A cultural perspective of subordinates' perceptions of leadership style in Lebanese and United States banking industries

This research study explored the difference between subordinates' perceptions of their leaders' leadership style within the banking industry in Lebanon and the United States. This was done through exploring their differences toward the consideration and initiation structure dimensions of leadership as introduced by the Ohio State Studies. To explain those results and put them in a cultural framework, Hofstede's cross-cultural model was used and data were collected on the cross-cultural elements of power distance: individuality versus collectivity, masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation.;This quantitative study revealed that there were differences between the Lebanese and the U.S. subordinates in their perception of leadership. The Lebanese subordinates were more inclined toward initiation structure, whereas the U.S. subordinates were more inclined toward consideration.;Hofstede's cross-cultural model revealed that Lebanon followed the definition of a traditional society with higher power distance, lower individuality, lower masculinity, higher uncertainty avoidance, and higher long-term orientation. The United States, in contrast, followed the definition of an open society with lower power distance, higher individuality, higher masculinity, lower uncertainty avoidance, and lower long-term orientation. The only deviation from the open and traditional society definition was with the masculinity index where Lebanon indicated a lower masculinity index, which is consistent with an open society, and the United States indicated a higher masculinity index, which is consistent with a traditional society.