A Comparative Study of Perceived Managerial and Leadership Effectiveness
within Asian and Western European Countries
Robert G. Hamlin
University of Wolverhampton, UK
Sewon Kim
State University of New York (SUNY) Empire State College, USA
Corresponding Author: Prof Bob Hamlin
Email: [email protected]
Submission Type: Refereed Full Paper
Copyright © 2015 Robert G. Hamlin & Sewon Kim
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ABSTRACT
Purpose-To explore the extent to which behavioural indicators of perceived managerial and leadership
effectiveness previously identified in multiple South Korean private sector companies and a Chinese for-
profit-like state enterprise, are different (local/context-specific) or similar (potentially global/context-
general) to those identified within British and German private sector companies.
Design/methodology-Empirical data were obtained from past emic replication studies (cases) carried out
in China, Germany, South Korea and the United Kingdom respectively. The behavioural indicators were
subjected to realist qualitative comparative analysis using open and axial coding to identify, classify, and
group them into discrete behavioural categories.
Findings-High degrees of overlap and convergence were revealed with the vast majority of managerial
behaviours (91.85% Asian; 95.23% Western European) that distinguish effective managers from
ineffective managers being found to be the same, similar, or congruent in meaning. Only 1 out of 11 non-
convergent Asian behavioural indicators showed any evidence of being local/context-specific and thus
culturally embedded.
Research Implications- The findings bring into question the validity of past claims in the cross-cultural
management literature which assert that particular types and styles of managerial and leadership
behaviour are contingent upon the cultural aspects of specific societies and countries.
Practical/social implications- HRD practitioners in all four countries and those in multinational
corporations could utilize the findings to inform the creation of new management or leadership
development programmes, or to critically evaluate extant programmes.
Originality/value-Our study is a rare example of Type 4 indigenous management research, and our
findings are illustrative of what has become known as geocentric (emic-and-etic) knowledge.
Keywords: Management, leadership, perceived effectiveness, cross-nation comparison
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A Comparative Study of Perceived Managerial and Leadership Effectiveness
within Asian and Western European Countries
The vast majority of management research conducted outside the USA continues to be “normal
science” (Kuhn, 1996: p.5) based on the North American positivist (functionalist) research
paradigm. And the preference of most international and indigenous researchers who have
explored local phenomena, particularly in China and other Asian countries, has been to conduct
deductive studies using extant Western theories, constructs, and methods drawn from
management literature dominated by US research (see Leung, 2007; Leung and White, 2004;
Tsui, 2006; White, 2002). Tsui (2009) considers this tendency to be a cause for concern because
it risks researchers making discoveries that only fall within the domain covered by theory
derived in the USA. Furthermore, she argues that such research may be insufficient to provide
understanding of novel contexts, or may even lead to biased or inaccurate conclusions (Tsui,
2007). A similar situation exists regarding leadership research. As Zhang et al. (2012) perceived
from a Chinese perspective, drawing on Yukl (2010), almost all leadership studies throughout a
century-long history have been conducted in the West (predominantly in North America and
particularly the USA), and almost all leadership theories have been derived within Western
cultural contexts which, according to these authors, make them very limited in their applicability
to different economies and cultures
A few notable non-normal science studies of managerial and leadership effectiveness
have been carried out around the globe, including for example (i) Cammock et al., (1995)
qualitative ‘repertory grid’ study of managerial effectiveness within a large public sector
organization in New Zealand, (ii) the nine qualitative ‘critical incident technique-CIT’ studies of
managerial and leadership effectiveness that Author 1 has carried out and replicated with various
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co-researchers in a diverse range of public, private, and third sector organizations in the United
Kingdom (UK) (see Hamlin and Hatton, 2013); (iii) the subsequent replication of these UK
studies by Hamlin et al. in various other countries such as Egypt (Hamlin et al., 2010), Mexico
(Hamlin et al., 2011), Romania (Hamlin and Patel, 2012) and South Korea (Chai et al., 2015),
and by Wang (2011) in China, and (iv) the multiple cross-case/cross-nations comparative studies
of Hamlin and Hatton (2013) and Patel and Hamlin (2012) using as empirical source data the
findings of their previous emic replication research which led to the emergence of a British-
related and EU-related taxonomy of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness,
respectively.
