LEADERSHIP SKILLS

The Role of Global Leadership Skills in Multi National Organisations

The Role of Global Leadership Skills in Multi National Organisations

Introduction

Understanding international interaction is essential for transnational organizations to work effectively in today's global business environment. The level of this understanding is related to possession of international competencies within an organization (Gupta and Govindarajan, 2002). Although the need to develop leaders with adequate competencies has become obvious in recent years (Adler and Bartholomew, 1992; Brake et al., 1995; Brake, 1997; Morrison, 2000; Bonnstetter, 1999; Suutari, 2002), there is still a significant gap between the international human resource requirements of global strategies and their realization (Adler and Bartholomew, 1992; Engle et al., 2001, Morrison et al., 1999). Furthermore, diversity and complexity increase also in a domestic working environment as business operations become more international. The dynamics, complexity and diversity, now characteristic of global environment, are diffusing into the domestic environment (Gregersen et al., 1998; Harvey and Buckley, 2002) making increasing demands on management and leadership competencies at all organizational levels. Therefore, increasing understanding of different aspects of globalization and interrelationships of various factors and their changes will help organizations to meet the new challenges brought by globalization, whether their primary operation environment is domestic, international or global. “Employees need to learn about culture and cross-cultural communication if they are to work effectively with minorities within their own society or with foreigners encountered at home or abroad” (Harris and Moran, 1987).

Research Aims and Objectives

From the competency point of view, this article aims to review and discuss existing global leadership and other related literature, and to combine findings and suggestions provided in previous literature in a more integrative framework of global leadership competencies.

An Explanation of, and justification for, the research methodology you would use.

The paper reviews and discusses the terminology used in the international global leadership literature. This is followed by a review of the main outcomes of previous research. Finally an attempt is made to combine these outcomes into a more integrative framework of global leadership competencies, offering suggestions for further research.

An Explanation of the methods of data analysis you would use.

This paper provides information about previous research, integrating earlier findings into a more comprehensive framework of global competencies. It also discusses deficiencies in use of terminology and research methods used in earlier studies giving suggestions for further research.

Limitations to your research.

The references used for this review are not an exhaustive list and majority of them are drawn from American journals publishing within the topic area. Relevant sources of information may also exist in other domains of scientific inquiry. The framework provided in this paper incorporates main findings of previous research and, as such, it may serve as a starting point for practitioners in planning of different selection, training, and career development activities, and for academics in starting their research.

Brief Critical review of the key academic sources you would use and the main issues raised which support your aims and objectives.

The development of global competencies should be based on the global business strategy ...