Introduction
It is vital to know the manner in which the variable of societal culture plays out in the theories of leadership. Currently, leadership as understood from the perspective of the followers cannot be effectively analyzed and synthesized without considering the impact of the diverse societal cultures involved. The contemporary multi-national business corporations invest heavily in developing and nurturing leaders who have the right competencies of understanding and managing the diversity that exists in the organization in terms of culture. With the existing high rate of globalization, multi-national enterprises deal with a workforce that is comprised of people from different cultural backgrounds (Lakshman, 2013). Therefore, the modern business leaders have to know the rights approaches to management of this crop of followers. Without the right of knowledge of managing the cross-cultural dynamics of the employees in the corporation, then leaders may experience challenges that bar them from realizing the benefits of globalization. Therefore, multi-national corporations usually strive to establish the best approach to managing people. They often use the cross-cultural leadership theories to develop programs that then nurture leaders who can manage the diversity of the followers (Kirkman et al., 2009). This use of the cross-cultural leadership theories in developing the right leadership capabilities is evident in the three leaders chosen for the purpose of this case evaluation paper. These leaders are the chief executive officers for the big corporations based in different nations. The nations considered for this case include Turkey, Russia and Switzerland. The companies selected include Glencore International, Gazprom and Koç Holding. Glencore International is based in Switzerland, Gazprom in Russia and Koç Holding in Turkey. The leaders that this paper analyzes include Ivan Glasenberg of Glencore International, Alexey Miller of Gazprom and Levent Cakiroglu of Koç Holding.
Cross-cultural leadership
Organizations usually have very different people working for the same goals. These people are different in terms of their cultural backgrounds. It is vital to note the fact that a good leader must cross-cultural leadership by adapting to this mixture of varied cultures. People who have varied cultural backgrounds normally show differing behaviors, reasoning, rules, principles, perceptions, beliefs, knowledge and values (Dickson, Den Hartog & Mitchelson, 2003). Cross-cultural leadership is, thus, about bringing harmony in the different cultures of the followers.
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Theoretical approaches to leadership in a cultural context
There are different theoretical approaches that leaders apply in dealing with the diversity in organizations. Through cross-cultural leadership research, leaders are able to understand specific culture-based contingencies (Hudea, 2014). Considering the established cultural contingencies, the leader is able to pick the right and most suitable approaches to cross-cultural leadership in a given organization. Some of the relevant cross-cultural leadership approaches applied by the leaders of multi-national business corporations include Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, contingency leadership theory, GLOBE, the culture-enveloping model and the implicit leadership theory (Frost & Walker, 2007).
The large-scale GLOBE project gave a definition of leadership, which is now renowned. Organization leadership is taken by this GLOBE project as the ability of a leader to motivate, influence and enable followers work and contribute towards to the success of the organization to which they are members. The first theory of cross-cultural leadership is known as the culture-enveloping model (Gary, 2010). This model takes national culture as having all-encompassing impact on the processes of leadership. According to this model, the national culture normally influences the image and power of a given leader. Moreover, it also determines the interpersonal relationships between the leader and his or her followers. Therefore, the ability of a leader to lead an organization depends on the national culture existing. For instance, within a large power-distance national culture, the capacity of the leader to influence followers is very high than in the case of a small power-distance (Smith & Kritsonis, 2002). Behavioral exchanges between the leader and the followers are normally culturally contingent.
The GLOBE project is also a very significant approach to cross-cultural leadership. The GLOBE project proposes that attributes and entities, which normally distinguish a given culture, usually predict the organizational practices and the behaviors as well as traits of leaders. This project also proposes that the culturally accepted beliefs and practices determine the leadership style of a given leader in the organization.
There is also Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. This theory gives some of the very important factors that affect the organizational behaviors of employees. For instance, there are workers who like change hence cannot avoid it when it is being implemented. However, there are those employees who do not like change hence have a very high degree of uncertainty avoidance (Javidan et al., 2006). All these varying types of workers are present in the same organization. There are those employees who come from a background that is primarily masculine while others come from a feminine society. The leader must be able to manage these varying cultures in order to achieve success in the organization.
