Université Panthéon Assas Paris II
Topic # 3
Leadership & Cross-Cultural
Management
Céline DENEUVILLE – Saipem s.a
Flora SPANNAGEL – Areva T&D
Marius RIGAU – L’Oréal
International management
Catherine VOYNNET FOURBOUL
References
» Blake, R.S., Mouton, J.S. (1967). The Managerial Grid In Three
Dimensions in Training & Development Journal, Vol. 21, Issue 1, pp. 26.
» Blake, R.S., Mouton, J.S.(1975). An Overview of the Grid.Training &
Development Journal, Vol. 29 Issue 5, pp. 29-38.
» Blake, R.S., Mouton, J.S.(1982). A Comparative Analysis of
Situationalism and 9,9 Management by Principle in Organizational
Dynamics, Vol. 10 Issue 4, pp. 20-43.
» C. Voynnet Fourboul & Frank Bournois (1999). Strategic
Communication with Employees in Large European Companies: A
Typology. European Management Journal, 03-04, pp. 204-217.
» Wikipedia: article on Fons Trompenaars
» Chapter 5: Managing across culture, pp132
» Riding the waves of Culture: Understanding diversity in Global
Business, Fons Trompenaars, New York: Irwin, 1994
» http://www.12manage.com
» Edward T. Hall – The Hidden Dimension, p. 159
What we propose :
1. Leadership
» Theories X, Y
» Leadership Behaviors and Styles
» Managerial Grid
2. Cross-cultural management issues
» HQ Subsidiary attitudes
» Cultural dimensions : the right message for the
right context
» Differences and similarities
Leadership
“The process of influencing people to direct
their efforts toward the achievement of
some particular goal or goals.”
• So far, little effort has been made to
systematically study and compare
leadership approaches.
Overview of Leadership Theories
» Great Man theories
» Trait theory
» Situational theory
» Hersey and Blanchard
» Management theories
» Relationship theories
Leadership Theories X, Y, Z
1. 'authoritarian
management' style
2. 'participative management'
style
» the person dislikes
work and will avoid it
» most people must be
forced with the threat
of punishment to work
» the person prefers to
be directed, to avoid
responsibility; is
relatively unambitious
» Effort in work
» self-control and
self-direction without external
control or the threat of
punishment
» seek responsibility; high
degree of imagination,
creativity in solving
organizational problems
Leadership Theories X, Y, Z
Leadership Behavior and Styles
-
-
Authoritarian leadership
It is the use of work-centered
behavior that is designed to
ensure task accomplishment.
Authoritarian leader
Subordinate
Parternalistic leadership
It uses work-centered behavior
coupled with protective employeecentered concern.
Participative leadership
It is the use of both work centeredbehavior and people-centered
approaches
Subordinate
Paternalistic leader
Subordinate
-
Subordinate
Subordinate
Subordinate
Participative leader
Subordinate
Subordinate
Subordinate
Managerial Grid
by Blake & Mouton (1962)
•
•
•
simple framework
defines 5 basic management styles that
characterize workplace behavior and the
resulting relationships
managerial styles are based on how two
fundamental concerns (concern for
people & concern for tasks) are
manifested at varying levels whenever
people interact
Managerial Grid
• Initially two axes were suggested
• Scores may range from 1 (lowest score) to
9 (highest)
• 9,9 = soundest basis for human relationship
in context of production, relationship of trust
and respect
• 1,9 = “love conquers all”, high concern for
people, friendly organizational climate &
work temp
• 5,5 = balancing work and people at
satisfactory level, “give some, but not all”
• 9,1 = people are a used as machines, the
only thing that counts are tasks.
• 1,1 = Manager has neither concern for
people nor for production.
Managerial Grid
• Each managerial style can be found to some
extent in every person
• One style might be more dominant/ more
characteristic than others. It’s a preference!
• Depending on managerial style managers take
actions in a certain style:
– A 1,9 oriented boss who wants to please subordinates
may be inventive in finding ways to show personal
warmth
– Through his style one may predict / foresee actions and
results which can be derived from his actions.
Managerial Grid
• In 1967 a third dimension was added
– Thickness or depth of managerial style
– To what extent is the managerial style
resistant to change under pressure?
– The thicker the style, the better it withstands
pressure
– A thin style changes easily in times of
pressure.
Managerial Grid
• Why can it be used universally?
1.It addresses & defines management dilemmas
such as guiding people in an effective manner.
2.Concept of grid is culture free, has been accepted
& used by various cultures
3.Powerful vehicle for increasing individual
effectiveness
4.Simplicity: the grid is very easy to understand.
