DARE TO EMBRACE DIFFERENCES: LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES FOR UNILEVERMaarten-van BeekManager, Recruitment UnileverPostbus 1925, 3000 BX Rotterdam, The Netherlands Tel: (31) 6-53419550 E-mail: [email protected]Grachev, Mikhail V. Associate Professor of Management Western Illinois University 3561 60 th Street, Moline, Il 61265 USA Tel (309) 762-9481 Fax (309) 762-6989 Abstract . Thi s paper fo cus es on lead ers hip compet enci es in mult ina tional compani es. It displays culture-contingent nature of effective leadership and reviews the lessons learned from Glo bal Leadershi p and Organi zat ional Behavi or Eff ect ive ness (GLOBE ) res ear ch tha t are applic abl e to the multi nat ional companies . The aut hor s ana lyz e Uni lev er’ s experi ence in building lea der ship compet enci es and the res ult s of int erviews wit h company managers in Russia. The authors discus s culture- speci fic adjustments to the proces s of build ing leadersh ip compet enci es in the Rus sia n subsid iar y and summar ize inn ovat ive sol uti ons in lea der shi p development for multinational companies. Key words: cross-cultural management, leadership, multinational companies, emerging markets Address correspondence to: Mikhail Grachev, Associate Professor of Management, Western Illinois University, 3561 60 th Street, Moline, Il 61265, USA; Tel (309) 762-9481; Fax (309) 762-6989; E-mail: [email protected]1
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8/6/2019 Mvb Dare to Embrace Differences (English)
Associate Professor of ManagementWestern Illinois University
3561 60th Street, Moline, Il 61265USA
Tel (309) 762-9481Fax (309) 762-6989
Abstract. This paper focuses on leadership competencies in multinational companies. Itdisplays culture-contingent nature of effective leadership and reviews the lessons learned fromGlobal Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) research that areapplicable to the multinational companies. The authors analyze Unilever’s experience in building leadership competencies and the results of interviews with company managers inRussia. The authors discuss culture-specific adjustments to the process of building leadershipcompetencies in the Russian subsidiary and summarize innovative solutions in leadershipdevelopment for multinational companies.
Address correspondence to: Mikhail Grachev, Associate Professor of Management, Western Illinois University,3561 60th Street, Moline, Il 61265, USA; Tel (309) 762-9481; Fax (309) 762-6989; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract. This paper focuses on leadership competencies in multinational companies. Itdisplays culture-contingent nature of effective leadership and reviews the lessons learned fromGlobal Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) research that areapplicable to the multinational companies. The authors analyze Unilever’s experience in
building leadership competencies and the results of interviews with company managers inRussia. The authors discuss culture-specific adjustments to the process of building leadershipcompetencies in the Russian subsidiary and summarize innovative solutions in leadershipdevelopment for multinational companies.
to growth. And by defining a new set of LGP competencies/factors and using it for management
development and recruitment Unilever tries to change manager’s behavior and increase
behaviors which are more linked with achieving strategic goals for growth (Figure 2).
[INSERT FIGURE 2 ABOUT HERE]
Corporate Purpose Statement describes what Unilever ‘aspires to be, as well as expresses
its values and beliefs’ and points out Unilever’s focus on local culture. In this multi-local
multinational company, local operating companies are able to draw on the resources of a global
corporation and bring together global scale and local relevance.
In the 1991 Unilever entered the Russian market and opened its office in St.Petersburg,
later transferred to Moscow. Today the company employs more than a thousand people in about
50 cities of Russia. It manufactures and sells consumer products to different markets, such as
shampoos, deodorants, margarine, mayonnaise, products for home and personal care, and also
sells its other major products under Unilever brands.
Multinationals in Russia: challenges in culture and leadership
To better understand the environment for Unilever’s business developments in Russia we
discuss attributes of Russian culture and leadership.
Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) project
conducted in 62 countries∗
displays current profile of the Russian business culture (Figure 3).
GLOBE is the advanced multinational cross-cultural research project. It further develops the theory of effects of
leadership, organizational practices, and values in 62 countries. Within the GLOBE research societal andorganizational cultures are operationally measured by assessing questionnaire responses from middle managers in
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When compared to other countries on GLOBE cultural dimensions, Russia has extreme scores:
very low in Uncertainty Avoidance, Future Orientation, Performance Orientation, and Humane
Orientation, very high on Power Distance. In particular, in a behavioral set of findings, the
extremely low Uncertainty Avoidance could be considered favorable for entrepreneurship
activities unless one links it to the very low Future Orientation. This can be interpreted as a lack
of vision in management and entrepreneurship, and as a primary focus on survival and short-term
business development. Low Performance Orientation makes it difficult to encourage managers
to focus on continuous improvement and learning. Low ranking on Humane Orientation raises
doubts about long-term investments in human resources. High Power Distance indicators
explain the tough bureaucratic measures in crisis management and in restructuring enterprises
and industries (Grachev, 2004). These findings support the other research results on culture
attributes of Russian business and management (Elenkov 1997; Naumov and Puffer 2000;
Michailova 2000).
