Colombia: The Human Relations
Side of Enterprise*
1. COLOMBIA: ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND
Population and Economy
Colombia had a population of 41 million in 1998, and an annual growth rate of 2.2%. The average Colombian household included 5.2 persons, and population density reached 31 inhabitants per square kilometer. The nation's literacy rate was 87%. Per capita income averaged U.S.$1,400 annually, and purchasing power was one fourth that of the United States. Sustained economic growth from 1987 to 1997 surpassed 4% annually. The gross domestic product (GDP) is based on services (51%), industry (28%), and agriculture (20.5%). Foreign trade totals U.S.$23 billion annually and is carried out mainly with the United States (36%), Europe (20%), and the Andean Group (13%). Major exports include petroleum and its derivatives; coffee, coal, and the illegal exportation of cocaine to the major consumption centers. Industrial output is made up of agricultural and food products (30%), textiles and clothing (16%), and transportation and machinery (8%).
The Colombian population is primarily a racial mixture balanced between Native American peoples and descendants of Spanish conquerors, and people of African origin. Although regional social differences still exist, as do traditional aboriginal groups, 75% of the Colombian population now lives in urban areas.
The GLOBE study, covering middle managers from three industries (finance, telecommunications, and food processing), was carried out in Bogotá, a city of 7 million inhabitants, half of whom are immigrants from the provinces; the Spanish language and the Christian religion (principally Catholic) predominate. Enormous socioeconomic differences do exist—the poorest 20% of the country's population earned 4% of the national income.
Although the nation's colonial independence movement began in 1781, full independence from Spain did not come about until 1819. Throughout the 19th century, Colombian leadership alternated between military and civilian types, dedicated to bringing about major changes in society's structures as well as the nature of the state and the government. The first leader in Colombia, after independence was achieved, was of course Simon Bolivar, the hero of the Wars of Liberation in five Andean Republics. Bolivar is remembered as an audacious and visionary leader. His revolutionary counterpart, Francisco de Paula Santander, known as “the Lawmaker,” had a reputation for being a cold and efficient leader. Their differences led to Colombia's two-party system. By the mid-19th century, the country was once again in the hands of a military leader—General Tomas Cipriano de Mosquera—whose radical policies and liberal experiments led to civil war. Subsequent political change was personified by President Nuñez, whose visionary statecraft included a national constitution that served the country for more than a hundred years, until 1992. It is worth noting that in Colombia, conservative ideology triumphed at the end of the 19th century, which was not the case in most Latin American countries. The conservative President Reyes headed the movement for national reconstruction at the beginning of the 20th century.
By the 1930s, the Liberal Party had gained control of the government. President Lopez achieved important political reforms that contributed to greater democratic participation and led to more harmonious socioeconomic development. Nevertheless, civil war and widespread violence have continued to plague Colombian society up to the close of the 20th century. By and large, in recent decades the nation followed the economic models recommended by ECLA (Economic Commission for Latin America), which encouraged the protection of domestic industry by means of tariffs. President Lleras—another major liberal reformer— focused on the promotion of exports, and on regional trade blocks, such as the Andean Pact. However, as of 1990 these policies had taken a turn toward the free-market economy and the privatization of state-owned enterprises.
Industries Studied
In the last decades, the financial sector in Colombia has been the source of major business opportunities: Starting in 1974, a novel savings program that drew international attention was instituted by the government under which new financial institutions attracted 30% of domestic savings, which in turn were earmarked for new housing construction. This program helped create a network of financial institutions that differed from traditional banks in the sense that they were more dynamic and better organized. In contrast, the banking sector suffered a crisis in 1982, which resulted in the closure of several major banks. This was followed by a period of institutional reforms and control of the financial sector. Beginning in 1990, and as a result of newly formulated free-market guidelines, the financial sector was opened up to foreign investment—mostly from Spain—and due to this increased competition financial institutions have consequently seen their profit margins drop. The financial sector in Colombia has changed from being mostly state owned to being privately operated, and new financial activities have become a major part of this service industry—that is, the management of pension and retirement funds, investment banking, fiduciary services, and cooperative organizations banking. Major financial institutions have been organized under the system of headquarter and specialized subsidiaries, with a tendency to multiple banking services.
Up until the 1990s, the telecommunications sector was the almost exclusive domain of the state. Nowadays, cellular telephones, the Internet, satellite communications, new communications services, and data processing have begun to compete with more traditional telecommunications services. TELECOM, the nation's most important communications entity, was state owned up to 1998; however, its privatization process has set off an intense debate among political organizations and labor unions. Furthermore, the telecommunications sector is also being opened up to news media organizations, online suppliers, local telephone companies, and foreign telecommunications companies that possess advanced technology otherwise not available in Colombia, as well as to the largest conglomerates in the nation (three of which are family owned, and a fourth, which is regionally owned).
The food-processing industry has traditionally been a mainstay of the Colombian economy. For decades Colombia has been relatively self-sufficient in food production, and national companies have predominated in this sector alongside a small number of multinational corporations (such as Nestlé). Competition has recently increased, and free-market policies have allowed for a greater number of imports and exports that have, in turn, contributed to a more diverse selection of product availability and to a more dynamic business environment in this sector. This growth has gone hand in hand with the sustained development of the national economy as a whole.
Political System
The Colombian political system is an elective democracy in which the executive branch predominates within a centralized state (up to the 1980s). Power is concentrated in the hands of an unchanging, limited elite (Ogliastri, 1976, 1996b; Ogliastri & Guerra, 1980; Ogliastri & Dávila, 1987). It is difficult to clearly define the political system in Colombia because, in spite of having supported democratically elected Governments throughout the entire 20th century (with one exception in 1953), its internal contradictions require paradoxical political terms: “Colombian democracy … in spite of its missing parts … is a surprising reality” (Arrubla, 1978, p. 218). According to Solaún (1980, p. 3), “The country is partially democratic,” or barely “a liberal democracy” (Peeler, 1983). Kline (1974) termed it “patrimonial” and “elitist,” “a slightly veiled autocracy, managed by an ‘oligarchy’ or ‘elite’” and Bailey (1977) called it a “procedural democracy” (p. 260) and classified Colombia as an example of “elitist pluralism” (p. 275). In addition, Lijphart classified it as “a consociational democracy” (1968, 1977), but later withdrew it from his list and Hartlyn (1988) insists on the same concept. Hoskin and Swanson (1974) agreed that it was “a revolutionary situation in objective terms” (p. 243); but, the term that probably best summarizes the Colombian paradox was coined by Wilde (1978), “Colombia is an oligarchic democracy” (Ogliastri, 1989a, 1989b).
The national Constitution, adopted in 1991, signified an attempt to make the country more democratic and egalitarian within a more just society, but in reality the political situation in the country, in terms of elitist structures, has only slightly been changed and the use of armed force continues to characterize the Colombian government (Peeler, 1994).
A Note on the Narcotics Mafia and the “War on Drugs”
As a result of the demand for narcotics in the United States, minor criminals in Colombia were able to amass sizable fortunes during the 1970s by exporting marijuana; but, when the United States itself became self-sufficient in marijuana production, Colombian marijuana exports dropped dramatically. Colombian narcotics organizations subsequently began to process cocaine (which, until then, had not been cultivated, and which was, as well, little known in Colombia). Illegal cocaine contributed to the growth of wealthy mafias and to the creation of enormous individual fortunes; to increased corruption in the public and private sectors; to the assassination of judges, politicians (including presidential candidates), and journalists; and to a wave of terrorism that forced the government of President Virgilio Barco to declare a War on Drugs in 1989. By 1997, all of the Colombian mafia kingpins were either in prison or dead, while at the same time U.S. drug consumption continued to increase and the illegal narcotics business expanded.
A few individuals involved in drug trafficking possessed a certain charismatic appeal—as was the case of Pablo Escobar in Medellin—but, in general, these criminals have been unsuccessful in finding a place for themselves in the Colombian establishment. This failure can be attributed, in large part, to the oligarchic and closed character of the Colombian ruling class. In particular, the mafia has not been allowed to take control of any banks or financial institutions, nor has the mafia been allowed to acquire interests in the telecommunications or food-processing sectors of the economy. As a result, the narcotics mafia has invested its earnings almost entirely in real estate and livestock, or has left the money overseas (Thoumi, 1994).
The narcotics mafia has also been accused of corrupting government officials and political candidates—particularly in the financing of campaigns—and (many) public officials who have been convicted of making contacts with the mafia have subsequently lost their congressional seats and spent time in prison. This moralization campaign has been directed by the former special prosecutor for the nation in conjunction with the head of the national police, both of whom got nominations as presidential candidates in 1998 (La Figura, 1996).
By 1997, the War on Drugs centered on “illicit enrichment,” and on the extradition of Colombian citizens. Financial institutions began to require all clients to declare the origins of their deposits, with no one being exempt from having to prove the source of his or her income under threat of confiscation and imprisonment for failure to comply. The extradition of Colombian nationals has received little support from the general public, which has consistently considered the measure as unfair.1
2. THE GLOBE STUDY IN COLOMBIA
Methods and Procedures
In accordance with the parameters outlined by the GLOBE group (see chap. 1 of this volume) research began in Colombia in 1993. It included a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods (Agar, 1994; Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Ogliastri, 1987).
The qualitative side of the research conducted in Colombia consisted of a pilot study, 72 semistructured interviews, three focus groups, 14 case studies, a questionnaire of nonobtrusive indicators, a comparative questionnaire on observations dealing with cultural variables, and content analysis of the printed news media.
The quantitative research consisted of two surveys with 302 middle-level managers from three economic sectors; and an organizational contingency questionnaire with 23 presidents and vice presidents surveyed. Details on each one of these research activities are given later on along with their corresponding results.
Once the qualitative pilot study came to an end in 1994, this author, in collaboration with 14 research assistants, interviewed 75 midlevel managers (from the three sectors previously mentioned) during the first semester of 1995. These qualitative interviews used open-ended questions about real-life experiences. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim, which allowed for detailed content analysis of the information. At the same time that these interviews were being conducted, a focus group analyzed case studies of leadership in 14 successful Colombian businesses. The report on this portion of the study was completed before the results of the other GLOBE methodologies were revealed (Ogliastri, 1996a, 1997b; Rodríguez, 1994).
