East & West ---Chinese - American Leadership

1

Influence actions of School Principals in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and the United States: A cross-cultural perspective

• John Pisapia, ProfessorLeadership Studies

Florida Atlantic [email protected]

Nicholas Pang, ProfessorChinese University of Hong Kong

[email protected]

Paper presented at The World Education Research Association (WERA) FOCAL MEETING PROGRAM TERA International Conference on Education (TICE) December 16-18, 2011 Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong for the support of this research (RGC Ref. No.: 452710)

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Problem and Purpose China and the United States are separated by the Pacific Ocean and societal orientation – USA is considered individualistic – low power distance. China Collectivist – high power difference. Schools in these societies are organized in similar configurations. School principals hold similar positions, responsibilities and duties. Yet, they conduct their activities in different societal cultures.The purpose of this study was to learn how leadership is practiced in these cultures. The study was framed by three questions:1. What is the level of the principals’ use of strategic leadership

influence actions? 2. How strong is the effect of national and local culture on the use of

leader actions by school principals?3. Are some actions used more often by Chinese principals than by

American principals?

Research Streams

Context Societal Culture – How the world is perceived by a society (Hofstede (1984;2001;

Triandis, 1995; Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 1998; the GLOBE project (House et al., 1999); Inglehart, Basáñez, and Moreno, 1998; Schwartz, 1994)

Group/organizational Culture – How the world is perceived by subcultures of

the society (the GLOBE project, House et al., 1999

Leader Influence Actions Leadership requires horizontal leadership approaches = distributed leadership theory (Cox, Pearce, & Perry,

2003; Gronn, 2002; Pearce & Conger, 2003);

Leadership requires vertical leadership approaches suggested by hierarchy = command and control behaviors.

Leadership occurs in complex environments = complexity science (Goldstein, Hazy, & Lichtenstein, 2010; Lichtenshein et al., 2001; Uhl-Bien, Marion, & McKelvey, (2007); and

Leadership is about the relationship of leaders and followers = relational theories (Drath, 2001, McName & Gergen, 1999; Uhl-Bien, 2006). (Den Hartog et al., 1999; Dorfman, 1996; House et al., 1997)

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Pisapia’s Strategic Leadership Frame (2009) Strategic Leaders are flexible and able to adapt to different

circumstances and conditions. At times, the leader exerts this influence by using task

and relationship behaviors. At other times, they use power, authority, persuasion,

bargaining and incentives to influence followers. At still other times, they seek to articulate common

values, direction and goal attainment. Expectation

Much like an Artist, Leaders will apply an integrated set of leader actions to maintain stability and challenge the

status quo simultaneously.

l

TRANSFORMING

Eth I c A l

POLITICAL

MANAGING

What the Research showed us?

Artistry

Bartering

Bridging

Bonding

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SL Influence Actions

Description

Managing Actions taken to maintain consistency in order that current

organizational goals are accomplished efficiently and effectively.

Transforming

Actions taken to influence direction, actions, and opinions in order to change organizational conditions and culture so that learning and change occur as a normal routine of the organization.

Bonding

Actions taken to ensure that trust is an attribute of the system and not just something developed among individuals in order that followers' exhibit emotional commitment to the organization's aspirations and values.

BridgingActions are taken to develop alliances with people of power

and influence from outside and inside the organization in order to gain insights, support, and resources.

BarteringActions taken to give something in exchange in order

to strengthen the effectiveness of relationships and alliance building efforts.

BondingARTISTRY

Bridging

Bartering

Transforming

Managing

A Keystone Habit

The Types of Strategic Leadership Actions

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There are two directional actions

There are three maneuvering actions

MethodDesignQuantitative non-experimentalCriterion variables - Managing, Transforming, Bonding, Bridging, Bartering.Predictor variables – country and group

Hypotheses 1 = Country would not be associated with Principal influence actions2. –Group would not be associated with Principal influence action

Sample - School principals in China– Hong Kong (274)– Shanghai (109)– USA Miami (333)– Broward – (43)

Data CollectionInstrument: the Strategic Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ)© that measures the five leader actions of Bridging, Bartering, Bonding, Managing - Transforming using 35 questions based on a 5-point Likert scale.

Reliability: All reliability alphas > .70.

Validity: All instrumentation factor models exceeded 52% of the variance. Psychometrically validated in the USA (Reyes-Guerra 2009; Pisapia 2009), and in China (Pang & Pisapia, 2010; Pisapia & Pang, 2012).

Data AnalysisMANOVA – multivariate comparisons =

Tests were conducted at a significance level of p < .o5.

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Study Participants

USA376

China383

Country

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6%

44%36%

14%

% Sample

BrowardMiamiHKMLC

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USA China

Managing 4.131 4.07

Transforming 3.914 3.934

Bonding 4.005 4.418

Bridging 3.496 3.155

Bartering 3.16 3.008

2.75

3.25

3.75

4.25

4.75

Sig

Sig

Sig

Q#2 Ho1 The use of Strategic Leadership Influence Actions are not significantly related to National Culture.

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Broward Miami HK Shanghai

Managing 4.0587 4.14 4.1066 3.9819

Transforming 4.3105 3.58 3.8844 4.0539

Bonding 4.32 3.98 4.543 4.116

Bridging 3.449 3.5 2.905 3.762

Bartering 3.199 3.16 2.794 3.526

N 43 333 274 109

2.75

3.25

3.75

4.25

4.75

Q#3 Ho2 The use of Strategic Leadership Influence Actions are not significantly related to Group Culture.

