comparative value priorities of chinese and new zealand

theories developed in one culture-for instance, the United States, would have global
validity.
Many studies have investigated the relationship between culture and leadership, the
GLOBE project being the most recent major work. Amongst many prior to the GLOBE
study, Gerstner and Day (1994) compared leadership prototypes across eight countries
and found reliable differences of leadership behaviour along cultural dimensions similar
to Hofstede’s Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Individualism. Tayeb (1996)
reviewed the record of success and failure of quality circles in several countries and
concluded that the large degree of Power Distance in Hong Kong resulted in a greater
centralization of decision making and a more autocratic management style. Because
quality circles rely heavily on active involvement by all members, reluctance to disagree
with a superior made quality circles and other participative styles of managing less
effective in that country. Harry Triandis, in the Foreword to House et al. (2004: xvii),
points out that the GLOBE project found the standard leadership and culture literature
assumes that societal practices and values are positively correlated, but in the GLOBE
studies they were often negatively correlated in the somewhat unique GLOBE context.
Their samples of managers indicated that “the way we do things” is negatively related to
“what would be the ideal way of doing things”, especially related to Power Distance,
Uncertainty Avoidance, and Gender Egalitarianism. This relationship is not well
explained in the GLOBE publications and could well stem from what is frequently
referred to as Western academic hegemony in business education, which takes as givens
that low Power Distance, low Uncertainty Avoidance, and high Gender Egalitarianism
are desirable situations in business cultures.
Culture as a Contingency in Leader Behaviour Research
Muczyk and Holt (2008) point out there has been considerable effort expended on
developing a global leadership contingency model. Laurent (1983) studied the attitudes
and behaviours of managers in nine European countries, the United States, Japan, and
Indonesia. His effort revealed unique managerial modes of behaviour in each country
regarding the role of hierarchy, the acceptability of bypassing the chain of command,
and the belief that managers possess precise answers to subordinates’ questions. Ronen
and Shenkar (1985) highlighted differences as they classified countries on attitudinal
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