Cross- cultural Communication This page intentionally left blank

Global leadership training
In order to extend and develop the pool of available talent from which to 
select the global business leaders of the future, there has been an increase in 
global leadership programmes.
The GLOBE Research Project on Leadership Worldwide
The Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness (GLOBE) 
Project began in 1992. It defined leadership as: ‘The ability of an individual 
to influence, motivate and enable us to contribute towards the effectiveness 
and success of the organizations of which they are members.’
Developed by Robert J. House of the Wharton School, University of 
Pennsylvania, GLOBE involved 170 researchers, called ‘country co-
investigators’, based in 62 of the world’s cultures. Data was collected from 
17,300 middle managers in 950 organizations, mainly in the telecommuni-
cations, food and banking sectors. Data was collected only from the corporate 
headquarters in the host cultures and not from foreign multinationals.
The research examined the extent to which the practices and values 
associated with leadership are universal, that is, similar worldwide, and the 
extent to which they are specific to a few societies. The project identified 
21 primary leadership dimensions or  first- order factors that in all cultures are 
seen, to some extent, as contributing to a leader’s effectiveness or lack of it. 
These are as follows.
Administratively competent
Decisive
Non-participative
Autocratic
Diplomatic
Performance-orientated
Autonomous
Face-saving
Procedural
Charismatic
Human-orientated
Self-centred
Inspirational
High integrity
Status-conscious
Self-sacrificing
Malevolent
Team collaboration
Conflict-inducing
Modest
Team integration
Figure 7.3 Primary leadership dimensions (House et al., 2004: 31)

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136 Cross-Cultural Communication
From the results obtained, the research identified six culturally endorsed 
leadership dimensions:
charismatic/values based;
team- orientated;
self- protective;