The double-blind “back” translations and the pilot testing of the quantitative questionnaire were completed in 1994 with a group of 56 postgraduate finance students. The final quantitative survey was carried out during the second semester of 1995 with the GLOBE Alpha and Beta questionnaires, to which 302 midlevel managers (from the three economic sectors) responded.2
During the first semester of 1996, the Colombian team participated in the development of participant observation and unobtrusive measures questionnaires of the GLOBE study. The final questionnaires were responded to individually by participating researchers who discussed their results and reached a group consensus on the Colombian data.3
In the second semester of 1996, data were collected on leadership issues that appeared in the printed news media, specifically, six publications during 1 week in September. The classification, computerization, selection, and handling of these data took place in the months that followed; and the final report, prepared in June 1997, was issued independently from the results of the quantitative survey, which began to appear in May of the same year (Ogliastri, 1997b).
In summary, this study on Colombia's culture and organizational leadership therefore incorporated quantitative (a survey) and qualitative methods (interviews, focus groups, case studies, media analysis) as well as mixed methods (participant observation and unobtrusive indicators questionnaires). Such multiplicity of methods allows for a comparison of results and formulation of general conclusions. In the sections that follow, the results of the Colombian study are presented in the following order: data on Colombian cultural characteristics as expressed in the quantitative questionnaire; unobtrusive observations; results on organizational culture; media analysis of leadership; survey results on leadership; data on case studies, and the results of the focus groups and qualitative interviews.
Colombian Societal Culture: Quantitative GLOBE Survey
The Dutch researcher Geert Hofstede carried out a seminal study on the work-related values of IBM employees in 53 countries, including Colombia. Cultural norms were divided by Hofstede into four areas: equality versus power distance; the need to reduce uncertainty versus tolerance of ambiguity; the individual versus the group; and masculinity versus femininity. Colombia was classified high on the elitist scale, high on group orientation, medium high on being in need of reducing uncertainty, and as a culture oriented toward “masculine” values.
A quantitative section of the GLOBE survey, designated Beta, included the participation of 153 midlevel managers who responded to questionnaire items on the present situation in Colombian society (“As Is,” perceived cultural practices), as well as on what they considered Colombian society should become (“Should Be,” perceived cultural values). The response items from the questionnaire were grouped into nine dimensions on the basis of literature studies and empirically on the basis of the total sample of 61 GLOBE countries (for details see House et al., 2004): Power Distance, Institutional Collectivism, In-Group Collectivism, Uncertainty Avoidance, Gender Equalititarianism, Assertiveness, Performance Orientation, Future Orientation, and Humane Orientation. Hofstede had originally identified four cultural dimensions (Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, and Uncertainty Avoidance), but in the GLOBE study, gender differentiation was broadened beyond just the terms “masculinefeminine” (differentiating equality orientation from assertive “masculine” values), and two different dimensions of collectivism (Institutional vs, In-Group Collectivism) were found. Values were rated from 1 through 7 (the higher the value, the higher the variable content). The data compiled for Colombia appear in Table 19.1.
It is worth mentioning that Colombian culture results were similar to the majority of the 10 Latin American countries of the GLOBE study, except for 3 of the 18 scales.4 Colombia could be considered in this regard to be the most representative country of Latin America (Ogliastri et al., 1999).
Power Distance. The most remarkable aspects that emerged from the study were the descriptions that Colombian managers gave of their country as being excessively elitist, that is, high in Power Distance “As Is” (Rank 11) and as wanting to see it becoming much less so (Power Distance “Should Be,” Rank 61). This desire was so strong that Colombia placed first among all 61 countries ranked, the only one in the extreme E category. Furthermore, they described Colombian society as being highly In-Group Collectivistic (“As Is,” Rank 12), in the sense of marked family and group loyalty values—aspects that they wished could be even higher on the values scale (“Should Be,” Rank 2). These results coincided with those of Hofstede from two decades earlier, except he did not distinguish between the two different concepts of collectivism considered in the GLOBE scales. The managers are highly unhappy about some individualistic features of their society. Another strongly felt hope among Colombian managers was that Performance Orientation cultural practices (“As Is,” Rank 39) should be much higher (“Should Be,” Rank 3).
Uncertainty Avoidance. Concerning Uncertainty Avoidance, the data have changed since Hofstede's study in which Colombia earned a medium index rating for Uncertainty Avoidance (20th among 53 nations); whereas, in the latest survey, Colombia is rated as having a medium-high tolerance for ambiguity (Rank 53) but in favor of more Uncertainty Avoidance (Rank 21).
Colombian Society, Cultural Practices (“As Is”) and Cultural Values (“Should Be”)
Note. Hofstede's data appear classified in agreement with the position Colombia occupies among the 53 countries reported in 1991 (Hofstede, 1980, 1997). The GLOBE countries were grouped into three or four meaningful groups (A > B > C > D > E) using a statistical procedure (test banding, cf. Hanges, Dickson, & Sipe, 2004). The GLOBE ranking indicates the position occupied by Colombia in comparison with a total of 61 countries (the smaller the rank the higher the dimension value).
Why has uncertainty increased during the past 25 years in Colombia? This can, in part, be explained as the result of the institutional changes that have transformed the country's economic development model from one based on protecting domestic industry to one based on exporting goods and services, and on the liberalization of commerce. Consequently, nontraditional exports now account for more than half of the country total exports, the outcome, in part, of governmental incentives such as the Vallejo Act. Additional institutional transformations that have played an important role in Colombia's uncertainty profile include the decentralization of political power that began to take place in the 1980s, and that reached its peak when a new, national Constitution was approved in 1991; other changes include: the adoption of a new liberal economic model, new laws governing pensions, health plans, and labor relations, as well as the privatization of public services.
Other factors that have created instability in the country include the following: the arrival of new, illegal capital; the war on drugs; violent crime; powerful guerrilla armies; and the weakness of the government and of the Colombian state in general. All of the aforementioned factors have brought about enormous changes and subsequently greater uncertainty.
Yet another cause for the raise in uncertainty has to do with the performance of the economy and the business sector which, from the beginning of the 1970s has not only grown significantly, but did so in novel ways that have led to the opening up of new areas within the country. In the 25-year period 1972 to 1996, the Colombian economy was the fastest growing in all of Latin America (4.5% on average). This dynamic economic growth has been dominated by new business activities: the exploration, drilling, and distribution of petroleum in new regions; the export of fresh-cut flowers; the production and international distribution of bananas from large farms in the Uraba region; the production and export of primarily marijuana and, then, of coca leaf and cocaine from plantations and laboratories located in remote, jungle regions. This vigorous economic growth has all the trappings of what could be termed a new entrepreneurial phase in Colombian history, one linked to new business ventures and to an outward-looking economy; characterized by new and tenuous ground rules in which rapid economic and institutional transformations require quick decisions, and taking quick advantage of business opportunities—all of which contrast sharply with economically developed societies whose business activities are well established and well on their way to full maturity.
Gender Egalitarianism. On Gender Egalitarianism, Colombia is positioned as an A country in both practice (“As Is,” Rank 12) and ideal terms (“Should Be,” Rank 9). The change in values registered between the Hofstede and the GLOBE studies does not come as a surprise. Colombian society was classified by Hofstede as having “masculine” values; that is, employees valued opportunities for high earnings, recognition for good performance, advancement opportunities, and challenging work. The feminine pole carried out by Hofstede listed employee preferences as: a good working relationship with the boss, a cooperative atmosphere at the office, an attractive living area for self and family, and job security.
In the GLOBE study, the Masculine dimension was changed into two different scales: assertiveness and female/male equality. Colombians were described as assertive (dominant, tough, assertive, “As Is” Assertiveness, Rank 25, Band A), but a preference was expressed in favor of a less assertive patterns (Rank 40, Band B). Gender differentiation was classified on the feminine side (Rank 11, Group A), meaning a preference for gender equality. The same preferences—higher equality on the job, equal school opportunities and sports programs— were expressed as desirable for the future. Colombia ranked as 9 on Gender Egalitarianism “Should Be” (Band A).
Oddly enough, neither male nor female managers indicated that gender differentiation was remarkable in Colombia; neither was there a perceptible difference in their answers dealing with sexual equality; furthermore, both women and men expressed leadership concepts in identical terms (Ogliastri, 1996b).
In the majority of countries included in the GLOBE study, a preference for gender equality predominated. Colombia, unlike countries where the role of women is dictated by religion, has been part of the international movement toward achieving gender equality. This is reconfirmed by the large number of managers who have attended coeducational secondary schools, by the growing numbers of women in executive posts (particularly in the financial sector and in government posts), and by the changing attitudes toward equality among university students in recent decades.
In summary, the study confirmed Hofstede's findings on high collectivism and elitism in Colombian society, as described by managers. In spite of a high desire to be able to control unexpected events, Colombian people seem to be less able to reduce uncertainty than it was two decades ago. It has evolved toward gender equality values; the GLOBE managers would prefer as well an average assertiveness pattern. They know that Colombians live for the present, are oriented to achieve, and are not overly sensitive, friendly, tolerant, generous, or concerned, but they would like their society to be more humane and future oriented as well as highly focused toward performance achievement.
The remaining variables in the survey were also classified as about average on the values scale with respondents evidently in favor of creating a social environment that should be more oriented toward the future (“Should Be,” Rank 25) and less preoccupied with immediate concerns (more thought given to the future).
Colombian Culture: Nonobtrusive Observations
In addition to the quantitative survey in which nine cultural dimensions were measured, observations were made and nonreactive measurements were taken, in all countries, for these same dimensions. This meant that measurements could be obtained that were independent from the Beta questionnaire. A strong correlation was found for these two measures. A summary of these nonobtrusive observations appears in the following subsections and includes the variables that define Colombian culture in their order of importance: Collectivism, Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Gender Egalitarianism, Assertiveness, Performance Orientation, Humane Orientation, and Future Orientation.
Collectivism. Unobtrusive research efforts concentrated on determining to what extent a society is oriented toward collectivist values by means of analyzing the family unit, the socialization of children, and sports. The extended family in Colombian society has long been recognized for its distinctive collectivist features: Unmarried or widowed adult children live with their families; elderly parents are not placed in institutions, but rather taken in by one of their children; Colombians learn from childhood to depend on extended family members instead of “making it on their own.”
