December, 1997 - Vol. 2, No. 3

Culture and Leadership Commitment to Globalization

In an era of change pushed by globalization, why are some managers resistant to change in response to challenges while others are open? Studying managers' commitment to the status quo (CSQ) -- a belief in the enduring value of their firm's current strategy and organization -- Marta A. Geletkanycz focuses on how CSQ is shaped by personal values and national cultures among 1,540 senior managers of large companies based in 20 countries, ranging from Australia and Brazil to Thailand and the United States. Surveyed in 1988, the managers were asked two questions:

1. Should the expertise and practices of the current chief executive be much the same for the CEO in the year 2000?
2. Is today's strategy also likely to remain much the same in 2000?

The research reveals that the CSQ quotient is strongest among executives in national settings that (1) stress individual over collective action, (2) focus on the short-term over the long. These differences remain even among executives with extensive careers in the industry, implying that national cultures have a persistent impact on managerial behavior. By implication:

For ensuring adaptability in fast-moving markets, firms may want their leadership development programs to stress teamwork and long-term strategic thinking.

Multinational firms may want to emphasize change leadership in programs for managers whose national backgrounds emphasize individualism and short-term horizons.

In selecting partners for joint ventures or outsourcing in dynamic environments, firms may want to seek prospective partners whose management is not overly bound by the status quo.

Source: Marta A. Geletkanycz, "The Salience of 'Culture's Consequences': The Effects of Cultural Values on Top Executive Commitment to the Status Quo," Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 18, No. 8, (1997), pp. 615-634.

Building Machines that Lead

Some organizations, reports Noel M. Tichy, have created "leadership engines" that foster leaders throughout the firm who are good at (1) developing new ideas for business, (2) creating values that facilitate their application, (3) making courageous decisions about the ideas, and (4) motivating others to apply them. Among those organizations are Allied Signal, Ameritech, Compaq, General Electric, Hewlett Packard, PepsiCo, ServiceMaster, and U.S. Special Operations Forces.

His main point: "Winning companies win because they have good leaders who nurture the development of other leaders at all levels of the organization," and one sign of good leaders is their exceptional ability to convey their leadership points through vibrant stories.

The "ultimate test" for a leader: Not whether great decisions are made, but whether the individual teaches others to make great decisions. Leading is not instructing behavior, it is teaching leaders to lead others.

Tichy concludes with a "handbook" for developing leaders, a practical guide with tactics that should make a difference. Among his offerings: You are about to be interviewed for sixty seconds for a national television
documentary. What will you say when asked what aspects of leadership you can teach others and how you would do it?

Source: Noel M. Tichy, The Leadership Engine: How Winning Companies Build Leaders at Every Level (New York: Harper Business, 1997).

Think Strategically

Wharton Executive Education is offering a one-week program on building strategy and leveraging company capabilities in competitive environments that are increasingly competitive. Entitled "Strategic Thinking and Management for Competitive Advantage," the program is presented on March 29-April 3 and September 27-October 2, 1998. Information: execed@wharton.upenn.edu and http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/execed

"He was a good man in crisis. If I was ever in a desperate situation -- caught in a grass fire on the prairie, or sinking in a small boat in a big ocean, or the like -- then I would want Meriwether Lewis for my leader...

"Where he was unique, truly gifted, and truly great was as an explorer, where all his talents were necessary. The most important was his ability as a leader of men. He was born to leadership, and reared for it, studied it in his army career, then exercised it on the expedition.

"How he led is no mystery. His techniques were time-honored. He knew his men. He saw to it that they had dry socks, enough food, sufficient clothing. He pushed them to but never beyond the breaking point. He got out of them more than they knew they had to give."

Source: Stephen E. Ambrose, Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996).