Additionally, the contingency theory of leadership is also a very important approach to cross-cultural leadership. This theory encourages adapting one’s leadership style to the existing cultural differences (Najafbagy, 2008). The theory suggests that the leader of an organization must have the appropriate traits and skills, which are in tandem with the existing cross-cultural issues (Grisham & Walker, 2008). The leader must be able to adapt the different cultures into a common organization culture for smooth operation of the company.
Different leaders and their leadership styles
It is vital to understand the fact that the major factor, which determines the way a leader manages the diversity of followers in the organization is leadership style. Leaders have different styles of leading and each one determines the outcome within the cross-cultural context.
Ivan Glasenberg of Glencore International
Ivan Glasenberg is the chief executive officer of Glencore International Corporation. Glencore International Corporation is one of the largest commodity trading and mining companies in the entire world. It is based in Switzerland, but has operations across the world. Therefore, it is a multi-national business corporation. Glasenberg sits on the boards of other mining companies like Xstrata Plc and Minara Resources Ltd. Being the chief executive officer of such a giant corporation in the industry of mining and commodity trading, Glasenberg has had to deal with followers of great diversity in terms of cultural backgrounds. A lot of the workers, suppliers, clients and managers that Glasenberg leads are from different cultural backgrounds across the world. He has, therefore, had to confront various challenges related to the issue of cross-cultural leadership. However, Glasenberg has been able to apply effective and appropriate cross-cultural leadership theories in his style of leading and win success for the entire organization. He has brought great success to this company in terms of profitability and growth globally.
Glasenberg mainly applies the transformational leadership style. His approach to the issue of cultural diversity in the organization is the contingency theory of leadership. Transformational leadership involves being charismatic and rallying the followers on to a common goal. Transformational leadership normally seeks to have the followers support the agenda of the leaders enthusiastically. According to the contingency theory of leadership, which Glasenberg applies in his main leadership style, an effective always develops the right traits that match the constraints of a particular situation. It is vital to note that contingency leadership is basically situational in nature. It simply provides that different situations in the organization demand distinct characteristics on the part of the leader. The theory suggests that there are four qualities for an effective cross-cultural leader, which include individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and idealized influences. Glasenberg has been able to successfully apply this theory in his leadership career.
He involves all stakeholders in his decisions. Moreover, he closely watches the behaviors of the employees with a view of establishing some of the common characteristics among all the workers. These common characteristics are then used to come up with organizational goals that can be shared by all workers. Glasenberg has perfected the art of cross-cultural leadership, which has enabled him to transform Glencore into a global giant company. Without better cross-cultural leadership styles, Glasenberg could have taken advantage of the benefits brought about by the current high rate of globalization. The contingency leadership approach has enabled him to entrench an organizational culture harmonizes all the different cultural backgrounds into one shared culture of values and beliefs.
Alexey Miller of Gazprom
Another great business leader who has managed to have a very unique approach towards cross-cultural leadership and achieved success is Alexey Miller. Alexey Miller is the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom. He doubles up as the chief executive officer of this company. Gazprom is the largest energy company in Russia. Moreopver, Gazprom is the biggest supplier of public energy in the whole world. Therefore, Miller is in charge of a very big multi-national business corporation, which contains people of different cultural backgrounds under him.
Basically, Miller’s style of cross-cultural leadership is paternalistic. His approach towards cross-cultural leadership is based on the implicit leadership theory. Paternalistic leadership style normally combines strong discipline and use of authority with some of kind of fatherly benevolence as well as moral integrity while leading in the organization. This style of leadership usually has about 3 elements. They include authoritarianism, mortal and benevolent leadership. The leader takes personal interest in professional and personal lives the followers. The leader then expects loyalty and respect from the followers.
