Question

Discuss how the cultural norms of power distance and uncertainty avoidance affect the preferred leadership style in different nations.

Discuss whether transformational leadership qualities are culture free.

Answer 1

The power distance refers to the way power is distributed and the extent to which the less powerful accept that power is unequally distributed. Simply put, people in other cultures embrace a greater degree of unequally distributed control than people in other cultures do. When the relationship between bosses and subordinates is one of dependency in a high-power-distance society. When the relationship between bosses and subordiantes in a low power distance society is one of interdependence.

Australia, for example, is a low-power-distance country while Asian countries like Hong Kong are on the spectrum's high-power-distance side. Citizens in countries at a distance seem to believe that power and authority are facts of existence. These cultures, both consciously and unconsciously, teach their members that people in this world are not equal, and that everyone has a rightful place, which is clearly marked by countless vertical arrangements. Social hierarchy is prevalent, and institutionalizes inequality

Thus, it is predicted that leaders will settle conflicts as well as make all the hard decisions. Subordinates should actually cooperate with their boss, rather than challenge him or her or try to come up with their own dispute resolution strategies. They rarely question their leadership position. On the other hand, consultation is favored in countries with a lower power gap and subordinates can approach their superiors very readily and contradict them. The parties shall work freely to settle the conflict by expressing their own views. When they are unable to draw a reasonable conclusion, they may opt to include a mediator.

The culture of the organization develops largely out of its leadership while an organization's culture can also affect its leadership development. Transactional leaders, for example, work within their organizational cultures according to existing rules, procedures and standards; transformation leaders change their culture by first understanding it and then reconfiguring the culture of the organization with a new vision and a revision of their shared assumptions , values and standards

Successful organizations need its members to develop tactical and strategic thinking as well as culture. Strategic thinking helps to create and construct a vision for the future of an agency. The vision may emerge and move forward as the leader builds a culture dedicated to sustaining that vision. Culture is the setting the vision takes hold within. The vision can in turn also determine the characteristics of the culture of the organization