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Servant leadership across cultures

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  • Mittal, Rakesh
  • Dorfman, Peter W.

Abstract

Servant leadership is anchored in the human drive to bond with others and contribute to the betterment of the society. An emphasis on service motivation, as demonstrated by empowering and developing people with empathy and humility, differentiates servant leadership from other leadership frameworks. In this study, we analyzed the degree to which five aspects of servant leadership, Egalitarianism, Moral Integrity, Empowering, Empathy and Humility were endorsed as important for effective leadership across cultures. While each of these dimensions was found to be associated with effective leadership, there was considerable variation in degree of endorsement of components of servant leadership across different GLOBE culture clusters. The dimensions of Egalitarianism and Empowering were endorsed more strongly in Nordic/European cultures but less so in Asian and similar cultures. On the other hand, servant leadership dimensions of Empathy and Humility were more strongly endorsed in Asian cultures than European cultures. Further, significant relationships were found between several societal cultural values and aspects of servant leadership which help us understand why nations differ in endorsing this leadership construct.

Suggested Citation

  • Mittal, Rakesh & Dorfman, Peter W., 2012. "Servant leadership across cultures," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 555-570.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:47:y:2012:i:4:p:555-570
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2012.01.009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Zarei, Mohammad & Supphellen, Magne & Bagozzi, Richard P., 2022. "Servant leadership in marketing: A critical review and a model of creativity-effects," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 172-184.
    2. Khawaja Fawad Latif & Marta Mas Machuca & Frederic Marimon & Umar Farooq Sahibzada, 2021. "Servant Leadership, Career, and Life Satisfaction in Higher Education: a Cross-Country Study of Spain, China, and Pakistan," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(3), pages 1221-1247, June.
    3. Neubert, Mitchell J. & de Luque, Mary Sully & Quade, Matthew J. & Hunter, Emily M., 2022. "Servant leadership across the globe: Assessing universal and culturally contingent relevance in organizational contexts," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(2).
    4. Suzana Dobric Veiss, 2016. "Charismatic, Transformational, and Servant Leadership in the United States, Mexico, and Croatia," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 6(12), pages 25-34, December.
    5. Vincent Giolito, 2015. "Toward a unified "Theory Y" of leadership: Leader self-awareness, ethics and integrity as key attributes of positive leadership," Working Papers CEB 15-043, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    6. Michiel Frederick Coetzer & Mark Bussin & Madelyn Geldenhuys, 2017. "The Functions of a Servant Leader," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-32, February.
    7. Alexander, Katherine C. & Mackey, Jeremy D. & Maher, Liam P. & McAllister, Charn P. & Ellen, B. Parker, 2024. "An implicit leadership theory examination of cultural values as moderators of the relationship between destructive leadership and followers’ task performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(3).
    8. Vincent J. Giolito & Robert C. Liden & Dirk Dierendonck & Gordon W. Cheung, 2021. "Servant Leadership Influencing Store-Level Profit: The Mediating Effect of Employee Flourishing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(3), pages 503-524, September.
    9. Mansur, Juliana & Sobral, Filipe & Goldszmidt, Rafael, 2017. "Shades of paternalistic leadership across cultures," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(5), pages 702-713.
    10. Lythreatis, Sophie & Mostafa, Ahmed Mohammed Sayed & Pereira, Vijay & Wang, Xiaojun & Giudice, Manlio Del, 2021. "Servant leadership, CSR perceptions, moral meaningfulness and organizational identification- evidence from the Middle East," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(5).
    11. Rofcanin, Yasin & Heras, Mireia Las & Bosch, Maria Jose & Berber, Aykut & Mughal, Farooq & Ozturk, Mustafa, 2021. "Servant leadership and family supportiveness: Looking into employees’ work and family outcomes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 70-82.
    12. Arménio Rego & Miguel Pina e Cunha & Daniel Polónia, 2017. "Corporate Sustainability: A View From the Top," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 133-157, June.
    13. Xin Le Ng & Sang Long Choi & Khairiah Soehod, 2016. "The Effects of Servant Leadership on Employee’s Job Withdrawal Intention," Asian Social Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(2), pages 1-99, February.
    14. Dirk Van Dierendonck & Milton Sousa & Sigrún Gunnarsdóttir & Andrea Bobbio & Jari Hakanen & Armin Pircher Verdorfer & Emin Cihan Duyan & Raquel Rodriguez-Carvajal, 2017. "The Cross-Cultural Invariance of the Servant Leadership Survey: A Comparative Study across Eight Countries," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-11, April.
    15. Arménio Rego & Miguel Pina e. Cunha & Ace Volkmann Simpson, 2018. "The Perceived Impact of Leaders’ Humility on Team Effectiveness: an Empirical Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 205-218, March.
    16. Bird, Allan & Mendenhall, Mark E., 2016. "From cross-cultural management to global leadership: Evolution and adaptation," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 115-126.
    17. Megha Ojha & Amar Kumar Mishra & Archana Singh, 2024. "Servant Leadership in India: A Comprehensive Exploration of Contributions, Trends, and Patterns," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1105-1123, September.
    18. Azharuddin Hashim, 2013. "A Conceptual Framework for Antecedents and Consequence of Organizational Learning Capability," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 5(12), pages 577-583.
    19. Suzana Dobric Veiss, 2016. "Charismatic, Transformational, and Servant Leadership in the United States, Mexico, and Croatia," International Journal of Business and Social Research, MIR Center for Socio-Economic Research, vol. 6(12), pages 25-34, December.
    20. Rebecca VanMeter & Lawrence B. Chonko & Douglas B. Grisaffe & Emily A. Goad, 2016. "In search of clarity on servant leadership: domain specification and reconceptualization," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 6(1), pages 59-78, June.
    21. Karacay, Gaye & Bayraktar, Secil & Kabasakal, Hayat & Dastmalchian, Ali, 2019. "Role of Leaders as Agents of Negotiation for Counterbalancing Cultural Dissonance in the Middle East and North Africa Region," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(4).
    22. Neale J. Slack & Gurmeet Singh & Jashwini Narayan & Shavneet Sharma, 2020. "Servant Leadership in the Public Sector: Employee Perspective," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 631-646, December.

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