According to the implicit leadership theory, which Miller uses in his practice of leading people, the underlying assumptions, stereotypes, beliefs and schemas usually influence the level at which they perceive a given person as a good and effective leader. Based on this theory, the underlying beliefs about a given leader are quite varied. This theory proposes the development of a good perception in the minds of the followers by being close to them. It is based on this theory that Miller is always personally interested in the lives of every worker at this company. He has been able to effectively use this theory and the style of leadership mentioned to manage the different cultures at the organization well. The corporation has been able to grow and expand globally under Miller’s leadership. He is a leader who exemplifies the best way of dealing the cross cultures in the organization.
Levent Cakiroglu of Koç Holding
Levent Cakiroglu is the chief executive officer of Koc Holding who has also managed to show good cross-cultural leadership skills. Before taking this position in the year 2015, he served in other senior leadership roles, where he still demonstrated effective management of the employees and managers of diverse cultures. Koc Holding is the largest industrial conglomerate in Turkey. Koc Holding was formed in the year 1963 by one of the wealthiest families in Turkey. It is now a company of great international reputation.
Cakiroglu applies the transactional style of leadership. It is important to note that the transactional style of leadership entails the use of rewards in order to achieve a given goal. It is based on the give and take principle. In this style of leadership, the leader promises awards for those who manage to achieve the set goals and targets. These rewards then motivate workers to work hard and with high dedication in order to achieve the success needed and get rewards. Cakiroglu uses Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in his leadership style. He considers the cultural dimensions of Hofstede in deciding ways of dealing with the cross cultural issues within the organization. By considering the cultural dimensions of Hofstede, Cakiroglu is able to understand the individualistic and collectivistic goals and needs of the followers. This dimension is about the way different cultures prioritize personal needs and goals with respect to those of the group or organization. Understanding this particular dimension of the cultures enables the leader to satisfy each employee or follower. The leader is able to appreciate the different treatment that every employee needs in order to be satisfied. However, the leader may also find ways of harmonizing the different personal goals and needs of the followers to come up with a common organizational culture.
The other dimension is masculine against feminine, which Cakiroglu understands leads to different needs and goals between the two genders. Workers come from societies that are masculine while others hail from those that value the feminine culture. Understanding these differences is quite vital for the leader. Cakiroglue leads a very large corporation with employees who come from all over the world. The fact that he appreciates the difference in beliefs held by those who hold masculine values and the ones with feminine tendencies enables him to strike a balance between the two extremes.
Cakiroglu also considers the difference in the treatment of uncertainty among the employees. There are those workers who have a very high level of uncertainty avoidance while others can tolerate uncertainty. In this case, this cultural dimension comes into play when dealing with the issue of change. When implementing change in the company, Cakiroglu identifies the employees who have an open high degree of uncertainty avoidance and addresses their concerns quite differently from the ones who have minimal level of uncertainty avoidance. This knowledge has assisted Cakiroglu to implement positive change in this huge company and made it to grow to the international scene.
There is also the dimension of power distance, which entails the extent to which people are comfortable with the influence of the leader. Cakiroglu understands that there are workers who may not like to be influenced from upwards. He considers this factor when exercising his leadership. The other cultural; dimension that are considered by Cakiroglu in his style of leadership include the time perspective as well as indulgence and restraint. In Turkey, Cakiroglu stands out as a leader who has managed to deal with the cross cultural aspects of the workforce and led to the exponential growth of the corporation into a world class organization. Its profitability has significantly surged since he took power in the year 2015. It is vital to note that poor and ineffective cross-cultural leadership makes the company to nosedive in terms of business performance.
Conclusion
Cross-cultural leadership ability is very essential to the success of the organization. It has been shown that leaders such as Miller, Glasenberg and Cakiroglu have been using the right cross-cultural leadership styles and approaches in order to achieve the huge success in their organizations. Every leader must choose the appropriate approach to cross-cultural issues in the company. These approaches relevant to effective cross-cultural leadership include the GLOBE project, implicit leadership theory, contingency theory, culture-enveloping model and the Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. The manner in which the variable of societal culture plays out in the leadership approach of a given organizational leader determines the overall success of the corporation.
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