Challenges and opportunities of leadership in "the global village"

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.