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Retailers have demonstrated mixed results during international expansions. However, home market saturation and the economic climate are forcing more and more retailers to look beyond their borders for revenue. A critical participant in the internationalizing effort is the expatriate manager. Unfortunately the literature is unclear and at times conflicted over how to select and prepare expatriate management for their leadership role. Therefore, this study was designed with the purpose of uncovering various factors which may lead to expatriate retail management success.

Based on the lack of unanimity in the literature this study adopted a qualitative research methodology in order to develop some consensus regarding successful expatriate leadership attributes. Grounded theory was employed utilizing extensive in-depth interviews as the primary data gathering and analysis tools.

A multi-dimensional construct emerged from the data requiring all dimensions to be utilized for a successful retail expatriate assignment. The construct of “Universal Leadership”, is proposed as formative, comprised of reflective sub-dimensions; Ability, Adaptability, Ambassadorship, and Awareness (Self), which we refer to as the Four A's, for successful expatriate management assignments. Several propositions are put forward as suggestions for future research in the use of the universal leadership model for both selection and training of retail expatriate managers.

The study develops a theoretical platform for expatriate leadership success allowing for cultural and business variation. Awareness is introduced as a critical attribute in achieving success as an expatriate success. The universal leadership model proposes attributes beneficial for training and also selection which is critically under examined in the literature.

The application of leadership theory to training and development in international leadership contexts is burdened by the idealistic, western-centric, prescriptive nature of many leadership theories. Consequently, theories are needed that are culturally neutral, descriptive and practically applicable to the culturally diverse contexts in which leadership interaction takes place. To this end, the cognitive process model of (Denis et al., 2012) leadership was developed to facilitate leadership development study in a variety of cultural contexts. The model is based on how the human brain functions at its most basic level in leadership situations across cultures and outlines basic principles of leadership associated with these functions. These principles include awareness, decision-making, attention, relationship building, communication and action. This study aims to discuss this model and how it can be used as a framework for doing leadership training and development study in international settings.

This paper is conceptual in nature and uses psychological studies on brain function as a foundation for developing a process model of leadership.

In contrast the cognitive process model of leadership provides a foundation for understanding what is truly universal when it comes to leadership activities by examining what happens in the brain in any given leadership moment. It then provides a framework for promoting the development of leadership competencies that are essential to practicing the principles and competencies and applying them as one takes action in specific leadership moments at the self, interpersonal, group and team, organizational and social and political community levels.

The paper has implications for the content, structure and process of leadership development study in relation to training and coaching.

This model makes it possible to identify how to provide training and education in relation to leadership competencies by identifying which aspects of the competencies are universal and which are situational or culture dependent.

This study is an original paper exploring the application of this model in the context of global leadership training and development.

While the term “competency” is widely used, and widely criticized, we use it here, in agreement with Spencer and Spencer (1993) as an underlying characteristic of an individual (motive, trait, self-concept, knowledge, skill) that is causally related to superior performance in a job or situation. As Fig. 1 shows, we believe there are both universal leadership competencies and context-specific competencies that contribute to effective global leadership. David Campbell's chapter in this volume argues for nine universal competencies of global leadership, all nine needing to be present for an organization to be sustainable and an international leader to be effective. This fits with other experts who believe in universal competences. Morgan McCall and George Hollenbeck (2002) could not resist the urge to identify seven common competencies among the international executives in their research. For another example, Goldsmith, Greenberg, Robertson, and Hu-Chan (2003) concluded that there are 14 core competencies for future global leadership.

The purpose of this paper is to examine an integrative model combining teachers’ perceptions of transformational leadership practices (TLPs) and different subsystems of the social ecological model (SEM) within the context of country culture (US vs Israel).

A quantitative study was conducted among 615 Israeli teachers and 541 US teachers. The leadership practices inventory (LPI) questionnaire was used, and analyses focused on the interaction effects of ecological subsystems and country on teachers’ perceptions of TLP.

Results indicated that some universal leadership aspects appear in both the USA and Israel, with modeling the way being most dominant and Challenging the Process least dominant. However, the findings also indicated some specific national leadership aspects. For example, Israeli teachers perceive their school principals’ TLP to be significantly higher than do US teachers in all five dimensions. In addition, the study indicated significant differences between Israel and the USA regarding aspects of TLP, after taking school level into account. The results are explained by Hofstede’s culture dimensions.

This study focuses on teachers’ perceptions of TLP in relation to SEM, which has been largely ignored in educational leadership studies. The findings may help to develop an integrative policy related to both TLP and SEM, which will enhance the impact that school leadership may have in both countries, taking the cultural context into consideration.

In this paper, I describe nine universal leadership competencies that transcend cultural differences. First, I provide examples to show that globalization is not a new phenomenon and that many of the challenges leaders face are caused by the speed of change made possible by permeable boundaries rather than globalization per se. Then I describe the nine universal competences. These universal competences cover the major tasks of organizational leadership and apply around the world.

The purpose of this study was to examine how national culture might impact both how leaders behave as well as their effectiveness as leaders.

Healthcare leaders and their constituents in Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines were surveyed about their leadership behaviors and their effectiveness. Analyses both across and within countries from self and constituent perspectives were conducted.

