Unravelling leadership barriers in Papua New Guinea

The context, barriers and practice of leadership in less developed countries, and Papua New Guinea (PNG) in particular, has not attracted the attention of leadership researchers with the same level of enthusiasm as leadership issues in developed countries. PNG is a diverse Nation of tribal societies largely organised on the basis of kinship and traditional cultural practices. The unique context and challenges of leadership in PNG are not adequately explained by the extant literature. Littrell (2002) argues that, 'the bulk of leadership literature is based on a self-limiting set of assumptions, mostly reflecting Western industrialised culture. Almost all the prevailing theories of leadership and almost all of the empirical evidence are rather distinctly American in character' ( p:l0). Leadership theories based on 'Western' culture are not directly transferable to PNG, whilst significant contextual barriers act to inhibit leadership processes. Leadership barriers (Prideaux, 2006) were tested. Respondents reported that a lack of' roads and logistic infrastructure; organisational and national vision; leaders poor 'people' skills; inadequate communication systems; the continuing practice of 'traditional' leadership values, thinking and culture in the workplace; the custom of Chief tan, Inheritance, Bigman, and Wantok are significant leadership barriers. A lack of a common language and working to 'PNG time' are further major barriers inhibiting effective leadership. Results reveal a requirement for an integrative leadership approach contextualised to PNG's diversity and complexity, and cognizant of the barriers identified, is required, if PNG is to integrate with an increasingly globalised world economy. Limitations and further research are considered