Our study builds on this past research. It is a non-normal science cross-case/cross-nation
comparison of findings obtained from two published Asian emic replication studies of perceived
managerial and leadership effectiveness, namely our recent South Korean study (Chai et al.,
2015), and Wang’s (2011) equivalent study carried out within a Chinese state owned enterprise
(for-profit like), against the findings of five equivalent published European based replication
studies, namely two British and three German inquiries conducted by Author 1 with various
indigenous co-researchers. As active participants in these source studies we have had privileged
access to all of the empirical evidence generated, and we have used this as the source data for the
present study. Our primary aim has been to explore the extent to which the behavioural
indicators of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness resulting from the source studies
are different (local/context-specific) or similar (potentially global/context-general) to each other.
The central question we addressed was as follows: “To what extent are the managerial
behaviours that distinguish effective managers from ineffective managers, as observed and
perceived by managers and non-managerial employees within multiple South Korean for-profit
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companies and a Chinese for-profit-like enterprise, similar or different to those perceived by
managers and non-managerial employees within British and German for-profit companies?”
LITERATURE REVIEW
To address the research purpose, this section first discusses current concerns and criticisms of
indigenous management research in Asia, and current debates concerning culture and
management/leadership effectiveness research. An introduction to the theory that has guided the
research and the empirical source studies upon which it is based then follows, and the section
concludes with a statement of the primary aim of the study and the specific research question that
was addressed. At this juncture readers should note that our use of the word ‘leadership’ in the
term ‘managerial and leadership effectiveness’ refers to the everyday ‘supervisory leadership’
performed by managers at all levels of management, and not to House et al.’s (2004) concept of
‘strategic leadership’ as performed by general managers and other top managers/organizational
leaders.
Indigenous Management Research in Asia
During the past 5 years there have been numerous calls for papers on indigenous management
research in Asia, and particularly in China (Holtbrugge et al., 2011; Li et al., 2014; Lyles, 2009).
However, what qualifies as indigenous research is still open to debate because there is no widely
accepted definition. Some researchers suggest a study is indigenous if it covers an indigenous
topic, even if based on the philosophical assumptions of the North American research paradigm
(Whetton, 2009), whereas others argue that indigenous research is any single country study that
is context-specific as a result of either incorporating aspects of the national context in the theory
and methods, or by taking the national context as granted which is the case for research
conducted in the USA (Tsui, 2007). According to Lyles (2009), and also to Li (2012), in general
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indigenous research is the study of a unique local phenomenon, or a unique element of any local
phenomenon from a local (native-emic) perspective, that aims to explore/examine its local
implications/relevance and/or its global (etic) implications/relevance. Li et al. (2014) similarly
define indigenous research in a broad sense to encompass context-specific or context sensitive
approaches to the exploration of unique local phenomena that may have global implications. To
clarify the diverse nature of indigenous research, both Lyles (2009) and Li et al. (2012) have
offered a typology comprised of four types/stages of sophistication/advancement, the
applicability of which depends on the nature of the local phenomenon to be studied, and/or the
source of the adopted theoretical and/or paradigmatic perspective. These are as follows: Type 1
(Emic-as-etic or Imposed etic with mostly Western content). This is the most basic and most
common approach, and involves a naïve/uncritical application of extant theories from the West
in a local context. Type 2 (Etic-to-Emic with imbalanced Western-Eastern content). This is a
more advanced approach involving a cross-context comparative component with the potential to
discover one or more novel constructs unique to the local phenomenon. Type 3 (Emic-as-emic
with mostly Eastern content). This is an innovative approach involving the identification and
development of novel local constructs to explain local phenomena. Type 4 (Emic-and-etic
integration with well balanced local-global or Eastern-Western content). This is the most
advanced approach involving an integration of the emic theories resulting from Type 2 and Type
3 studies carried out in different local/cultural contexts, with the aim of building cross-cultural
constructs/theories, and thereby develop geocentric (emic-and-etic) knowledge.
Culture and Managerial/Leadership Effectiveness Research
Extant literature provides evidence for both universal and contingent approaches to studying
management and leadership behaviours. The universal approach assumes that behaviours which
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managers need to demonstrate in order to be perceived effective or ineffective are independent of
national culture (Arvonen and Ekvall, 1999; Horner-Long and Schoenberg, 2002). And House
and Aditya (1997) have argued the existence of universal/nearly universal effective leader
behaviours (see also Bennis, 1999; Robie et al., 2001). Similarly, Bass (1996) and Bass and
Riggio (2006) have argued that very little of the variance in leader behaviour can be justified by
culture, and that there is far more universalism in leadership than has been believed previously.
