global business leadership: how cultural competency and geoleadership tm merge dr. eileen (e.s.)...

Global Business Leadership:

How Cultural Competency and GeoleadershipTM

Merge

Dr. Eileen (E.S.) WibbekeOctober 21, 2009

Silicon Valley

www.roseleadershipinstitute.com

Agenda

• Information folders• Word associations• Define leadership• Define culture• Define Geoleadership™• Dimensions of culture• Geoleadership™ Model• Good and bad examples of Geoleadership™• Q&A


Leader

• What is the first word that pops into your head when you hear the word “leader”

• So, was the word you wrote down positive, negative, or neutral? • By a show of hands, who wrote down something neutral? Something

positive, something negative?• We see that with an international audience, the word “leader” calls for

different associations in different people• First – they may have had different experiences with leaders• Second – they (i.e. leaders and followers) may have different

personalities• Third – Their association is also influenced by country from which they

come – their national culture


Linguistic Differences• Differences in associations with word “leader” are somehow reflected in our

national languages

• “Leader” and/or “leadership” is English word and much of the leadership literature comes from Britain and US

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• German - Führung,” means guidance, and in organizations, it is construed to consist of uncertainty reduction”

• Arabic - Literally, “Sheikh” means a man over forty. However, in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia “Sheikh” means a person from the Royal Family. In Egypt, “Sheikh” means a scholar of religion

• French - conduite,” means to guide one’s own behavior, to guide others, or command action”

• Chinese - leadership, 领导 , means the leader and the led. The Leader is one who “walks in front” and guides the group through teaching “the way”


Culture

• Hofstede defines culture as “collective programming of the mind that distinguishes one group or category of people from another”

• Culture influences your leadership decision-making process

• Culture initially provides your survival tools to interact with world around you – cultural comfort zone

• Tri-partite cultural variable: national culture in which you are born; national culture in which you now live/work; org. culture in which you now work – all affect your behavior; attitudes, and values


Influence of Culture on Behavior and Behavior on Culture


Source: Adler, 2009

Leadership + Culture = Geoleadership™

• Geoleadership™ is leading others across geographies and cultures

• Geoleadership ™ focuses on how national culture affects bottom line in business leadership

• Remember: Culture is key – “cultural backpack”


New Word Association

• Who is your favorite leader (i.e. historical, political, cultural, personal, etc.)?

• Only thing I want to know is whether the name you wrote down is a man or a woman.

• Who chose a woman? A man?

• Probably few people surprised that percentage of favorite leader who is a woman differs from one country to another.

• In countries with free elections, both the percentages of women elected and percentages of women in government positions differ enormously from one country to another

• Scandinavia has highest percentage of female government delegates and ministers (37-42%); Britain though has 20% women in parliament and 22% in government

• For US, 15-18% in House of Representatives and/or other government posts (i.e. Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, etc.)


Relationship Between Variables

• Between 1st and 2nd round of questions and answers, there is a relationship

• In countries where many respondents have positive association with “leader”, fewer people will choose a woman as their favorite leader

• Note: Talking here about countries, not about persons

• We have found in countries where more people have positive associations with word “leader”, fewer people choose woman as their favorite leader. However, these need not be the same individuals

• A country is not inhabited by stereotyped individuals, but by different individuals who interact.


Associations and Relationships

• Now we have seen several different phenomena in national cultures that tend to go together one way or another

• More or fewer positive associations with word “leader”

• Fewer or more as favorite leaders

• Shows associated examples of national cultures known as masculinity versus femininity

• Example: Nordic countries and Holland score high on the feminine dimension

• Britain and US are more closely related on the masculine dimension

• Position of a country’s culture on the masculinity versus femininity dimension influences way people think and feel about leadership;

• Leadership is all about relationships

• In masculine cultures, the leader is a masculine cultural hero, even if she is a woman (i.e. US; Germany)


New Word Association – John or James• John is decisive leader; dares to make decisions and ensures that they are carried

out

• James is accessible leader – his door is usually open if people want to talk to him

• Please write down your answer

• Please raise your hand if you chose John. And, who chose James?

• Choice between a decision versus an accessible leader brings us to another dimension of national culture known as Power Distance – large versus small

• Power Distance is the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed equally

• Norway is a country with a relatively small Power Distance and so is Britain

• Russia and China are examples of countries with very large Power Distance


Power Distance

• Level of Power Distance in a country related to follower’s respect for their organizational leaders

• Also relates to occurrence of corruption• Berlin-based organization, Transparency International (

www.transparency.org) ,publishes annual Corruption Perception Index for almost all countries of the world

• Globally, Index is strongly related to national poverty; poor countries are seen as more corrupt

