Transactional Vs Transformational Leadership Style Among Norwegian Leaders In Norway And China And The Impact Of Culture

The world is getting more globalized every single day.More businesses are moving abroad,resulting in different cultures interacting and working together.To cope with the understanding of different cultures,the term cross-cultural management has become a highly relevant topic of research within the leadership field.For decades,the focus herein has been on understanding the cultural differences but lately,more researchers focus on how to leverage from the diversities and optimizing the team work.With satisfactory leadership being crucial for a business' success and the importance of understanding the cultures in one organization,the field of cross-cultural management still is highly relevant to broaden with the current research.The aim of this study is to provide results that can contribute to broaden leaders' knowledge on working with different cultures as well as filling in some of the gap of lacking research on Norwegian leadership,specifically in China.The main focus of the study is power distance and masculinity's impact on transactional and transformational leadership as well as discussing whether Norwegian leaders in China has adapted to the local culture or not.In order to accomplish the aim of the thesis,a quantitative approach has been adapted and a survey was developed based on a literature review.The survey consisted of two main variables;leadership style and culture.The final sample consisted of 56 Norwegian leaders in Norway and 42 Norwegian leaders in China.The overall analysis results showed that both group of leaders employed a more transformational leadership style than transactional.In other words,the leaders in China had not adapted fully to the core,traditional culture of China.Both groups scored above 4(out of 5)on transformational leadership,saying that they agreed to almost all statements of the style.As for transactional leadership,both groups scored around average,indicating they somewhat employed transactional leadership style or just a neutral attitude.Further,the leaders in China had somewhat adapted to the local culture in terms of power distance and masculinity,as proposed by the literature.In general,both groups scored below mid-level on the cultural scores with only power distance being above mid-level for the leaders in China.Lastly,only power distance was found to be a predictor of transactional leadership in the overall sample.This implies that a high level of power distance will lead to a higher level of transactional leadership style.From the correlation results,masculinity was also found to have a relationship with transactional leadership but as it was not found in the regression test,the hypothesis was still rejected.The proposed framework was supported in the overall sample and in Norway,with power distance being the predictor.In the Chinese sample,the models were not supported and none of the cultural dimensions was found to have an impact on leadership style.The research has contributed in exploring the leadership styles of Norwegian leaders in two significantly different environments as well as the impact that culture has on leadership style employed.The results are relevant for leaders all around the world in understanding that their leaders lead through different styles when working abroad,even though they are of same nationality.Lastly,the framework developed consisting of two well-known scales can be used to compare other nationalities or working environments in the future.