However, despite strong and compelling logic, empirical evidence supporting notions of the
universality of managerial and leadership effectiveness is sparse.
In contrast, the contingency approach supports the view that managers and leaders need to
adapt their behaviours to the environmental and organizational context, including the national
culture, if they wish to be effective (Morrison, 2000). Others claim that leadership effectiveness
is contingent upon similarities between the national cultures of leaders and followers (Brodbeck
et al., 2000; Yamaguchi, 1988). And Wendt et al. (2009) claim that societal culture, which they
operationalize as individualism/collectivism (Hofstede, 2001), has a direct impact on leadership
and team cohesiveness. Similarly, Alas et al. (2007) argue that leadership and its influence are
subject to the culture of the country in which the leader is operating. Other researchers have
argued that there can be both similarities as well as differences in perceived
effectiveness/ineffectiveness of managerial and leadership behaviour across nations. For
example, Dorfman and Howell (1997) empirically demonstrated cultural universality across
North America (U.S. and Mexico) and Asia (Japan, South Korea and Taiwan) for three leader
behaviours (supportive, contingent reward and charismatic), and cultural specificity for three
others (directive, participative and contingent punishment); and Martin et al. (2009) produced
similar findings.
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Theoretical Framework
The theoretical concepts that have guided our study of perceived managerial and leadership
effectiveness, which also informed the three empirical source studies upon which it has been
based, are known as the multiple constituency model of organizational effectiveness and the
notion of reputational effectiveness, respectively. Using the multiple constituency approach for
research, managers are perceived as operating within a social structure consisting of multiple
constituencies or stakeholders (e.g., superiors, peers, subordinates, etc.), each of whom has
his/her own expectations of and reactions to them (Tsui, 1990). How managers are perceived
and judged by their superiors, peers, and subordinates can be important for managerial success
(or failure) because it determines their reputational effectiveness (Tsui, 1984).
METHOD
We adopted Tsang and Kwan’s (1999) notion of empirical generalization replication which
utilizes the same measurement and analysis and different populations or contexts, and Berry’s
(1989) derived etic approach to applied research which involves both replication logic and
multiple cross-case analysis (Eisenhardt, 1989).
Empirical Source Data
The empirical source data used for our Type 4 indigenous study were derived or obtained from
the seven aforementioned emic replication studies that we have severally conducted within South
Korea, Germany, China and the UK. We and the other researchers of these source studies used
Flanagan’s (1954) critical incident technique (CIT) to collect concrete examples of effective and
ineffective managerial behaviour observed by indigenous managers and non-managerial
employees of the respective collaborating organizations. Open coding (Flick, 2002) was used to
identify the unit(s) of meaning of each of the so collected critical incidents (CIs) and to
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disentangle any as necessary. They were then subjected to axial coding (Flick, 2002) to identify
discrete categories of managerial behaviour comprised of a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 13
CIs. For each of these categories a behavioural statement (BS) was created and used as a label to
describe in essence the meaning held in common to all of its constituent critical incidents.
Details of the overall CIT data and BS data that were obtained from our seven empirical
source studies and used for our study are shown in Table 1.
