Ethnocentrism: The Hidden Adversary of Effective Global Leadership
With the industrial revolution, global leaders must more rapidly become knowledgeable of and develop essential cross-cultural competencies to be effective. Ethnocentrism represents a hidden barrier of effective leadership and must be acknowledged and addressed proactively by global leaders. The article examines the impact of ethnocentrism in four critical areas (leadership strategy, cross-cultural competencies, intercultural communication, and adaptation to international contexts) and argues that by developing cross-cultural competencies, leaders might naturally reduce ethnocentrism levels. This paper will also offer few examples to support international managers in understanding how ethnocentrism can affect performance.
[1] Adler, Nancy J., and Susan Bartholomew. "Managing globally competent people." Academy of Management Perspectives 6.3 (1992): 52-65.
[2] Bennett, Milton J. "Intercultural competence for global leadership." Oregon: The Intercultural Communication Institute (2001).
[3] Boulton, L. "Striving for inclusion: top European Companies." Financial Times (November 2019).
[4] Caldwell, Jason. "Leading globally, thinking interculturally: Developing global characteristics." The Journal of Business Diversity 15.1 (2015): 55.
[5] Caligiuri, Paula, and Ibraiz Tarique. "Dynamic cross-cultural competencies and global leadership effectiveness." Journal of World Business 47.4 (2012): 612-622.
[6] Church, Austin T. "Sojourner adjustment." Psychological Bulletin 91.3 (1982): 540.
[7] Cortellazzo, Laura, Elena Bruni, and Rita Zampieri. "The role of leadership in a digitalized world: A review." Frontiers in Psychology 10 (2019): 1938.
[8] Dong, Qingwen, Kenneth D. Day, and Christine M. Collaço. "Overcoming ethnocentrism through developing intercultural communication sensitivity and multiculturalism." Human Communication 11.1 (2008): 27-38.
[9] Hansson, Sten, et al. "Communication-related vulnerability to disasters: A heuristic framework." International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 51 (2020): 101931.
[10] Harris, Philip R., and Robert T. Moran. "European leadership in globalization." European Business Review (1996).
[11] Hedlund, Gunnar. The hypermodern MNC—a heterarchy?. Routledge, 2017.
[12] House, Robert J., et al., eds. Culture, leadership, and organizations: The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Sage Publications, 2004.
[13] House, Robert J., et al. "Cultural influences on leadership and organizations: Project GLOBE." Advances in global leadership 1.2 (1999): 171-233.
[14] Javidan, Mansour, Mary Teagarden, and Dave Bowen. "Making it overseas." Harvard Business Review 88.4 (2010): 109-113.
[15] Lestrange, Joseph J. Values Based Leadership 2.0: A Multi Method Study Toward The Development Of A Theoretical Framework For Global Leaders. Diss. Indiana Institute of Technology, 2015.
[16] McLuhan, Marshall. "The Gutenberg Galaxy." Toronto: University of Toronto (1963).
[17] Mendenhall, Mark E., et al., eds. Global leadership: Research, practice, and development. Routledge, 2017.
[18] Mendenhall, Mark E., et al. "Defining the “global” in global leadership." Journal of World Business 47.4 (2012): 493-503.
[19] Mitrev, Stoyan, and Robert Culpepper. "Expatriation in Europe: factors and insights." The Journal of International Management Studies 7.1 (2012): 158-167.
[20] Myers, M. B. "Ethnocentrism: a literature overview and directions for future research." Proceedings of the 1995 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference. Springer, Cham, 2015.
[21] Northouse, Peter G. Leadership: Theory and practice. SAGE Publications, Incorporated, 2019.
[22] Perlmutter, Howard V. "The tortuous evolution of the multinational corporation." Columbia Journal of World Business, vol. 4, no. 1, 1969, p. 9.
[23] Perlmutter, Howard V., and David A. Heenan. “How Multinational Should Your Top Managers Be?” Harvard Business Review, vol. 52, no. 6, Nov. 1974, p. 121.
[24] Samovar, Larry A., et al. Intercultural communication: A reader. Cengage Learning, 2014.
[25] Schwab, K. "The fourth industrial revolution: what it means and how to respond." January 14, 2016. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/
[26] Schwab, K. “Globalization 4.0 - what does it mean?” World Economic Forum. November 15, 2018. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/11/globalization-4-what-does-it-mean-how-it-will-benefit-everyone/
[27] Szkudlarek, Betina, et al., eds. The SAGE Handbook of Contemporary Cross-Cultural Management. Sage, 2020.
[28] Thomas, Kecia M. "Psychological privilege and ethnocentrism as barriers to cross-cultural adjustment and effective intercultural interactions." The Leadership Quarterly 7.2 (1996): 215-228.
[29] Ting-Toomey, Stella, and Tenzin Dorjee. Communicating across cultures. Guilford Publications, 2018.
[30] Zeira, Yoram. "Management development in ethnocentric multinational corporations." California Management Review 18.4 (1976): 34-42.
[31] Zeira, Yoram. "Ethnocentrism in host-country organizations." Business Horizons 22.3 (1979): 66-75.
[1] Adler, Nancy J., and Susan Bartholomew. "Managing globally competent people." Academy of Management Perspectives 6.3 (1992): 52-65.
