Global markets are increasingly taking advantage of the strength and economic advantages of a diverse global workforce. It is common on international projects to find multi-cultural teams located in multiple countries. It is also common to find such projects led by Project Managers who come from many different countries. So having a person raised in India managing a project in China, with a design team in the USA, procurement procurement teams in Japan and Mexico, and a drafting team in Albania is not unusual. Even in historically monolithic markets like the USA, it is far more common to have mulit-cultural teams and foreign competition. In addition, the pressure on the industry to increase productivity and reduce costs is unrelenting. This leads to flatter project structures, and the need for leadership at multiple levels. My experience in such markets, and the glaring need for a Cross-Cultural Leadership model that could be used to improve leadership skills in international markets were the reasons for undertaking this thesis. The hypothesis of this thesis is that there are of cross-cultural leadership dimensions that are effective and essential, regardless of culture. Those dimensions are Trust, Empathy, Transformation, Power, and Communication. The thesis first explores the cultural and leadership aspects of Cross-Cultural Leadership through a review of the published literature. The literature research was then subjected to an exegetical review of the themes that emerged, and used to construct the Descriptors, and Sub-Descriptors for each of the leadership dimensions. The thesis also explored the transfer of cultural knowledge with metaphors and storytelling. In a fast paced business environment, developing a richer understanding and sensitivity to other coulters, in general and specific, is a skill that Leaders must possess. Lastly, the thesis explored the connections between conflict management and Cross-Cultural Leadership. Conflict management skills are becoming ever more important due to the rapid changes that are common in the current business environment. Change, cultural mis-information, scarce resources, poor communication skills, contractual ambiguity and complexity are but a few of the reasons that managing conflict is a critical skill for leaders. IV The design of the testing protocols was bifurcated. One track evaluated the hypothesis, the other track evaluated the connection between the Leadership Dimensions hypothesized, and the GLOBE survey. The GLOBE survey was utilized to investigate if a viable connection existed between the Leadership Dimensions and a broad based international survey of cultural dimensions. The testing of the hypothesis was performed using a Delphi panel of experts in international cross-cultural leadership, through two sessions of questions with feedback after the end of the first session. Subsequently, the results were analyzed, studied, and evaluated with an eye toward my practical experience in the field - sense making. The results were that the hypothesis was confirmed, and the connection to the GLOBE Survey cultural dimensions was also confirmed. A model is presented to summarize the findings of the thesis, called the Cross-Cultural Leadership Intelligence (XLQ) Model. As discussed in the thesis, Project Management has not emphasized leadership in the current body of knowledge (PMBOK), and it only makes general reference to cultural considerations. Recognizing this, The Project Management Institute (PMI) has funded a study that recommends more research in the area of cross-cultural leadership, and a new grant to study the question of how global the PMBOK really is. Both of these issues are addressed by this thesis. The XLQ model provides a framework for assessing and training Project Managers in cross-cultural leadership skills. The model is a global one that can be used across cultures, business models, and markets. The model also points towards the need for further research into metrics, education, training techniques, and of course, further empirical testing of the model itself.

For this qualitative research a single case study was conducted of a faith-based non-profit organization, Health Education and Literacy Providers (H.E.L.P.), which operates simultaneously in the United States and Nigeria. The purpose of this study was to explore the cross-cultural leadership phenomena occurring within H.E.L.P. and to provide evaluation services and research data to the American members of H.E.L.P. Participants included a sample of the American board members, Nigerian board members, and Nigerian employees. Three data collection methods were used to achieve triangulation including participant observations, interviews, and analysis of documents. The first research objective was to investigate the cross-cultural leadership context by analyzing the organizational culture of H.E.L.P. in Nigeria. Results revealed H.E.L.P. was designed by American board members to operate as a bureaucratic culture with an emphasis on a business-like structure, centralized authority, compartmentalization, and efficiency. The Nigerian board members and employees, however, expressed a desire for a supportive culture that focused on love and harmony uncovering a discrepancy between American and Nigerian preferences in organizational culture typology. The results from the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) study were referenced to provide a cultural explanation for variations in organizational culture preferences. According to GLOBE study findings, the United States ranked higher on performance orientation meaning Americans are more likely to value results above people, ambition, and competitiveness, and explains the American?s desire for a bureaucratic organizational culture. Nigeria ranked behind the United States as a lower performance oriented society meaning individuals place high value on relationships and harmony, explaining their desire for a supportive culture. The second and third research objectives were to determine how H.E.L.P.'s Nigerian members perceive effective leadership within their culture, and determine how the Nigerians? definition of effective leadership supports or refutes the literature on prevalent Westernized leadership theories. Results indicated the overarching leadership theme perceived to be effective by the Nigerian members of H.E.L.P. was love. Several aspects of a loving leader were evident in the data and divided into five categories each with one subcategory. These findings supported both Transformational and Authentic leadership theories.

