Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
International Journal of Cross Cultural Management
This Article
Right arrow Résumé
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by van Emmerik, IJ. H.
Right arrow Articles by Wendt, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Leadership Behaviors around the World

The Relative Importance of Gender versus Cultural Background

IJ. Hetty van Emmerik

Utrecht University, The Netherlands, H.vanEmmerik{at}uu.nl

Martin C. Euwema

Leuven University, Belgium, Martin.Euwema{at}psy.kuleuven.be

Hein Wendt

Hay Group, The Netherlands, Hein_Wendt{at}HayGroup.com

This study examined the associations of gender and cultural clusters with two classical leadership styles: consideration and initiating structure. We used a unique database for this study: 64,000 subordinates evaluating the leadership behaviors of their direct supervisors (N = 13,595), representing 42 countries. Hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression analysis for cultural clusters. As hypothesized, culture had a stronger impact on leadership behaviors than gender, particularly on initiating structure. In line with predictions, female managers around the world used more consideration. Yet, unexpectedly, women also used more initiating structure. The results suggest that gender differences in managerial behavior are predominantly present in western societies. Results contradict classic stereotypes regarding male and female managerial behaviors. More theory is needed to understand the interaction between gender and culture in relation with leadership. Outcomes have practical implications for HRM practices in international firms and cross cultural leadership training, which should aim at reducing stereotypical thinking on female and male leadership attributes in different cultures.

Key Words: cultural differences • gender differences • leadership

International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, Vol. 8, No. 3, 297-315 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1470595808096671
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?