Hayat Kabasakal

Cultural variation of leadership prototypes across 22 European countries.

This study sets out to test the assumption that concepts of leadership differ as a function of cultural differences in Europe and to identify dimensions which describe differences in leadership concepts across European countries. Middle-level managers (N = 6052) from 22 European countries rated 112 questionnaire items containing descriptions of leadership traits and behaviours. For each attribute respondents rated how well it fits their concept of an outstanding business leader. The findings support the assumption that leadership concepts are culturally endorsed. Specifically, clusters of European countries which share similar cultural values according to prior cross-cultural research (Ronen & Shenkar, 1985), also share similar leadership concepts. The leadership prototypicality dimensions found are highly correlated with cultural dimensions reported in a comprehensive cross-cultural study of contemporary Europe (Smith, Dugan, & Trompenaars, 1996). The ordering of countries on the leadership dimensions is considered a useful tool with which to model differences between leadership concepts of different cultural origin in Europe. Practical implications for cross-cultural management, both in European and non-European settings, are discussed.

Arabic cluster: a bridge between East and West

The Arabic cluster, consisting of Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Kuwait, and Qatar is located in the Middle Eastern part of the world. These societies reflect a medium level of Human Development and are rich in oil and mineral resources. They have many commonalities in their societal norms and practices, reflecting their historical, religious, and socio-cultural characteristics. They are all predominantly Muslim, have been under the influence of Europe and Ottoman Empire before gaining their independence, and they share common literature, architecture, and educational background. Societies in the Arabic cluster are found to be highly group-oriented, hierarchical, masculine, and low on future orientation. Outstanding leadership in this cluster includes team-oriented and charismatic attributes. The paper discusses the managerial implications of these findings.

National culture and leadership profiles in Europe: Some results from the GLOBE study.

Different cultural groups may have different conceptions of what leadership should entail, i.e. different leadership prototypes. Several earlier studies revealed that within Europe various cultural clusters can be distinguished (Hofstede, 1991; Ronen & Shenkar, 1985). Using recent data from the GLOBE project, this article discusses similarities and differences on culture and leadership dimensions among 21 European countries. The results show that two broad clusters or patterns of cultural values can be distinguished, contrasting the North-Western and South-Eastern part of Europe. Within these clusters, differences in leadership prototypes to a certain extent mirror differences in culture. On the basis of these results it is hardly possible to speak of a single typically European culture or one distinct European management style. However, on some dimensions European scores are different from at least some other regions in the world.

Introduction to the Special Issue on Leadership and Culture in the Middle East

This Special Issue on ‘‘Leadership and Culture in the Middle East’’ focuses on values and practices as well as effective leadership attributes that are widely shared in Middle Eastern societies. National boundaries are utilised to approximate societal culture and leadership preconceptions. Data collected from four Middle Eastern nations (Iran, Kuwait, Turkey, and Qatar) form the basis of the articles in this Special Issue. Furthermore, at least part of the data collected in these four societies is composed as part of the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness) project. A review of the literature shows that there is scarce knowledge on societal and organisational culture and leadership practices in Iran, Kuwait, Turkey, and Qatar. In this respect, this forum would be an important document for providing information on societal and organisational norms and practices, and leadership attributes that are perceived to be effective in this region of the world. The first paper in this collection, entitled ‘‘Project GLOBE: An Introduction’’, is written by Robert House, Mansour Javidan, and Peter Dorfman. It provides an overview of the GLOBE project, a unique and large scale study of leadership and culture in 61 nations. GLOBE examines the interrelationships among societal culture, organisational culture, and organisational leadership using multiple methodologies. The constructs, objectives and the model utilised in the GLOBE project are described in this manuscript. Ikhlas A. Abdalla and Moudi A. Al-Hamoud wrote the second paper entitled ‘‘Exploring the Implicit Leadership Theory in the Arabian Gulf States’’. This article on the Arab culture focuses on quantitative and

Social Contract and Perceived Justice of Workplace Practices to Cope With Financial Crisis

This study examined the influence of type of social contract (i.e., transactional vs. relational) on how organizations responded to financial crisis in Turkey. Moreover, it examined the role of social contracts in moderating the relationship between type of response strategies organizations used and justice perceptions of employees. Participants were 132 full-time employees from 85 different business organizations. Results showed that as the social contract tended to be more transactional, there was less focus on cost-cutting strategies in production, marketing, and financial practices (PMF), whereas when the social contract tended to be more relational, there was less focus on cost-cutting strategies in human resource management practices (HRM). Cost-cutting in PMF areas yielded low procedural justice when employees were in organizations that were high rather than low on transactional contracts, whereas cost-cuttingin HRM areas resulted in low distributive justice when employees were in organizations that were high rather than low on relational contracts.