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This research explores the leadership constructs of global leaders and Chinese managers in multi-national corporations (MNCs) in order to understand whether their constructs are misaligned, and if so, in what ways. To address these questions, data was gathered via repertory grid test interviews with 31 global leaders and 59 Chinese managers in six MNCs’ China organizations. Analysis subsequently revealed that global leaders rely upon twelve key constructs to define global leadership capability and potential. These are: creative, drive to improve, communication skill, collaborative style, charisma, professional knowledge and experience, visionary, cross culture, flexibility, confidence, team development and emotional intelligence. Crucially however, half of the global leaders’ key constructs were not identified as important to Chinese managers; furthermore, most of the missing constructs resonate with charismatic and transformational leadership characteristics, indicating a gap between the two groups’ leadership concepts. Subsequently, both groups of leaders’ leadership constructs were compared with their respective companies’ Leadership Competency Frameworks. The results again revealed gaps, suggesting reliance upon headquarter-developed leadership frameworks to communicate leadership expectations and develop local leaders is either deficient, or inappropriate. The global leaders and Chinese managers’ perspectives on Chinese managers’ career barriers were also explored, with the evidence indicating that perceptions of both groups are influenced by their own cultural assumptions. As the global leaders’ perspectives aligned with their own leadership constructs but Chinese managers were not aware of the importance of those constructs, it seems to support the contention that a bias may exist when global leaders evaluate Chinese managers’ leadership capability and potential.

National cultures play a critical role in effective leadership and organisational success in international businesses. Contemporary organisations are therefore challenged by cross-cultural leadership needs to address increasing diversity. In the past decades, there has been a growing interest in studies of non-Western leadership. Recent papers have focused particularly on leadership in the Asia-Pacific region. This paper compares leadership in China and New Zealand, based on the data collected by using the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness) project leadership questionnaire. In addition, the paper reviews the main findings of previous research in order to investigate the similarities and differences in preferred leadership behaviours/characteristics in both cultures, while attempting to examine the consistency of current findings against the previous GLOBE studies. Significant differences of leadership behaviours between China and New Zealand have been identified. This paper generally supports the findings of previous GLOBE studies that charismatic/value-based leadership is the universally contributing factor towards outstanding leadership and self-protective leadership is the universally negative factor against leadership excellence. Findings in this paper may contribute to further understanding of leadership practice in these two countries. Future research should be undertaken to examine the effects of cultural differences on organisational practice by a more comprehensive research method.