Table 1
Empirical Source Data Used for the Study
The seven emic studiesof perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness
Subjectfocus of the study*
No. ofCITinformants
No. ofusableCIs
No. ofeffectiveBSs
No. ofineffectiveBSs
Total numberof BSs
South Korean StudyCase SKN1Multiple private sector companies Chai et al. (2015)-refined
T, S, M& FL
45 560 53 51 104
Chinese StudyCase CHN1A for-profit-like state enterpriseWang (2011)
T,S, M,& FL
35 230 14 17 31
British StudiesCase UK1-A British global communications company Hamlin and Bassi (2008)
S, M,& FL
55 555 31 35 66
Case UK2-A British international telecoms plc Hamlin and Sawyer (2007)
T only 37 370 16 13 29
German StudiesCase GER1A heterogeneous mix of private companies in Germany Patel et al., (2009)
T,S,M,& FL
64 154 15 19 34
Case GER2Multiple private sector companiesHamlin et al., (2013)
S, M &FL
24 506 58 90 148
Case GER3A German space systems
S, M &FL
41 393 50 38 88
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and services companyHamlin et al., (2014)Totals 301 2,768 237 263 500
Note. Subject Focus: T-Top managers. S-Senior manager. M-Middle managers. FL-First line managers
Data Analysis
For our study we used the behavioural statement (BS) as our unit of analysis. Initially the BSs
were subjected to realist qualitative comparative analysis (Madill et al., 2000) using open coding
at the semantic level (Braun and Clarke, 2006) to identify the salient concept of each British,
Chinese, German and South Korean BS. The open coded BSs were then subjected to axial
coding to identify those that were the same as, similar to, or contained an element of congruent
meaning with one or more BSs from both countries (Flick, 2002; Miles and Huberman, 1994).
These were accordingly clustered and categorized into discrete behavioural categories. Each
category was then interpreted, and a simple statement created to describe in essence the meaning
held in common with all of its constituent BSs.
Trustworthiness of the Findings
The compared sets of BSs were deemed suitable for comparison because the respective
researchers of the empirical source studies had adopted the same research design and CIT
protocol for collecting and analyzing their empirical data. The credibility and dependability of
our findings were assured through a process of investigator triangulation (Easterby-Smith et al.,
1991). This involved both of us conducting the cross-case/cross-nation comparative analyses to
a greater or lesser extent, and then engaging in a subsequent code cross-checking exercise
(Gibbs, 2007). Working independently of each other initially and then jointly helped to assure
the accuracy and objectivity of our research (Knafl and Breitmayer, 1991).
RESULTS
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Our comparative study has demonstrated empirically that perceptions of what behaviourally
distinguishes effective managers from ineffective managers within large Asian (Chinese/South
Korean) and large Western European (British/German) for-profit/for-profit-like companies are
highly congruent. In the main they are substantially the same and described in similar terms. As
a result of the open and axial coding 92.54% (n=62) of the Asian positive (effective) BSs were
found to be convergent in meaning with 95.29% (n=162) of the equivalent European BSs against
which they had been compared. Similarly, 91.12% (n=62) of the Asian negative (least
effective/ineffective) BSs were found to be convergent in meaning with 95.16% (n=177) of the
equivalent Western European BSs against which they had been compared. This led to the
emergence of 25 positive and 22 negative cross-cultural ‘etic themes’ (behavioural categories) as
shown in Table 2 and Table 3 respectively.
Table 2 Positive (Effective) Behavioural Categories of Perceived Managerial and Leadership Effectiveness__________________________________________________________________________
1. Acknowledges, gives recognition to and praises employees for good performances/successes2. Rewards employees for high/good performance and extra effort3. Involves employees in decision making4. Actively seeks, listens to and is open to questions, ideas, opinions and suggestions from staff5. Gives employees clear directions, explanations and guidance on the tasks to be performed6. Shares with employees key information regarding what is going on in the company7. Shows a personal interest in employees as individuals and for their well being, and listens with empathy and sensitivity to their personal concerns 8. Actively and effectively delegates responsibilities to employees, empowers them, shows trust/confidence in their abilities, and encourages their initiative9. Plans ahead and produces well thought through plans including deadline dates and timings for key decisions10. Organizes/structures processes and procedures for efficient working and effective outcomes11 Develops and presents a clear vision and goals for his/her department, and ensures his/her team/subordinates’ goals are aligned12 Provides and is always available to provide help and support to employees to solve problems or address concerns as and when needed or requested13 Protects/stands up for employees who are under threat from people in other departments and/or from adverse higher management decisions14 Provides encouragement and positive feedback/reinforcement to employees15 Adopts an open, friendly and approachable style of management/leadership16 Helps/supports employees to reflect upon and learn from their mistakes/errors and to improve their performance17 Actively encourages and supports the personal/career development of employees, provides education and training opportunities and personally coaches/mentors them18 Provides helpful, honest and constructive feedback on performance