Leadership practices varied across countries but within the countries their impact was the same. Within each country the more frequently leaders used these leadership practices the more effective they were viewed by their constituents, and the more favorable were their own workplace attitudes.

The study involved a cross‐section of leaders who may not be representative of organizational managers, did not have direct reports, were from a specialized field, and utilized a single conceptual framework and scale. Future studies should expand the conceptual framework and measurement tools, as well as extend the investigation to other organizational samples and nations.

Important leadership behaviors can be identified for effective leadership across various national or cultural boundaries. Leadership development efforts may be better directed toward building skills common to leaders rather than targeting differences within national boundaries.

This study provides understanding into how leaders behave around the globe, and documents that how they behave makes a difference to their constituents and impacts their own workplace attitudes. It demonstrates that there are some “universal” leadership processes and provides guidance for those responsible for developing the global (cross‐cultural) competencies of leaders.

This paper is a regional exploratory study of implicit leadership theories in two regions of China. The purpose of this paper is to compare ideal vs Confucian leadership profiles and explore the possibility of a cultural hybrid perspective of leadership.

This study empirically explores leadership profiles through indigenous leadership research and compares implicit leadership theories of Confucian leadership and ideal leadership among a group of 128 managers representing two regions in mainland China. In doing so, measures developed by Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness that were translated into the local language are employed.

The results empirically show that a region known to have a deeper cultural entrenchment interprets Confucian ideology as ideal leadership, while a region more disconnected from the cultural center transforms its ideology based on more globally accepted leadership ideals.

The findings of this study caution leadership researchers (whether universally-etic or specifically-emic focused) from making generalizations regarding leadership. Although there might be some broad universals of leadership, context-specific leadership practices are deeply rooted between and within cultures.

This paper contributes to the literature by providing insight on implicit leadership theories in China and by proposing a culturally hybrid perspective of leadership based on globalization and cultural entrenchment forces.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct effects of empowering and employee-centered leadership on well-being, and the indirect or mediating role of social organizational climate between leadership behavior and well-being in a cross-cultural perspective.

Questionnaires were distributed in two furniture retail stores in Sweden and two stores in China belonging to the same company. The final sample consisted of 483 participants from the Chinese and 254 participants from the Swedish stores.

The results of the structural equation modeling showed that there was no direct effect between leadership behavior (employee-centered leadership and empowering leadership) and well-being in either the Swedish or the Chinese sample. Further, the findings of the study indicate that social climate mediates the relationship between leadership behavior and employee well-being, but this seems to be culturally contingent. The mediating effect is prevalent in a culture that has been considered as having a collective orientation and where the power distance is high.

Despite some methodological limitations such as the cross-sectional design and problems with acquiescence in responses, the results indicate the complexity of the role of culture in organizational behavior.

Managers working in increasingly globalized contexts need to take into consideration that some organizational behaviors gradually become more universal, whereas others remain culturally contingent.

The paper illustrates the complex relationship between leadership behavior, social climate, and employee well-being in the same corporate culture, but in different cultural settings.

Developing leaders for a diverse democracy is an increasingly important aim of higher education and social justice is ever more a goal of leadership education efforts. Accordingly, it is important to explore how dominant leadership models, as blueprints for student leadership development, account for and may unwittingly reinforce systems of domination, like racism. This critical discourse analysis, rooted in racialization and color-evasiveness, examines three prominent college student leadership development models to examine how leaders and leadership are racialized. We find that all three leadership texts frame leaders and leadership in color-evasive ways. Specifically, the texts’ discourses reveal three mechanisms for evading race in leadership: focusing on individual identities, emphasizing universality, and centering collaboration. Implications for race in leadership development, the social construction of leadership more broadly, and future scholarship are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the views of African higher education scholars about effective leadership and if those views reflect a unique, African meaning of leadership.

The study sought to explore the views of African higher education scholars about leadership in general and if those views reflect a unique, African meaning, that does not necessarily fit the widely accepted western theories. Using a researcher-designed questionnaire, higher education faculty and administrators were asked their understanding and beliefs about leadership. Data from quantitative responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test. In addition, qualitative answers, from one open ended question, were utilized to possibly triangulate with quantitative responses.

This study found that most research participants believe that the widely used western leadership theories are not fully applicable to Africa's context. However, the list of qualities of effective leadership, these participants suggest to be unique to Africa, included mixed attributes from Western, Non-Western and Culture-Neutral theories.

This study has some limitations. First, the data for this study was collected electronically which might have affected the potential responses from those with limited Internet connection or who have not updated their current email addresses. Second, the participants of the study are higher education professionals whose insight about leadership may not necessarily reflect the views of others from different background.

By examining leadership effectiveness in Africa's context, this study adds to the body of literature on the ongoing discussion on the topic of culture and leadership. It is hoped that the findings of the study provide important insights regarding the debate on “western vs non-western” leadership theories.

The universal understanding of leadership and the application of leadership theories across cultures have been an issue of debate for leadership scholars and practitioners around the globe. Many authors argue that the widely used leadership theories are “too western” in value and character (Bass, 1990; Hofstede, 1993; House and Aditya, 1997). This study adds the perspectives of African scholars to the ongoing debate and expands the understanding about leadership across culture.