Running Head: INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP

International Leadership

William Urey

Norwich University

Prof. David Jones

GD 554

4/3/23
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International Leadership

Introduction

In both public and private enterprises, global leadership is becoming a key strategy.

Global associations have increased base on the recent changes in the way knowledge and

skills are exchanged globally. Instead of just operating on a national basis, corporations today

interact with their staff, customers, and vendors on a global scale (Shaked, 2021). Leaders that

work in a global setting and deal with complexity now face new problems as a result. This

study examines the crucial competences that enable people to achieve effective global

leadership, given the significance of global leadership and the rising demand for leaders with

the necessary skills to lead in global environments. Once completed, this study also intends to

fill a vacuum in the literature and assist leaders in identifying the essential qualities of

successful global leadership. Businesses need strong leaders who can make the most of their

resources in order for their properties, assets, high-tech equipment, big financial resources,

and qualified workers to be effective.

Background

In the past twenty years, global leadership has gained popularity. A shared view of

global leadership has not yet been created because of the field's recent history and the

interdisciplinary and diverse research done. With the use of a thematic summary, this work

creates an early version of a meta-framework that enables the integration of previous works

without regard to the definitions employed in the original works and, as a result, lessens

conceptual ambiguity. An online search of numerous databases evaluates several documents

thematically (Widner-Edberg, (2018). The findings of the inductive thematic in-depth study

corroborate conceptual ambiguity due to the vast range, or even absence, of precise global

leadership definitions and presumptions. As opposed to this, combining their material results
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in a more thorough grasp of the three components of the final meta-framework: global

leadership process, worldwide mind-set formation, and lastly global talent management. The

three sections are intertwined and help to compile the most recent global leadership models

and theories inside the created framework through the synthesis of the examined underlying

mechanisms of each study. The social learning theory, the idea of psychological capital, and

the implicit leadership theory are all relevant and are highlighted as fundamental mechanisms

in our meta-framework. It is recommended that future research be conducted with more

studies and different criteria to increase external validity and build a deeper grasp of the

underlying mechanisms.

Problem formulation and aim

Global leadership is still an emerging field that needs to be investigated,

notwithstanding prior academic contributions. The abilities needed for global leaders have

been better identified, however the efficacy of global leadership has not yet been conclusively

proven by research that have already been conducted. Studies on the existing literature that

concentrate on identifying and describing competencies that are connected to universal

leadership efficacy are few and far between. Instead than pinpointing which of the listed

qualities makes global leaders effective, existing research primarily concentrate on

understanding global leadership and what competences a global leader should possess. As a

result, very little research has been done on the crucial traits of effective global leaders.

Additionally, the majority of earlier research used a competency-based approach, arguing that

effective leadership across the globe is dependent on the development of specific leadership

competencies. There is still a need for empirical studies to evaluate the relationship between

identified competencies and how they contribute to global leadership effectiveness, despite

the theoretical foundation for this relationship having been established in earlier studies. The

literature on the effectiveness of global leadership is more theoretical than empirical,

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addressing issues theoretically rather than investigating them through the use of empirical

methods.

In summary, prior studies have mostly focused on defining global leadership abilities,

but there is still a vacuum in our understanding of which of those competencies makes global

leaders effective, and there is an important need for more empirical research in the area. This

study's goal is to identify the abilities that contribute to effective global leadership and

empirically evaluate them using a chosen research approach in order to fill this knowledge

gap. The following research questions is created with the following objectives in mind:

Research Questions

 What are the many leadership philosophies used in a global setting?

 How do cultural differences impact the efficacy of global leadership?

 What are the main difficulties faced by world leaders in the globalized world of

today?

Audience

This proposal is intended for researchers and professionals working on organizational

behaviour, leadership studies, and international relations.

