Cross-cultural psychology attempts to understand how individuals of different cultures interact with each other (Abbe et al., 2007). Along these lines, cross-cultural leadership has developed as a way to understand leaders who work in the newly globalized market. Today’s international organizations require leaders who can adjust to different environments quickly and work with partners and employees of other cultures (House et al., 2001). It cannot be assumed that a manager who is successful in one country will be successful in another (Javidan et al., 2006; Brodbeck et al., 2000).
The following sections discuss the various aspects of cross-cultural leadership including: related theories and research, definitions of the construct itself and characteristics that are exhibited from such leaders, and antecedents to and implications of being a cross-cultural leader.