P.L. Koopman

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.

Role Conflict, Ambiguity, and Overload: A 21-Nation Study

The extent of role conflict, role ambiguity, and role overload reported by middle managers from 21 nations was related to national scores on power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, an...

Organizational culture: The FOCUS-questionnaire.

This article describes two studies. The first study concerns the development of an internationally useful questionnaire for measuring organizational culture on the basis of Quinns (l988) competing values model. The competing values model describes four cultural orientations. These are the support, innovation, rules, and goal orientation. The questionnaire is called FOCUS, and was developed by an international research group from 12 countries. The questionnaire consists of two parts: descriptive part (measuring organizational practices) and an evaluative part (measuring characteristics of the organization). The first study shows that seven of the eight scales meet psychometric criteria. The second study shows preliminary results regarding the influence of country and sector on organizational culture. Organizational culture is again divided into practices and values (characteristics). Sector and organization are expected to explain differences in organization are expected to explain differences in organiza...

The role of transformational leadership in enhancing team reflexivity

Team reflexivity, or the extent to which teams reflect upon and modify their functioning, has been identified as a key factor in the effectiveness of work teams. As yet, however, little is known about the factors that play a role in enhancing team reflexivity, and it is thus important to develop theorizing around the determinants of reflexivity. From an applied perspective, leadership is a very relevant factor. The current study is a first step in the development of such a model, and addresses this important gap in our understanding of team reflexivity by focusing on the role of leader behavior. We examined the extent to which transformational leadership influences team reflexivity, and in turn, team performance, in a field study conducted among 32 intact work teams from nine organizations. Team members rated reflexivity and leadership, while external managers rated team performance. We hypothesized and tested a mediational model proposing that transformational leadership is related to the adoption of a shared vision by the team. This in turn relates to team reflexivity, which leads to higher team performance. Results support this model.

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.

Trust within organisations: Introduction to a special issue.

Introduces six empirical studies on trust within organisations which were originally presented at a workshop on “Trust within and between organisations”, organised by the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management at the Free University Amsterdam, in November 2001. Areas covered include: the legitimacy of the field of study; common understandings and disagreements in theoretical ideas; and directions for future research. In the past decade, issues of trust in interand intra-organisational relationships have been increasing in importance on the agendas of organisational scholars, legitimated by changes in the social structure of societies, economic exchange relations and organisational forms. Given the diminishing binding power of reciprocal obligations (Kramer, 1996), of hierarchical relations (Sheppard and Tuschinsky, 1996) and of social institutions relying on hierarchy to sanction deviant behaviour (De Swaan, 1990) other mechanisms are needed to keep the social fabric of society intact. Due to processes of globalisation, flexibilisation of labour relations, continuous change and virtualisation of organisational forms, relations between people have become looser and behaviours are less easy to monitor nowadays. Within firms, lateral relationships and alliances are growing in importance, in contrast to hierarchical relationships that used to dominate the framing of work relations (Sheppard and Tuschinsky, 1996). Between firms, new linkages are being formed to achieve and maintain competitive advantage in the marketplace. These linkages require organisations to move towards network forms and alliances (Lewicki and Bunker, 1996). Besides, organisational performance becomes increasingly dependent on behaviours such as scanning the environment to explore opportunities, participation in organisational learning processes and helping colleagues to improve their performance. While cooperative behaviours are growing in importance, hierarchy can be less relied upon to bring these behaviours about (Kramer, 1996). Trustful relations between organisational members can promote voluntary cooperation and extra-role behaviours, as the study by Tyler in this volume shows. Increasing instances of organisational change have also contributed to the rise of trust on the research agenda. Conditions of change heighten the relevance of trust to organisational performance and to the well-being of organisational members (Mishra, 1996; Gilkey, 1991). IntroductionIntroduces six empirical studies on trust within organisations which were originally presented at a workshop on “Trust within and between organisations”, organised by the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management at the Free University Amsterdam, in November 2001. Areas covered include: the legitimacy of the field of study; common understandings and disagreements in theoretical ideas; and directions for future research.

Implicit communication in organisations: The impact of culture, structure and management practices on employee behaviour

Organisations engage in explicit and intentional communication with employees in various ways. However, communication will not be received in a “neutral” context. Employees operate in an organisational (or behavioural) context determined by the organisational culture, structures and systems, and the management practices. This context acts as a source of implicit communication towards employees. This view fits the various perspectives about communication, which does not need to be considered as a two‐way process, and which can be intentionally or unintentionally, transmitted and received. All too often, implicit communication is at odds with the “official” explicit communication. Through this latter form of communication the organisation might, for example, proclaim a quality image, while in reality employees experience that, in case of conflicts, delivery planning prevails over quality. Likewise, communication about the “learning organisation” appears to be cumbersome in a culture suppressing discussion about failures. The effect of implicit communication should not be underestimated. Cynicism among employees is repeatedly the result of inconsistent messages being received. This paper describes the aspects of organisational culture, structures and systems, and management practices, seen in a behavioural context, in order to illustrate how these aspects act as an implicit source of communication to employees. Additionally, this form of communication expresses whether employees themselves are seen as the crucial core of organisational success. The importance of consistent signals is illustrated, specifically with respect to organisational change programs.

The influence of national culture on organizational culture: A comparative study between 10 countries

Abstract Organizational culture of industrial organizations was studied in 10 European countries using the FOCUS-instrument, based on the Quinn model (Quinn, 1988) to measure organizational culture. We classified most countries on the basis of the power distance index and the uncertainty avoidance index (Hofstede, 1991). We expected a value preference for the rules orientation (the so-called “pyramid” model) in some countries and a value preference for the innovation orientation (the “village-market” model) in others. Some of the results were in line with these expectations. One possible explanation for our findings is that not only the national preference influences the values within an organization, but the values of its founders and important leaders of its sector are also influential.

Decisions in Organizations: A Three-Country Comparative Study.

Introduction Theoretical Considerations Design of the Research Methods and Instruments Participation in Operational Decisions Medium- and Long-Term Decision-Making Qualitative Material to Illustrate the Process of Longitudinal Decision-Making Conclusion

Managing human resources across cultures: A comparative analysis of practices in industrial enterprises in China and the Netherlands.

Abstract Although researchers and practitioners have come up with many good ideas for improving the employment relationship, there is no evidence for universally applicable practices. Prior theoretical work and research in the area of (international) human resource management indicate that cultural and contextual constraints are responsible for the problematic nature of transference of practices. This study illustrates and explains the contextual as well as cultural boundaries through a direct comparison of practices as used in a matched sample of industrial companies in China (n=97) and The Netherlands (n=47). It is argued that differences in organizational structure, cultural values and labour regulations account for the variation between countries. The results show considerable differences between China and The Netherlands in the HRM practices of industrial enterprises. Also, the organizational culture of the companies studied varies between the two countries and the differences found are clearly in li...