[2] Bennett, Milton J. "Intercultural competence for global leadership." Oregon: The Intercultural Communication Institute (2001).
[3] Boulton, L. "Striving for inclusion: top European Companies." Financial Times (November 2019).
[4] Caldwell, Jason. "Leading globally, thinking interculturally: Developing global characteristics." The Journal of Business Diversity 15.1 (2015): 55.
[5] Caligiuri, Paula, and Ibraiz Tarique. "Dynamic cross-cultural competencies and global leadership effectiveness." Journal of World Business 47.4 (2012): 612-622.
[6] Church, Austin T. "Sojourner adjustment." Psychological Bulletin 91.3 (1982): 540.
[7] Cortellazzo, Laura, Elena Bruni, and Rita Zampieri. "The role of leadership in a digitalized world: A review." Frontiers in Psychology 10 (2019): 1938.
[8] Dong, Qingwen, Kenneth D. Day, and Christine M. Collaço. "Overcoming ethnocentrism through developing intercultural communication sensitivity and multiculturalism." Human Communication 11.1 (2008): 27-38.
[9] Hansson, Sten, et al. "Communication-related vulnerability to disasters: A heuristic framework." International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 51 (2020): 101931.
[10] Harris, Philip R., and Robert T. Moran. "European leadership in globalization." European Business Review (1996).
[11] Hedlund, Gunnar. The hypermodern MNC—a heterarchy?. Routledge, 2017.
[12] House, Robert J., et al., eds. Culture, leadership, and organizations: The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Sage Publications, 2004.
[13] House, Robert J., et al. "Cultural influences on leadership and organizations: Project GLOBE." Advances in global leadership 1.2 (1999): 171-233.
[14] Javidan, Mansour, Mary Teagarden, and Dave Bowen. "Making it overseas." Harvard Business Review 88.4 (2010): 109-113.
[15] Lestrange, Joseph J. Values Based Leadership 2.0: A Multi Method Study Toward The Development Of A Theoretical Framework For Global Leaders. Diss. Indiana Institute of Technology, 2015.
[16] McLuhan, Marshall. "The Gutenberg Galaxy." Toronto: University of Toronto (1963).
[17] Mendenhall, Mark E., et al., eds. Global leadership: Research, practice, and development. Routledge, 2017.
[18] Mendenhall, Mark E., et al. "Defining the “global” in global leadership." Journal of World Business 47.4 (2012): 493-503.
[19] Mitrev, Stoyan, and Robert Culpepper. "Expatriation in Europe: factors and insights." The Journal of International Management Studies 7.1 (2012): 158-167.
[20] Myers, M. B. "Ethnocentrism: a literature overview and directions for future research." Proceedings of the 1995 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference. Springer, Cham, 2015.
[21] Northouse, Peter G. Leadership: Theory and practice. SAGE Publications, Incorporated, 2019.
[22] Perlmutter, Howard V. "The tortuous evolution of the multinational corporation." Columbia Journal of World Business, vol. 4, no. 1, 1969, p. 9.
[23] Perlmutter, Howard V., and David A. Heenan. “How Multinational Should Your Top Managers Be?” Harvard Business Review, vol. 52, no. 6, Nov. 1974, p. 121.
[24] Samovar, Larry A., et al. Intercultural communication: A reader. Cengage Learning, 2014.
[25] Schwab, K. "The fourth industrial revolution: what it means and how to respond." January 14, 2016. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/
[26] Schwab, K. “Globalization 4.0 - what does it mean?” World Economic Forum. November 15, 2018. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/11/globalization-4-what-does-it-mean-how-it-will-benefit-everyone/
[27] Szkudlarek, Betina, et al., eds. The SAGE Handbook of Contemporary Cross-Cultural Management. Sage, 2020.
[28] Thomas, Kecia M. "Psychological privilege and ethnocentrism as barriers to cross-cultural adjustment and effective intercultural interactions." The Leadership Quarterly 7.2 (1996): 215-228.
[29] Ting-Toomey, Stella, and Tenzin Dorjee. Communicating across cultures. Guilford Publications, 2018.
[30] Zeira, Yoram. "Management development in ethnocentric multinational corporations." California Management Review 18.4 (1976): 34-42.
[31] Zeira, Yoram. "Ethnocentrism in host-country organizations." Business Horizons 22.3 (1979): 66-75.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:80847", author = "Ruxandra A. Vodă", title = "Ethnocentrism: The Hidden Adversary of Effective Global Leadership", abstract = "With the industrial revolution, global leaders must more rapidly become knowledgeable of and develop essential cross-cultural competencies to be effective. Ethnocentrism represents a hidden barrier of effective leadership and must be acknowledged and addressed proactively by global leaders. The article examines the impact of ethnocentrism in four critical areas (leadership strategy, cross-cultural competencies, intercultural communication, and adaptation to international contexts) and argues that by developing cross-cultural competencies, leaders might naturally reduce ethnocentrism levels. This paper will also offer few examples to support international managers in understanding how ethnocentrism can affect performance.", keywords = "Adaptation to intercultural contexts, cross-cultural competencies, effective leadership, ethnocentrism, global leader, intercultural communication, leadership strategy, the GLOBE Project.", volume = "16", number = "6", pages = "312-5", }
