A Comparison of Leadership and Cultural Differences of International Military Officers: A Cross-Cultural Study Using GLOBE Score

This study explores the areas of leadership and organizational culture of International Senior Military Officers. Today's world is extremely complex, made even more so with disagreements and conflict between nations influenced by cultural and fundamental beliefs. When nations turn to military forces to dissuade, persuade or influence these conflicts, military operations usually involve some form of multinational or alliance operations. Differing nations result in different views as to what sound leadership entails. It is critical for differing nations' military leadership to have a high degree of cultural awareness of international participants. Using Project GLOBE's twenty-four dimensions for leadership and culture, Research Area I compared research findings to GLOBE findings at the Grand Means level. Research Area II focused on research findings compared to GLOBE findings at the Cluster level. Research Area III reviewed the research findings between research clusters to determine similarities or differences between military officer clusters. International military officers attending the National Defense University during 2013-2015 were sampled. A total of 111 students responded by completing the GLOBE Survey A. Statistical analysis included multiple t-test comparisons for Research Areas I and II. Results indicated significant difference at the Grand Means level, where international military officers were higher in preferring Humane Oriented leadership but lower in Team Oriented and Autonomous leadership. For the 18 cultural dimensions, military officers were different from GLOBE findings in 15, with higher scores for As Is Humane Orientation, Power Distance, and Gender Egalitarianism, but lower for As Is Aggressiveness. ANOVAs with Scheffe post hoc analysis showed military officers differing in only 5% using the GLOBE dimensions.