[INSERT FIGURE 3 ABOUT HERE]
GLOBE findings on Russia display leadership profile of an administratively competent
manager, capable to make serious decisions and inspire his followers to meet performance
targets. To a certain extent he/she relies on teams and through diplomatic and collaborative
three industries (telecommunications, food processing, and financial services) with respect to (1) the values theyendorse and (2) reports of practices of entities in their societies. The value questionnaire responses concernedrespondents' reports of their values with respect to nine cultural attributes (responses in “Should Be” mode). Theentity questionnaire responses concerned the respondents' reports of societal and organizational practices (responsesin “As Is” mode). The values and practices were measured on a 7-point response scale with respect to nine culturaldimensions that display high within-culture and within-organization agreement and high between-culture and between-organization differentiation: societal and family collectivism, gender egalitarianism, assertiveness, power distance, performance orientation, future orientation, uncertainty avoidance, humane orientation. Russian GLOBEdata is based on our survey of 450 managers in 1996-1998.
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8/6/2019 Mvb Dare to Embrace Differences (English)
DIMENSION DEFINITION GLOBE “AS IS”INDICATOR FOR RUSSIA,
RANK (OUT OF 61
COUNTRIES)
IS THIS INDICATOR FOR YOUR
MULTINATIONAL COMPANY AN
ADVANTAGE (+) OR
DISADVANTAGE(--)?
IF THIS IS ADVANTAGE, DOES YOUR
COMPANY MANAGEMENT TRY TO
CAPITALIZE ON THIS (+ +) OR NOT (+ -
IF THIS IS DISADVANTAGE, DOES YOU
COMPANY MANAGEMENT TRY TO
CORRECT THIS (-- +) OR NOT (-- -- )?
uncertainty
avoidance
extent to which members of the organization or societystrive to avoid uncertainty by reliance on social norms,rituals, and bureaucratic practices to alleviate theunpredictability of future events
VERY LOW (2.88)RANK 61
(-) Bureaucratic ritualschoke initiatives
(--+) Simplification initiatichoke in forms
performance
orientation
extent to which organization or society encourages or rewards group members for performance involvementand excellence
VERY LOW (3.39)RANK 59
(+) Reward & recognitionhave a big impact
(++) Individual reward recognition are str
motivatorsfuture orientation degree to which individuals in organizations or societies
engage in future-oriented behaviors such as planning,investing in the future, and delaying gratification
VERY LOW (2.88)RANK 61
(-) (--+) Being better tcompetiton in this field bricompetitive advantage
assertiveness degree to which individuals in an organizations or societies are assertive, confrontational, and aggressive insocial relationships
LOW (3.38)RANK 54
(-) Expatriates have too biga voice
(--+) e.g. selection of assertRussian staff for promotions
collectivism II
(family
collectivism)
degree to which organizational and societal norms and practices encourage and reward collective distribution of resources and collective action
AVERAGE (4.50)RANK 18
(+) Big impact of trendsetters
(++) Targeting products advertising at very specgroups
gender
egalitarianism
extent to which an organization or society minimizegender role differences
VERY HIGH (4.08)RANK 2
(+) Women make buyingdecisions
(+--)
humane
orientation
degree to which individuals in organizations or societiesencourage and reward individuals for being fair,friendly, generous, caring, and kind to others
LOW (3.49)RANK 38
(-) Resistance to teamwork – western style
(--+) Naming teamwork akey behavior
power distance degree to which members of an organization or societyexpect and agree that power should be unequally shared
HIGH (5.52)
RANK 14
(-) People are still hiding
their good ideas
(--+) Open management style
collectivism I degree to which individuals express pride, loyalty, andcohesiveness in their organizational or families
HIGH (5.62)RANK 18
(+) (++) Creating space to shachievements widstrengthens connection committment
Figure 4. Perception of Russian societal culture at Unilever (based on interview with expatriate HR country manager).
8/6/2019 Mvb Dare to Embrace Differences (English)
Teamwork (common, different from team commitment or teamleadership which is more individualistic)
0
Action Oriented/risk taking 1
Out of the box thinking 1
Build Commitment / ownership 4
Total: 51
Figure 6. The results of survey of Russian managers at Unilever (scores represent how often thecompetencies were derived from observed behavior as distinctive factor for business success).
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Maarten van Beek (MA, MSc) is manager at Unilever corporate headquarters in the Netherlands. He is responsible for several human resources functions within Unilever. Withmaster degrees from Leiden University and Twente University (the Netherlands), and currently being in a Ph.D Program at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Maarten-van Beek combinescorporate career with research in the field of leadership and cross-cultural studies. He is a
member of the International Leadership Association’s Committee organizing ILA 2006 AnnualConference in Amsterdam.
Maarten van Beek Manager, Recruitment
Unilever Postbus 1925, 3000 BX Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Mikhail V. Grachev (Ph.D.) is Associate Professor of Management at Western IllinoisUniversity. He served as university faculty in the United States, France, Japan, Hungary, theCzech Republic, and Russia. He is the author of four books and articles in journals including Harvard Business Review, Advances in International Management, Advances in Global Leadership, Venture Capital, Journal of Business Venturing, Thunderbird Journal of
International Business, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Small Business
Economics, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Journal of East-West Business, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, IBAT Journal of Management, and Journal of
Management Systems. He is Co-Investigator in Global Leadership and Organizational His
research is focused on strategy and international dimensions of organizational behavior. He isthe Founding member of GLOBE Research Foundation and Co-Investigator in multinationalcross-cultural research project GLOBE. He served as Board Member of International LeadershipAssociation (ILA), advised the World Bank, Soros Foundation, 3M Company and other international organizations.
Grachev, Mikhail V.Associate Professor of Management
Western Illinois University3561 60th Street, Moline, Il 61265, USA