases, these managers lived in Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Singapore rather than in mainland China (e.g., Dorfman & Howell, 1988;Dorfman, Howell, Hibino, Lee, Tate, & Bautista, 1997;Gerstner & Day, 1994;Smith, Misumi, Tayeb, Peterson, & Bond, 1989).…”

Culture and Leadership: Comparing Egypt to the GLOBE Study of 62 Societies

“…Thus, the concept of leadership in its entirety is more than likely a western construct, which does not necessarily take into account other non-western constructs. Furthermore, leadership styles and theories developed in the western world assume that the rest of the world will abide by the same rules and concepts (Misumi, 1985(Misumi, , 1992Smith et al, 1989). The argument is that human beings are similar all over the world, and by the same token, human behaviors ought to be similar in their leadership styles and concepts.…”

“…This research paper argues that in order to adequately understand a given leader's behavior that behavior must be examined both in terms of a general and a specific structural context across cultures. Most researchers, such as Misumi (1985Misumi ( , 1992; Misumi and Peterson (1985) and Smith et al, (1989) argue that there is a certain underlying universal structure to the way a leader's behavior is interpreted. On the other hand some researchers, such as Yukl (1989Yukl ( , 1998, Ardichvili, and Kuchinke (2002) and Grint (2005), argue that most, if not all, of the research on leadership during the past half century was conducted in the United States (US), Canada, and Western Europe which does not present an accurate and true indication of leadership worldwide.…”

Introduction to the Special Issue on Leadership and Culture in the Middle East

“…These studies found support for both culture-specific (Bass, Burger, Doctor, & Barrett, 1979;Gerstner & Day, 1994;Rodriguez, 1990;Schmidt & Yeh, 1992;Shackleton & Ali, 1990;Smith & Peterson, 1994;Smith, Missumi, Tayeb, Peterson, & Bond, 1989) and universalistic views (Bass & Avolio, 1993;Dorfman & Ronen, 1991). Other researchers have argued that both culturespecific and universal views have validity (Bass, 1990;Dorfman, Howell, Hibino, Lee, Tate, & Bautista, 1997;Den Hartog, House, Hanges, RuizQuintanilla, & Dorfman, 1999;House, Wright, & Aditya, 1997).…”