2. LEADERSHIP ROLES OF THE STRATEGY
IMPLEMENTER
1. Stay on top of what’s happening
2. Promote a culture energizing organization
to accomplish strategy
3. Keep firm responsive to changing
conditions
4. Exercise ethics leadership
5. Take corrective actions to improve overall
strategic performance
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3. LEADER’S ROLE IN DEVELOPING NEW
CAPABILITIES
• Responding to changes requires top
management intervention to establish new
• Organizational capabilities
• Resource strengths and competencies
• Senior managers must lead the effort
because
• Competencies reside in combined efforts, requiring
integration
• enforce necessary networking and cooperation
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4. ACTIONS DEMONSTRATING CORPORATE
CITIZENSHIP AND SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY
• Having ―family friendly‖ employment practices
• Operating a safe workplace
• Taking special pains to protect the environment
• Taking an active role in community affairs
• Interacting with community officials to minimize
impact of
• Layoffs or
• Hiring large numbers of new employees
• Being a generous supporter of charitable causes
and projects that benefit society
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5. LEAD THE PROCESS OF MAKING
CORRECTIVE ADJUSTMENTS
• Requires both
• Reactive adjustments
• Proactive adjustments
• Involves
• Reshaping long-term direction, objectives,
and strategy to unfolding events
• Promoting initiatives to align internal
activities and behavior with strategy
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LEADERSHIP FOUNDATIONS
• Leadership Behaviors and Styles:
– Authoritarian: use of work-centered behavior designed to
ensure task accomplishment.
– Paternalistic: use of work-centered behavior coupled with
protective employee centered concern
– Participative: use of both work or task centered and people
centered approaches to leading subordinates.
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LEADERSHIP FOUNDATIONS
• Theories X, Y and Z (philosophical background):
– Theory X: A manager who believes that people are
basically lazy and that coercion and threats of
punishment often are necessary to get them to work.
– Theory Y: A manager who believes that under the
right conditions people not only will work hard but will
seek increased responsibility and challenge.
– Theory Z: A manager who believes that workers seek
opportunities to participate in management and are
motivated by teamwork and responsibility sharing.
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LEADERSHIP IN THE
INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT
• How leaders in other countries attempt to direct
or influence their subordinates.
• International approaches to leadership
• Research shows there are both similarities and
differences. Most international research has
focused upon Europe, East Asia, the Middle East,
and developing countries such as India, Peru,
Chile, and Argentina.
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LEADERSHIP IN THE
INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT
European managers tend to use a participative
approach. Researchers investigated four areas
relevant to leadership:
1. Capacity for leadership and initiative (Theory X vs.
Theory Y)
2. Sharing information and objectives: general vs.
detailed, completed instructions for subordinates.
3. Participation: leadership support for participative
leadership
4. Internal control: leader control through external vs.
internal means
14. THE CULTURAL CLUSTER APPROACH
An approach to understanding communication based
on meaningful clusters of countries that share similar
cultural values
• Clusters of countries with core sets of values
• Based on previous research
• Based on patterns of employees’ attitudes
toward work
• Employees were asked questions about…
• Importance of various work goals
• Satisfaction of needs through work
• Organizational factors & management issues
• Nature of roles & interpersonal relationships
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15. COUNTRY CLUSTERS
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Country Clusters: Tendencies and Factor
•Level of development & technological progress
•Geographic proximity
•Language
•Religious values and beliefs
•Independents have unique language, religion, and
history
17. Benefits of Country Clusters
• Understanding broad similarities and differences
• Helps simplify cross-cultural differences
• Modify management tactics to reflect values
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Limitations of Country Clusters
•Not all countries represented
•Many African and NIS countries missing
•Complexity within a cluster
•i.e., Harmony in Asia
•Complexity within a country
•i.e, Diversity in U.S.
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CULTURE CLUSTERS AND LEADERSHIP
EFFECTIVENESS
Important attributes that form a concept of
outstanding business leader
– Anglo mangers identify performance orientation, an
inspirational style, having a vision, being a team
integrator, and being decisive as being the top five
attributes
– Nordic managers ranked these same five attributes as
most important but not in same order
– Rankings of clusters in the North/West European region
were fairly similar
– Substantial differences exist within and between the
South/East European countries, countries from Eastern
Europe, and Russia and Georgia
21. DIFFERENCES WITHIN A CLUSTER:
DEFINING ‘HARMONY’ DIFFERENTLY IN
JAPAN, CHINA, AND KOREA
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22. STRATEGIC PREDISPOSITIONS
• Ethnocentric predisposition
• A nationalistic philosophy of management
whereby the values and interests of the parent
company guide strategic decisions.
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Philosophies of
Management
Ethnocentric
predisposition
23. STRATEGIC PREDISPOSITIONS
• Polycentric predisposition
• A philosophy of management whereby
strategic decisions are tailored to suit the
cultures of the countries where the MNC
operates.
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Philosophies of
Management
Ethnocentric
predisposition
Polycentric
predisposition
24. STRATEGIC PREDISPOSITIONS
• Regiocentric predisposition
• A philosophy of management whereby
the firm tries to blend its own interests
with those of its subsidiaries on a
regional basis.
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Philosophies of
Management
Ethnocentric
predisposition
Polycentric
predisposition
Regiocentric
predisposition
25. STRATEGIC PREDISPOSITIONS
• Geocentric predisposition
• A philosophy of management whereby
the company tries to integrate a global
systems approach to decision making.
