Cultural congruence or compensation? A meta-analytic test of transformational and transactional leadership effects across cultures

Thomas Rockstuhl (), Dongyuan Wu (), James H. Dulebohn (), Chenwei Liao () and Julia E. Hoch ()
Additional contact information
Thomas Rockstuhl: Nanyang Technological University
Dongyuan Wu: Fudan University
James H. Dulebohn: Michigan State University
Chenwei Liao: Michigan State University
Julia E. Hoch: California State University, Northridge

Journal of International Business Studies, 2023, vol. 54, issue 3, No 4, 476-504

Abstract: Abstract Prior research is equivocal about whether leadership is more effective when it matches typical cultural practices (the cultural congruence argument) or compensates for "ineffective" cultural practices (the cultural compensation argument). We propose that a more nuanced answer to the congruence-versus-compensation debate requires the joint consideration of leadership, culture, and task contexts. A meta-analysis of 460 field samples of transformational leadership (N = 124,646) and 139 field samples of transactional leadership (N = 38,327) across 53 cultures revealed three key results: First, both transformational and transactional leadership universally relate positively to follower performance outcomes. The strength of these relationships ranges between 0.25 and 0.39 for transformational leadership and between 0.12 and 0.24 for transactional leadership. Second, the positive effects of transformational leadership on convergent performance outcomes are more pronounced in cultures characterized by norms of vertical differentiation (including high power distance) and harmony (including collectivism), consistent with the cultural congruence perspective. Third, the positive effects of transactional leadership on divergent performance outcomes are more pronounced in cultures characterized by norms of low performance-focus (including low uncertainty avoidance), consistent with the cultural compensation perspective. We discuss the implications of these findings for transformational and transactional leadership research and practice.

Keywords: leadership theories; meta-analysis; national culture; transformational and transactional leadership; convergent (proficiency) task; divergent (innovation) task (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41267-022-00559-x Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:jintbs:v:54:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1057_s41267-022-00559-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... nt/journal/41267/PS2

DOI: 10.1057/s41267-022-00559-x

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of International Business Studies is currently edited by John Cantwell

More articles in Journal of International Business Studies from Palgrave Macmillan, Academy of International Business
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().