Cross-cultural management issues
1. Leadership
» Theories X, Y
» Leadership Behaviors and Styles
» Managerial Grid
2. Cross-cultural management issues
» HQ Subsidiary attitudes
» Cultural dimensions : the right message for the
right context
» Differences and similarities
HQ Subsidiary attitudes
• Perlmutter (1985):
– proposed certain orientations which help to
develop a company and the establishment of its
international subsidiaries
• Four different dispositions:
– Ethnocentric: values & interests of parent
company guide strategic decisions
– Polycentric: strategic decisions are tailored to suit
cultures of subsidiaries
– Regiocentric: company blends its own interests
with those of regional subsidiaries
– Geocentric: integration of global approach to
include a little bit of everything
Graphical Overview of Approaches
Source: C. Voynnet Fourboul & F. Bournois, Strategic Communication with
Employees in Large European Companies: A Typology in European
Management Journal, 03-04/ 1999, pp. 204-217
Different actions depending on orientation of company
Ethnocentric
Polycentric
Regiocentric
Geocentric
Dominating
Culture
Home country
Host country
Regional
Global culture
Strategy
Global integration
National
Responsiveness
Regional
integration and
national
responsiveness
Global integration
and national
responsiveness
Governance
Top down
Bottom up (each
subsidiary decides
on local objectives)
Mutually negotiated
between region
and its subsidiaries
Mutually negotiated
at all levels of the
corperation
Personnel
Development
People of home
country are
developed to
occupy key
positions
anywhere in the
world
People of local
nationality are
developed for key
positions in their
own country
Regional people
are developed for
key positions
anywhere in the
region
Best people around
the world are
developed for any
position around the
world
Distribution of
profits
Repatriation of
profits to home
country
Retention of profits
in host country
Redistribution
within region
Redistribution
globally
Where the writer is concerned
with what he
puts into his writing,
the communicator is
concerned with what the reader
gets out of it.
Bill Berbach
He was one of the three founders of Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB)
Adjusting the message for local meaning
A cup of tea
Indian chai
Marketing bloopers
French label of
foreign-produced
goods
"Fabriqué en Dinde"
(Made in Turkey)
Turkey (the bird) is
"dinde," whereas the
country is called "la
Turquie".
Pepsi
In Taiwan, the translation of the
Pepsi slogan
"Come alive with the Pepsi
Generation" came
out as "Pepsi will bring your
ancestors back from the dead."
The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Kekoukela",
meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax",
depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000
characters to find a phonetic equivalent "kokou kole", translating
into "happiness in the mouth."
Trompenaars’s 7 Cultural dimensions
Fons Trompenaars is the author of the book 'Riding the Waves of Culture –
Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business'.
Trompenaars is also the managing director of THT Intercultural Management
Consulting, an international management and training consultancy and KPMG Network
affiliate that lists Motorola, Mars, Shell, Bombardier, and Heineken among its clients.
The 7 dimensions represent how societies develop approaches to managing problems and difficult
situations.
Over a 14 year period, data collected from over 46,000 managers representing more than 40 national
cultures
The 7 dimensions:
 Particularism vs. Universalism
Collectivism vs. Individualism
 Affective vs. Neutral Relationships
 Diffuse vs. Specific Relationships
 Ascription vs. Achievement
 Relationship to Time
 Relationship to Nature
 Universalistic vs Particularistic: what is more important
- Rules or relationships?
 Individualism vs Collectivism: do we function in a group
or as an individual?
Collectivism
In China, the group is very important: family, colleagues
Individualism
The United States is an individualistic country
 Achievement vs Ascription: do we have to prove
ourselves to receive status or is it given to us?
Sending a young manager to run a subsidiary in a traditional
culture such as India will involve difficulty.
 Specific vs Diffuse: How far do we get involved?
In Denmark, people are much more prone to criticize subordinates directly and
openly without regarding their criticism as a personal matter.
In Russia, this may constitute an unacceptable loss of face.
 Neutral vs Emotional: Do we display our emotions?
Multinational teams consisting of individuals from highly neutral and highly affective
cultures need careful management and considerable inter-cultural understanding.
Otherwise, the affective persons will view the neutral persons as ice-cold, and the
affective persons will be viewed as out of control by the neutrals.
 Sequential vs Synchronic: Do we do things one at a time or several
things at once?
 Inner direction vs Outer direction
Cross cultural differences and similarities
Six Basic Cultural variations
What is the nature of people?
Good (changeable / unchangeable)
A mixture of good and evil
Evil (changeable / unchangeable)
What is the person’s relationship
to other people?
Lineal (hierarchic)
Collateral (collectivist)
Individualist
What is the temporal focus of
human activity?
Future
Present
Past
What is the conception of space?
Private
Mixed
Public
Cultural Clusters
Power
Distance
Individualism
Masculinity
Uncertainty
Avoidance
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
France, Spain
Italy, Belgium
Portugal
Denmark
Germany
UK, US, Ireland
Japan
South Korea
Philippines
+ indicates high or strong
- Indicates low or weak
Concrete cultural differences in the business world
China
» technical competence
» time : punctuality
» strong relationships
» belong to a group
» less animated : avoid displays
of affection
France
» social class & consequences
on the social interactions
» accustomed to conflict
» highly centralized and rigid
structures
» work / personal life balance
(the quality of life)
Russia
» personal relationships
» key rule : patience
» different conceptions of
written contracts
» exclusivity (exclusive
arrangements and negotiations)
Arab countries
» Time issue –
“Tomorrow if God wills”
» the strong vs. the weak
perceptions
» public space
» status and rank
Debate question
How to prepare managers to often
distant leading?
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!!!