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What Maketh a Manager? Differences in culture and personality across four countries 

John Hackston, OPP LtdGabrielle Walker, OPP Ltd

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Overview

Distinction between personality type and culture

Cross cultural teams differences and similarities

Our researchSampleMethodology

Results and findings

Implications for practitioners

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Culture and personality

“A fish only discovers its need for water when it is no longer in it.

[Culture] sustains us. We live and breathe through it.” Trompenaars

Personality

Culture

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Cross-cultural teams

Previous research shows that culture varies across countriesSo, how does this affect the workplace?

Impact on work place interactionsLeadership differs across cultures (GLOBE)Individual personality will interact with cultural style

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Our research

Executive level/Owner

Employee

Education

Coaching

ConsultingHR

Learning and Development

Employment Sector

n= 710 MBTI practitioners69% female 31% maleMean age= 44 yearsRange of seniority:

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Cultural Orientations Framework

“Measures a set of cultural orientations-

an inclination to think, feel or act in a culturally determined

way”Rosinski, 2003

7 Categories and 17 dimensions:

Sense of Power and Responsibility

Time management Approaches

Definitions of Identity and Purpose

Organisational Arrangements

Notions of Territory and Boundaries

Communication Patterns

Modes of thinking

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Personality

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®questionnaire (Myers et al, 1998).

How do you deal with the world around you?

JUDGING PERCEIVING

What process do you use to make decisions?

THINKING FEELING

What kind of information do you prefer to use?

SENSING INTUITION

Where do you get your energy from?

EXTRAVERSION INTROVERSION

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Hypotheses

Those with an iNtuitive preference were more likely to be at more senior levelsSome cultural orientations would show a consistent relationship with seniority; others country specificPersonality would have a bigger effect than cultural orientation

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Sensing – iNtuition and job level (1)

Employee

1st Level Mgmt

Middle Mgmt

Senior Mgmt

Exec/Owner

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Sensing Intuition

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Sensing – iNtuition and job level (2)

Employee

1st Level Mgmt

Middle Mgmt

Senior Mgmt

Exec/Owner

0% 50% 100%

Australia Sensing Intuition

Employee

1st Level Mgmt

Middle Mgmt

Senior Mgmt

Exec/Owner

0% 50% 100%

UK Sensing Intuition

Employee

1st Level Mgmt

Middle Mgmt

Senior Mgmt

Exec/Owner

0% 50% 100%

India Sensing Intuition

Employee

1st Level Mgmt

Middle Mgmt

Senior Mgmt

Exec/Owner

0% 50% 100%

USA Sensing Intuition

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Overall COF differences by job level

Series1

-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5

Exec/Owner Senior Mgmt Middle Mgmt 1st Level Mgmt Employee

Control Humility

Monochronic

Past

Stability

Polychronic

Future

Change

Analytical Systemic

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Correlations and Fisher Z by country

Orientation Correlations Fisher Z

Australia India UK US Mean SD

Scarce/Plentiful -0.20 0.18 -0.10 0.01 -0.03 0.14

Monochronic/Polychronic 0.10 -0.05 0.07 0.23 0.09 0.10

Individualistic/Collectivistic -0.23 0.02 0.01 0.04 -0.04 0.11

Orientation Correlations Fisher Z

Australia India UK US Mean SD

Past/Present/Future 0.20 0.15 0.34 0.15 0.21 0.08

Stability/Change 0.30 0.10 0.30 0.19 0.23 0.09

Analytical/Systemic 0.21 0.08 0.29 0.21 0.20 0.08

Commonalities

Differences

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Scarce/Plentiful (Australia, UK, India)

Series1

-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5

Exec/Owner Senior Mgmt Middle Mgmt 1st Level Mgmt Employee

Scarce Plentiful

Scarce

India

Australia Plentiful

Scarce PlentifulUK

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Conclusions and implications

ConclusionsPrevious research showing more people with an iNtuitive preference in senior roles was supportedThe hypothesis that personality would show a greater effect than cultural orientation on seniority was not supportedThere were communalities and differences between countries in how cultural orientation related to seniority

ImplicationsRecognising similarities and differences between managers of different cultures can help practitioners working internationallyUnderstanding personality type can build a bridge between culturesExplore techniques for working with people from different cultures

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References

Brodbeck, F.C., Frese, M., Akerblom, S., Audia, G., Bakacsi, G., Bendova, H., et al. (2000) Cultural Variation of Leadership Prototypes Across 22 European Countries. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. 73, 1-29.

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Heine, S.J. & Buchtel, E.E. (2009). Personality: The Universal and the Culturally Specific. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 369-394

Hofstede, G.H., (1980) Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1980

Hofstede, G. (1993). Cultural constraints in management theories. The Executive, 7, 81–94.

Hofstede, G., & Hofstede, G.J. (2004). Cultures and organisations: Software of the mind (2nd ed). New York: McGraw-Hill

House, R.J., Hanges, P.J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P.W. & Gupta, V. (eds). (2004). Culture, leadership and organisations: The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Inglehart, R., (1997) Modernization and Post-Modernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies . Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Judge, T.A., Bono, J.E., Ilies, R., Gerhardt M.W. (2002). Personality and leadership: A qualitative and quantitative review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 765–780.

Kluckhohn, Florence, & Strodtbeck, F. (1961). Variations in Value Orientations. Row, Peterson.

Myers, I.B., McCaulley, M.H., Quenk, N.L. & Hammer, A.L. (1998). MBTI® manual: A guide to the development and use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (3rd ed). Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc.

Rosinski, P. (2003). Coaching across Cultures. London; Nicholas Brealey

Schwartz, S.H., (1999) A Theory of Cultural Values and Some Implications for Work. Applied Psychology, 48, 23-47.

Taras, V., Kirkman, B.L. and Steel, P. (2010). Examining the impact of Culture's consequences: A three-decade, multilevel, meta-analytic review of Hofstede's cultural value dimensions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95, 405-439.

Trompenaars, F., & Hampden-Turner, C. (1998). Riding the waves of culture: Understanding cultural diversity in global business (2nd ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill.

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