Literature Review

International leadership effectiveness

According to Yokota (2021) one of the key contributors to organizational growth and

competitive advantage is regarded to be international leadership effectiveness. Although

much study has been done on the global leadership effectiveness, less has been done to

ascertain the relationship between this importance and the global leadership awareness. The
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theoretical underpinnings of the topic of global leadership competencies presuppose that the

recognized essential competencies for global leaders give them the ability to be successful in

circumstances requiring global leadership. Using a measure of global leadership performance

in his research, Yokota made a substantial contribution in this regard. Additionally, Yokota

(2021) identified activities for international leadership and further looked at factors that

predicted performance when carrying out those jobs. In summary, Yokota (2021) suggests

that effective leaders provide a high level of engagement and motivation for subordinates to

achieve high-performance, ensuring that corporate goals are reached in accordance with a

vision and mission. Effective leaders would be able to innovate, adapt swiftly to changing

markets and circumstances, and maintain high performance in their organizations.

International leadership competencies

According to Liggett (2022), effective leadership requires leaders to have a solid

awareness of international interaction. In addition, he claimed that many domestically

successful leaders fail abroad. In a global environment, Liggett claims that a number of

critical competences are predictive of leadership performance. Recent studies have supported

this claim. The theoretical underpinnings of global leadership also indicate that regardless of

level, organizational role, or size of organization, there are a set of key qualities that help

leaders to be more effective when leading in global situations. The significant characteristics

that enable leaders to perform their duties in many cultural contexts, such as while relating

with individuals internationally or while working overseas, are referred to as global

leadership competences (Liggett, 2022). These competencies combine a number of concepts,

including character qualities, abilities, knowledge, and values. In different levels of

businesses, there are global leadership practices, where the leader is expected to function in a
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universal environment. The responsibilities may vary depending on the job's specialized

requirements, encompassing both technical and leadership requirements.

Limits of global leadership

Based on Bird (2019) international leaders should develop a leadership ethos based on

shared core values. Ghosn discovered a unique formula that served as an excellent platform

for his ability to motivate and inspire individuals worldwide. Imagine then adding all of the

additional skills required for a global leader; you will be able to function in practically any

situation. Ghosn chose three principles transparency, commitment to carrying out the

strategy, and communication that he believed were of importance. Depending on your setting,

you could wish to either mention all of those and nothing else or a variety of principles. As

you become familiar with the subtleties of the cultures you hope to meld, these principles will

help you bridge the gap and empower you to persuade the workforce to support the changes

you want to implement. Ghosn has a specific plan to restore Nissan's profitability (Bird,

2022). He intended to achieve this through reducing expenses, streamlining internal

operations, and fostering an innovative culture that would lead Nissan into a new era. It was

much simpler for all parties to collaborate to carry out the vision because it was simply

understood by all employees, regardless of their rank in the organization. Global leaders must

make sure the vision is well stated, so clearly stated that the management and staff can see

how their roles will contribute to realizing the goal. Collaboration is challenging to maintain

in a confusing environment. One of the most important lessons a world leader may learn from

Ghson's leadership is this.

Cultural flexibility
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The workplace of today offers more variety and energy than ever before. Organizations have

clients, workers, and employees all around the world, necessitating cross-cultural leadership

from leaders (Mendenhall,2022). Therefore, CEOs who are employed by multinational

companies must be able to understand cultural distinctions and effectively communicate with

people from a range of backgrounds. Cultural variations have an impact on people's

expectations, methods, viewpoints, and interpersonal relationships.Administrators must

therefore be able to identify the similarities and contrasts between themselves and the people

they interact with in order to build and maintain relationships that will enable them to

collaborate effectively. The ability of leaders to function well across cultures and adjust to

cultural variations is crucial for organizations. Due to the need for the global leader to

effectively lead followers from other nations and cultures, these competences are crucial.

Mendenhall (2022) further explain that leaders must be able to be culturally adaptable and

have understanding of the backgrounds of the group members in order to effectively manage

a varied group of people. The ability to respect and understand the customs of those from

different national, geographic, or religious backgrounds will enable leaders to function better

when exercising their leadership in a global setting.

