Understanding cultures and implicit leadership theories across the globe: an introduction to project GLOBE

doi:10.1016/S1090-9516(01)00069-4

Journal of World Business

Volume 37, Issue 1, Spring 2002, Pages 3-10

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1090-9516(01)00069-4 Get rights and content

Abstract

GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) is a research program focusing on culture and leadership in 61 nations. National cultures are examined in terms of nine dimensions: performance orientation, future orientation, assertiveness, power distance, humane orientation, institutional collectivism, in-group collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and gender egalitarianism. In a survey of thousands of middle managers in food processing, finance, and telecommunications industries in these countries, GLOBE compares their cultures and attributes of effective leadership. Six global leadership attributes are identified and discussed.

Section snippets

The GLOBE research program

GLOBE is a multi-phase, multi-method project in which investigators spanning the world are examining the interrelationships between societal culture, organizational culture, and organizational leadership. Close to 150 social scientists and management scholars from 61 cultures representing all major regions of the world are engaged in this long-term programmatic series of cross-cultural leadership studies.

GLOBE was conceived and initially designed by the first author of this report as the

GLOBE objectives

The meta-goal of GLOBE is to develop an empirically-based theory to describe, understand, and predict the impact of specific cultural variables on leadership and organizational processes and the effectiveness of these processes. Specific objectives include answering the following fundamental questions:

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Are there leader behaviors, attributes, and organizational practices that are universally accepted and effective across cultures?
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Are there leader behaviors, attributes, and organizational

The GLOBE conceptual model

The theoretical base that guides the GLOBE research program is an integration of implicit leadership theory (Lord & Maher, 1991), value/belief theory of culture (Hofstede, 1980), implicit motivation theory (McClelland, 1985), and structural contingency theory of organizational form and effectiveness (Donaldson, 1993; Hickson, Hinings, McMillan, & Schwitter, 1974). The integrated theory is briefly described here. For a more detailed description of the integrated theory, see House et al. (1997).

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