Charismatic and Transformational Leadership Styles: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Abstract

Culture's influence on leadership processes is generally accepted. However, differing leadership styles will be differentially impacted by the cultural context in which they seek to operate. The current paper examines two seemingly similar but distinct leadership styles, charismatic leadership and transformational leadership in the context of cultural dimensions of individualism-collectivism and tightness-looseness. A conceptual framework is presented to describe the interaction of these leadership styles and cultural dimensions. It is argued that charismatic leadership would be the preferred leadership style in individualistic and loose societies, whereas transformational leadership style would be more acceptable in collectivistic and tight societies. These insights have practical implications for design of leadership intervention programs for businesses spanning more than one culture.

Psychometric properties of the human system audit-transformational leadership short scale in Germany and Philippines: A cross-cultural study

“…The aims of the present research are a cross-cultural analysis of the psychometric characteristics comparing the German and Philippine's version of the HSA-TFL short-scale and of transformational leadership (TFL) profiles. Given the organizations' need to adapt to current changing environments (Jung, Bass, & Sosik, 1995;Mittal, 2015), TFL, which was developed and studied first for western cultures (Felfe, Tartler, & Liepmann, 2004), currently is considered as one of the most effective positive leadership styles (Dumdum, Lowe, & Avolio, 2002) at all levels and across cultures (Bass, Avolio, Jung, & Berson, 2003;Braun, Weisweiler, & Frey, 2013;Lowe, Kroeck, & Sivasubramaniam, 1996). Therefore, the positive relations of TFL to organizational outcomes evidence that investment on training programs to develop transformational leaders is a good strategy for organizations looking for improvements (Barling, Weber, & Kelloway, 1996;Felfe et al, 2004).…”

Revisiting Innovation Leadership

“…Previous discussions on leadership theories have indicated strong support for transformational leadership and charismatic leadership in enhancing organizational performance (Mittal, 2015). These two theories envisage forward looking leaders who are able to foster innovation, motivate employees to performance beyond normal expectations, and establish core values where employees put aside their personal interests for the greater good of the organization (Samad, 2012).…”

“…In an organization, charismatic leaders usually arise in a crisis or during major administrative changes to empower their followers and lead the call for organizational reform (Hinkin & Tracey, 1999). Charismatic leaders inspire eagerness in their teams and are energetic in motivating employees to move forward (Mittal, 2015). These leaders develop special relationships with their subordinates through inspiration of the shared vision, and are characterized as going beyond goal-setting, resource use and conducting business.…”

“…Charismatic leadership theory describes what to expect from both leaders and followers (Mittal, 2015). In an organization, charismatic leaders usually arise in a crisis or during major administrative changes to empower their followers and lead the call for organizational reform (Hinkin & Tracey, 1999).…”

Confucian Value-Based Leadership Communication: A study on Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

“…Recently, many leadership communication researches have been using diversified approaches to study effective vision communication which is an essential tool to motivate people to action, inspires them and creates commitment among followers (Mittal, 2015). However, only a few studies were focused on Confucian value-based leadership in a multicultural society (Miles & Goo, 2013;Robertson & Hoffman, 2000;Wang, Wang, Ruona, & Rojewski, 2005).…”