Leadership and followers' work goals: a comparison between Japan and the UK

Abstract

This paper examines to what extent Japanese and British followers differ with respect to their leadership preferences and work goals, within the frameworks of Bass and Avolio's Full-Range Leadership Model and House's Path-Goal Leadership Theory. The study also identifies the link between these two concepts (leadership preferences and work goals) and compares the patterns of relationships between the Japanese and British samples. A survey was conducted by self-completion e-mail questionnaires collected from 266 Japanese and 125 British subjects. The results indicate that Japanese and British followers show significant differences with respect to their leadership preferences for both Bass and Avolio's eight leadership styles and House's four styles, as well as for eight work goals. Also, the research identifies that the relationships between followers' leadership preferences and their desired work goals significantly differ between the two countries. The study therefore offers guidance for leaders who deal with Japanese and British followers by showing which leadership styles can be effective for those followers who demonstrate particular work goals, and the patterns identified in this research provide insights for future investigations by suggesting some new relationships to be tested.

Keywords:

• Full-range leadership model
• Japan
• leadership preferences
• path-goal leadership theory
• UK
• work-goals