The most important sports in Colombia are soccer, cycling (in teams), and baseball (in the Atlantic coastal region). Individual sports have few adherents. However, Colombian society is not so controlled by family members that parents may arrange marriages, nor is it considered unacceptable for individuals to express nonconformity with the majority. Yet, core social values in Colombia are undeniably collectivist or group oriented in nature.
Power Distance (Elitism). As has been previously clarified, one of Colombian society's key characteristics is the concentration of power in the hands of a closed, powerful elite. It is not difficult to notice that social inequality, and the values that shore it up, is part of daily life; for instance, in cities mansions coexist with shanty towns. Nor is it difficult to notice the privileges enjoyed by the top members of any major business organization; these include lavish offices, special parking lots, fashionable clothing (instead of uniforms), and dining rooms that are reserved for the different ranks among the company's hierarchy. However, there is a trend in corporations for a more egalitarian culture.
A millionaire's household servants are divided into ranks, within just one household, and cemeteries are even classified as being first or second rate. However, restaurants and other public places are not reserved for one specific social caste. It is common in Bogotá to hear the formal prefixes “don” and “doña,” or “doctor” and “doctora” in recognition of social and professional status; but these formal genuflexions are not so common in the rest of the country.
The nation's police force can be quite authoritarian; nevertheless, law enforcement is lax, and relations between police officers and the community are very limited. The high figures on the GLOBE dimensions related to elitism in Colombian culture are not surprising, and they are reconfirmed by the social observations garnered on elitism.
Uncertainty Avoidance. Colombia is undoubtedly immersed in improvisation and ambiguity, as can be seen by such behavior as the disobedience to traffic regulations, by the unimportance given to automobile liability insurance (until 1990 liability insurance was nonobligatory), and in most cities, by the lack of organized passenger and driver courtesies at bus stops and on bus rides. Colombians generally arrive late for appointments (half an hour is common) although this custom has become lees acceptable, and there now exists greater pressure toward being punctual, especially among companies and professionals (doctors and dentists). As a rule, Colombians do not plan their vacations ahead of time (unlike members of other societies); at the most, this is done just a few weeks before departure.
Colombian businesses usually have written rules and regulations (e.g., requests for photocopies), but exceptions to the rule, and “last minute” demands are considered equally important. This culture, therefore, tolerates ambiguity which, in turn, has its positive implications including flexibility, open-mindedness, creativity, innovation, reflex capacity, and the ability to handle emergencies. But, this same ambiguity tolerance also has an unattractive side that manifests itself as it does in any poorly planned society where it is not possible to identify fixed rules, and where daily lives are often overwhelmed by chaos.
Gender Egalitarianism. In general, men have more status than women in Colombia; however, gender is a secondary status factor compared to class or family ties, to income, power, success, skin color, age, or even regional origin. There are four categories into which nonobtrusive observations on gender equality can be divided: the law, social customs, values, and real circumstances.
Monogamy has been the only acceptable marriage contract for both men and women, and there is no judicial distinction between “legitimate” and “illegitimate” children. In legal terms, gender equality has moved forward thanks to the 1991 Constitution. Colombian law punishes sexual harassment and spouse abuse, but it is still not common for such cases to go to court. Divorce laws, which did not exist until the 1970s, ensure equal rights for both spouses. Legal marriage age is the same for both sexes. Women are allowed to join the armed forces, although few do so, and the regulations governing feminine active duty are incomplete, which is beneficial for women in a country where military service is dangerous.
Insofar as social customs are concerned, boys’ schools were traditionally considered superior to girls’ schools, but this is no longer the case. “Masculine” and “feminine” occupations are still differentiated (nurses, school teachers, psychologists, translators, household servants, housewives, etc., are considered to be “women's work”), the latter being held in less esteem and not as well paid as the former. There are private clubs that still refuse to admit women, and bars where a woman's presence is considered “uncomely”; however, these prejudices are beginning to disappear. Men still pay the bill when a couple is dating, but this custom is also changing among university students since the 1990s.
Gender equality and societal values do not grant a woman greater status because she has a son or because she has a daughter; nevertheless, most men hope to have at least one male heir who will carry on the family name. Most Colombian heroes are men, but even before the dawn of the feminist movement, the heroines of the War of Independence against the Spanish Empire were exalted in Colombian history; and furthermore, women athletes who have earned Olympic medals, or who have set outstanding sports records receive as much news coverage for their achievements as do men. Only 20% of the presidential cabinet are women, a figure that corresponds to the percentage of women presidential candidates who have campaigned since the 1970s—with as yet no woman president being elected. However, a trend for equality in the presidential cabinet is under way. Abortion is common (and illegal); and, if a baby is abandoned or sold shortly after birth, regardless of their sex, it becomes a scandal.
Colombian managers described their nation's culture as one in which gender equality is now the norm. This is a surprising conclusion; however, it should be analyzed in light of the fact that in Colombia, as in many parts of the world, gender equality has come to be considered part of the social ideal, or as part of a new, ideological standard. This is reconfirmed by the Beta survey in which business executives, particularly in Bogotá, expressed their strong support for women at work. Among those interviewed in this segment of Colombian society, the women are graduates of coeducational, bilingual secondary schools and universities; their marriages are often made up of dual-career couples, and both spouses share household and childrearing duties; by doing so, they have placed themselves in the vanguard of changing Colombian social values.
In spite of the fact that gender inequality and discrimination still exist, this author has observed that business executive training programs, in which women made up only 5% of the participants in the early 1970s, now have an enrollment (1990s) that includes 35% women (a proportion similar to the number of women interviewed in the Beta survey).
Assertiveness. According to homicide statistics and other indicators of violent behavior, Colombia is one of the most aggressive countries in the world. This is, in fact, one of the country's worst problems, as previously mentioned, and it is directly related to political conflict, organized crime, weak government, and social inequality. Aggression is one of their major sociocultural problems. But Assertiveness also has positive undertones for Colombian managers, who are used to soft interpersonal relations at work.
Performance Orientation. There is a growing tendency in Colombian culture toward Performance Orientation (see Table 19.1), and this can be also observed in four areas: in primary and secondary schools, as well as in colleges and universities; in business organizations; in legal statutes; and in publicly fostered cultural values. Primary and secondary schools often rank students on a monthly basis, and the best students are rewarded at year's end. However, colleges and universities only reward extraordinary achievement (1% of those enrolled), a practice that makes little or no impact (on performance orientation) on the majority of the student body.
Teacher/professor evaluation by the schools is even less common, in part due to respect for authority figures. These evaluations of professors are formal procedures related to scale or promotion; nonetheless, a few universities rely heavily on student evaluations of faculty, which has sometimes brought about a lowering of their respective academic standards. In general, universities are increasing the use of faculty evaluation that focuses on teaching, research, and publishing, and the entire educational system has begun to take steps toward incorporating performance orientation into its agenda.
Many large and medium-size Colombian business organizations, although by no means all of them, evaluate their employees for job performance, which is subsequently used as the basis for promotion and salary increases. This is a standard practice among multinational corporations, but only 50% of Colombian corporations follow suit. Employee rewards, such as prizes and public recognition, are linked almost exclusively to salespeople; whereas promotions are often linked—albeit subtly—not to employee merit, but rather to social status, family ties, and personal connections.
There are very few laws or official initiatives that deal with commercial performance orientation in Colombia, such as tax credits for corporate research and development, on-the-job training programs, or business start-ups. Neither are streets, parks, or avenues named for pioneers of industry, nor for outstanding inventors—this being an honor reserved for those who have achieved political power. Yet, values are changing with regard to the image of business leaders, who are no longer seen as villains but rather as heroes or heroines of industry.
Parents tend to motivate their children toward performance, but the value given to affiliation among Colombian families probably still supersedes performance as a primary goal. Even among the upper middle class, whose members are the most achievement oriented of all, the ideal of successful affiliation is widespread, a fact observed by the author in his teaching in university classes and in executive workshops. Sudarsky (1973) has extensively researched achievement in Colombia, and the results of his studies indicate important variations among the country's different geographical regions and among its social strata over a considerable period of time.
In the final analysis, Colombia can be classified as moderately high on the performance orientation values scale, when placed within an international context; but, the country is clearly on the road toward establishing greater performance values. These conclusions reconfirm Colombia's ranking on Performance Orientation “As Is” in the above-average intermediate Group (B Band), but it is worth noting that it is one of the top three nations that expressed a deep desire toward greater Performance Orientation “Should Be” (A Band), meaning that this variable, among all of those in the GLOBE study, is the one that is undergoing the most significant change.
Humane Orientation. The traditional Catholic values of charity and resignation to one's destiny have always been part of Colombian culture, but these values are now being questioned by a nation whose majority finds itself face-to-face with an increasingly difficult situation. The GLOBE study's humanitarian indicators were based on Colombian society's treatment of beggars and the homeless, prisoners, physical and mental minorities, children, and the poor.
In Bogotá, beggars and the homeless share the streets with garbage recyclers, street vendors, clowns, mental patients, and “lost souls.” Although there are no laws against free vendors in shopping malls, security guards make sure that they do not bother shoppers. There are public and private urban institutions that provide free meals to homeless adults and to children—this is an extension of the philanthropic custom found in Colombia's small towns where many private homes feed the poor once a day. But, Christian charity has not solved the country's social problems, and many citizens oppose giving away food and shelter on the grounds that it leads to even greater poverty and passivity. Terms such as “disposables” or “human garbage” (desechables) have been coined and used by many to refer to the nation's homeless and to beggars on the street.
The state of the nation's prisons has become deplorable due to overcrowding and to inhumane living conditions, in spite of the fact that rehabilitation and prison work programs do exist. Colombian law does not permit capital punishment, but prison homicide is common, and many mortal crimes aren't ever solved. Medical attention for prisoners is inadequate, and this has been the cause of recent, bloody uprisings in the nation's penitentiaries.
The treatment of the physical and mentally impaired is yet another indicator of impersonal orientation. Colombia has set up special services, schools, and clinics for this segment of the population, which is often considered as being a progressive step in comparison to the treatment received in the past; however, this special treatment has recently come under fire as being discriminatory and poorly focused toward full integration into society. In response to this criticism, all schools are now enrolling the physically impaired and providing them with special services so as not to exclude them from the general student body. But, Braille is not available in elevators, old buildings and streets do not include wheelchair ramps, national television is not captioned for the hearing impaired, and mental and physical minorities receive no government subsidies, no specific social security, nor are companies required to meet employment quotas for this sector of the population—all of which reveals little official concern for these minorities.
