Preprint version Later published as Leadership Attributes and cultural values in Australia and New Zealand compared: An initial report based on GLOBE data. International Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 2, 37-44. Leading in Australia: Results from the GLOBE Study

What is the nature of leadership in Australia? Is Australian leadership uniquely conditioned by our national culture? If this is the case, then how are Australian leaders different from their counterparts in other parts of the world? These are the questions that we sought to answer through participation in the 62-nation GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness program) project. The overarching aim of GLOBE, initiated and led since 1993 by Professor Robert J. House of the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, was “to develop an empirically based theory to describe, to understand, and to predict the impact of specific cultural variables on leadership and organisational processes and the effectiveness of these processes”. This aim was to be accomplished through an examination the relationships between societal culture, organisational culture, and organisational leadership. 1