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A Convergence/Divergence Perspective of Leadership Competencies Managers Believe are Most Important for Success in Organizations: A Cross-Cultural Multilevel Analysis of 40 Countries

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Abstract

Purpose

We investigated the convergence and divergence perspectives in organizations to determine whether certain leadership competencies are universally endorsed by managers across countries (supporting convergence) as being important for success in organizations, or if the importance of the leadership competencies were dependent upon certain cultural dimensions (supporting divergence).

Design/Methodology/Approach

Participants were 9,942 practicing managers in 40 countries. Because managers were nested within their respective countries and endorsement was a binary outcome variable, a special case of multilevel analysis known as a hierarchical generalized linear model (HGLM) was used.

Findings

Findings support cross-national convergence: Resourcefulness, Change Management, and Building and Mending Relationships were highly valued among managers across countries, and cultural values did not seem to influence this endorsement. Balancing Personal Life and Work was not as valued globally.

Implications

Researchers must investigate leadership competencies that are important to organizational success across countries. Due to globalization, it is vital that managers become aware of the values espoused within their organization as well as among their business partners and contemporaries. This may facilitate cross-national business interaction and leader effectiveness.

Originality/Value

This study advances theory in its attempt to empirically examine whether leadership competencies needed to succeed in organizations are universally endorsed. Moreover, the sample of managers utilized was unique and extremely robust. The study offers methodological advances as well; it is one of the few examples of the appropriate use of a special case of multilevel data analysis that enables the use of a binary outcome measure.

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Notes

  1. This study uses and defines culture similar to prior research that examined cross-cultural differences (e.g., Cullen et al. 2004; Gentry et al. 2008b; House et al. 2004; Lyness and Judiesch 2008; Martin et al. 2007; Parboteeah et al. 2005b) such that culture is synonymous with country and is bounded by country borders. While this is a common practice in the cross-cultural literature as evidenced by these studies, it is noted that such a definition does not take into account any within-country differences due to subcultures within a given country.

  2. BENCHMARKS® is a registered trademark of the Center for Creative Leadership.

  3. HGLM as a multilevel analysis is a robust method for analyzing dichotomous outcomes that contain nested data with unequal sample sizes within each Level 2 (country) entity. We used a reduced sample from the original 61,680 managers that were available in the sample because some may feel the results would be skewed if sample sizes varied in our study, particularly when those from the United States makes up more than 80% of the original sample. We re-ran all HGLM analyses with the original sample that totaled 61,680 and HGLM results from this sample were similar to the reduced sample used in the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research, Innovation, and Product Development, Center for Creative Leadership, One Leadership Place, P. O. Box 26300, Greensboro, NC, 27438-6300, USA

    William A. Gentry

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602-3013, USA

    Taylor E. Sparks

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  1. William A. Gentry
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Correspondence to William A. Gentry.

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The order of the authors is alphabetical. The authors contributed equally to this manuscript.

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Gentry, W.A., Sparks, T.E. A Convergence/Divergence Perspective of Leadership Competencies Managers Believe are Most Important for Success in Organizations: A Cross-Cultural Multilevel Analysis of 40 Countries. J Bus Psychol 27, 15–30 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-011-9212-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-011-9212-y

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