Exploring the leadership of New Zealand’s diverse cultural groups is of great importance in providing effective leadership. New Zealand’s population is diverse and rapidly changing (Statistics New Zealand, 2004b), resulting in leader-follower relationships increasingly being enacted in the cross-cultural context. As research suggests, cultural variations of leadership exist (Brodbeck et al., 2000; House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004), and inappropriate leadership could stifle the leadership process (Lord & Maher, 1993), it may be especially important to recognise cultural difference in leadership. Well-respected leadership theorists suggest that leadership behaviour is both culturally similar and different (Brodbeck et al., 2000; House et al., 2004), with distinct prototypes of leadership existing in each culture. Followers will only be influenced by leaders’ behaviour which they recognise from that prototype (Lord & Maher, 1993). To be effective, leaders’ behaviour must match followers’ culturally contingent leadership expectation (Popper & Druyan, 2001). New Zealand research supports this theory, confirming the existence of culturally unique leadership behaviour domestically (Ah Chong & Thomas, 1997; Love, 1991a). If the leadership expectations of New Zealand’s diverse cultural groups are not recognised, the result will be ineffective leadership for significant groups. This study investigates perceptions of outstanding Maori and Pakeha leaders by culturally similar followers. In doing so, it examines the unique Maori and Pakeha leadership prototypes, exploring their similarities and differences. In addition, it considers ways in which this course of research could impact on effective leadership in New Zealand. A multi-method approach was taken by this study in exploring perceived Maori and Pakeha leadership. The GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) survey was employed as this study’s quantitative component. The GLOBE is currently cross-cultural leadership’s fore-running research programme, investigating culture’s impact on leadership processes in 62 cultures, with the aim of developing a truly cross-cultural leadership theory. Close iwi consultation with Te Atiawa and Maori academics was employed as this study’s qualitative component. This study’s findings suggest similarities and differences in how Maori and Pakeha followers perceived the outstanding leadership behaviour of culturally similar leaders. Broadly, they suggest that outstanding Maori leaders were perceived as exhibiting a greater degree of humane-orientated and self-protective behaviour. In some instances, outstanding Maori leaders were also perceived as exhibiting a greater degree of charismatic/value-based and team-orientated behaviour, although in some cases this was perceived as similar for outstanding Maori and Pakeha leaders. Participative and autonomous leadership behaviour was perceived as making a similar contribution to outstanding Maori and Pakeha leadership. This study’s findings support previous research which suggests culturally unique leadership prototypes. It offers insight into Maori leadership (as perceived by Maori followers) and provides a rough sketch-map of homogeneous and heterogeneous aspects of Maori and Pakeha leaders’ perceived behaviour.

China is a highly attractive destination for foreign direct investment, especially to Australia with which it has a strong complementary commercial relationship. Although the need for cross-cultural leadership effectiveness presents a major challenge to Australian businesses operating in China, most extant studies emphasize cultural dimensions and cultural influences on expatriate leadership effectiveness. In contrast, this study investigates the importance and implementation of transformational leadership (TL), emotional intelligence (EQ) and cultural intelligence (CQ) as key components of cross-cultural leadership capabilities within the context of Australian-Chinese cultural differences. Specifically, it answers one overarching question: What key factors contribute significantly to cross-cultural leadership effectiveness in Australian businesses operating in China? Following an interpretivist research philosophy, this inductive study employed qualitative individual and focus group interviews with a final sample of 32 expatriate managers and 19 local Chinese managers working in 30 Australian organizations. The individual participants were top- and middle-level executives of Australian businesses operating in China in different industry sectors, including minerals and energy, manufacturing, consulting, building and construction, banking, legal services and education. Participants based their responses on their own experiences and observations. These perspectives were supplemented with equally important input from the focus group interviewees, who were Chinese local managers that work closely with the expatriates. Based upon the findings of the study, the researcher developed a holistic pragmatic heuristic model of cross-cultural leadership effectiveness for Australian businesses operating in China, which emphasizes the developmental process underlying the emergence of effective expatriate leadership. This model defined and categorized three sets of cognitive, attitudinal and behavioural characteristics of effective cross-cultural leaders: personal (intrapersonal) competencies, social (interpersonal) competencies and cross-cultural competencies. Because the model is pragmatic as well as heuristic, its framework provides practitioners (e.g. Western and especially Australian expatriate leaders) with an informed understanding of the complexity of cross-cultural leadership issues in China, the importance of having theoretical knowledge on this topic, and the need to be flexible and pragmatic in applying this knowledge in daily practice. Thus, the model offers Australian firms currently investing or intending to invest in China a specific strategy to assist expatriate selection and leadership development in that the competencies it contains can be used to recruit and develop suitable candidates and training criteria. Likewise, the model provides business coaches or business consultants serving Western organizations in China a comprehensive fundamental framework for developing competent global leaders. Hence, future research should concentrate on developing and validating cross-cultural leadership effectiveness in China model using diverse approaches.