Cross-cultural

According to Sarid (2021) leaders must ensure that they are aware of the borders

between cultures due to the diversity of their organizations. Teams at multinational

corporations typically consist of members with diverse countries, cultures, and lifestyles.

Each culture has distinct and distinctive patterns and interpretations of behaviours and beliefs

as a result of beginnings that are founded on various social situations and settings, claims

Sarid (2021). Cross-cultural experience is therefore one of the key competencies for a global

leader dealing with a diverse group consisting of individuals from different backgrounds and
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with diverse attitudes and values. In the context of a global corporation, it can be argued that

leaders develop cross-cultural experience through interacting with people of other

nationalities, navigating cultural differences in global teams, forging relationships with one

another, and carrying out activities that require a global perspective. He also made the point

that when people engage with others from various ethnicities and cultures, they develop

cross-cultural experience. Leaders can receive cross-cultural experience that will improve

their effectiveness through business-initiated activities like international travel or working on

global assignments. In conclusion, leaders will have a more accepting attitude toward people

from other backgrounds the more engagement they have in international settings (Sarid,

2021).

International leadership development

According to Liu (2019), the subject of international leadership growth is currently being

discussed since many businesses are not familiar with how to implement such programs.

Talented people are recruited, developed, and kept on staff as part of the strategy of

developing global leaders, which aids in the company's global market expansion. A few of

the main issues with creating global leadership are mobility, global coordination,

intransitivity, and identifying high potential employees (Liu, 2019). These issues often create

a number of challenges, thus the human resource management needs to come up with a

strategy.

Implications of international leadership

Robert (2018) explains that as a result of globalization, the global phenomena

whereby nations' trade barriers are dsappearing and countries are relating more, international

leadership is a crucial field for every serious leadership student. Even one-person businesses
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are no longer restricted to creating and offering their products only domestically. To stay

competitive, firms are really required to research global markets, thus it stands to reason that

they will likely do business anyplace. Several important elements are facilitating

globalization, despite the promotion of protectionism by some authorities. Businesses that

want to flourish in this climate must be aware of these important driving forces.

The articles address various facets of leadership in various contexts, such as global

leadership, democratic leadership, instructional leadership, social justice leadership,

leadership development, and leadership practices in Japan. As a result, they are pertinent to a

research proposal on leadership. These papers offer perceptions and insights about leadership,

which might help the theoretical framework and research questions in the research project.

Examples of articles that can offer perspectives on the difficulties and prospects of leadership

in a global environment include those by Bird on the limits of global leadership and

Mendenhall on global leadership. Leadership in the context of education can be better

understood by reading Liggett's article on democratic leadership and Nelson's piece on

leadership as practice. The proposal's emphasis on leadership for social change can be

informed by Sarid's article on the relationship between adaptive leadership and social justice

leadership, and Yokota's article on school leadership development practices in Japan can

offer a cross-cultural viewpoint on leadership development. Hence, adopting ideas from these

articles can improve the conceptual foundation of the research proposal and advance our

understanding of leadership at large.

Research Method

Design

Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is the research methodology chosen for this

study. SEM is a quantitative research methodology that uses a collection of statistical models
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to find connections between various variables by employing multiple regression analysis as

well as multivariate analysis. The analysis of relationships between constructs, dependent

variables, and independent factors is aided by this method.

There are two essential components to a SEM model. The measurement model first

illustrates how a construct is created by combining variables that can be assessed separately.

The structural model also illustrates the connections between the various constructs. Using

this approach, the researcher evaluates each measured variable's contribution to the

representation of its related construct and gauges how effectively the total collection of

variables represent the construct. The relationship between constructs could then be estimated

by the researcher.

SEM is a method that is appropriate for this study due to three key features. First, the

theory's creation of the ability to estimate multiple, interconnected dependent relationships.

This is especially helpful when evaluating how defined talents and personality competencies

relate to global leadership. The ability to represent unobserved notions inside the

relationships under investigation is the second possibility. For instance, cross-cultural

experience is mostly a reported occurrence that is very difficult to quantify in concrete terms.

