Cross-Cultural Leadership
Effective leadership in multi-cultural contexts
Presented by:
Digvijay Singh Patil(13571405), Nihas Ahmed
Anarath(13734131) and Nirnay Teja Polaboina(13557182)
Overview
• How should an Indian executive effectively manage a
team of Australians?
• How to prevent inter-cultural barriers to communication?
• How to consistently achieve targets in such an
environment?
• Definition of Culture:
The collective programming of the mind that distinguishes
the members of one group or category of people from
another (Geert Hofstede).
The Lewis Model
• Richard D. Lewis claimed that humans can be
categorized into three groups, namely, Linear-active,
Multi-active and Reactive based on behavioural aspects.
• The model shows that much of the English speaking world
is considered linear-active while much of Asia is
considered reactive and that multi-active behaviour is
scattered across the world in areas like southern Europe
and the middle east.
• The model shows that the Indian behaviour is generally a
multi-active, whereas the Australian behaviour is more
linear-active.
Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture
•
•
•
•
•
Power-distance
Individualism versus collectivism
Masculinity versus femininity
Uncertainty avoidance
Long term vs Short term
• According to this model, Indian culture has high powerdistance, moderate individualism, is moderately masculine
and has relatively low uncertainty avoidance.
• According to this model, Australian culture is relatively low
power-distance, is highly individualistic, is relatively more
masculine and is moderate toward uncertainty avoidance.
Australia
India
Power-distance
36
77
Individualism versus
collectivism
90
48
Masculinity versus
femininity
61
56
Uncertainty
avoidance
51
40
Long term vs Short
term
31
61
Effective Cross Cultural Leadership
• An Indian executive should generally expect a linearactive behaviour from a team of Australians where they
are more job oriented, are focussed on the facts and
generally do one task at a time.
• Similarly, in all multi-cultural work environments, a deeper
understanding of the cultural backgrounds of the
members of a team will allow for effective leadership.
Summary
• A deep understanding of the cultural differences present
amongst a team of executives will allow more effective
management of the team and the consistent
achievement of goals.
• Cultural differences can be better understood by studying
cultural models such as the Lewis model or the Hofstede
model.
• An accepting approach toward cultural differences is
critical for successful management in the modern highly
globalised business environment.