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Study Findings Compared to other Strategic Leader Action Studies

A multifaceted use of strategic leadership actions is strongly associated with self reported effectiveness (Yasin , 2006 UĞurluoĞlu 2009); effectiveness reported by others; (Reyes-Guerra, 2009); and objective measures of effectiveness (Fazzino 2012)

Transforming, Political and Ethical actions were associated with more cohesive culture in schools. (Urdegar, 2007; Reyes-Guerra, 2009)

Leader actions were influenced by context (Yasin , 2006, Reyes-Guerra, 2009; Pisapia & Lin, 2010; Pisapia & Pang 2012)

As the leader felt the complexity of the context increasing they used more Political and Transforming actions (UĞurluoĞlu & Çelik, 2009)

SLQ appears free of gender bias; but influenced by education level, disciplines studied and tenure in position (Reyes-Guerra, 2009) – organization type and leader level (Pisapia & Lin 2010).

Mandated policies and programs were not effectively implemented when leaders did not use management authority in tandem with the other 4 actions.

(Reyes-Guerra, 2009) Free choice policies and programs were effectively implemented with

Transforming, Bonding, Bartering, and Bridging actions. (Reyes-Guerra, 2009)

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Conclusions It is too early to draw firm conclusions and recommendations until the

data is further analyzed to determine the influence of other organizational and personal context variables such as gender, age, length of service. These data demonstrate that:

Societal and/or group culture does not influence the use of directional actions of managing and transforming.

Societal culture significantly influences the use of maneuvering actions of bonding, bridging, and bartering.

Group culture significantly influences the use of maneuvering variables of bonding, bridging and bartering.

More Information?John Pisapia, [email protected]

Professor of Leadership Studies at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, currently serves as a Fulbright Scholar to China, the Adam Smith Visiting Scholar at the University of Glasgow, and founder of the Strategic Leader Network.

Dr. Pisapia brings over 23 years of management experience management experience as a principal, state commissioner of education, University Department Chair, and Research Director to his academic podium and consultancies.

His book, The Strategic Leader promising a new direction for leading in a globalized world was published in 2009 was named as a top 5 business books in 2010 by the Washington Post. •

Nicholas Sun-keung Pang is the Chairman and Professor of Educational Administration and Policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He specializes in educational administration, management and leadership, as well as school effectiveness and improvement. He also serves as Co-Director of the Hong Kong Centre for the Development of Educational Leadership (HKCDEL), Leader of the School Development and Evaluation Team (SDET), Director of the Preparation for Principalship (PFP) Course and Director of Master of Arts Programme in School Improvement and Leadership (MASIL). Prof. Pang was elected the Chairman of Hong Kong Educational Research Association for the year 1999-2001. Prof. Pang has been publishing widely, locally and internationally, with over 160 articles in various media.•

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Selected Books and Articles• Strategic Leadership

Pisapia, J. (2009). The strategic leader: New tactics for a globalizing world. Charlotte: Information Age Publishers. [2020- Washington Post List – 5 best leadership books]

• Pisapia, J. (2006). A New direction for leadership. (Education Policy Studies Series No. 61). Hong Kong: The Faculty of Education and the Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research. (Monograph) – cited in Scopus

• Pisapia, J. (i2011). Finding the future and making it happen. In S. Verma (Ed). Towards the next orbit. New Delhi: Sage Publishers.

• Pisapia, J. (2006). Mastering change in a globalized world. In P. Singh, J. Bhatnagar, & A. Bhandarker (Eds). Future of work: Mastering change. Chapter 19, pp. 303-327. New Delhi: Excel Books. IBSN: 81-7446-302-2.

• Strategic Leader ActionsFazzino, T. (2012). Leader Influence Actions , Climate, and School performance. Unpublished dissertation. Florida Atlantic University. Boca Raton, FL.

• Pisapia, J. & Lin, Y. (2011). Leader values and actions: An Exploratory study of school principals in mainland China. Frontiers of Education in China.

• Ugurluglu, U., Celik, Y., & Pisapia, J. (2010). The use of strategic leader actions by hospital managers in Turkey. American Journal of Business Research. 3(1), 33-52.

• Reyes-Guerra, D. (2009). The relationship of strategic leader actions and normative structures. Unpublished dissertation. Florida Atlantic University. [Nominated, AERA & College of Education Dissertations of the Year

• Ugurluglu, U. (2009). Assessment of Strategic Leadership Characteristics of Hospital Managers. Unpublished dissertation. Hacettepe University, Turkey.

• Pisapia, J. & Reyes-Guerra (2008). The Strategic Leader Questionnaire v1 (SLQ). Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Fl. Current © 2009 v3.

• Urdegar, Steven (2008) Beyond Fidelity: Relating Educational Practices And Their Determinants To Student Learning Gains, Unpublished dissertation. Florida Atlantic University. [Winner College of Education and AERA dissertation of the year competitions

• Yasin, M. (2006). The use of strategic leadership actions by Deans in Malaysian and American public universities. Unpublished dissertation. Florida Atlantic University.

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