The presence of child paupers and juvenile gangs who live in the streets of the major cities continues to be a pressing national problem. Poverty may be the root of the problem. However, the majority of the population has grown accustomed to this phenomenon, which has not been changed by either public or private efforts to help these impoverished, juvenile citizens. Until now a viable solution for the alleviation of the poverty from which a certain sector of the Colombian population suffers has not been found by sociologists, philanthropists, or international aid organizations.
The legal system differentiates juvenile delinquents from adult criminals, and juvenile courts send lawbreakers to reformatories. Child labor is legal from the age of 14, which is young compared to international standards, and poor urban and rural children often leave school to help their parents. This is not common in the “formal economy” where large companies shun child labor, but it is a frequent practice in the “informal economy,” and in family business ventures. Children's rights can hardly be reinforced.
The poor, in general, receive subsidies for public utilities, housing, and university tuition (based on family income), but none of these are sufficient to cover the enormous needs of the nation's poor, many of whom live in extreme poverty.
Colombia is a country at war, and it affects both combatants and the civilian population alike, in war zones. The rebel army, armed drug traffickers, paramilitary groups, and even the national army have been guilty of cruelly violating the Geneva Convention, as well as basic, universal human rights. Colombian society can be classified among the below-average humanitarian cultures—a conclusion supported by the GLOBE survey results about Humane Orientation cultural practices according to which Colombia was rated in the C Band (Rank 46) of 61 countries (see Table 19.1).
Future Orientation. Colombian society is oriented more toward the present than toward the future, even though it currently emphasizes the need to plan, predict, and sacrifice the here and now for tomorrow. Five observations concerning this cultural value appear next.
First, Colombian culture is impulsive and spontaneous by nature; its members live for the moment and make themselves happy without due thought to life's necessities. This behavioral pattern is passed on from parents to children.
Second, there is a contradiction between the official policy that advocates personal savings and the cultural reality of immediate expenditure. During the past decade, the government has greatly extended coverage for severance pay and pension funds, and there are strong restrictions to immediate consumer expending of such funds.
Third, modern, productive corporations represent a subculture insofar as the need to plan is concerned, this being more the case in the telecommunications sector than in the other two sectors surveyed. This is due to the fact that costly investments in telecommunications technology are justifiable only on a long-term (10 or more years) basis. Market/product research and planning have also become requisites in the financial and food-processing sectors. Competition has reduced profit margins and product feasibility studies take into account 2- to 6- year periods.
Fourth, the country's major universities founded planning departments in the 1960s, oftentimes limited to giving the architectural faculty the responsibility of planning future campus expansion based, obviously, on planning future student enrollment. These plans, however, are not always met, due at times to a lack of planning experience, and at other times to the arrival of new presidents who, in turn, make abrupt changes in plans previously approved. This latter case occurred at the country's most prestigious private university in 1997, and led to a complete failure in predicting student registration, which had previously been based on a 2- to 3- year plan that allowed for adjustments every semester.
The fifth, and final, observation deals with the sale of tickets to important sports events. Tickets go on sale weeks ahead of time, but in reality fans begin to make their purchases only a few days before the event, and it is possible to find tickets available on the same day that the event is scheduled. Consequently, sponsors of such events have begun to offer discounts to those who buy tickets ahead of time—a sales strategy that will, in time, probably become widespread.
Colombian society is largely made up of a population where many basic needs go unmet, and, therefore, embrace a cultural tradition based on instant gratification. Spontaneity is necessary for being authentic in Colombia—the act of living for the here and now, without repressing one's thoughts and feelings. Yet, the Colombian state and large corporations are moving constantly closer to imposing the international tendency toward Future Orientation.
Summary. The nonobtrusive social indicators confirm the results yielded by the GLOBE questionnaire that was used with managerial interviewees. It can be concluded that, in spite of sociocultural tensions and the tendency toward change, Colombian society is characterized by high family and group values but low institutional collectivism; high elitism; high uncertainty (low uncertainty avoidance); high gender equality; high assertiveness; and medium-level performance orientation. There exist, however, contradictions with the tendencies toward favoring a more egalitarian society, high institutional collectivism, and high performance orientation. Colombia strongly favors to keep its family/in-group loyalty values, as well as high gender equality. It is also leading to a more humane and future-oriented society.
Organizational Culture: What It Is and What It Should Be
The GLOBE Alpha questionnaire used in the survey evaluated the responses of 149 midlevel managers who answered items dealing with the same variables described earlier for societal culture (Beta questionnaire); but, in this case, these were specifically related to a business organization (the company where the respondent were employed). Consequently, this sample of managers differ from those surveyed in the previous section on Colombian culture and society. Data collection focused not only on ascertaining what respondents thought about the present state of their business organizations (“As Is” cultural practices), but also what they thought these organizations should become in the future as well (“Should Be” cultural values). The results of this section of the survey are contained in Table 19.2, where data have been divided into three columns corresponding to the three economic sectors studied.
The results broadly coincide with those for cultural values, however, it should be pointed out that there was greater satisfaction expressed where the corporate organization was concerned than with culture and society in general. Not only were the latter two described in terms of diminished expectations, but criticism for both was harsher than it was for a manager's company.
The greatest difference between cultural and organizational results concerned elitist values in Colombian society. The midlevel managers who participated in the study sharply perceived these inequities, as well as the power distance that characterizes Colombian business and society. These managers considered their own companies to be more democratic and less committed to traditional values than to what they considered Colombian society in general to be.5
Organization Cultural Practices (“As Is”) and Values ( “Should Be”)
Large Colombian businesses are not a microcosm in the context of the society in which they operate, as shown by the higher level of satisfaction expressed by managers for their respective companies, a level of satisfaction not expressed for their nation's society. In all probability, Colombian companies are more tuned to international cultural and management values. Furthermore, around the world, the average of the managers included in the GLOBE survey favored the values of performance orientation, future orientation, humanitarianism, collectivism, equality, and nonassertiveness. These “universal” managerial values are given fuller expression within Colombian businesses than within society at large, due to the fact that the former make up a subculture whose values are more international. It is also worth pointing out that large business organizations are controlled by management groups who have more alternatives to choose from and greater leeway in acting on decisions that can bring about change in their immediate surroundings—unlike the poorer, underprivileged sectors of Colombian society that are rooted in traditional values. Traditional Colombian values such as family/in-group collectivism and humane orientation are more easily established in the organization than in the society at large. Even though some aspects of this managerial ideal may contradict conventional cultural norms (such as underestimating the patrimonial hierarchy), it is possible for it to prosper within a business organization that bases itself on different values.
The field of business administration in Colombia has been so dominated by the United States that even the Japanese managerial systems introduced into the country have arrived in English. Colombian executives have a tendency to embrace the latest fashions in managerial systems; foreign gurus in the field are readily accepted, and their works enthusiastically translated—except for terms such as benchmarking and Hoshin kanri. In the last decade, the following works on leadership have been published in Colombia (initial publication date precedes date of translation): Bennis and Nanus (1985 [1985]); Bennis (1989, 1990), Jaap (1989, 1991), Beckhard and Pritchard (1992, 1993), Badaracco and Ellsworth (1989, 1994), Drucker (1992, 1993), Stumpf and Mullen (1992, 1993), and McFarland, Senn, and Childress (1994, 1996). The following texts became available in Colombia after having been translated in other Spanish-speaking countries: McGregor (1966, 1969), Kotter (1988, 1990a), Vroom and Jago (1988, 1990), DePree (1989, 1993), Covey (1990, 1993), and Kotter (1996, 1997).
Research at the local level has been carried out by Gomez and Dávila, who have described Latin America's contributions and innovations in the field of business administration. The results of their study, based on nine in-depth examinations of successful corporate cases, revealed that outstanding Latin American leadership characteristics included: commitment to the organization—“a giving of one's heart and soul” to the enterprise; followed by charisma, benevolence, paternalism, and intuition (Gomez & Dávila, 1994). Motta (1993) is a successful Brazilian theoretical text translated from Portuguese.
The FES institute on leadership started in 1993 to train Colombian youth on leadership. The business community has also widely accepted outdoor training leadership, as formulated by Matamala (1994) and Mutis (1994), which utilizes know-how imported from the United States and Europe emphasizing leadership that is not centered on the individual alone but rather on the individual and the organization, as well as on empowerment and humanistic and collectivist values.
A large study of Colombian leaders was undertaken by Ogliastri and Dávila (1987). As pointed out earlier, leadership, as practiced by the Colombian ruling class in Colombian society at large, has best been described as closed and elitist. The power structure in Colombia was traditionally intertwined between the public and private sectors, with a power concentration tendency that increased as the economy expanded (Ogliastri & Dávila, 1983).
In contrast with a federalist system of government, the country has a centralized state structure based mainly on the political concepts of President Núñez. More than 100 years ago, he set out to establish a national governing class that would eschew regional factionalism and that would adhere to a conservative political ideology that favored stable government. Once this national governing class came into being, the need for a more regional (federalist) structure became apparent during the 1970s. Another key change that occurred among the nation's leadership was the blurring of the separation between the public and the private sector—the cornerstone of traditional democracies—and a new group of the elite had careers in both the public and the private sectors. These were the real transformational leaders within the elite: Their vision, different from their public and private elite counterparts, was carried out in the 1990s (Ogliastri, 1996).
The most important forerunner of the GLOBE project is Hofstede's study (1980, 1997), which classified Colombians at that time as being highly oriented toward collectivist or group values, highly elitist, living in uncertainty, and predominant in favor of masculine values.
Colombian Leadership: A Study of the Printed News Media
The week of September 1–7, 1996 (when no special events had been programmed that could have distorted research results) was chosen in advance as the period in which to survey six news publications in search of articles that somehow dealt with the subject of leadership in Colombia. According to international research group agreements, three major Colombian newspapers were selected—El Espectador, El Tiempo, La República—(the latter dedicated almost exclusively to business news); two news weeklies—Semana and Cambio—and a weekly business publication—Portafolio. As agreed on by participating GLOBE countries, the sports sections and classified advertisements were not evaluated; but all other articles were read in these publications from September 1 to September 7, 1996 (Ogliastri, 1997a).
