The Behaviour of Managers in Austria and the Czech Republic: An Intercultural Comparison Based On the Vroom/Yetton Model of Leadership and Decision Making

Zusammenfassung

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In this paper we compare the leadership behavior of managers in Austria and the Czech Republic, employing the Vroom/Yetton situational leadership model. The model applies a methodology that is close-to-action in contrast to the collection of empirical data based on questionaires, which target the revelation of basic values as determinants of intercultural differences (far-from-action), such as the studies of Hofstede and the Globe-Project. The results show that leadership behavior in the Czech Republic remains autocratic despite dramatic changes in the societal and political environment of the two countries.

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Auszug

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The Behaviour of Managers in Austria and the Czech Republic: An Intercultural Comparison Based On the Vroom/Yetton Model of Leadership and Decision Making

1. Introduction1

The extension of the European Union began on May 1st 2004. This event will bring about not only new problems but also new opportunities for the existing and new members of the EU. The new opportunities can be realised after the different nations find a way to cooperate. For this cooperation, it is very important that cultural differences be mastered. This is a challenge in all areas of management including marketing, accounting, finance, production and so forth. A key factor among these topics is leadership behaviour. The successful cooperation between companies in the new environment must be implemented by business leaders. Our study will focus on this area.

In addition to practical implications, the study will address methodological problems. Obviously, there is much anecdotal knowledge about cultural differences between neighbouring states and shared within the different countries. However, they contain many prejudices and errors, and systematic empirical studies are seldom conducted. Among the small selection of studies, different approaches were also used. The first part of this paper will provide a brief overview on the characteristics of these studies. We will argue in favour of a model, which takes a 'close-to-action' methodology into consideration. In line with that methodology we will apply the Vroom/Yetton model of leadership decision-making and this model will be explained in detail. An empirical application of the model will be used to answer our research question which seeks to explain the cultural differences in leadership behaviour of managers from the Czech Republic and Austria.

2. Cross-Cultural Studies: Value Concept Versus Action Orientation

Empirical studies of cross-cultural differences in leadership behaviour are rare...

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