Last but not least, the ability to visualize the model using a path diagram as opposed to

merely having it in the form of mathematical equations is a useful tool for communicating the

findings of the research on the efficacy of leadership around the world.

Sample Selection

Quota sampling will serve as the primary sampling strategy for this study. Quota

sampling is used in both qualitative and quantitative research approaches to examine

interactions between several subgroups or to understand a certain characteristic of a specific

subgroup. It is most typically used in research projects where there is no accessible sampling
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frame because it can help researchers generate a sample that is as representative of the

community being examined as feasible. Quota sampling can be effective for obtaining a

comprehensive picture of views, behaviors, or circumstances in order to comprehend the

range of issues respondents have about an issue. Quota sampling is also beneficial when

participants are chosen at random, as is the case with pop-up surveys, surveys that are

incorporated on websites, and surveys that are carried out on the street. Due to its low time

and resource requirements, sampling for quotas can be completed rather quickly. If you need

data right away, quota sampling is a great option to think about. The geographic scope of

data collection will be primarily limited to Europe, with the bulk of respondents in this study

hailing from countries like Poland, Sweden, Turkey, and other European nations.

Respondents were restricted to those who work in different sizes of firms that are engaged in

a variety of global industries.

Data Collection

In order to get the data, the questionnaire was carefully created in accordance with the

theoretical framework. There are three specific approaches to designing questionnaires for a

valid study: Reusing pertinent questions from previously used questionnaires, editing

pertinent questions that have been used in previous research surveys, or developing wholly

new questions are all options.

The research's questionnaire will be created based on surveys already in use.

Questions that were pertinent to each build chosen underwent some modification. Based on

previously published results, this strategy will guarantee time savings and high quality. The

research supervisor will evaluate the questionnaire at this first stage to ensure that there is no

repetition and that any necessary revisions were made before the questionnaire was sent to

the participants. Data collection was aimed at a population of engineers, managers, and
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leaders who all worked in global environments, had worldwide responsibilities, and were

active in all the areas covered by the questionnaires. Before answering the questions,

questionnaire respondents were consulted. The purpose of the study and the questionnaire

were made clear when they were distributed, according per procedure. Professionals that the

researcher has access to through their personal email accounts were requested to participate

in the survey by responding to an online questionnaire. The participants were asked for

additional information on their nationality, gender, educational history, and present

employment at the end of the questionnaire in order to offer crucial details about the sample

population for this study.

400 persons from all over the world, mostly in Europe, who work in businesses of all

sizes and are engaged in a variety of international industries were sent the questionnaire. The

questionnaire yielded 200 replies (N=200) at the conclusion of the 11 weeks data collection

period, representing a 50% response rate. Nineteen different nations are represented by the

respondents. More over half of the respondents in the sample Sweden (50%) and UK (34%),

respectively, are from those two countries. The remaining respondents, who comprised over

60% of the total number of participants (58%) with a bachelor's degree, were primarily

master's degree (40%) and PhD (2%) holders.Many of the solutions come from experts with

more education. This is because respondents were chosen based on their education and

qualifications, which allowed them to reach their current positions and engage in global

leadership activities as specialists, leaders, and managers.

Results

Effective global leadership requires a variety of key skills, including the capacity to

successfully develop and execute tactical company strategies on a global scale, possessing the

knowledge and expertise for modern technology, managing international budgets,

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establishing cost effectiveness in ethnically diverse settings of work, and being able to

demonstrate a broad understanding of business with multicultural awareness. The success of

global leadership has a significant impact on cross-cultural experience, which is vital for

enabling multicultural teams to function as efficiently as possible and inspiring people to

collaborate in multinational teams. The key competencies for cultural flexibility, which has a

favourable but limited effect on the effectiveness of global leadership, are the capacity to

meet the changing needs and demands of people from different cultures as well as the

capacity to adapt various communication styles to meet those requirements. The ability to

keep a concentrate under stress, the capability to know the manner in which they address the

difficulties associated with stressful work environments in an effective manner, the ability to

regulate emotions under stress, and the ability to effectively divide time between conferences,

travel, and hectic schedules without becoming stressed are all crucial skills for stress

tolerance that have been determined to have an important effect on the efficacy of global

leadership.

