How is the Swedish manager perceived in an international perspective? A dissertation from a cultural point of view

Abstract: There is a lack of literature in management and cross cultural theories from a Swedish perspective. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine how the Swedish manager is perceived by employees in other cultures. The dissertation describes existing cultural theories such as Hofstede’s’ and Trompenaars’. It also describes leadership theories which can be connected to the Swedish manager’s characteristics. The research data is collected by use of a web based questionnaire which were answered by employees in nine different countries, who have a Swedish manager. The analysis describes an indication of how employees in different countries perceive the Swedish manager. Further, it describes specific characteristics of the Swedish manager. The dissertation is concluded by a connection between our result and a modified version of “The cross cultural model of leadership”, which explains the overall perception of the Swedish manager. The employees’ perception of the Swedish manager does not differ significantly between the examined cultures. Still, the appreciation of the Swedish manager varies between the examined cultures. Further, we found the Swedish manager’s attitude towards the prevalent culture to be more essential for the employees’ perception than education and language skills.