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19 Creates a good work environment, climate and culture within his/her team20 Facilitates honest and open two way communication with employees21 Fosters personal contact and close trusting interpersonal relationship with subordinates and within/between teams22 Monitors/checks and periodically reviews/appraises the performance of his/her employees23 Leads by example and acts as a role model24 Treats employees with fairness, respect and consideration25 Proactively addresses/resolves problems/conflicts
__________________________________________________________________________
Table 3 Negative (Ineffective) Behavioural Categories of Perceived Managerial and Leadership Effectiveness_________________________________________________________________________
1. Shows lack of interest in and/or respect/sensitivity/consideration for employees as human beings2 Overloads employees and/or fails to reduce excessive workloads3. Fails to consult with/involve employees in decision making and/or ignores their ideas, or fails to listen to their suggestion or queries4. Exhibits inappropriate autocratic and controlling behaviour5. Exhibits selfish, self-serving and manipulative behaviour6. Exhibits unfair, unequal and discriminatory treatment of employees7. Is inconsistent and unreliable8. Engages in undermining behaviour9. Exhibits emotional instability10. Exhibits poor focus and planning11 Exhibits poor decision making12 Is poor at organizing and/or in self management13. Is poor at delegation and assigning tasks14 Gives poor directions/instruction and/or unclear explanations of his/her expectation15 Is poor at monitoring, controlling and giving feedback16 Exhibits procrastination, avoidance and/or abdicating behaviour17 Fails to guide, train and develop employees18 Does not communicate with employees or fails to communicate with them clearly19 Exhibits a parochial and/or rigid, negative mentality20 Mistrusts his/her employees21 Fails to appreciate or give recognition/reward for achievement22 Does not act as a role model or lead by example
________________________________________________________________________
Of the positive (n=5) and negative (n=6) Asian BSs found to be non-convergent, only one of the
South Korean and none of the Chinese BSs could be construed as showing evidence of being,
maybe, culturally embedded. None of the European positive BSs (n=8) or negative BSs (n=9)
indicated any evidence of being culturally embedded. To illustrate the identified convergence of
meaning between the Asian and Western European positive and negative BSs underpinning the
emergent geocentric behavioural categories, an indicative sample is given in Table 4.
Table 4. Indicative Sample of BSs Underpinning the Emergent Geocentric Behavioural Categories
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South Korean StudyCase SKN1: Multiple private sector companies throughout South KoreaChinese StudyCase CHN1 State ‘for-profit’ company in Bejing,
Two British StudiesCase UK1: Global communications services company.Case UK2: International telecommunications plc Three German StudiesCase GER1: Mix of private companies throughout Germany Case GER2: Mix of private sector companies in BavariaCase GER3: Space systems SME in South Germany
Positive (effective) BSs Positive (effective) BSsInvolves employees in decision makingCase SKN1A manager listens to and discusses various topics with his/her subordinates and determines processes and future directions together, including goals, visions and values based on those discussionsCase CHN1Involves employees in decision making and conflict [problem] resolution
Involves employees in decision makingCase UK1Involves staff in decision making and problem solvingCase UK2Consults and includes others in decision makingCase GER1Involves employees in decision-making; pursues their interests; consults with employeesCase GER1The manager allows his employees to participate in decision making; The manager involves his/her employees in decision making Case GER3Manager involves their staff in decision making and/or includes them in meetings and discussionsAt employee review meetings my manager and I specify my goals together and she takes the opportunity for a detailed exchange of views so that we both learn and take something from the meeting
Shows a personal interest in employees as individuals and for their well being, and listens with empathy and sensitivity to their personal concernsCase SKN1A manager takes a personal interest in his/her subordinates as individuals and shows care for their well beingA manager understands and pays attention to the emotions and feelings of his/her subordinates, and reacts to them in a sensitive, empathetic, un-intrusive and/or gentle mannerA manager empathetically listens to subordinates'ideas, opinions and personal issues with anopen-mind, and strives to be supportive Case CHN1Cares about employees’ [welfare]
