Toward Universalistic Models of Managerial Leader Effectiveness: A Comparative Study of Recent British and American Derived Models of Leadership

Abstract

House and Aditya (1997) claim there is a compelling logic suggesting the 'universality' of managerial leader effectiveness but this represents theoretical speculation and remains to be developed theoretically and demonstrated empirically. Their view contrasts sharply with the 'contingent' views of many writers who perceive problems arising from the significant differences in organizational settings and cultures that affect the management and leadership environment, and who question the generalizability and transferability of US management and leadership research to non-US cultures. The present study sets out to contribute to this debate. The findings from a qualitative comparative analytic study of empirically derived criteria of managerial leader effectiveness resulting from several factor analytic studies carried out in Britain and America respectively are presented and discussed. The research has revealed a high degree of universality that lends strong support to those who believe in generic theories and 'universalistic' models of management and leadership.