Transformational Leadership: The Influence of Culture on the Leadership Behaviours of Expatriate Managers

One of the basic questions for investigating cross-cultural leadership was the extent to which leadership behaviors can be influenced by cultural values. Some suggested that certain leadership behaviors were likely to be unique to a given culture, while others argued that there should be certain structures that leaders must perform to be effective, regardless of cultures. This study was conducted to determine the possible relationships between subordinates’ work-related values and the leadership behavior exhibited by expatriates.\ud Ninety-one Thai subordinates, direct-report of Australian expatriates, responded on the instruments called the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and the Value Survey Module (VSM). Major results indicated that Thai subordinates’ culture had a very limited role in predicting the leadership behaviors of Australian expatriates. Also, it seemed to provide evidence to support a near universalistic position for the transformational-transactional paradigm