Furthermore, it has been found that all of the acknowledged skills are positively

associated with one another. This implies that the greater a leader's command of each crucial

skill, the more successful their leadership will be while acting in a variety of situations. The

fundamental competencies will help a leader be more effective while leading in international

situations and will help the leader influence followers to achieve company goals.

The findings of this study have ramifications for both theory and management. First

off, this research provided empirical and numerical support for the link between a few key

abilities and effective global leadership. Second, by examining the connection between

effective leadership and global leadership competences, the study's findings contribute to the

body of information in an area whereby little research has been done. Lastly, but certainly not
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least, this paper acts as a guide for leaders who work in a worldwide environment and

instructs them on the vital abilities that determine the efficacy of global leadership.

Data Representation

The data from interviews and survey responses will be analyzed using descriptive

statistics, and the findings will be displayed using tables and graphs. The fundamental

characteristics of the data in a study are described using descriptive statistics. Simple

summaries of the sample and the measurements are provided. They serve as the foundation

for almost all quantitative study of data, along with straightforward graphical analysis.

Usually, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics are distinct from one another. Simply

said, descriptive statistics are used to describe what the data is or what it reveals. By using

inferential statistics, you attempt to draw conclusions that go beyond the scope of the

available data. To try to infer what the population would believe, for instance, we utilize

inferential statistics to analyse sample data. Alternatively, we can use inferential statistics to

determine if an observed difference between groups is a reliable difference or one that could

have happened by chance in this study. As a result, we utilize inferential statistics to draw

conclusions about more universal circumstances based on our data, descriptive statistics are

only used to explain what's happening within our data.

Interpretation

Limitations

The use of quota sampling is anticipated to be the main drawback of this study. Quota

sampling is a quick and effective approach to draw conclusions from a portion of a larger

population. However, compared to other forms of surveys, the risk of survey bias is

substantially greater because it is not carried out with survey randomization in mind.
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Recommendation for future research

Increased survey response rates and population segmentation based on respondents' business

sectors, job titles, and levels of leadership go through, as well as areas they come from, are

both possible for future research. Additionally, by locating new personality traits and skills in

the literature to be further investigated using the same research methodology, the study's

scope might be expanded.

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References

Bird, A. (2019). The Limits of Global Leadership: Commentary on revisiting Carlos Ghosn’s
global leadership style. Advances in Global Leadership, 23–27.
https://doi.org/10.1108/s1535-120320190000012003

Liggett, R. (2022). Democratic leadership in a study of school based Professional Leadership

Culture: Policy Implications. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1–16.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2021.2009036

Liu, W. (2019). Higher Education Leadership Development: An international comparative

approach. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 24(5), 613–631.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2019.1623920

Mendenhall, M. E. (2019). Global leadership. Management.

https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199846740-0179

Nelson, T. (2019). Exploring leadership-as-practice in the study of Rural School Leadership.

International Journal of Leadership in Education, 25(2), 197–210.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2019.1657591

Roberts, D. L. (2018). Implications of international leadership for all. New Directions for
Student Leadership, 2018(160), 109–113. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.20315

Sarid, A. (2021). Crossing boundaries: Connecting Adaptive Leadership and Social Justice
Leadership for Educational Contexts. International Journal of Leadership in Education,
1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2021.1942995

Shaked, H. (2021). Relationship-based instructional leadership. International Journal of

Leadership in Education, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2021.1944673

Widner-Edberg, T. (2018). Courses for international leadership. New Directions for Student
Leadership, 2018(160), 85–95. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.20313

Yokota, H. (2021). School Leadership Development Practices in Japan. International Journal

of Leadership in Education, 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2021.1972164