As a result of globalization and increase interdependence of the world economies, people from different cultures are interacting more frequently. However, most problems and misunderstandings occur when members of one culture assumes that their own unconscious values and beliefs are equally appropriate in other cultures. Typically, this is more prominent in an international business setting where companies are increasingly operating outside their usual working environment and interacting more with people belonging to other cultures. Even though, there are a huge number of studies which have focused on assessing the behaviours prevailing in different cultures and countries, we have noticed that there is a lack of literature aiming to find the leadership behaviours and styles becoming prevalent when there is a shift from one culture to another. More specifically, we have observed that there is a theoretical gap in the literature for understanding the behaviours which leaders adopt when they move from a high power distance culture to operate in a country classified as low power distance. Additionally, even on the basis of the extensive literature review conducted, it has been noticed that there are no studies which have aimed to find out the reasons behind adopting the prevailing leadership behaviours and styles. To achieve the purpose of this study, a qualitative research design and semi structured interviews were conducted with twelve managers in two different companies. Typically, a French and a Japanese company (both classified with high power distance index) operating in Sweden (classified with low power distance index) were selected. The data was analyzed using grounded theory and appropriate coding (open and selective coding) was adopted to generate sub-categories and categories which would help to explain the phenomenon being studied. As a result of the analysis undertaken, we have found out that both companies belonging to the high power distance culture have adopted distinct leadership styles. Basically, the French company has adopted a directive leadership style owing to the increasing influence which it receives from the home culture whilst the Japanese company has adopted a participative leadership style. It has also been found that the prevailing leadership behaviours are because of a number of factors like; the management cultural beliefs, labour laws, local employees, decision making process, monitoring and supervision process and influence from the host culture.

This research explores the leadership constructs of global leaders and Chinese managers in multi-national corporations (MNCs) in order to understand whether their constructs are misaligned, and if so, in what ways. To address these questions, data was gathered via repertory grid test interviews with 31 global leaders and 59 Chinese managers in six MNCs’ China organizations. Analysis subsequently revealed that global leaders rely upon twelve key constructs to define global leadership capability and potential. These are: creative, drive to improve, communication skill, collaborative style, charisma, professional knowledge and experience, visionary, cross culture, flexibility, confidence, team development and emotional intelligence. Crucially however, half of the global leaders’ key constructs were not identified as important to Chinese managers; furthermore, most of the missing constructs resonate with charismatic and transformational leadership characteristics, indicating a gap between the two groups’ leadership concepts. Subsequently, both groups of leaders’ leadership constructs were compared with their respective companies’ Leadership Competency Frameworks. The results again revealed gaps, suggesting reliance upon headquarter-developed leadership frameworks to communicate leadership expectations and develop local leaders is either deficient, or inappropriate. The global leaders and Chinese managers’ perspectives on Chinese managers’ career barriers were also explored, with the evidence indicating that perceptions of both groups are influenced by their own cultural assumptions. As the global leaders’ perspectives aligned with their own leadership constructs but Chinese managers were not aware of the importance of those constructs, it seems to support the contention that a bias may exist when global leaders evaluate Chinese managers’ leadership capability and potential.

National cultures play a critical role in effective leadership and organisational success in international businesses. Contemporary organisations are therefore challenged by cross-cultural leadership needs to address increasing diversity. In the past decades, there has been a growing interest in studies of non-Western leadership. Recent papers have focused particularly on leadership in the Asia-Pacific region. This paper compares leadership in China and New Zealand, based on the data collected by using the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness) project leadership questionnaire. In addition, the paper reviews the main findings of previous research in order to investigate the similarities and differences in preferred leadership behaviours/characteristics in both cultures, while attempting to examine the consistency of current findings against the previous GLOBE studies. Significant differences of leadership behaviours between China and New Zealand have been identified. This paper generally supports the findings of previous GLOBE studies that charismatic/value-based leadership is the universally contributing factor towards outstanding leadership and self-protective leadership is the universally negative factor against leadership excellence. Findings in this paper may contribute to further understanding of leadership practice in these two countries. Future research should be undertaken to examine the effects of cultural differences on organisational practice by a more comprehensive research method.