Principal leadership in diverse cultures: A comparative study

Allan David WALKER, Haiyan QIAN

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapters

Abstract

This chapter draws empirical findings from a larger study that compared principals' leadership across three different international cultural contexts (Hong Kong, Singapore and Perth, Australia) and explored the influence of culture on leadership. Data were collected using interviews and structured vignettes from a purposive sample of 21 principals across three different cultures and were analyzed to arrive at a set of site-specific and cross-cultural comparative propositions. One set of these propositions is reported in the chapter. Societal culture was found to act as a filter and mediator to create substantial differences in leadership behaviors relevant to collaboration. The paper suggests re-thinking in the preparation, training, hiring and selection, of principals, all of which – given multi-ethnic, diverse societies – require more culturally aware and sensitive policies and practices. Copyright © 2015 by IGI Global.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCross-cultural collaboration and leadership in modern organizations
EditorsNancy D. ERBE, Anthony H. NORMORE
Place of PublicationHershey, PA
PublisherBusiness Science Reference
Pages216-234
ISBN (Electronic)9781466683778
ISBN (Print)9781466683761, 1466683767
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Citation

Walker, A., & Qian, H. (2015). Principal leadership in diverse cultures: A comparative study. In N. D. Erbe, & A. H. Normore (Eds.), Cross-cultural collaboration and leadership in modern organizations (pp. 216-234). Hershey, PA: Business Science Reference.

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