The world has become a
global village. Airplane travels as well as satellite and Internet connectivity
have literally changed the way business is done around the planet. The world
has become a “global village”. What are the leadership challenges and opportunities
presented by the current world, and how can leaders increase their effectiveness
in this new context?
Leadership challenges in the global village
One big challenge of
leadership in the global village is cultural differences. House, Brodbeck, Chhokar
and the GLOBE research program (2007) identified several cultural dimensions that
leaders need to understand to be able to operate effectively in a cross
cultural context. Unless leaders understand cultural differences of the people
they lead, inaccurate meanings will be ascribed to behaviors (Hackman &
Johnson, 2009), and incompatible expectations may prevail in the leader-follower
relationship. For leaders to succeed in cross cultural contexts, they need to
understand cultural differences, and how they impinge on the leadership
process.
Another challenge of
leadership in the global village it the hybrid workplace, where some team
members work from the same physical location while others contribute to the
team from other locations. Ocker, Huang, Benbunan-Fisher & Hiltz (2011)
found that leadership dynamics and team effectiveness are affected in hybrid
teams with relatively high distance (geography, time, and/or culture). Other
research works have evidenced a change in ethical behaviors (Hancock,
Thom-Santelli, & Ritchie as cited in Thompson, 2008) and increased
potential for conflict when team members’ interactions are not face-to-face (Kankanhalli, Tan, &
Kwok-Kee, 2006). Effective leaders must
setup organizational structures and processes that can address these
challenges. Fortunately, the global village does not only present challenges, it
also provides new opportunities for leadership.
Leadership opportunities in the global village
A powerful leadership
advantage provided by the global village is the potential for expansion.
Increased communications and e-communications have broadened the potential scope
of companies’ operations. E-commerce allows companies to sell their products to
people from everywhere in the world without having to go through the
complexities of physical expansion. High-tech manufacturing companies, and many
other businesses deliver and/or maintain their products via the web and the satellite.
Another opportunity given
by the global village is the significant knowledge advantage when there is
diversity in work teams (Ratcheva, 2008). According to Johns and Gratton (2013),
the flexibility offered by the development of virtual work teams can increase
performance if used wisely. Smart leaders explore the new opportunities offered
by the global village, increase knowledge, reduce turnover, and explore new
expansion possibilities.
References
Hackman,
M. Z., & Johnson, C. E. (2009). Leadership: A communication
perspective (5th ed.).
Waveland Press, Inc.
House, R. J., Brodbeck, F. C., Chhokar, J., & Global
Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Research, P. (2007). Culture and leadership across the world : The GLOBE book of
in-depth studies of 25 societies. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Johns, T., & Gratton, L. (2013).
The Third Wave Of Virtual Work. Harvard Business Review, 91(1), 66-73.
Kankanhalli,
A., Tan, B. Y., & Kwok-Kee, W. (2006). Conflict and Performance in Global
Virtual Teams. Journal Of Management Information Systems, 23(3),
237-274
Ocker, R., Huang, H.,
Benbunan-Fich, R., & Hiltz, S. (2011). Leadership Dynamics in Partially
Distributed Teams: an Exploratory Study of the Effects of Configuration and
Distance. Group Decision & Negotiation, 20(3), 273-292. doi:10.1007/s10726-009-9180-z
Ratcheva, V. (2008). The
knowledge advantage of virtual teams -- processes supporting knowledge
synergy. Journal Of General Management, 33(3), 53-67.
Thompson, L. L. (200). Organizational behavior today. Upper
Saddle River, New York, NY: Pearson Education.
