Organisation and Theories

After reading this article, the writer agreed with two viewpoints in this study. First, Trevor-Roberts, et al. (2003) expected that charismatic leadership would be endorsed as a contributor to leader effectiveness, and self-protective leadership would be endorsed as an inhibitor of leadership in Australia. Australian cultural phenomenon of 'mateship', rather than vision, as a critical determinant of leadership success in Australia, and speculated that this might be linked to underlying cultural beliefs in the importance of 'fair play' (Ashkanasy,1997, Ashkanasy & Trevor-Roberts, 2001, Ashkanasy, Trevor-Roberts & Kennedy, 2000). In addition, Ashkanasy and Trevor-Roberts (2001) stated that the 'tall poppy syndrome', a public preference to express a negative opinion of high achievers in society, is a derivative of the egalitarian nature of Australia. Sarros (1992) also concluded that the Australian dimension of egalitarianism represents a leadership style that is derived from the Australian cultural value of matehip.

Second, Trevor-Roberts, et al. (2003) indicated that as leadership could be interpreted differently in different cultures, it is important for managers to understand both universal enhancers and inhibitors of leadership as well as those dimensions of leadership unique to a specific culture. According to Bass (1997), Managers should learn about the mores and history of particular cultures in order to aware the cultures that determine the specific characterizations of effective behavior and leadership in different countries. Dastmalchian, Javidan and Alam (2001) also indicated that although leadership styles in different countries may seem to be based on same principle, there are differences in the characteristics of effective leadership in different countries. As one size cannot fit all, managers should understand that different culture will make a different on leadership style and managers with appropriate leadership style can fit local culture well (Den Hartog, House, Hanges, Ruiz-Quintanilla & Dorfman, 1999).

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