Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Is a process of influence between leader and followers, which is to achieve the goals of
a group, organization or society.
Four major aspects:
a. That leadership is not a static trait or characteristic that lies in the leader it is a process
that takes place over time in being involved in an interactive relation leader, followers
and situation.
b. Leadership involves influence
c. Leadership is a group phenomenon.
d. That the influence is directed at obtaining a common goal.
was based on the premise that the performance of a group or organization depends not
only on the characteristics of the leader but also various situational variables.
The contingency model of leadership effectiveness: Fiedler
The effectiveness of leadership depends on a combination of situational factors with
certain personal characteristics of the leader.
Among the situational factors are taken into account:
•
The relationship, good or bad, with the leader of the group: group atmosphere.
•
The degree to which work and power of the leader.
These theories in the study of leadership considered that this phenomenon is influenced
by the relationships that the group's leader has with other groups. From this perspective,
the leader is the prototypical member of the group (the one that best embodies their
values) and to the extent that members will act in this group prototypical leader. It is
important to realize that: a) the prototypical leader is not static and can vary depending
on the objectives that the group pursued and that b) the leader can also help to define
what is prototypical of the group according to their interests. Theories discussed have
ignored one important fact: the phenomenon is a leadership group and the groups are
not isolated but never having relations with other groups in their environment.
B) THE CROSS-CULTURAL LEADERSHIP
values, beliefs, norms and ideals inherent in a particular culture affect the behavior of
the leader and his goals and also affects the perception that followers have about their
leaders.
Hofstede found four dimensions used to characterize different cultures and for making
comparisons among them:
1. Power distance: the degree to which members of an organization or society expect
and accept unequal distribution of power.
a. Society with low power distance and authoritarian leader: rejection of their
subordinates.
b. Society with high power distance of a little lead managers: perceived as weak and
ineffectual.
2. Individualism / collectivism:
a. Individualism is characteristic of societies in which relations between individuals are
weak. A leader will have trouble focusing on the relationship.
b. Collectivism is characteristic of societies in which individuals are integrated into
strong, cohesive groups that protect them, asking to change an unquestionable loyalty.
Hopefully within a collectivist culture that a leader focused on the task is difficult.
3. Masculinity / femininity:
a. In masculine societies: the sexual roles are clearly defined. Men are expected to be
assertive, strong and focused on material success. Women are expected to be modest,
tender and interested in the quality of life. The leader must be assertive, determined,
aggressive and makes decisions by himself, without consulting the group.
b. In feminine societies, both roles overlap extensively. The ideal leader is more
intuitive, and look for consensus.
4. Uncertainty avoidance: the degree to which members of a culture feel threatened by
uncertainty or fear of unknown situations.
a. In countries with high uncertainty avoidance is emotional need laws governing the
action every time.
It would require a leader manager. In such a culture would be expected to tell the leader
in each moment what to do because, otherwise, it would create great anxiety.
b. In countries with low avoidance is largely rejecting the formal rules. A leadership
management arouse too strong resistance because people are expected to participate in
decisions and is willing to take responsibility.