Shows a personal interest in employees as individuals and for their well being, and listens with empathy and sensitivity to their personal concernsCase UK1Shows care and concern for the health and well being of staffIs willing to be flexible and gives support to staff that are experiencing problems in their personal circumstancesRecognizes fear and anxieties of staff in change situations and takes proactive action to allay or reduce fearsCase UK2Shows [personal] interest in others, being responsive to their needsCase GER1 Shows [personal] interest in employee’s needs/career plans, is sensitive to their concerns and is empatheticCase GER2The manager shows interest in his employeesThe manager responds to the needs of every individual employeeThe manager cares about his/her employees’ [personal]problems The manager handles employee [personal] issues withcare [sensitivity] Case GER3
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Manager shows care for employees and colleagues in stressful situations (e.g., gave less work to employees returning to work after an accident; gave an employee a day off to look after her sick child; visited a colleague in hospital; showed humanity to employee who gets tense)Manager is flexible about employees’ holiday arrangements and other work-life balance issuesManager shows interest in me as a person and engages in personal conversations (e.g., asks about my weekends and vacations; knows about my hobbies; talks about private things) Manager is open to new ideas and solutions to problems suggested by employees, and also [open] to their [personal]concerns
Negative (ineffective) BSs Negative (ineffective) BSsSelfish, self-serving manipulative behaviourCase SKN1A manager assigns to or dumps on staff tasks that s/he does not want to take on her/himself A manager perceives his/her subordinates and other teams as competitors/rivals and refuses to share information A manager takes the credit for his/her subordinates' work and does not give them recognition or reward A manager shifts responsibility when things go wrong and avoids blame for negative results by passing the buck to his/her subordinates A manager engages in politicking and/or manipulative behaviour for own self interestA manager prioritizes and/or is only interested in his/her own needs and interests A manager misuses the company's resources [e.g., money or subordinate time] and/or violates/neglects processes or standards at work for personal/private benefitA manager takes on unnecessary or extra tasks to please or impress upper managers Case CHN1Acts selfishly (abuses authority for personal gain) Shows favouritism
Selfish, self-serving manipulative behaviourCase UK1Demonstrates selfish and self-serving behaviours; Case UK2 Case GER1Case GER2The manager gives the impression that his/her praise is not sincere The manager is not loyal to his/her employees The manager does not admit errors The manager abuses his/her position of power The manager is only interested in his/her own benefitThe manager does not correct his/her misbehaviourThe manager overestimates his/her professional competenciesThe manager uses praise as leverageCase GER3Manager is selfish and self serving ( e.g., takes care only of his own wants; pursues a disinterested foreign customer for personal leisure reasons; not transparent about what they do all day; lobbies just at own level or above and not at lower levels)Superior is insincere and/or manipulative (e.g., uses praise as a smokescreen to delegate additional tasks; makes up own ‘company rule as basis to reject my request for holiday; asks me to do a task and then found he’d asked someone else;’ uses untrue arguments in a salary negotiation; praise seems artificial)Manager does not admit to errors/mistakes, and takes action to avoid blame
Exhibits unfair, unequal and/or discriminatory treatment of employeesCase SKN1 A manager engages in discriminatory behaviour (e.g., assigns excessive work/weekend duties to females that cannot be met; expects subordinates to behave differently according to their gender; practices sexual discrimination) A manager assigns critical tasks and delegates authorities to favored subordinates only A manager provides privileges and cares for favored subordinates and discriminates based on his/her personal preferences A manager unfairly provides more work to higher performers and less work to low performers Case CHN1Does not evaluate employees in a fair manner
Exhibits unfair, unequal and/or discriminatory treatment of employeesCase UK112) Shows favoritism and demonstrates double standards in decisions and behaviour Case UK2 Case GER1Criticises in an unfair way/gives unjustified criticism Does not treat employees equally/favours certain employeesCase GER2The manager gives unjust criticism The manager treats women with less respect than men The manager has prejudice against the work performance of long-term employees
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When in a bad mood, the manager is unfair towards his/her employeesThe manager treats different employees in different waysCase GER3
DISCUSSION
The unexpected and most significant finding from addressing our research question is that
91.85% (n=124) of the identified behavioural indicators that differentiate effective managers
from ineffective managers in Chinese and South Korean ‘for-profit-like/for profit’ organizations
appear to be the same as, or similar to, or have an element of congruent meaning with 95.23%
(n=339) of those identified in British and German private sector companies, and consequently
appear to be global (context-general). This finding challenges predominant discourse in the
cross-cultural management literature which asserts that particular types and styles of managerial
and leadership behaviour are contingent on the cultural aspects of specific countries (Alas et al.,
2007; House et al., 2004).