Participation lethargy in disaster preparedness organizations within the framework of a Turkish CBO

The objective of the present study is to examine the history, activities, and relationships of a neighbourhood service cooperative, which evolved into a neighbourhood disaster management project that has been adopted by more than 100 neighbourhoods in the north western part of Turkey. In order to understand the core reasons for participation lethargy of the public in community based organizations (CBOs) for disaster preparedness, both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were employed. An active CBO, at the local level, is shown to have a positive influence on the trustworthiness and perception of responsibility of such organizations by the public. The respondents in this study seem to prefer autonomous and expert actors that formally belong to the centralized state system, such as universities, search and rescue teams, and the military, although they also attribute responsibility to CBOs for disaster related activities and expect some level of leadership from these organizations. The findings point to the direction of a cultural phenomenon, which results in high power distance and low future orientation, coupled with low levels of trust towards institutions and lack of public legitimacy of such organizations. This results in the public avoiding active engagement in preparedness initiatives and suggests the need for an initial leading group to mobilize the community in this area. A set of policy recommendations are provided that will contribute to increasing the effectiveness of CBOs and will allow them become stronger actors in the network of interactions regarding disaster related activities, especially in centralized state systems.

Exploring Conflict Resolution Styles: A Study of Turkish and American University Business Students

Examines the differences between the actions that Turkish and American students would take when they were confronted with conflict. Students received two cases describing an organizational setting. They were asked to place themselves in the situation of a member in conflict with a peer in the work environment. Cases were content‐analysed by the researchers. Indicates that the nature of the conflict situation is important in examining conflict resolution styles across cultures.

The role of employee preferences and organizational culture in explaining e-commerce orientations

Culture has always been a cornerstone variable in the study of international business subjects. Several authors have dealt with the concept of culture and its dimensions. Among these Halls (1981/1976) proposal of high- versus low-context cultures still stands as an important subject matter to be explored. This study is an attempt to explore the significance of high- versus low-context orientation and its implications for communications. Further, strategic orientation of the firm in terms of e-commerce adoption is explored within the framework of high- versus low-context organizational cultures and the internationalization and technological orientation level of the firm. A survey was conducted with 525 employees and managers working in financial services and textile manufacturing firms. Results supported the hypotheses that high- versus low-context values and perceptual and demographic characteristics of employees influence attitudes towards e-communication. Organizational culture regarding high- versus low-context practices, firms internationalization and technological orientation levels influence the e-commerce adoption at a strategic level.

Organisational climate and human resources: exploring a new construct in a cross-national context

This paper reports the findings of an exploratory study which identifies aspects of organisational climate that relate to human resource management. A novel data analysis technique was employed to analyse qualitative data from interviews with 50 human resource managers in Australia, Canada and Turkey. The results identify four organisational climate dimensions that focus on HR issues and work environments. Based on the suggestions of the competing values framework and also on the literature concerning studies of societal culture, we labelled these climate dimensions as: 1) collaboration; 2) competition; 3) control; and 4) family-orientation. These dimensions are seen to offer a path for future research on organisational climate and human resource management, and how employees perceptions of the HR policies, practices and procedures may influence the efficacy of the HR function. Implications for studying these phenomena across different societies are addressed.

Linking the Worldly Mindset with an Authentic Leadership Approach: An Exploratory Study in a Middle Eastern Context

In recent years, there has been a loss of trust towards the leaders in social life, politics and the business world. This loss of trust has directed researchers to focus their studies on new leadership approaches that can rebuild trust. One of the promising results of these studies is the introduction of an ‘authentic leadership’ approach (Avolio et al., 2004; Avolio & Gardner, 2005; Bass & Steidlmeier, 1999; Price, 2003; Walumbwa et al., 2008). Authenticity can be defined as knowing oneself through personal experiences, thoughts and beliefs and behaving in accordance with the true self (Harter, 2002, p. 382). This definition of authenticity requires thoughts and feelings to be consistent with actions. Authenticity, as a concept, dates back to ancient times and is deep rooted in every civilization