Global Leadership - An Underdeveloped Concept?
Abstract: In today's increasingly international business society, there is a growing trend in teaching and developing global leaders. The global leadership research is in its cradle and a common definition of the concept does not yet exist. The scholars have so far focused on (1) The scope of global leadership tasks; (2) Global leader competencies; (3) Assessment instrumentation; (4) Training and development; and (5) The difference between global and domestic leadership. Few studies have explored the practical implementation of the work that the global leaders engage in daily. Furthermore, theories on global leadership are separated from theories on global management. By using a qualitative method, with an exploratory focus, the aim of the thesis is to scrutinize whether or not global leadership, as defined today, is satisfactory enough when it is applied in practice. The study is carried out in a telecom company in Nepal, through a combination of semi structured interviews as well as observations. The exploratory theories used are on global leadership as well as leader versus manager. Explanatory theories in the areas of cross-culture and situational leadership are thereafter utilized to analyze and explain the empirical findings in depth. The analysis commences by identifying some Nepal-specific conclusions about the perceived local leadership style, as existing research within this particular cluster is lacking. Secondly, when examining the interviewed leaders in the light of how a global leader is defined, they all fit the description. Within the explanatory analysis, the results indicate that the global leaders adapt their practical work to their surroundings. This is exemplified by the more hands-on and detailed leadership style respondents feel required in Nepal. Hence, the absence of examples of actual work tasks in today's definition of global leadership undermines the importance of management as a prerequisite for good leadership. The conclusion is that the definition of global leadership, as of today, is not satisfactory when applied in practice in a global setting. The lack of applicability can partly be explained by that the concept is predominantly developed from a North American and Western European perspective, underestimating cultural differences in the perceived effective leadership. Future research and companies should have this in mind and focus on creating and developing the adaptive manager instead of the global leader.
AT THIS PAGE YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE ESSAY. (follow the link to the next page)