Leaders of today have the challenge to lead in a complex, rapidly changing, multicultural context. In most industries, leaders perform tasks on a global level and they are required to have the necessary competencies to be more effective. It is a well-known fact that organizations are still negatively affected in terms of competitiveness and growth, due to leaders` lack of capabilities to lead effectively. Furthermore, despite the previous academic contributions, global leadership still remains a developing field to be explored. Previous studies on the global leadership listed various competencies to lead to effectively in a global environment. However, a limited evidence was provided to support direct relationship between those competencies and the global leadership effectiveness. Moreover, previous studies have concentrated mainly on defining global leadership competencies, but there is still a gap to understand which of those competencies makes global leaders effective. There is also a strong need for conducting more empirical studies in the field. In response to this gap, the purpose of this research is to identify necessary competencies for global leadership effectiveness and test them empirically. Structural Equation Modelling was used as a research method with the data collected from a questionnaire of 175 respondents worldwide, mainly located in Europe. The results of the research showed that Cross-Cultural Experience, Cultural Flexibility and Stress Tolerance predict global leadership effectiveness. Furthermore, detailed explanation of each competency that predict global leadership effectiveness were provided. The results of this research have both theoretical and managerial implications. Firstly, it proves empirically and quantitatively the relationship between identified competencies and global leadership effectiveness. Secondly, the results of the research contribute to the existing literature where there is a limited amount of research that focus on understanding global leadership competencies and global leadership effectiveness.

Background: Subsidiaries to multinational enterprises encounter pressure to fit the national cultural context as well as to keep consistent with the global corporation. For a Swedish multinational enterprise to be able to seize business opportunities in Thailand, an important aspect to take into consideration is the difference in national culture. It is the responsibility of the leader in the Swedish subsidiary in Thailand to manage the multinational enterprise corporate culture while also taking into account the Thai national culture. Global leadership competencies can enable this, although there is a lack of a unified framework of global leadership competencies. Aim:  The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding as to which global leadership competencies leaders in subsidiaries to Swedish multinational enterprises in Thailand should possess in order to manage the Swedish corporate culture while taking Thai national culture into account.   Methodology: The study has applied a qualitative research strategy and an abductive research approach. The data has been obtained from eight semi-structured interviews with four Swedish companies present in Thailand. Conclusion: Through a deeper understanding of global leadership competencies, this study concludes and provides evidence of six global leadership competencies that are of extra importance for leaders in Swedish subsidiaries in Thailand when managing the Swedish corporate culture and taking the Thai national culture into account.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2006. / "In conjunction with the Sloan Fellows Program on Innovation and Global Leadership." / Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-140). / At the time of this writing, the NYSE had just completed its historic merger with Archipelago, LLC, while changing its ownership structure to a public company. The conditions leading up to this transformation are descriptive of the overall changes in "exchange structures" and the infrastructure of equity trading in the United States and around the world. The document is written to be useful to an audience of both industry and non-industry executives. To accomplish this, we examine the historical underpinnings of exchanges, how they developed, identifying conditions that transcend structures themselves. We go on to describe the mechanics, governance, technology, and regulatory environment of exchanges today. From this we can examine the forces inducing and enabling changes in the market structures. The "investment supply chain" is introduced as a framework to understand the flow of capital in the economy and the changing position of the exchanges and industry players. We consider the anatomy of trading, evolving technologies and the experience of non-US exchanges in the process of demutualization, technology infrastructure change and business model evolution. The thesis also draws on inferences from similar economic shifts in other industries. / (cont.) The parallel industry discussion should serve as an intuition builder in understanding the forces at work, the time it may take to see an equilibrium state and the behavior of the participants. The thesis has relied heavily on interviews and perspectives of people close to these events: NYSE staff, ECNs, the buy and sell side, regulators and academics. As such, it attempts to provide an informed and balanced view of the current state of play and the momentum of events. / by James F. Walker. / S.M.

