University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Legacy Theses 1999 The robustness of charismatic leadership as a universal paradigm Carl, Dale Everton Carl, D. E. (1999). The robustness of charismatic leadership as a universal paradigm (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/17269 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/25416 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca NOTE TO USERS Page(s) missing in number only; text follows. Microfilmed as received. This reproduction is the best copy available. THE UNIVERïïY OF CALGARY The Robustness of Charismatic Leadership as a Universai Paradigm BY Dale Everton Cal, B.A., MBA A DISSERTATION SUBMlTTED TO THE FACUL,TY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FLlLFILMENT OF THE REQUREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHZLOSOPHY FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT CALGARY, ALBERTA MARCH 12, 1999 O Daie Everton Car1 1999 Bbüothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence dowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or seii reproduire, prêter, distriiuer ou copies of this thesis m microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fih, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT With the rapid globalization of business enterprises, corporate leaders are increasingly required to work in cultures with which they are not familiar, or with employees from different societal, politicai, industrial, and organizational cultures. The culture-based Literature in large part suggests that the expectations of those who assess a leader's effectiveness will probably Vary as the result of the cultural influences to which they have been exposed from childhood onward. This study considers the opposite hypothesis: that there may be a leadership profile that is commonly effective across al1 business organizations. Based on a significant number of empirical studies, leadership scholars such as Bass (1997) and House and Aditya (1997) have proposed that one style of leadership, generally cailed "ch~smatic", might be universal. To date, however, they have not had the theoretical and methodological tools necessary to investigate fully whether charismatic leadership is indeed a universaily effective paradigm. This dissertation develops two conceptual models to assist in explonng the universality of a chansmatic leadership profile. Fit, an interactive, cultural systerns-based leadership model is developed to demonstrate the cultural dimensions that must be included in the design of a rigorous analysis of universality. The systems include a range of societal cultures, different political-economic systems, distinct industry cultures, and diverse organizational cultures. The second model presents a taxonomy of psychologicaUy complex universds for the purpose of testing the universality of constructs. They range £tom 'biform universals", which are the most restrictive in temu of equivalence, through "fùnctional universals', to 'tarifonn universals", the most relaxed category. It is hypothesized that the variform universal category is the most suitable for cross-cultural leadership studîes. This taxonomy is then operationalized for the subsequent analyses in this study and for hiture research. Using leadership data fiom eight countries frorn the Global Leadership and Organhational EEectiveness project, a pan-cultuml charismatic model was developed using exploratory principal cornponents analysis. This model was then tested for three categories of univenality using LISREL multi-sample confirmatory factor analysis on two groups of countries. The results of this study indicate that there is a profile of charismatic attributes and behaviours that transcends cultural boundaries. The three constmcts of this profile include "motivational", "strong vision", and "planning". This leadership model is both consistent psychomeûicaliy as a varifonn universal across all cultures and universally effective. It is concluded from this analysis that there is a foundational charismatic leadership profüe that fulfills some of the core expectations that all organizational personnel have of their leaders, and that this profile is not subject to significant cultural modifications. At least some charismatic leadership constmcts, which might be a subset of a larger profile, do form a robust universal leadership paradigm. It is argued that this finding does not minimize the requirement for culture-specific analysis in creating a composite profile of a leader in various cultural enviromnents; rather, both research streams are necessary complements in cross-cultural leadership research. Neither focus should be down-played in the quest for determinhg what attributes help to create effective organizational leaders. My sincere appreciation is extended to those who have assisted me in this endeavor: my supervisor, Dr. Mansour Javidan, who has coached and cajoled me for three years; my Committee members, Dr. Amy Pablo, and Dr. Terry Ursacki, who have ken wonderfidly supportive teachers; and my intemalextemal, Dr. Doyle Hatt fiom the Department of Anthropology, who has stepped into the breach at the eleventh hour for rny oral dissertation defense. Robert House, my extemai examiner, disserves a special note of mention because of his wealth of research in the fields of leadership and cross-cultural leadership, which have been critical in my understanding of this challenging topic. 1 also wish to express my sincerest appreciation to the GLOBE Country Co-Investigaton who contributed their leadership data to this study: Staffa Akerblom and IngaIill Holmberg (Sweden), Gyda Bakacsi (Hungary), Colombia de Bustamente (Venezuela), Richard Field and Julian Andrews (Canada), Li Ji (Singapore), Hayat Kabasakd (Turkey), JO ydeep Roy- Bhattacharya (India), and Ema Szabo (Austria). 1 also wish to acknowledge Dr. Paul Hanges, University of Maryland, for his advice on methodology and for supplying GLOBE country data when all lines of communication with some of the GLOBE CCIs had fded. Finally, 1 wish to thank Dr. Barbara Marcolin and Dr. Tak Fung, The University of Calgary, who have been invaluable in my understanding of structurai equation modeling . DEDICATION To my family. who have always been my most ardent supporters. TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval Page Abstract . iii Acknowledgements . Dedication . vi Table of Contents . vii m.. List of Tables Xlll List of Figures xiv lNTRODUrrION 1 The Search for a Universal Leadership Paradigm . 1 Layout of the Chapters CHAPTERS CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP IN THE CORPORATE CONTEXT Introduction . The Trait Theory of Leadership The Behavioral School of Leadership Contingency Theorîes of Leadership Social exchange theory Fiedler's conthgency theory Path-goal theory Vroom-Yetton mode1 Misumi's PM functions Smith and Peterson's contingency mode1 . From Transactional to Charismatic Leadership Transactional leadership . Evolution of the Concept of Charismatic Leadership House's theory of charismatic leadership . Conger and Kanungo's conception of charisma . The transformationai Leadership theory Charismatic Leadership and Power . The Problems and Myths of Chansmatic Leadership The Charismatic Leadership Rofüe Conclusion . 2: THE CUL= SYSTEMS THAT MAY INFLUENCE LEADERSHIP Introâuction Defining the Concept of Culture . Societd Culture Hofstede' s Culniral Dimensions Power Distance Uncertainty avoidance Individu~m-Collectivism . Masculinity-Femininity Confucian Dynamism Trompenaar's Culturd Dimensions Universalism versus Particularism Collectivism versus hdividualism Neutral versus Emotionai Difise versus Specific Achievement versus Ascriptive The Concept of Time Relationship with Nature . Politicai-Econornic Systems: An Overlay on Societd Cultures Industry Cultures . Organizational Cultures Relationships with the environment . The nature of reality, time, and space The nature of human nature . The nature of human activity . The nature of human relationships . An Interactive Cultural Systems-Based Mode1 of Leadership Measuring Effectiveness Across Cultures Conclusion UNIVERSAiJïY: THE CONSTRUCT, A NEW TYPOLOGY, AND HYPOTHESES CONCERNING THE UNIVERSALlTY OF CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP . Introduction . Approaching Universality: The Cultural Convergence Debate Universality in the Social Sciences . A Basic Typology of Universals . A New Typdogy of Universals and Related Hypotheses . Uniform Universals . Functioaal Universais 119 Variform Universals 120 How Many National Sarnples are Sufficient for a Determination of Universality? 12 1 Conclusion . RESEARCH METHODOLOGY