As Related to Cultural Awareness: What is the value of the GLOBE project?

       As a follow up to the December 2018 article, it seems fair to ponder: In relation to cultural awareness, what should be learned from the GLOBE project?  In Cultural Influences On Leadership And Organizations: Project Globe, the project’s researchers noted that given the increased globalization of industrial organizations and increased inter-dependencies among nations, the need for better understanding of cultural influences on leadership and organizational practices has never been greater (House et al, 1998 ). Situations that both leaders and potential leaders must face are highly complex, constantly changing, and difficult to interpret. “More than ever, managers of international firms face fierce and rapidly changing international competition” (p.5). How does this reality impact the need for cultural awareness?
       A “network" of 170 social scientists and management scholars from 61 cultures throughout the world, worked in a coordinated long-term effort to examine the interrelationships between societal culture, organizational culture and practices, and organizational leadership. The meta-goal of the Global Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (GLOBE) Research Program was to develop an empirically based theory to describe, understand, and predict the impact of cultural variables on leadership and organizational processes and the effectiveness of these processes” (p. 2). Did the project achieve its meta-goal? 
       Empirical research by House, Wright, and Aditya (1997), demonstrated that what is expected of leaders, what leaders may and may not do, and the status and influence bestowed on leaders vary considerably as a result of the cultural forces in the countries or regions in which the leaders seek to function. For instance, Americans, Arabs, Asians, English, Eastern Europeans, French, Germans, Latin Americans, and Russians tend to glorify the concept of leadership and consider it reasonable to discuss leadership in the context of both the political and the organizational arenas. People of the Netherlands and Scandinavia often have distinctly different views of leadership (p, 4).  Given a global economy and 24-hour news cycles, the GLOBE project proves cultural awareness is crucial because perspectives differ depending on one’s culture.  

To Cite: 

Anderson, C.J. (January 31, 2019) As related to cultural awareness: What is the value of 
              the GLOBE project? Web log post]  Retrieved from
              http://www.ucan-cja.blogspot.com/

References:

House, R.J., et al (1998). Cultural Influences On Leadership And Organizations: Project 
           Globe retrieved from http://www.thunderbird.edu/wwwfiles/sites/globe/pdf/process.pdf

Waldman D.A., de Luque, M.S., Washburn N., House, R.J., Adetoun, B., Barrasa, A.,  
            Bobina, M., Bodur, M., Chen, Y.J., Debbarma, S., Dorfman, P., Dzuvichu, R.R.,  
            Evcimen, I., Fu, P., & Grachev, M. (2006). Cultural and leadership predictors of 
            corporate social responsibility values of top management: a GLOBE study of 15 
            countries. Journal of International Business Studies, 37(6), 823-837.  Retrieved 
            January 30, 2019 from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1157834571).