Leadership Across Cultures

1. KMB IB 05
(CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT)
Leadership Across Cultures (Unit 4)
Part 1 of 3
Dr. PARUL AGARWAL, ABESEC,
AKTU,LUCKNOW
1

2. Who Are Leaders and What Is
Leadership?
• Leader - Someone who can influence others
and who has managerial authority.
• Leadership - What leaders do; the process of
influencing a group to achieve goals.
Are all managers leaders?
• Because leading is one of the four
management functions, yes, Ideally, all
managers should be leaders.

3. Leadership Behaviors
and Styles

4. Leader–Subordinate Interactions

5. Leader–Subordinate Interactions

6. Leader–Subordinate Interactions

7. Leadership and Culture
Universal Elements of Effective Leadership
• Vision
• Foresight
• Providing encouragement
• Trustworthiness
• Dynamism
• Positivity
• Proactive
Leadership and culture are closely intertwined
People’s perception of relationship and authority
differs from culture to culture.

8. Linkage Between Hofstede’s Cultural
Dimensions and Leadership Styles
1. Power Distance and Leadership Style
Low power distance cultures prefer a participative and
consultative leadership style
In high power distance cultures
– Authoritarian styles are accepted (but may not be preferred)
– Subordinates are expected to display loyalty to their supervisors
– Clear hierarchies are often present, and leaders use status
symbols

9. Linkage Between Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
and Leadership Styles
2. Individualism vs. Collectivism and Leadership Style
Individualist cultures
– Prefer task-oriented leaders who delegate authority,
and value initiative
– Leaders take inputs from subordinates but are decisive
– Leaders need to demonstrate competence
– Autonomy and individual achievement are valued
Collectivist cultures
– Prefer relationship-oriented leaders who encourage
team work

10. Linkage Between Hofstede’s Cultural
Dimensions and Leadership Styles
3. Masculine and Feminine Cultures and Leadership Style
Masculine Cultures
• Prefer assertive leaders
• Leaders focus on achieving difficult performance goals
• Independence is respected
Feminine Cultures
• Prefer caring, non-aggressive leaders
• Prefer leaders who focus on achieving quality of work life
• Appreciate compassionate leaders

11. Linkage Between Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
and Leadership Styles
4. Uncertainty Avoidance and Leadership Style
High Uncertainty Avoidance
• Leaders who spell out instructions are appreciated
• Rules and regulations are appreciated
• Subordinates look up to leaders to provide security
Low Uncertainty Avoidance
• Leaders who offer flexibility to subordinates to solve problems are
appreciated

12. THANK YOU
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Dr. PARUL AGARWAL, ABESEC,
AKTU,LUCKNOW