Leadership in Latin America 1
Leadership in Latin America 1 Leadership in Latin America: Insights into Complexities across Societies Track: Culture, Social, and Ethical Issues Keywords: Cross-cultural Leadership, Management in Latin America, Global Management Leadership in Latin America 2 Leadership in Latin America: Insights into Complexities across Societies Abstract Although many cross-cultural leadership studies have been conducted in the past decade, relatively little attention has been paid to leadership in Latin America. Perceptions concerning the characteristics of outstanding leaders in Latin America and differences in leadership preferences across countries in the region present important issues that have yet to be investigated in the leadership literature. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the leadership findings from the seminal GLOBE Project for this region, plus the addition of the country Peru. Implications for future research and practice are also discussed. The East versus West philosophical discussion has captivated academic and practitioner interests across disciplines from political science to management to anthropology (Chhokar, Brodbeck & House, 2007). In recent research, more attention has been given to the discussion of leadership differences across cultures and their implications for business leaders (House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004). Although hundreds of leadership studies have been conducted, very few studies have addressed leadership in Latin America. The leadership literature is overwhelmingly dominated by North American conceptualizations and assessments of leadership, and even the literature on cultural differences in leadership focuses primarily on developed countries (Lenartowicz and Johnson, 2002). Even so, Latin American history and contemporary Latin American societies are filled with examples of leaders who exemplify a style reflective of broad Latin American values and practices, which differ from that elsewhere in the world.
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