• If people cannot feed their families, they need extra income to get by

• Often thin line between what is cultural versus what is criminal


http://www.transparency.org/

New Word Association

• Choose between Amanda and Belinda• Amanda believes that good leaders are born and so are bad leaders• Belinda believes that whether someone is a good or bad leader

depends on situation• Choose Amanda if you believe there are good leaders and bad

leaders• Choose Belinda if you believe that who is a good leader or a bad

leader depends on the situation• Who chose Amanda? Who chose Belinda?• This shows that you can believe in good and bad as given facts

versus believing in power of how the situation relates to this dimension of national culture – Short-Term Orientation versus Long-Term Orientation


Long-Term Orientation versus Short-Term Orientation

• Short-term organizations take their guidance from past and from present needs

• Long-Term Orientation organizations adapt themselves to reach a desirable future

• US and Britain, but also many Islamic and Black African countries foster a short-term orientation

• China, Japan, India, and several other East Asian countries can be found more toward long-term orientation

• Example: People with STO buy on credit; people in LTO societies save

• In past 50 years, most economic growth in world has taken place in long-term oriented societies


Summary Thus Far

• What makes a good leader differs between national cultures

• We have seen influence of Masculinity versus Femininity in a society, about Long versus Small Power Distance, and about Long versus Short Term Orientation

• Characteristics of a good leader depend on situation – the cultural situation – situational leadership


Geoleadership™ = Culture + Leadership

• Hofstede’s cultural dimensions relate directly to Geoleadership™ competencies (7 Cs)

• Geoleadership™ derived from Global Business Leadership Study

• The purpose of the qualitative research study was to determine best intercultural leadership competencies vital to U.S. business leaders in the era of globalization.

• Even though research focused on US business leaders, results are applicable across countries, with necessary localization

• Study was first ever web-based Delphi research focused on intercultural leadership competencies - Geoleadership™ Model emerged


Methodology Details and Geoleadership™ Model

• Delphi methodology involves reaching agreement from group of participating (i.e. intercultural experts) over three rounds of sequential questioning

• Seven key intercultural competencies needed for leaders interacting in global business marketplace

• Competencies include: Capability Care Change Communication Contrasts Consciousness Context

www.globalbusinessleadership.com


In red folder also

Research Finding

QUESTION: What Intercultural Competencies Can U.S. Business Leaders Develop to Compete Globally?

RESULT: Ability for leader’s own self-awareness ranked highest

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GEOLEADERSHIP COMPETENCY: Consciousness

Self-awareness of one’s own cultural background and bias

A Geoleader must:

Expand consciousness as cultural contexts shift around him or her

*Will look at business examples of global marketing errors from market leaders


Example: Consciousness (Poor Geoleadership™)

Case Study:• Burger King in Mexico• Ad to promote new Texican Whopper was conceived and implemented for European

market and was successful there• Same ad shown in Mexico with no localization for Mexican market• Ad for Texican Whopper featured a tall American cowboy, a short, round Mexican

wrestler draped in a cape resembling Mexico's flag • Tagline stated, “The taste of Texas with a little spicy Mexican" • Uproar from Mexican citizens• Mexico is protesting the ads due to its stereotypical portrayal of Mexicans and offensive

use of the Mexican flag, mostly in the printed ad.• BOTTOM LINE: Even though ad was successful in one market, does not mean it

will automatically be successful in another, even if you think you are “speaking to” the local population

• Example of marketing leadership error not paying attention to culture


Texican Whopper


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNabO2d-zbw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNabO2d-zbw

Research Finding

How Can U.S. Business Leaders Negotiate and Make Decisions within Intercultural Situations?

The panelists stated that context was key when making decisions

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GEOLEADERSHIP COMPETENCY: Context

Situational perspective with no judgment

A Geoleader must:

Understand each culturally learned behavior in the context of where that behavior originates and appears = situational, cultural leadership


Example: Context (Good Geoleadership™)

Case Study:

• Fulla (Syrian Barbie)

• Damascus’ firm, looking to create a doll that reflected Islamic values. Many in Middle East see Barbie not as a doll, but rather as an ambassador of decadent Western culture. Fulla was created.

• Doll was an immediate sensation when released in Syria in 2003. Within two years of its launch, 1.5 million Fulla dolls had been sold. Marketed much like Barbie.

• But unlike Barbie's blue eyes, Fulla has brown eyes, darker skin and black hair. She can pick from a wide variety of head scarves and long coats.

• BOTTOM LINE: A local firm can create a localized version of a popular world brand and directly compete with established marked leaders


Fulla


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHujJSCJC1o&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHujJSCJC1o&feature=related

Where in the World is Your Leader?


Q&A

Rose Leadership Institute


Geoleader Certificate Program

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Next Cohort Begins: January 4, 2010

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"I think the Geoleader Certificate Program is one of the most brilliant educational content and delivery systems I’ve come across.“

– Warren Bennis

global business leadership: how cultural competency and geoleadership tm merge dr. eileen (e.s.)...

Documents

leadership culture

national culture

word leader

culture hofstede

influence of culture

geoleadership geoleadership

leadership literature

english word