Any article that dealt with leadership was analyzed in the following manner:
- The subject: who the leader was (i.e. a politician, a business leader, a group or organization, a country, etc.).
- The verb: what he/she/it/they did, what had been done, what could be done, what should be done by the leader/s.
- The adjective: how actions were carried out, how actions were evaluated.
Using this method, key or core paragraphs were selected from 285 articles, and within these chosen paragraphs, verb and adjective phrases that referred to a specific event were underlined. Subsequently, each article was classified under one or two key words, and these were then combined with the underlined phrases in a computer program that allows for constant updating of criteria on grouping and category expansion.
The 285 newspaper and magazine articles and their selected paragraphs were printed out on 56 pages, and once this written information was examined, four important contexts emerged that referred to major socioeconomic problems in Colombia: the ongoing armed conflict that includes guerrilla warfare and narcotics terrorism (20% of the articles); the implantation of a new economic model based on privatization and market liberalization (16%); organized crime related primarily to the production and exportation of narcotics (12%); overwhelming social problems (12%). Other frequently mentioned topics were: debating (13%); negotiating (11%); and planning (8%). And, finally, a small number were classified under “various” (6%).
This initial classification of news articles was based exclusively on context or content; but, subsequently, multiple classifications were made, and more precise categories that took more than just context into account were established. It was then necessary to identify the actions described by the press, as well as how the press itself evaluated Colombian leaders within any given context. This meant cross-classification of some categories, due to the fact that some articles dealt simultaneously with several contexts. For example, articles on the armed conflict often criticized the alliance between guerrilla forces and the peasant growers of coca leaves (an ethical problem) whereas others criticized the violation of human rights among combatants or among the civilian population (a humanitarian problem) and further articles criticized the ineffectiveness of the armed forces and suggested that military activity be increased (a military leadership problem). In general, the articles provided a multifaceted view of a problem which, in turn, contributed to article's being assigned to more than one category (Herrán, 1993).
The military context provided an opportunity to analyze the leadership characteristics of guerrilla leaders, army generals, and police officers on active duty—primarily in confrontation with guerrilla and narcotics organizations—and a few articles dealt with international armed conflicts (i.e., the United States bombed Iraq during that week). In addition to direct physical confrontation, the military context touched on areas such as peace dialogues, peace negotiations, ethics, efficiency, and humanism.
Popularity polls published during September named the special prosecutor of the nation as the most popular public figure in Colombia (just as his predecessor had been upon leaving the post). This preference revealed how concerned Colombians were about the threats to ethical behavior. Indeed, the printed news media emphasized “integrity” as being the most important issue facing Colombian leaders in their efforts to deal with the country's most serious social problems: the exportation of narcotics to the United States by organized crime syndicates; guerrilla forces that financed their illegal activities by carrying out kidnappings or by providing protection services to cocaine producers; and chronic government corruption. The journalistic portrayal of the struggle against organized crime was categorized as an integrity issue as a result of reporters’ constant use of terms such as ethical, honest, and legal when writing on this subject.
Another highly popular public figure was the head of the national police force, who had been successful not only in capturing the principal members of the Cali Drug Cartel (one of whom was killed in a gun battle), but in cleansing the police force itself, and in improving the morale of the nation's police officers. Both of these law enforcement figures were praised for their simplicity, their humanity, their sense of public service, and their equanimity. Their public stances and behavior were perceived as putting them at risk of assassination attempts. Hence, these profiles were categorized as examples of “courage” in the midst of very unfavorable circumstances. The verbs most frequently linked to this context included to tell the truth, to alert, to criticize, to control, to solve, to manipulate, and to negotiate.
“Competition” in terms of being a leadership characteristic mostly applicable to the business world was also frequently mentioned in press reports. The major competitive challenges cited for the Colombian economy in the 1990s were those of neo-liberal economic policies and the privatization of state-owned enterprises. A successful competitor was often described as one who had a clear-cut plan for future development based on solid research and preparation. In general, protectionist policies were not cited, except those related to joining regional trade blocks; most attitudes were deemed active instead of passive; and hard work and survival tactics were cited as being priorities along with creativity, persistence, and the energetic seeking of successful goals. These terms were consistent with the performance of the Colombian economy, which had been ranked as among the most outstanding in Latin America up to 1997.
The social context referred, in general terms, to those conflicts related to inequality and to the pressing social problems within the country. The government (of Ernesto Samper) came into office pledging to make substantial expenditures on social welfare programs, but was unable to achieve much (in spite of the public deficit), due probably to the many political problems that arose after allegations were made that the president's successful 1994 campaign had been, in part, financed with funds provided by drug traffickers; consequently, one of the government's star cabinet members along with the Samper campaign treasurer have both been imprisoned. The president was judged and acquitted by Congress. Other newspaper and magazine articles in this category made reference to grassroots uprisings, and to the government's reaction to these events in terms of solidarity and humanistic values. Oft-repeated terms in these articles included justice, ethics, negotiation, violence, service, improvement, love, education, alliance, to encourage, to cooperate, and to associate.
Media reports drew attention to the tendency of Colombian leaders to debate issues, to remedy inequities, and to demand justice based on social and ethical values. These public debates took place on diverse stages: in Congress (political), in the Supreme Court (judicial), and at social and economic forums. The nation's press emphasized that these encounters had been intense and expressed with verbs such as to democratize, to correct, to compete, to negotiate, to control, to judge, and to pacify, as well as with adjectives like arbitrary, courageous, honest, legitimate, just, social, and military.
Articles that dealt with negotiations, pacification, reconciliation, solutions and dialogues also contained references to humanization, criticism, control, commitment, initiative, as well as to the adjectives ethical, courageous, and weak.
Articles that concentrated on planning mentioned verbs like to alert, to compete, to anticipate, to propose, and to call, and the adjectives opportune and visionary.
In the final analysis, ethical behavior was clearly the most important aspect used in evaluating Colombian leaders among the multiple contexts in the articles studied. The second most important leadership characteristic was found to be the ability to improve the current socioeconomic situation through maximum achievement and success. The ability to negotiate among parties in conflict occupied third place on the list of leadership priorities; fourth place was taken up by characteristics related to social solidarity and to protecting the common interests of Colombian society. The ability to plan with a vision toward the future ranked fifth among leadership qualities, followed by military decisiveness and the use of force to bring about change (Ogliastri & Wittingham, 2000).
Leadership in Colombia: GLOBE Survey
Sample. The quantitative survey's demographic data for the 302 midlevel managers is as follows: average age, 35; 65% men; 100% residing in Colombia; 99.7% born in the country; 90% classified themselves as Roman Catholics (267 out of 296); 99% spoke Spanish in their parents’ home; and 97% spoke this language in the workplace. They had, on an average, 16 years of formal education (equivalent to the time needed to earn a university degree in Colombia, where the average college graduation age is 23) consistent with an average of 12 years full-time work experience, and 7 years experience in executive posts. They had worked an average of 5 years and 3 months in their current positions, and 33% had at one time worked for a multinational corporation. An average of 12.5 people reported to each manager who typically presided over a company section that averaged 24 employees in total. These managers occupied, on average, positions within the corporate hierarchy that were classified two levels away from the highest level and three levels above that of the company's workers.
GLOBE Questionnaire. Sections 2 and 4 of the GLOBE questionnaires (Alpha and Beta) referred to the characteristics and behavior of “an outstanding leader”; that is to say, a person able to motivate others, and able to influence or to facilitate in others behavior that contributes to achievement and success in a business organization. The questionnaire format requested that each respondent assigns a number, between 1 and 7, to 112 attributes and behaviors, divided into seven categories: 1-greatly inhibits, 2-somewhat inhibits, 3-slightly inhibits, 4-does not influence, 5-contributes slightly, 6-contributes somewhat, or 7contributes greatly to making a person an outstanding leader.
Scores, Ranks, and Bands for Colombia Based on the 21 GLOBE Leadership Dimensions
| Leadership Dimension | Score | Rank | Band |
| Charismatic I: Visionary | 6.36 | (4) | A |
| Performance Orientation | 6.39 | (5) | A |
| Collaborative Team | 5.90 | (5) | A |
| Team Integrator | 6.30 | (5) | A |
| Integrity | 6.43 | (10) | A |
| Modesty | 5.43 | (9) | A |
| Administratively Competent | 6.11 | (14) | A |
| Diplomatic | 5.63 | (21) | A |
| Charismatic II: Inspirational | 6.34 | (13) | B |
| Charismatic III: Self-Sacrificial | 5.21 | (15) | B |
| Conflict Inducer | 4.19 | (22) | B |
| Status-Conscious | 4.51 | (24) | B |
| Nonparticipative | 2.54 | (34) | B |
| Procedural | 3.78 | (38) | B |
| Humane | 4.56 | (42) | B |
| Decisive | 5.52 | (53) | B |
| Autonomous | 3.34 | (56) | B |
| Autocratic | 2.44 | (42) | C |
| Face Saver | 2.50 | (44) | C |
| Self-Centered | 1.91 | (49) | C |
| Malevolent | 1.59 | (48) | D |
Leadership Dimension Score Rank Band Charismatic I: Visionary 6.36 (4) A Performance Orientation 6.39 (5) A Collaborative Team 5.90 (5) A Team Integrator 6.30 (5) A Integrity 6.43 (10) A Modesty 5.43 (9) A Administratively Competent 6.11 (14) A Diplomatic 5.63 (21) A Charismatic II: Inspirational 6.34 (13) B Charismatic III: Self-Sacrificial 5.21 (15) B Conflict Inducer 4.19 (22) B Status-Conscious 4.51 (24) B Nonparticipative 2.54 (34) B Procedural 3.78 (38) B Humane 4.56 (42) B Decisive 5.52 (53) B Autonomous 3.34 (56) B Autocratic 2.44 (42) C Face Saver 2.50 (44) C Self-Centered 1.91 (49) C Malevolent 1.59 (48) D
Based on the total GLOBE sample, leadership attributes were statistically grouped into 21 first-order factors (first-order leadership dimensions) that were consolidated into 6 second-order factors (for more detailed descriptions, see House et al., 2004, and the introduction and concluding chapters of this volume). The raw scores and rankings (the lower the rank, the more important the factor) of each of the 21 leadership dimensions for Colombia appear in Table 19.3. The dimensions are listed in descending order based on Test Bands (last columns).