On the contrary, it suggests that managers and employees working within Asian private
companies are likely, in the main, to perceive and judge the behavioural indications and contra-
indications of managerial and leadership effectiveness in much the same way as do their
counterparts within Western European private companies. The finding also challenges Tsui’s
(1984) assertion that the behaviours which determine managers’ reputational effectiveness are
idiosyncratically context-specific, and vary according to their respective organizational/cultural
contexts and constituencies. The most unexpected finding is that only one of the 11 non-
convergent Asian BSs shows any evidence of perhaps being culturally embedded; namely the
South Korean negative BS: “A manager adopts an extreme collectivist approach to teamwork”
(e.g., expects them to commute to work together; do overtime together; not leave until everyone
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has finished their overtime work; prevents anyone leaving the office before s/he leaves). We
suggest this might be due to South Korea being a highly collectivist society, whereas the national
culture of the UK is highly individualistic (Hofstede, 2001). For example, it might be the result
of South Korean managers overusing the collectivism orientation. Based on the non-convergent
negative BS: “A manager exhibits a lack of expertise and/or of volition to learn which limits
his/her ability to lead/manage fully and effectively” (e.g., to voice own opinions on team tasks;
to provide direction and evaluate outcomes; to give help/advice to staff), it seems that expertise
is a more critical component for South Korean managerial practices.
The identified high degrees of commonality between the findings from the two Asian and
two Western European countries are similar in magnitude to those identified by the
aforementioned public sector hospital-related replication studies carried out by Hamlin et al. in
Egypt, Mexico and Romania. As with all of these past studies, the cross-cultural etic themes
(behavioural categories) that emerged from our multiple cross-case/cross-nation comparative
analyses were comprised of a mosaic-style integration of diverse-emic BSs drawn from the BS
data sets of the compared cases. Thus, our study is an example of Type 4 indigenous Asian
management research, as called for by Lyles (2009) and Li et al. (2012). Furthermore, our
findings are illustrative of what Li (2012) refers to as geocentric (emic-and-etic) knowledge.
Limitations of the Study
We acknowledge two limitations of our cross-case/cross-nation comparative study. The first
relates to the imbalance in the number of Asian BSs (n=135) compared against the much larger
number of Western European BSs (n=356). The second limitation arises from the fact that the
Asian empirical source data were obtained from just one indigenous study in China and one in
South Korea, whereas the Western European data were obtained multiple indigenous studies.
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Consequently, our findings and conclusions need to be treated with a degree of caution until such
time that more indigenous replication studies are carried out in the two Asian countries.
Implications for HRD Practice and Future Research
The positive and negative behavioural indicators of perceived managerial and leadership
effectiveness within a Chinese for-profit-like state enterprise and multiple British, German and
South Korean private sector companies have been shown to be mostly the same, and only a small
portion of different (local/context-specific) categories of effective and ineffective managerial
behaviour have emerged from the compared studies. These findings suggest that human resource
development (HRD) practitioners in all four countries could utilize the geocentric (emic-and-
etic) findings of our study to inform the creation of new management and leadership
development programs, or to critically evaluate extant programmes.
We suggest that the findings of our study could provide useful information to Western
multinationals (MNCs) that have operations in China and South Korea. With specific and
detailed knowledge of the different categories of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour,
as perceived and judged by indigenous managers and non-managerial employees within large
private companies, they could better prepare their expatriate managers and other expatriates for
international assignments in those two Asian countries based on hard empirical evidence. In
addition, with our findings, MNCs could be in a better position to recruit and select candidates
possessing the necessary behavioural competencies to be successful as an expatriate manager in
China and South Korea.
A direction for future research could be for more private sector related single-
organization and multiple-organization emic replication studies to be conducted in the four
countries of our study, followed by multiple cross-case/cross-nation comparative analyses to
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validate and further develop (if possible) the geocentric (emic-and-etic) behavioural categories of
perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness that have emerged from our study. Another
direction could be to instigate equivalent emic replication studies within a diverse range of public
and third sector organizations in the four countries, and then conduct cross-sector and cross-
nation studies in search of similarities and differences. It is our hope that the current indigenous
and non-normal science cross-case/cross-nation comparative study of perceived managerial and
leadership effectiveness will help enrich and advance the research and work of an expanding
global community of HRD scholars and practitioners (Kuchinke et al., 2014).
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