Role of Leaders as Agents of Negotiation for Counterbalancing Cultural Dissonance in the Middle East and North Africa Region

Abstract

This study provides a unique perspective in the field of cross-cultural management by exploring the relationship between “cultural dissonance”—the gap between cultural values and actual practice—and effective leadership attributes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Incorporating cultural dissonance into implicit leadership theory, the study uses measurements of dissonance on nine cultural dimensions to identify particular leadership preferences in seven MENA countries. The overall findings suggest that societies prefer leaders who counterbalance cultural dissonance by allowing space for negotiations by members of society to reduce disparities between cultural values—“the way things should be”—and actual practices—“the way things are.” The greater the disparity between cultural values and practices, the greater the citizens' desire that leaders act as agents of change by creating space for negotiation.

Introduction

Rapid developments in technology and communication systems have elevated the effects of globalization toward the convergence of many practices in the world by bringing people and cultures closer together (e.g., Zaheer et al., 2012). However, the increased effects of globalization do not necessarily mean that cultural differences are disappearing (Ralston, 2008). Indeed, over and above the findings of previous research validating the existence of cross-cultural differences (e.g., Hofstede, 1980; Rugman, 2005; Schwartz, 1994), the outcomes of more recent studies confirm that cultural values continue to vary throughout the world (e.g., GLOBE project, House et al., 2004).

Research in cross-cultural settings reveals that employee responses to specific leadership styles are highly dependent on employee values, whose roots lie partly in employees' national cultural backgrounds (e.g., Den Hartog et al., 1999; McGrath et al., 1992). According to implicit leadership theory (ILT), people hold certain types of beliefs about the kind of attributes, skills, and behaviors that facilitate or impede outstanding leadership. Lord and Maher (1991) claimed that such belief systems take the form of prototypes, cognitive categories, mental models, schemas, and stereotypes, and that they influence the extent to which an individual accepts others as leaders (Javidan et al., 2006). Leaders who can sense and act in ways that are compatible with employees' values and desires and consistent with societal norms, can elicit more positive attitudes as well as more productive behaviors by triggering higher levels of effort (Brown and Trevin, 2009; Foss et al., 2009), and innovation (Engelen et al., 2014).

The current study uses ILT in conjunction with the concept of cognitive dissonance within the cross-cultural management field to investigate effective leadership attributes in the MENA region. Cultural dissonance—as seen, for example, in gaps between cultural values and actual practices—is a rather underutilized concept, but it holds potential implications for cross-cultural management. The state of tension that results from the discrepancy between peoples' experiences and their preferences for societal culture may be influential in determining which leadership attributes are seen as effective from a negotiated culture perspective. In cases where cultural dissonance exists, leaders may be seen as effective if they act as change agents by taking the lead in reducing the discrepancy between cultural values and actual practices.

This study uses data regarding cultural values and practices and preferred leadership attributes collected from seven MENA region countries: Egypt, Kuwait, Iran, Israel, Morocco, Turkey, and Qatar. The study has two purposes. The first is to reveal and understand gaps between cultural values and actual practices in the MENA region in general, and in distinct societies within the region, and to understand the implications of such gaps for organizations. The second is to explore the implications of gaps between cultural values and practices for societies' preferred leadership attributes.

This study is unique in a number of important ways. The first is its use of data from the GLOBE Project, a cross-cultural study of leadership and culture in 62 countries that investigates relationships among societal culture, organizational processes, and effective leadership. Until now, GLOBE project data have not been systematically examined in terms of differences between cultural values and practices, nor have they been utilized to explore the relationship between misaligned values and practices and preferred leadership attributes. We offer a unique approach to conceptualizing the difference between cultural practices and values by employing the concept of cultural dissonance. Secondly, we contribute to understanding how cultural dissonance may be associated with leadership expectations by using the negotiated culture framework. Thirdly, coverage of MENA countries in the current study contributes to leadership research in the MENA region. Exploration of culture and leadership in the MENA region is in itself an area where additional knowledge and perspective are needed (e.g., Kabasakal et al., 2012; Karacay et al., 2018). A better understanding of the above critical issues will also have substantial implications for managers and leaders who are working and managing operations in countries in this region.