L’économie mondiale d’aujourd’hui se révèle pour les entreprises un environnement fluctuant, complexe, incertain et ambigu dans lequel il est difficile de maintenir une croissance internationale rentable. Dans ce contexte, les organisations doivent continuellement développer un portefeuille de cadres dirigeants capables de mener à bien les stratégies de développement assurant une croissance internationale durable. C’est un défi auquel les organisations font encore face même après un long historique dans la dotation en personnel de leurs activités mondiales. Notre recherche a été conçue pour mieux comprendre comment les cadres dirigeants globaux se développent, adaptent leurs compétences aux besoins si imprévisibles initiés par leurs différentes expériences internationales. La méthodologie déployée est particulièrement inductive, interprétative. Notre échantillon se compose de 25 cadres dirigeants expatriés dans des filiales de multinationales, hommes et femmes ayant une longue expérience de l’expatriation complété par une analyse longitudinale d’un cadre dirigeant expatrié sur une durée de deux ans et demi. Les objectifs de cette recherche sont, d’abord de générer une connaissance subjective du développement du cadre dirigeant international, enracinée dans la façon dont l’expérience est perçue par les cadres globaux eux-mêmes, présentée sous forme d’un modèle qualitatif de type « à la Gioia ». Le but sera ensuite de fournir aux praticiens des lignes directrices en vue d’améliorer les décisions de gestion relatives à la conception des programmes de formation et aux suivis des cadres dirigeants expatriés. Notre recherche aura montré le rôle décisif de la cognition (et du moi) pour assurer l’efficacité du processus de développement du cadre dirigeant international, qui, complété par une volonté constante d’apprendre, permet en finalité, de générer une sorte de “know how” dont se serviront les cadres dirigeants à chaque nouvelle expérience. Nous concluons en proposant deux recommandations aux praticiens : d’abord l’intégration de “key behaviours” dans la définition de fonction des personnes en charge du global talent management : les SCSC’s (Strategic, Credible, Supportive, Considerate). Puis, nous proposons la création d’une fiche d’identité du cadre dirigeant expatrié : la « ID expat profile », permettant, un meilleur suivi, recensement et échange d’information au sein d’une même société. / Today’s global economy represents a volatile, complex, uncertain and ambiguous environment for firms to sustain a profitable international growth. Organizations must continuously develop a portfolio of leaders ready to push forward growth strategies. Despite this challenge, corporations often fail to offer the right learning organizational framework to their top executives proposing too often standardized models. Many firms are acknowledging the urgent need to transform their learning organizations, strategies and to rethink how to learn to lead. Our research is aiming to develop a deep understanding of how global executives are developing, adjusting competencies to the unpredictable needs initiated by their different expatriations. The methodology used is highly inductive and interpretivist. The qualitative sample is composed of 25 top executives, expatriated in MNC’s subsidiaries, men and women. This sample is complemented by the transversal follow up of one top executive, expatriated, for over a period of 2, 5 years. The research objectives are to generate subjective knowledge grounded in the way global executives experience their development during expatriation, translated into a model “à la Gioia” and to provide guidelines for practitioners. We found out that the concept of cognition and self was decisive for an effective development process abroad, this combined with an ongoing willingness and ability to learn, leading to the generation of a sort of “know how” (practical intelligence). We conclude giving two recommendations to corporations; one on the role of HR corporate in charge, advising four key behaviours to improve efficiency: the SCSC’s (Strategic, Credible, Supportive, Considerate) and the second on the top executives follow-up, more precisely we recommend the creation of an expat ID profile; “the expat ID” that will help enhance the global talent management of such an individual.

Given economic and societal shifts towards globalization, the need to develop effective global leaders is well documented. This thesis explored the development of a prototype instrument for use in global leadership classes or training to assess and/or develop the competencies and decision-making abilities associated with effective global leadership. The format of the instrument was a hybrid of situational judgment tests (SJTs) and culture assimilators and its content was drawn from a real life critical incident as recounted by an expert global leader during an interview using cognitive task analysis techniques. The interview was part of qualitative research that investigated expert cognition displayed by exceptional global leaders. The thesis included a literature review of global leadership research to identify the general competencies, intercultural competencies, and cognitive proficiency of effective global leaders that would serve as a foundation for the domains to be assessed and developed. SJTs and culture assimilators were discussed as format examples for constructing the instrument. The process of creating and refining the tool was then reviewed, which included developing the questions and answers, conducting pre-tests, gathering feedback from subject matter experts, and conducting a content analysis to ensure global leadership and intercultural competencies were addressed. Data collected during the course of development were presented and discussed. Step-by-step instructions (that included potential improvements to the process experimented with to date) were included to guide others in future development. An abridged sample of the instrument was provided.

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.

A South African university has obligations to societal stakeholders. One dimension of these obligations is research productivity. The extent to which these societal obligations can be met is a function of how innovative research outputs are, and of the extent to which constraints to research output, or productivity, are known, and can be managed. An extensive body of literature, including the Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness (GLOBE) studies, have demonstrated the influence of organisational cultural values on organisational outcomes. Hofstede’s cultural values research studies have also demonstrated the influence of societal cultural values on societal outcomes. However, despite this body of literature, there is a lack of knowledge of the influence of organisational culture on the research productivity of academic fields. This research attempts to address this lack of knowledge through a qualitative and a quantitative study of the relationships between organisational culture and research productivity. This analysis is undertaken at the level of the academic field, which is proxied in this study as the level of the academic school. A corresponding analysis is also undertaken at the individual level. The relationship between individual values and research productivity is also investigated, to provide a holistic perspective of the relationships between both organisational cultural, as well as individual values, and research productivity, differentiated by level of analysis. On the basis of the qualitative analysis, a model of context-specific individual-level factors is also derived, which are predicted to influence research productivity. A qualitative study of research-productive academics from the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of Cape Town, the University of Johannesburg, the University of South Africa and the University of KwaZulu-Natal was used to develop theory for testing quantitatively. The quantitative study, which sampled the University of the Witwatersrand, was used to test the theory and the propositions that were developed in the qualitative portion of the study. In the quantitative study, at the level of the academic school, relationships between organisational cultural values and research productivity predicted by GLOBE organisational cultural values theory were tested quantitatively. At the individual level, relationships between individual motivational values theory and research productivity that were predicted by Schwartz’s values theory were also tested quantitatively. The model of factors that were predicted by the qualitative analysis to contribute to research productivity was also tested quantitatively. The iii qualitative and quantitative results of the study are taken to support Kuhn’s argument; that academic research outputs are not necessarily innovative, and do not necessarily represent innovative knowledge creation in this context. Findings also indicate that particular values configurations may constrain research productivity. Specifically, configurations of values associated with lower levels of innovativeness might constrain specific non-peer reviewed forms of research productivity. The results reveal a context dominated by a conflict between two societal needs, one associated with increasing enrolments of students that are not necessarily matched by infrastructure increases, or a process of massification, and the other associated with the need for more research productivity. The conflict between these two needs was found to correspond with differences between individuals that relate to the extent to which they derive their primary job satisfaction from research versus teaching. Teacher-satisfied individuals were found to be signficantly less research productive. On the basis of the research findings, recommendations are made to improve research productivity in this context. On the basis of these and other findings discussed in the main text of the thesis, recommendations for practice and for futher research are made. It is concluded that specific value configurations appear to constrain research productivity in this context and that individuals and the academic institutions for which they work need to take the potential effect of such value configurations into account in their management of research productivity.

The emerging countries attract more worldwide attention thanks to their strong upward economic growth nowadays. Especially with the progress of globalization, well-managed companies in emerging economies begin to win chances of international exposure on the global business stage. However, there are not so many familiar names turning up when we mention global leaders from China. This paradox inspires our curiosity and passion to explore the answer of this issue. Thus, this thesis aims to probe this phenomenon and draw lessons from this situation for future improvements. It both benefits the present business leaders in booming Chinese companies, and high potential talents who will compete globally now or in the near future. This research is conducted under guidelines of qualitative methodology; with interviews, questionnaire and a case study to understand the phenomenon. Based on our research, with frequent reflection incorporating our empirical data, the conclusive result is as follows: a)        Chinese business executives are actually well competent managers in terms of business performance. b)        An open-minded global mindset and vision emphasizing on core organization value are imperative to be an effective global leader. c)        The whole of society’s welfare can be reliant and dependent on recognition of its global leaders.

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.

Submitted by Gisele Isaura Hannickel (gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-09-01T12:55:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 LEHMANN_J_vf.pdf: 876500 bytes, checksum: b2813019831a669ad9cd12f01bd3b039 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Isaura Hannickel (gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-09-01T12:56:16Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 LEHMANN_J_vf.pdf: 876500 bytes, checksum: b2813019831a669ad9cd12f01bd3b039 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Isaura Hannickel (gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-09-01T12:57:12Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 LEHMANN_J_vf.pdf: 876500 bytes, checksum: b2813019831a669ad9cd12f01bd3b039 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2011-09-01T13:01:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LEHMANN_J_vf.pdf: 876500 bytes, checksum: b2813019831a669ad9cd12f01bd3b039 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-07-18 / The increase of internationally operating companies requires the development of global leaders to put strategies into practice. Although this development process is important to the corporate world, many future executives are graduates from top business schools which are closely linked to the business world and therefore play an important role in the process. This research examines whether the top European 'Master in Management' programs ranked by Financial Times in 2010 select those candidates that are best suited for global leadership development. Therefore, three previous meta-studies are synthesized to yield a profile of categorized competencies of a global leader. Then, information on admission criteria of the master programs is gathered and compared to this profile. Results show that six competencies are measured by more than half of the programs: English language proficiency, analytical ability (logical reasoning and quantitative), communication ability, global business knowledge, determination to achieve, motivation/drive and interpersonal ability. Furthermore, applicant skills are non-significant in the admission process and focus is on the analytical abilities. Comparison of the results to the previously developed comprehensive profile of a global leader indicates that a significant amount of programs might underestimate the meaning of personal abilities and traits for the development of global leaders. / O aumento de empresas que operam internacionalmente requer o desenvolvimento de líderes mundiais para colocar as estratégias em prática. Embora este processo de desenvolvimento é importante para o mundo corporativo, muitos futuros executivos são graduados de escolas de administração de empresas que estão intimamente ligados ao mundo de negócios e, portanto, desempenhão um papel importante no processo. Esta pesquisa examina se os programas europeus 'Master in Management' classificado pelo Financial Times em 2010 selecionam aqueles candidatos que são mais adequados para o desenvolvimento de liderança global. Portanto, três anteriores meta-estudos são sintetizados para produzir um perfil de competências classificadas de um líder global. Então, informações sobre os critérios de admissão dos programas de mestrado são coletadas e comparadas com este perfil. Os resultados mostram que seis competências são medidas por mais da metade dos programas: proficiência em Inglês, capacidade analítica (racionamento lógico e quantitativo), capacidade de comunicação, conhecimento do negócio global, determinação para alcançar, motivação e capacidade interpessoal. Além disso, as habilidades operacionais requerentes pelos líderes globais não são significativas no processo de admissão e o foco é sobre as habilidades analíticas. Comparação dos resultados com o perfil anteriormente desenvolvido abrangente indica que uma quantidade significativa de programas pode subestimar o significado de habilidades pessoais e características para o desenvolvimento de líderes globais.