A cross-cultural study of self-leadership in the Asia multinational service industry.

摘要

In response to a growing need to conduct leadership research in a cross-cultural context, this study focused on the application of self-leadership in Asia. The prescriptive approach of self-leadership has an intuitive attraction to business management. Existing studies and theories were reviewed to better understand the foundations of self-leadership theory and practices in different cultures. Cross-cultural research focused on the work of Hofstede (2001) and the GLOBE study (Dorfman, Gupta, Javidan, Hagnes, & House, 2004). A resulting qualitative case study of a multinational practicing self-leadership in the service industry of Asia was conducted, in which linkages between self-leadership development, training, and practice were examined from differing cultural contexts. The data gathered came from the multinational interview participants and from published sources.;The case study demonstrated a strategic framework, training process, and tools for implementing self-leadership in a multinational business. Self-leadership was instrumental in the extraordinary achievements of individuals and the organization. The cross-cultural analysis indicated that the practice of self-leadership is culturally contingent, encouraging a match between leadership style and situational variables (Northhouse, 2004, p. 123). The cultural variables on the meaning of "self "and the "collective group" played a definitive role in how self-leadership manifested in the Asian countries.