It is worth noting that in the categories of performance orientation, vision, team integrator, and team collaboration, Colombia ranked among the top 5 of all 61 countries surveyed. Based on the Test Band A categorization, it appears that Colombian managers are convinced that a person who is highly interested in excellence (performance orientation), who organizes teams (team orientation, team collaboration), who clearly indicates where to go (visionary), who is a good administrator, and who leads with integrity, modesty, and diplomacy, possesses the most important assets for being an outstanding leader in their company. On the other end of the spectrum, being malevolent occupied last place on the list of behavioral values and attitudes that contribute to what is deemed essential in an outstanding Colombian business leader. Thus, hostile, dishonest, vindictive, irritable, nondependable, noncooperative, egotistical, and intelligent but cynical, constitute the extreme of least desirable characteristics of a leader.
It is important for a Colombian leader to be charismatic in the sense of being visionary, that is, to be future oriented, to have foresight, to be prepared, and to plan ahead, in a fashion that can be considered intellectually stimulating for the organization. The issue of integrity, meaning an individual who is sincere, who is fair in making decisions and in judging people and events, and who is, furthermore, honest and trustworthy, all of which were considered crucial factors for the success of an outstanding leader was also among the first-ranked behaviors and characteristic. Another important personal trait was that of being modest, self-effacing, and patient.
It may be that the very expressive nature and extreme reactions characteristic of Latin American society contribute to the fact that the diplomacy factor is highly esteemed in the organizational context. It means to be an effective bargainer, and a worldly win-win problem solver. On a final note, the study emphasized the importance of behavioral modes that were judged competent, that boosted organizational efficiency, were orderly, administratively skilled, and organized.
The second-order leadership factors summarize the 21 original factors in the following way: Charismatic/value based (visionary, inspirational, self-sacrifice, integrity, decisive, and performance oriented), Team Oriented leadership (collaborative team orientation, team integrator, diplomatic, malevolent [reverse scored], administratively competent), Participative leadership (nonparticipative [reverse scored] and autocratic [reverse scored]), Self-Protective leadership (self-centered, status-conscious, conflict inducer, face saving, and procedural), Humane Oriented leadership (modesty and humane oriented), and Autonomous (autonomy). Results about the second-order leadership scales confirm the pattern described previously (see Table 19.4). Colombia ranks rather high (5th, Band A) for Team Orientated leadership, and on the three leadership dimensions (Charismatic, Participative, Humane) medium to high (11th, 21st, 25th, all in Band B). The disfavored dimensions for Colombian managers are Autonomous (Rank 56, Band C) and Self-Protective (Rank 35, Band E).
Leadership in Colombia: Case Studies of Successful Organizations
Fourteen Colombian business firms, with reputations for outstanding leadership, were singled out for case studies. Although two of these firms were not, strictly speaking, “Colombian” (both were subsidiaries of multinational corporations), all of their personnel were Colombian nationals, especially those who had been designated as outstanding leaders. “Outstanding” businesses in these cases meant those whose growth and efficiency were higher than that of others in the same sector, and higher than that of Colombian economic indicators in general (Kouzes & Pozner, 1987). Nevertheless, neither do these companies represent the 14 most successful companies in their respective sectors, nor do they represent the most successful in the country as a whole, nor were they chosen through a definite selection process. However, they did share several features: a certain recognition level in business publications; having been mentioned in the qualitative interviews (see the following section); easy access to interview personnel; and they included diverse examples among the heterogeneity of the firms studied.
Fifteen student research aides were assigned in pairs to prepare an in-depth case study on a Colombian business firm. In many of these studies, an attempt was made to amplify the analysis of transformational organizational leadership as it had been reported in interviews (see the following section). As a first step in preparing these case studies, Colombian companies recognized for outstanding performance were identified, and members of their executive staff and other personnel (including the leader's secretary) were then interviewed on why they thought their companies were successful. If an interviewee mentioned leadership as among the reasons for the company's success, this topic was then given in-depth treatment. If it was not mentioned, questions were then posed to determine what kind of leadership existed within the organization in terms provided by managers. Finally, the organizational leader was interviewed on specific aspects of his or her career, life, and philosophy, and was then asked to describe his or her actions that had helped to achieve results for the company. After carrying out a minimum of eight interviews at each company, a case study was then written. A number of other well-known leadership cases were also analyzed. The companies studied indepth included six from the financial sector, two from the telecommunications sector, and six from other sectors. These latter six were selected based on the fact that their presidents were considered prominent leaders in the business world.6
TABLE 19.4
Leadership in Colombia: Second-Order Leadership Scales
| Second-Order Leadership Scales | Score | Rank | Band |
| Team Oriented | 6.07 | 5 | A |
| Charismatic/Value Based | 6.04 | 11 | B |
| Participative | 5.51 | 21 | B |
| Humane | 5.05 | 25 | B |
| Autonomous | 3.34 | 56 | C |
| Self-Protective | 3.36 | 35 | E |
Once the reports had been written and distributed among the research group, each case was then discussed by the team with leadership being emphasized as the primary topic. As happened in the focus groups, similarities were discovered in the results from among the different sectors, that is, the financial sector, the telecommunications sector, and the six cases from diverse sectors.
In summary, the research results from these three sectors largely coincided. In all three, the primary leadership element discovered among these cases was having an overriding strategic vision for the company, based on a clear, long-range perspective. In second place was a special command of human resources management, particularly the use of extensive training programs outside of the company, joined with the charismatic appeal of the concerned manager, humanistic values in interpersonal relations, contact with personnel, and teamwork. In third place, was an outstanding participatory managerial style characterized by trusting the team and by demanding results. Fourth place was occupied by a confluence of values linked to the social responsibilities of the company, to training programs for employees, and to the integration of the family. And, finally, particularly in the finance and telecommunications sectors, technological innovation was considered essential to the company's success. As is seen later, the qualitative interviews, which were conducted parallel to the case studies, confirm, for the most part, the results on leadership in Colombian businesses obtained in the analysis of these 14 case studies.
Leadership in Colombia: Qualitative Interviews
During the first phase of the qualitative study, a pilot test was conducted on the questionnaires and the methodology to be used. This involved five personal interviews and 27 written reports (Ogliastri, 1994a; Ogliastri & Rodríguez, 1994). The main research consisted of 75 interviews with managers from the three sectors studied, and a focus group set up to review the differences between leaders and managers.
The interviews were based on two semistructured GLOBE questionnaires with open-ended question formats that sought personal responses on experiences and perspectives regarding organizational leadership. Under the direction of the author, 13 senior-year business students (from the University of the Andes) conducted most of the interviews. Each research aide conducted five interviews. Researchers sought out personal acquaintances in a first step toward selecting interviewees described as midlevel business managers in the financial, food-processing, or telecommunications sectors. Due to the heterogeneity, regional origin, and number of interviewers, this part of the study was carried out at random, with no measures taken to identify, or to prevent, possible biases. Forty-six managers from the financial sector were interviewed, 16 from the food-processing sector, 4 from the telecommunications sector, and 6 from other sectors. Three interviews were withdrawn from the research project, due to their very poor quality and incomplete answers. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim, and classified for archival records and computer data analysis (Mishler, 1986).
A focus group, made up of 13 research assistants, later met for 2 hours in an effort to sum up the conclusions reached by research participants (Agar & MacDonald, 1994; Merton, Fiske, & Kendall, 1990; Morgan, 1988, 1993). A psychologist, who conducted focus groups for a marketing and advertising firm, presided over the group meeting in which the following topics were discussed: the definition, according to each research assistant's interviewees, of an outstanding leader and of a normal manager; the differences between the two; descriptions of concrete examples of leadership in action; the names of outstanding leaders; and direct quotes on what had motivated the managers to go beyond the call of duty. Finally, researchers discussed their own methodological approaches in the preparation of final reports. This session was audiotaped and transcribed by the director of the session who later prepared a written report on the focus group.
The core research topic that needed to be absolutely clear in the minds of interviewees was how, as a result of their own experiences, they had come to differentiate a normal, good, or competent manager, who lacked leadership qualities, from a genuine leader capable of producing exceptional results and of transforming a commercial enterprise (Bass, 1985; Kotter, 1990b; Sayless, 1983). This difference between what constitutes a normal manager and what differentiates them from an exceptional leader was quickly and widely accepted by Colombian interviewees, who needed no extensive explanations by interviewers to clarify this point.7
Throughout the research project, results emerged in various stages. The first attempt to arrive at general conclusions was by means of a report based on five interviews that had been carried out by each research assistant. This comparative effort encouraged participants of the validity of their mutually consistent research results, which were later reconfirmed in the focus group meeting, as well as during the content analysis of the interviews themselves.
Thirteen research assistants, who had conducted five interviews each, met to delineate the characteristics of an exceptional leader as deduced from their respective interviews. These leadership characteristics were listed as:
- Works toward goals.
- Works well with people.
- Convinces, motivates, is charismatic, and “has a way with people.”
- Inspires, is self-assured, and is recognized by others as being so.
- On the other hand, a normal manager was characterized as someone who:
- Concentrates on daily operations.
- (Ab)uses his or her power.
- Is unable to communicate well.
- Doesn't trust others.
- Is not visionary.
- Seeks individual recognition.
Once further differences between a normal manager and an outstanding leader were clarified, Table 19.5 was prepared.
In the interviews on leadership, questions were posed on actual leadership incidents, many of which had to do with the handling of crisis situations. In these incidents, the leader emerges as the one who is best able to solve a problem through dialogue, negotiation, and mutual understanding; or, as being the person who, in a given situation, makes a decision and convinces others to agree; or who can motivate others to follow specific policies. It was not possible to clarify, however, whether these two modes were caused by different kinds of situations or by different kinds of leaders.
The leaders mentioned in the interviews were almost all Colombians, well-known inside their own companies, but foreigners and historical figures were mentioned as well (i.e., Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Churchill, Bolivar). It should be noted that very few women were cited as “model” leaders. At the same time, interviewees mentioned “negative” leadership as personified by Hitler and Pablo Escobar, or by white-collar criminals, who, according to some interviewees, could not be differentiated from “good leaders” as far as performance and the abstract process of leadership were concerned.
Insofar as the reasons given by interviewees as to what motivated them to work above and beyond that required by their job descriptions, they emphasized in their responses that they felt their jobs gave them an opportunity for personal growth; that extra effort on their part gave them the authority to set high internal (organizational) standards (not dependent on outside pressure); and that their own outstanding job performance came about as a result of their wanting to test themselves, more often than as having been motivated in terms of a response to a leader's motivation.
Focus Group Results: Differences Between a Leader and a Manager in Colombia
| Leader | Normal Manager |
| Strategist; has an overall view | Day-to-day detail operator |
| Long-term vision | Short-term vision |
| Works well with people | Individualistic |
| Flexible | Inflexible |
| Ambitious | Standard goals |
| Looks ahead, anticipates | Constantly in emergencies |
| Has independent personal power | Personal power based on position |
As a result of the content analysis carried out on the 72 interviews, three key exceptional leadership elements were identified: outstanding group and individual relations, a vision for the future of the company, and management style. Three complementary aspects were also identified: integrity, innovative action in moments of crisis, and the setting of ambitious goals (described later).
The primary exceptional leadership characteristic, as inferred from the experiences of the 72 interviewees, was taken from the realm of personal relations within the company itself. Leaders described as exceptional were known for being “open” with others; willing to listen; perceptive or understanding; worried about the feelings of others; capable of expressing warmth and friendship; “having a way with people”; and for loyalty to the group. These characteristics were listed alongside charisma, humanistic values, personal magnetism, physical presence, the ability to motivate by example, and the ability to encourage others to follow. Furthermore, excellent communication abilities and the ability to convince people and to move them to make commitments were also pointed out as outstanding leadership characteristics.
The management of personnel by outstanding leaders was described as being based, first of all, on the careful selection of collaborators, knowing how to surround oneself well, and then being able to recognize each individual's limitations and potential. Another aspect of outstanding management style was described as the ability to develop personnel through work assignments, to delegate responsibilities, and to accept others’ mistakes as learning experiences. The exceptional leader was profiled as one who communicates well, who makes the company's policies and objectives known throughout the entire organization, and who informs others of the reasons why things are done, and what the problems facing the company are, all in an effort to motivate personnel.
The second most important element that characterizes outstanding leaders in Colombian culture is their ability to have a vision for the future. Visionary leaders were described as “those who know where they are going,” as having clear objectives, as being prepared for the future, as being protagonists in their environments, and as having knowledge of how to set priorities and to make opportune decisions. Other facets of extraordinary leaders that were mentioned, included having in-depth knowledge about their specific economic sectors, knowledge that contributed to analyzing problems and finding solutions in an innovative and creative way (innovation as the key to the future), and being able to see things from a different perspective and with greater projection than others do, such as an ability that contributes to bringing about necessary changes. Outstanding leaders are ambitious in defining their long-range strategies; they “dream the impossible”; they are decisive; and they are able to visualize opportunities and to take on challenges with their teams. This latter outstanding leadership characteristic was more sharply profiled in men than in women. Exceptional women leaders seemed to give greater emphasis to interpersonal aspects, to emotions, and to charisma, which are considered as much a part of human relations as they are a part of the management style described later.
The third essential element that identifies an outstanding leader in Colombia is his or her management or administrative style, characterized by the ability to work with groups (teamwork), the ability to foster change in a vigorous and positive manner, the ability to coordinate and integrate the interests of all personnel, and the ability to be strict and demanding but at the same time generous and cognizant that outstanding team members deserve individual recognition. Outstanding organizational leaders in Colombia base their authority on a structure that begins at the bottom of the business: That is to say, they believe in “empowerment,” which allows employees to have faith in their own company-orientated achievements. Outstanding leaders are convinced of the capacity of the individuals who work for them, as well as of the same individual's group efforts. Outstanding leaders encourage self-criticism that contributes to improving employee achievement; they consult with, and encourage, the group to make suggestions that facilitate change; and they are able to motivate others to face challenges and to risk making mistakes. This exceptional management style is most apparent during times of crisis, when genuine leaders are put to the test and are forced to prove themselves. It is during these moments when an outstanding leader resorts to persuasion without impositions, thus encouraging others in the organization to aim toward the common good with an enthusiastic attitude that will lead to the solution of the crisis situation.
These three essential elements—human relations, vision for the future, and management style—along with three secondary elements—integrity, innovation in times of crisis, and setting ambitious clear-cut objectives—are what personify outstanding organizational leaders in Colombia.
The definition of personal integrity begins with having an ethical and moral work code, followed by being able to make people feel that what the company is doing is morally and socially correct. Leaders are perceived as having integrity if they are “genuine” and “authentic”; that is to say that they tell the truth and keep their word. An exemplary outstanding Colombian leader is also guided by just moral and social values, and is able to make others believe in his or her sincerity, sense of justice, and consistency in word and deed.
Even in situations that are not deemed critical, an authentic leader seeks new opportunities, takes a stand on important business issues, inspires a positive sense of urgency, generates renovation and radical transformation, changes the status quo, and accepts change in a positive manner.
The final outstanding leadership characteristic listed by the interviewees in Colombia was that of being able to set very high and stimulating objectives, joined with the ability to inspire a sense of responsibility in the fulfillment of these goals.
The qualitative interviews emphasized, time and again, that human relations, vision for the future, and participatory management based on integrity, ambition, and creativity were essential to the makeup of an outstanding organizational leader in Colombia. The results of the study, accumulated through diverse methodologies, appear to point toward the following summary.
4. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Organizational leadership has been studied using a variety of research methods and perspectives, and the results appear to be mutually consistent. In specific terms, five of the six elements that characterize the transformational leader in the qualitative interviews also appear among the top factors in the quantitative survey: team orientation, orientation toward outstanding performance, vision, integrity, and participatory management. The other one, innovation, is not a category on the quantitative questionnaire. As can be seen in the comparative Table 19.6, there is a total of eight information sources on transformational leadership characteristics in Colombian culture: three of which were obtained using quantitative methodologies (the GLOBE scales on culture, on the company, and on leadership), one using mixed quantitative and qualitative methodologies (GLOBE questionnaires, which were used to guide observation and nonobtrusive measures), and four using qualitative methodologies (analysis of printed news media, case studies, focus groups, and interviews). This combination of independent methodologies bore fruit in the sense that each part mutually validated the other, meaning that no contradictions were encountered in the overall study results.
Seven Essential Business Leadership Elements in Colombia
The primary organizational leadership element in Colombia seems to reside in the categories that refer to human relations: first of all, within the company itself, followed by team values and family collectivism, considered basic to Colombian culture in general, and, in the rejection of individualism, with preference given to behavioral modes that favor interpersonal relations, teamwork, humane orientation, and social solidarity. These elements were grouped together as the primary factor to emerge from the qualitative interviews on transformational leadership (they were also reconfirmed as the primary factor on the quantitative scales for organizational and social culture) and were placed second among those inferred from the case studies. They were important elements used in analyzing the printed press were among the first leadership qualities listed in the quantitative survey (and Group A of countries).
It is worth mentioning that in Hofstede's study, Colombia, and four other Latin American countries, had the highest appreciation of collectivist values. These results were surprising to many people—and, by differentiating between family and primary group from social collectivist values in the GLOBE study, we have distanced ourselves from Hofstede's more simplified categorization. The Colombian, Nobel Prize–winning novelist, Gabriel García Márquez (1994) sounded the alarm on the growing tendency (among Colombians), “of having become incredulous, abstentionist and ungovernable … (and of pursuing) a lonely individualism in which each one thinks it is possible to be totally self-sufficient.” The debate on the group versus the individual in Latin American society has further been brought to the fore by the introduction of Japanese administration systems into this part of the world (Fernández & Ogliastri, 1996; Ogliastri, 1988a).
As is apparent from the narration of personal experiences by managers in the qualitative interviews, there is no doubt as to the importance of group orientation in Colombian culture. This is manifested in leadership that exalts “group effort,” “warm interpersonal relations,” and “egalitarian treatment of others,” and in “the accessibility of personnel” to the leader.
The second organizational leadership element that was revealed in the Colombian study was performance orientation. Achievement appears as the second most mentioned factor in the press analysis; but performance is classified first in the quantitative leadership questionnaire, in which Colombia ranked among the top four countries in the GLOBE scales on organizational characteristics. To be administratively competent is another key element for a results-oriented manager in Colombia. The value of performance orientation is reinforced by the descriptive results on Colombian culture (expressing a desire for greater performance) and by managers’ qualitative interviews. According to managers, the most outstanding performance-orientated leader is one who sets very ambitious goals and who is then very demanding with him or herself and with others in reaching them. Innovative decision making is also mentioned as important in the case studies and in the qualitative interviews. In the classic formulation by McClelland (1961), achievement orientation was linked to innovation and to future orientation—a result of Colombian data research as well. However, in the Colombian study, future orientation was classified as a part of the organizational leadership element described as vision and planning for the future (see later discussion).
The third organizational leadership element is vision for and orientation toward the future, joined with a high desire for uncertainty avoidance and the capacity to reach desired objectives. The ability to be visionary came in first in the case studies; it was the second most frequently mentioned element in the qualitative interviews and (tied) first rank in the quantitative surveys on leadership (among the top five countries in GLOBE). Future orientation appeared among the highly desirable characteristics for Colombian society and business; and the ability to plan for the future occupied fifth place among the essential leadership terms in the survey of the printed press. The word vision was part of the vocabulary repeated by managers in the qualitative interviews, in which they recalled having known transformational leaders endowed with a sense of “knowing where they are headed” and able to set priorities and make opportune decisions; who are, furthermore, highly knowledgeable of their respective economic sectors and specific business activities which, therefore, allows them to analyze and solve problems in an innovative and creative manner; they are able to identify new market niches and to focus on situations in such a way that necessary change can be brought about; they are able to define strategies on a long-term basis and in an ambitious manner; they are decidedly “dreamers of the impossible”—able to visualize opportunities and to face challenges jointly with their group. These abilities are required by the increased uncertainty of the Colombian environment. The vision characteristic was more sharply drawn in descriptions of exceptional men than it was among exceptional women, who were described as leaning more toward the interpersonal and emotional aspects of organizational leadership.
The fourth most frequently cited organizational leadership element in the Colombian study was personal integrity. This term led the list of issues discussed in the analysis of the printed news media. Colombia was among the top 10 countries that considered integrity a key leadership factor in the quantitative survey; and it was important (fourth) in the case studies, as well as in the qualitative interviews. This is to be expected in a country beset by violence, drug trafficking, corruption, high crime rates, and a weak government that all contribute to an atmosphere of impunity. Integrity was also a key element in political campaigns. In the specific field of organizational leadership, the qualitative interviews described integrity in a leader as commitment to the truth, to corporate social responsibility, to ethical behavior, and to clearly established values within the organization.
The fifth element considered basic to a definition of outstanding organizational leadership in Colombia was participatory management style. This style was portrayed as being nonelitist and nonautocratic—a style that inspires and stimulates others as a result of a leader's example and close contact with personnel. Participatory management style was listed as the third most important element by managers in the qualitative interview section of the study, and it also placed third in the analysis of case studies. Managers expressed their deep dislike for the stratification and inequities found in Colombian society. Female–male equality was a key attitude and strong desire of the managers in the quantitative survey, ranking the country among Group A of countries. It is worth noting that, among all of the countries surveyed in the GLOBE study, Colombia ranked first (the only country in Group E) in expressing the desire for a less elitist society.
The sixth factor of organizational leadership was the ability to negotiate and to solve conflicts, which appeared in the study of the printed press. In a country plagued by violence and conflict, it is essential to have diplomatic skills: a worldly win/win problem solver and effective bargainer. It was linked to one of the most important abilities of Colombian leaders in the survey: to be modest, self-effacing, and patient.
The seventh factor listed as an organizational leadership characteristic in Colombia was that of inspirational charisma, linked to the classic idea of “personalism” that is found in superior–subordinate relationships in Latin American cultures. This is a fundamental element in the concept of transformational leadership (Bass, 1997). The study stressed the importance of charismatic behavior defined as that which inspires the organization, spreads enthusiasm, stimulates self-sacrifice, provides a vision, builds confidence, is dynamic, motivates, and convinces, and is shown by a leader who asks others to wear the company's colors as he or she does.
Final place on the scale of leadership priorities were the decisive use of power in social problem solving (which appeared in the study of the printed press).
The combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies in this study led to complementary and noncontradictory results. The categories defined a priori by the international group were not excessively different from those characteristics that emerged from our interviewees’ responses.
Managerial Implications
The managerial implications are straightforward. Advice to managers working in Colombia can be summarized as follows. A manager should spend time in establishing personal relationships at work, even including some family outings on weekends. A sound business vision developed with team contributions would have desired motivational effects. The most effective managers set ambitious goals and milestones to guide the path. To have outstanding results authoritarian practices will not do. Leaders must organize the work by teams, give a chance to women managers because they try harder and have the idealistic support of the culture, avoid integrity traps, and have a transparent code of ethics for the organization.
The ideal leadership characteristics, as described by Colombian managers, coincide with those set forth in the classic literature on management (Drucker, 1954, 1964; Likert, 1960; McGregor, 1960)—all refer to group motivation, participation, and management by objectives. These have been the textbooks used in introductory business administration courses included in the curricula of managers interviewed in the survey. This “implicit leadership theory” held to by managers is further substantiated by modern (and modish) concepts that follow the same path: empowerment, strategic planning, and so forth.
Summary and Overlap of Results
Note. Column 1: Colombia's positioning (test bands) for GLOBE societal culture practices “As Is” and values (“Should Be,” in parentheses); A > B > C > D (Ogliastri et al., 1999). Column 2: Colombia's finance industry positioning (test bands) for GLOBE organizational cultural practices (“As Is”>) and values (“Should Be,” in parentheses); A > B > C > D. Column 3: Colombia's estimated positioning based on unobtrusive measures (UMQ) and on participant observation (POQ); A > B > C > D. Column 4: Colambia's positioning (test bands) for 21 GLOBE leadership scales (Ogliastri et al., 1999). Column 5: Estimated rank ordering of the five outstanding organizational leadership characteristics found in the 14 case studies on Colombian businesses (Ogliastri, 1997b). Column 6: Estimated rank ordering of leadership characteristics obtained in qualitative interviews (Ogliastri, 1997b). Column 7: Second-order quantitative leadership factors. Column 8: GLOBE media analysis results (Ogliastri & Wittingham, 2000).
The transformational leadership characteristics elucidated in our study were not too different from those included in international managerial literature (especially that from the United States) published during the last few decades—although some differences in emphasis can be found. The most influential author on the subject of management in Colombia observed in 1988 that great leadership could be measured by performance and efficiency; that it consisted, furthermore, of choosing the right collaborators, and of defining missions and goals within a framework of responsibility and integrity (Drucker, 1992, chap. 15). What is most noteworthy about Drucker's conclusions is that they had all been known for some time.
To what, then, can this congruence of Colombian research results with those found in international managerial literature be attributed? The answer lies, in part, in the fact that business administrators (everywhere) have command of a rather standardized professional vocabulary, in part due to the direct influence of the United States in matters of administrative concepts, as well as to the homogeneity of managerial work requirements found in diverse contexts. All of this indicates that sociocultural factors might play a secondary role in the organization of the productive sector with its specific managerial needs.
The managerial profession may be less affected by national cultural norms than it is by internal organizational norms, due in part to the fact that the former is subject to greater variation than is the latter. It is also possible that the growing homogenization in international education, to which many managers nowadays have had access since childhood, has also diminished the impact of national cultural factors in the workplace. In this sense, one can almost be convinced that the postmodern world has become a place shared by several cultures simultaneously—one for home, one for school, and yet another for work. The findings of the present research project are part of a rather long history in the theory of managerial styles, one that asks: “Are we coming to a convergence in our managerial culture that exceeds that found in our national culture?” The first GLOBE volume (House et al., 2004) gave a mixed answer—there are universal leadership concepts and there are culture specific leadership concepts. The other chapters in this second GLOBE volume might help us to answer this question in more depth.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author acknowledges research support from the University of the Andes, Carlos Rodríguez, María V. Wittingham, Nancy de la Torre, Ada Torres, Juan Carlos Chaparro, and 63 student research assistants. Thanks for critical remarks to Elssy Bonilla, Mauricio Cárdenas, Ricardo Matamala, Jurgen Wiebler, and five anonymous evaluators from GLOBE. (This chapter was written in 1998 and revised in September 2003, and August 2005).
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*Translated by Steven William Bayless.
1Most Colombians agree that the country should prosecute its criminals within its own borders instead of extraditing them to the United States; however, the U.S. government has constantly pressured the Colombian government to enforce extradition treaties, a threat that has aided in the dismantling of organized crime in Colombia. The Colombian government has moved to revive extradition through constitutional amendment, a policy that has sparked widespread public debate and that has put the lives and reputations of national leaders at stake—depending on the stance they have taken on the extradition issue.
2The author was personally responsible for compiling the data on the financial sector; one half of this was provided by one of the country's largest banks, and the other half was provided by diverse financial institutions. The other two sectors (telecommunications, food processing) were surveyed by research assistants under the direction of the author. These questionnaires, which instead of concentrating on a limited number of business organizations in a given sector, were taken at random, among midlevel managers, from a large number of businesses.
3In the first semester of 1996, the back-translation and the development of the organizational contingency questionnaire were carried out in collaboration with the GLOBE study's Spanish team; and data were compiled after interviewing the presidents and vice presidents from the six companies where the greatest number of midlevel managers has been surveyed with the Alpha and Beta questionnaires. The data provided by these corporate presidents and vice presidents will be analyzed for organizational contingency content, as well as for the validation of other results in the GLOBE study that are as yet unavailable.
4In Humane Orientation cultural values (“Should Be”), Colombian managers were among the 3-country minority wishing their country to have above-average (Band B) results, whereas the majority opted for the below-average results (Band C). In Future Orientation, cultural values (“Should Be”) Colombia was above world average (top end of Band B) but not as strongly as the majority of Latin American countries classified as Band A countries wishing a higher Future Orientation. (For details about the Test Banding procedures, A > B > C > D, which was used to group GLOBE countries, see Hanges, Dickson, & Sipe, 2004).
5It is in the food sector where these differences can be seen most clearly, due to the fact, probably, that two of the food processors surveyed actively promote corporate policies and values that shun elitism, carried out intensive managerial development programs, aimed at strategic planning, team leadership, and empowerment. The difference between the food sector results and that of the two other industries may be partially explained by such training. In any event, business managers uniformly expressed their strong desire to have power distance reduced in Colombian society and business.
6The following is a list of the business firms studied, followed by the names of their researchers (in parentheses) and an asterisk if the case was not collected within the GLOBE project: (a) the financial sector: Colmena Savings Corporation (Pilar Gracia and Layla Spicker), Cáceres & Ferro (Mónica Serna and María Fernanda Ordóñez), Bank of Colombia (Ana María Villodres and Adriana López), Fiduciary Sudameris (Laura Pardo), Las Villas Savings (Jaime Vergara), Solidarity Corporation Corposol (J. Austin & E. Ogliastri, 1996) (*); (b) the telecommunications sector: ATT-NCR Colombia (Claudia Soler and Felipe Gómez), Uisys Colombia (Susana Steiner); (c) other sectors: Reconstructora Comercial (Enrique Ogliastri, 1994b) (*), Transejes (Enrique Ogliastri (*) Corona Tiles (Cristina Otero and Carlos Felipe Betancur), Aces Airline (Ricardo Matamala) (*), Industrial Gabriel (Ricardo Matamala and Jorge Ardila) (*), Group Jom (informal education) (Kenneth Mediwelson). Most of these cases are in the text of Matamala and Ogliastri (1994).
7Nevertheless, 2 of the interviewees (out of a total of 75) did not accept the difference: One implied that all managers must, by definition, have a natural talent for leadership, whereas the other stated that exceptional leaders were personally unknown. However, an overall methodological problem that did occur during the interview was the tendency of participants to negatively judge “normal” managers while at the same time exaggerating the attributes of the outstanding leader.