LEADERSHIP ACROSS CULTURES

Abstract

Leadership is often credited (or blamed) for the success (or failure) of
international operations. As with other aspects of management, leadership styles and
practices that work well in one culture are not necessarily effective in another. The
leadership approach commonly used by U.S. managers would not necessarily be the
same as that employed in other parts of the world. Even within the same country,
effective leadership tends to be very situation-specific. However, as with the other
areas of international management you have studied in this text, certain leader-ship
styles and practices may be more or less universally applicable and transcend
international boundaries. This chapter examines some differences and similarities in
leadership styles across cultures.