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Philosophies of
Management
Ethnocentric
predisposition
Polycentric
predisposition
Regiocentric
predisposition
Geocentric
predisposition
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RECENT FINDINGS
• One of the keys to successful global
leadership is knowing what style and
behavior works best in a given culture and
adapting appropriately
– In affective cultures, such as the United States,
leaders tend to exhibit their emotions
– In neutral cultures, such as Japan and China,
leaders do not tend to show their emotions
29. MEETING THE CHALLENGE
• Many MNCs are committed to a globalization
imperative
• A belief that one worldwide approach to doing business is
the key to both efficiency and effectiveness
• Many factors are facilitating the need to develop unique
strategies for different cultures
1. The diversity of worldwide industry standards
2. A continual demand by local customers for differentiated
products, as in the case of consumer goods that must
meet local tastes
3. The importance of being an insider, as in the case of
customers who prefer to ―buy local‖
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30. GLOBALIZATION VS. NATIONAL
RESPONSIVENESS
• Advertising (as an example)
• Germans
• Want advertising that is factual and rational
• Typical German spot features the standard family of two
parents, two children, and grandmother
• French
• Avoid reasoning or logic
• Advertising is predominantly emotional, dramatic, and
symbolic
• Spots are viewed as cultural events—art for the sake of
money—and are reviewed as if they were literature or films
• British
• Value laughter above all else
• Typical broad, self-deprecating British commercial amuses
by mocking both the advertiser and consumer
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31. GLOBALIZATION VS. NATIONAL
RESPONSIVENESS
• Adding value to the marketing approach
• Tailor the advertising message to the particular culture
• Stay abreast of local market conditions; don’t assume all
markets are basically the same
• Know the strengths and weaknesses of MNC subsidiaries;
provide them with assistance needed in addressing local
demands
• Give the subsidiary more autonomy; let it respond to changes
in local demands
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32. CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
AND SIMILARITIES
• Parochialism
• Tendency to view the world through one’s own eyes and
perspectives
• Simplification
• Process of exhibiting the same orientation toward different cultural
groups
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andParochialism Simplification
33. Orientations Range of Variations
CULTURAL VARIATIONS
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Six Basic Cultural Variations
What is the nature of people? Good
(changeable/unchangeable A mixture of good and evil*
Evil
(changeable/unchangeable
What is the person’s Dominant*
relationship to nature? In harmony with nature
Subjugation
What is the person’s relationship Lineal (hierarchic) to
other people? Collateral (collectivist)
Individualist*
What is the modality of human activity?Doing*
Being and becoming
Being
Adapted from Table 5.2: Six Basic Cultural Variations
Note: *Indicates the dominant U.S. orientation.
Source: Adapted from the work of Florence Rockwood Kluckhohn and Fred L. Stodtbeck.
34. Orientations Range of Variations
CULTURAL VARIATIONS
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Six Basic Cultural Variations
What is the temporal focus of Future*
human activity? Present
Past
What is the conception of space? Private*
Mixed
Public
Adapted from Table 5.2: Six Basic Cultural Variations
Note: *Indicates the dominant U.S. orientation.
Source: Adapted from the work of Florence Rockwood Kluckhohn and Fred L. Stodtbeck.
35. CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
AND SIMILARITIES
• Similarities across cultures
• It is not possible to do business the same way in every global
location
• Procedures and strategies that work well at home cannot be
adopted overseas without modification
• But, some similarities have been found
• Russia and the U.S. (for example)
• Traditional management
• Communication
• Human resources
• Networking activities
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36. CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
AND SIMILARITIES
• Differences across cultures
• Far more differences than similarities are found in cross-
cultural research
• Wages, compensation, pay equity, maternity leave
• Importance of criteria used in evaluation of employees
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Netherlands France Germany Britain
Reality
Analysis
Helicopter
Leadership
Imagination
Imagination
Analysis
Leadership
Helicopter
Reality
Leadership
Analysis
Reality
Imagination
Helicopter
Helicopter
Imagination
Reality
Analysis
Leadership
37. Adapted from Table 5.3: Cultural Clusters in the Pacific Rim, EU, and United States
CULTURAL CLUSTERS
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38. Country Reasons for lack of success
CULTURAL VARIATIONS
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Problems with U.S. Employee Stock Plans in Select Countries
Belgium Problematic. Some stock plans conflict with a
government- imposed wage freeze.
Adapted from Table 5.4: Problems with U.S. Employee Stock Plans in Select Countries
Source: Adapted from information found in Tara Parker-Pope, “Culture Clash,” Wall
Street Journal, April 12, 1995, p. R7.
Brazil Impossible. Foreign-exchange controls prohibit out-of-
country stock investment
Britain Easy. But sometimes labor unions can get in the way.
Eastern Europe Forget it. Even if you get government permission,
chances are you talked to the wrong bureaucrat.
Germany Can I get that in deutsche marks? U.S. plans suffer
when the dollar is weak.
Israel Difficult. Exchange controls forced National
Semiconductor to a third-party system, but the plan has only scant
participation.
39. Country Reasons for lack of success
CULTURAL VARIATIONS
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Table 5-4
Problems with U.S. Employee Stock Plans in Select Countries
Luxembourg Tax haven. Great place to set up a trust to administer
stock plans.
Adapted from Table 5.4: Problems with U.S. Employee Stock Plans in Select Countries
Mexico May regret it. Labor laws can force a one-time stock
grant into an annual event.
Netherlands No thanks. Employees may like the stock options, but
they will not appreciate a hefty tax bill up front.
Philippines Time-consuming. Requires government approval and
lots of worker education.
Source: Adapted from information found in Tara Parker-Pope, “Culture Clash,” Wall
Street Journal, April 12, 1995, p. R7.
