Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Research Project
Encyclopedia
The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Research Project (GLOBE) is an international group of social scientists and management scholars who study cross-cultural leadership
. The project was founded in 1993 by Robert J. House (University of Pennsylvania
). In each of 62 "societies" or "cultures", the project is working with typically two to five social scientists who are responsible for the local research. Most of these societies represent a country, although some countries are subdivided (such as Black and White South Africa) or only a part is covered (English-speaking Canada).
Phase 1 of the program consisted in the development of an underlying theory and standardised questionnaires with good psychometric
properties such as high agreement of respondents of the same culture and low agreement between cultures. In Phase 2 these questionnaires were used to study a number of core properties of each of the participating cultures in terms of responses by managers. The results of Phase 2 were published in 2004. The results of Phase 3, in which the project examined 25 cultures in greater detail, appeared in 2008.
The methodology was based in part on earlier work by Geert Hofstede
. In response to the published results of Phase 2, Hofstede criticized some elements of GLOBE's approach such as overly abstract wording of questions, neglect of correlations with wealth, neglect of male–female differences and addressing only managers with the questionnaires.
A by-product of the project was the division of the societies into 10 cultural clusters based on similarities in the responses.
Similar projects include Ronald Inglehart
's World Values Survey
and Shalom H. Schwartz
's Survey of Values.
Anglo Cultures: England, Australia, South Africa (white sample), Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, United States, see Anglosphere
Latin Europe
: Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland (French and Italian speaking)
Nordic Europe: Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway
Germanic Europe: German-speaking Europe
(Austria, German-speaking Switzerland, Germany) plus Dutch-speaking Europe (Netherlands, Belgium and Dutch speaking France)
Eastern Europe
: Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Serbia, Greece, Slovenia, Albania, Russia
Latin America
: Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina
Sub-Saharan Africa
: Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa (black sample), Nigeria
Arab Cultures: Algeria, Qatar, Morocco, Turkey, Egypt, Kuwait, Libya, Tunisia, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Jordan, Iraq, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman
Southern Asia: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Iran
Confucian Asia: Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, China, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam
Leadership studies
Leadership studies is a multidisciplinary academic field of study that focuses on leadership in organizational contexts and in human life. Leadership studies has origins in the social sciences , in humanities , as well as in professional and applied fields of study...
. The project was founded in 1993 by Robert J. House (University of Pennsylvania
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
). In each of 62 "societies" or "cultures", the project is working with typically two to five social scientists who are responsible for the local research. Most of these societies represent a country, although some countries are subdivided (such as Black and White South Africa) or only a part is covered (English-speaking Canada).
Phase 1 of the program consisted in the development of an underlying theory and standardised questionnaires with good psychometric
Psychometrics
Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits, and educational measurement...
properties such as high agreement of respondents of the same culture and low agreement between cultures. In Phase 2 these questionnaires were used to study a number of core properties of each of the participating cultures in terms of responses by managers. The results of Phase 2 were published in 2004. The results of Phase 3, in which the project examined 25 cultures in greater detail, appeared in 2008.
The methodology was based in part on earlier work by Geert Hofstede
Geert Hofstede
Geert Hofstede, born as Gerard Hendrik Hofstede is an influential Dutch social psychologist and anthropologist. He is a well-known pioneer in his research of cross-cultural groups and organizations. He has played a major role in developing a systematic framework for assessing and differentiating...
. In response to the published results of Phase 2, Hofstede criticized some elements of GLOBE's approach such as overly abstract wording of questions, neglect of correlations with wealth, neglect of male–female differences and addressing only managers with the questionnaires.
A by-product of the project was the division of the societies into 10 cultural clusters based on similarities in the responses.
Similar projects include Ronald Inglehart
Ronald Inglehart
Ronald F. Inglehart is a political scientist at the University of Michigan. He is director of the World Values Survey, a global network of social scientists who have carried out representative national surveys of the publics of over 80 societies on all six inhabited continents, containing 85...
's World Values Survey
World Values Survey
The World Values Survey is a global research project that explores people’s values and beliefs, how they change over time and what social and political impact they have. It is carried out by a worldwide network of social scientists who, since 1981, have conducted representative national surveys in...
and Shalom H. Schwartz
Shalom H. Schwartz
Shalom H. Schwartz is social psychologist, cross-cultural researcher, author of Theory of basic human values...
's Survey of Values.
Cultural clusters
Based on similarities in cultural values and beliefs, GLOBE researchers have divided the participating societies into the following cultural clusters:Anglo Cultures: England, Australia, South Africa (white sample), Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, United States, see Anglosphere
Anglosphere
Anglosphere is a neologism which refers to those nations with English as the most common language. The term can be used more specifically to refer to those nations which share certain characteristics within their cultures based on a linguistic heritage, through being former British colonies...
Latin Europe
Latin Europe
Latin Europe is a loose term for the region of Europe with an especially strong Latin cultural heritage inherited from the Roman Empire.-Application:...
: Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland (French and Italian speaking)
Nordic Europe: Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway
Germanic Europe: German-speaking Europe
German-speaking Europe
The German language is spoken in a number of countries and territories in West, Central and Eastern Europe...
(Austria, German-speaking Switzerland, Germany) plus Dutch-speaking Europe (Netherlands, Belgium and Dutch speaking France)
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
: Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Serbia, Greece, Slovenia, Albania, Russia
Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
: Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
: Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa (black sample), Nigeria
Arab Cultures: Algeria, Qatar, Morocco, Turkey, Egypt, Kuwait, Libya, Tunisia, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Jordan, Iraq, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman
Southern Asia: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Iran
Confucian Asia: Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, China, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam