Leadership & Organization Development Journal

What makes managers effective in Mexico?

Carlos E. Ruiz Jia Wang Robert G. Hamlin

Article information:

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

To cite this document:

Carlos E. Ruiz Jia Wang Robert G. Hamlin, (2013),"What makes managers effective in Mexico?",
Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 34 Iss 2 pp. 130 - 146
Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01437731311321904
Downloaded on: 02 June 2015, At: 15:03 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 65 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 749 times since 2013*

Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:

Pramila Rao, (2009),"The role of national culture on Mexican staffing practices", Employee Relations, Vol.
31 Iss 3 pp. 295-311 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01425450910946488
Robert J. Allio, (2012),"Leaders and leadership many theories, but what advice is reliable?", Strategy
& Leadership, Vol. 41 Iss 1 pp. 4-14 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/10878571311290016
Thomas W. Nichols, Rod Erakovich, (2013),"Authentic leadership and implicit theory: a normative form
of leadership?", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 34 Iss 2 pp. 182-195 http://
dx.doi.org/10.1108/01437731311321931

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by 167573 []

For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for
Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines
are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.

About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com

Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company
manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as
providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee
on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive
preservation.
*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-7739.htm

LODJ
34,2

What makes managers

effective in Mexico?

130

School of Business, Georgia Gwinnett College, Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA

Carlos E. Ruiz
Jia Wang
Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, USA, and

Robert G. Hamlin
Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK

Abstract
Purpose The aim of this study was to identify what people in Mexican organizations perceive
as effective and ineffective managerial behavior.
Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study based on the grounded theory approach was
conducted. Interviews using the critical incident techniques were conducted with 35 participants from
six different companies located in Yucatan, Mexico.
Findings Results suggest that effective managers in Mexico are considered approachable,
democratic, fair, considerate, understanding, supportive, caring, and hard working with problem
solving skills.
Research limitations/implications This study is based on the responses of participants located
in one region of Mexico. This study focused on the perceptions of Mexican participants only.
Practical implications Findings of this study have practical implications for human resources
professionals, Mexican managers, and expatriates who manage operations and manage people in
Mexico. Human resources professionals can use the findings of this study to develop programs for
leadership and management development. For Mexican managers, this study set parameters of what is
considered effective or ineffective management behavior. Also, the findings of this study can help
multinational companies better prepare expatriates for their international assignments in Mexico.
Originality/value The article explores leadership practices internationally.
Keywords Managerial effectiveness, Managerial leadership behaviour, Leadership, Mexico,
Management effectiveness
Paper type Research paper

Leadership & Organization

Development Journal
Vol. 34 No. 2, 2013
pp. 130-146
r Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-7739
DOI 10.1108/01437731311321904

Introduction
There is ample evidence that countries around the world are facing the challenges
and opportunities associated with globalization. In the case of Mexico there are
economic indicators that show the extent to which the country has taken advantage of
these global trends over the past two decades. Indeed, the role it is playing in
the international arena is noteworthy. Mexico is now the 13th largest economy in the
world, the second largest in Latin America (World Bank, 2009), and the third largest
commercial partner of the USA (US Census Bureau, 2009). Mexico is also the Latin
American country with the highest volume of exports and the second highest level of
foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region (Calderon et al., 2008). The current high
levels of FDI in Mexico (estimated at $13 billion for 2009, Wall Street Journal, 2010) is a
direct result of the countrys change in trade policy from import substitution to an
export strategy that has led to the opening of Mexicos doors to foreign multinational
companies (MNCs). This policy builds on Mexicos past economic development policies
for encouraging FDI, which started in 1965 with the beginning of maquiladoras
assembly plants, and later with the introduction of the North American Free Trade

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

Agreement (NAFTA) (Rao, 2009). Today, Mexico continues to encourage foreign

multinational firms to invest in the country. Consequently, Mexico ranks eighth in FDI
destinations according to A.T. Kearneys FDI Confidence Index for 2010 (Wall Street
Journal, 2010).
With the increase of FDI made by multinational corporations a larger number of
expatriate managers are expected to work in Mexico. These expatriates are likely to
encounter the challenges of managing a Mexican workforce that may be different
from the one in their home country. To succeed in international assignments it is
critical that expatriates understand the cultural environment where they work
(Mondy, 2010). Nevertheless, as indicated by Wang (2010), it is very common that they
lack the cultural understanding necessary to succeed in a foreign country. This lack of
cultural understanding could lead to failures (e.g. an early return of the expatriate
to the home country without completing the assignment) which can be very costly
for foreign companies.
Most research on management and leadership has been conducted in the context of
the USA, Canada, and western European countries (Hernandez-Romero, 2010).
Consequently, little is known from indigenous research about effective and ineffective
managers in countries such as Mexico. Indeed, since the 1980s very few Mexican
scholars have written about management or leadership practices in Mexico. However,
because Latin America is becoming more important for multinational corporations
investing in this region of the world, various researchers such as Hernandez-Romero
(2010) have called for studies to understand how best to lead people in Latin American
countries. Our paper is in part a response to this call, and reports the findings of a
recent empirical study of managerial and leadership effectiveness carried out in six
organizations located in Yucatan, Mexico. Our Mexican inquiry replicates the
equivalent studies of Hamlin and Cooper (2007), Hamlin and Bassi (2008), and Hamlin
and Serventi (2008) in the UK, and of Wang (2010) in China. Following these
researchers, we use the term managerial and leadership effectiveness to refer to the
behavioral effectiveness of managers in performing their everyday tasks of managing
and leading people. For most if not all managers, leading is an integral part of the
everyday task of managing people (Hickman, 1990; Kotter, 1990; Mintzberg, 2004; Tett
et al., 2000). House et al. (2004) refer to this type of leading as general leadership,
which they argue is different in focus to the strategic leadership performed by
organizational leaders in top management roles.
Review of the literature
Past research on Mexican management and leadership
As previously stated, most of the existing research on management and leadership has
been conducted in western cultural contexts, and according to Hernandez-Romero
(2010) it has had little implication for Mexico. Additionally, the volume of indigenous
and non-indigenous Mexican management/leadership research is very small
because comparatively few Mexican scholars have engaged in these fields of study
in Mexico (Hernandez-Romero, 2010). Of the few studies that have been conducted,
most have primarily explored Mexican management/leadership through a cultural
lens. For example, Hofstede (1980) explored the Mexican culture on four dimensions:
power distance, individualism-collectivism, femininity-masculinity, and uncertainty
avoidance. With regards to uncertainty avoidance, he found that Mexicans feel
comfortable with rules but uncomfortable with ambiguity. As far as power distance is
concerned, Mexicans are willing to accept authoritarian managers and uneven power

What makes
managers
effective?
131

LODJ
34,2

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

132

distribution. Regarding individualism/collectivism, Mexicans are highly collectivistic

and expect that employers take care of employees. And in terms of masculinity/
femininity, Mexicans are high in masculinity. In general, Mexicans believe that men
and women assume different traditional roles; therefore, they are willing to accept
gender inequalities (Navarro, 2005). Although Hofstedes (1980) findings have been
confirmed by various scholars, they have also been questioned by others. For example,
Rotondo-Fernandez et al. (1997) challenged Hofstedes findings related to Mexicans
uncertainty avoidance and collectivism. Their research revealed that Mexicans are
comfortable with uncertainty and are more individualistic than collectivistic. Navarro
(2005) pointed out that the deviations from Hofstedes findings could be the result of the
exposure of Mexico to environmental factors such as globalization and NAFTA.
Another study that provides valuable insight on leadership in Mexico is the Global
Leadership Organizational Behavior Effectiveness study (GLOBE). The purpose of the
GLOBE study, in terms of organizational behavior effectiveness, was to identify
behaviors that could promote or inhibit outstanding leadership. With this purpose
in mind, middle managers from the private sector were asked to rate, on a scale from
1 to 7, 112 behaviors that could promote or inhibit outstanding leadership. The
findings of the study suggest that outstanding leaders in Mexico are leaders who are
achievement oriented, team players, decisive, competent, and inspiring. On the other
hand, the results of the study suggest that behaviors such as malevolent, self-centered,
face saver, autocratic, and non-participative could potentially inhibit outstanding
leadership (Ogliastri et al., 1999). However, it is important to point out that out of all the
Latin American countries included in the GLOBE study, Mexico is the country that
ranked the highest autocratic and non-participative as behaviors that could be effective
for outstanding leadership. This suggests that Mexicans, compared to other people in
Latin American, are more tolerant to autocratic and non-participative managers.
Martinez and Dorfman (1998) also carried out a study that provides insights about
management and leadership in Mexico. These authors found that when managing in
Mexico, managers adapt the culture of the organization to the Mexican culture. And
they make use of paternalistic leadership styles in an attempt to reconcile the Mexican
culture with the organizational culture. Also, managers in Mexico exhibit paternalistic
behaviors because they believe these are what employees expect.
Cross-nationally, Slater et al. (2006) explored the ideal images of educational
leadership among administrators in Mexico City and Texas, USA. Their findings
showed similarities in best leadership practices between Mexican and American
administrators. More recently, in a study on the characteristics of Mexican leaders,
Miramontes (2008) found that leaders in Mexico use transactional and directive
decision-making styles to manage people. This researcher concluded that leadership
is culturally based and influenced by paternalistic ideas (employers take care of
employees). Furthermore, leadership in Mexico is influenced by cultural expectations
between followers and leaders.
Research that specifically addresses management practices in Mexico is even more
sparse and seems to focus mainly on cross-national comparisons. For example,
Boseman and Phatak (1978) conducted a study to determine the transferability and
feasibility of management practices from the developed to developing countries. They
compared management practices of US subsidiaries operating in Mexico with the
management practices of Mexican-owned companies of a similar size. Their findings
indicated no significant differences in the management practices of these companies.
However, they implied that US subsidiaries operating in Mexico had already adapted

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

their practices to the Mexican culture. More recently, Schniederjans et al. (2006)
compared quality management practices in the USA and Mexico using a sample
of managers drawn from more than 500 firms. These authors found no significant
differences in quality management practices among managers in the two countries.
They attributed the similarities between the USA and Mexico to NAFTA and the
transfer of operations from the USA to Mexico. These findings support the view that
management practices are transferable across countries.
In sharp contrast to research demonstrating the transferability of managerial
practices across national borders, several studies have suggested that management
and leadership in Mexico is culturally bounded. For example, Agatas (2005) study
revealed significant differences in the work values of employees in the USA, Mexico,
and Poland. Raos (2009) study on the role of national culture on Mexican staffing
practices showed that certain staffing management practices (e.g. internal recruitment
and succession planning) are influenced by culture. The broad implications resulting
from the findings of these studies suggest MNCs operating in Mexico should-when
managing the indigenous workforce-make adjustments to their normal management
styles with consideration to the specific values and national culture of Mexico.
It is noteworthy that American and Mexican scholars tend to study Mexican
leadership for different purposes. For example, US scholars focus on cross-cultural
management. Given they appear to be mainly interested in finding US-derived
management models that can be used effectively by American companies operating in
Mexico. On the other hand, Mexican scholars are more interested in developing
management approaches for the purpose of increasing the productivity of the
organization (Martinez and Dorfman, 1998).
In summary, the literature on management and leadership in Mexico, which reflect
research on human resource management in MNCs, cross-cultural management, and
comparative human resource management (Keating and Thompson, 2004), shows two
main themes. The first relates to the impact of national culture on leadership, and the
various cultural factors that could affect managerial leadership practices in Mexico.
The second major theme is related to the universality of management practices.
Empirical evidence supports seemingly opposite views. One is that management
practices used in other countries can be translated and transferred to Mexico without
major adaptations. The other view is that management practices used in other
countries should be adapted to the Mexican culture in order to be effective. Even
though the literature on managerial leadership in Mexico identifies factors that should
be taken into consideration in order to successfully manage the Mexican workforce,
it does not provide insight into what behaviorally differentiates effective from
ineffective managerial leadership practice when managing people in Mexico. Thus,
further research is required to address the question What makes managers effective in
Mexico?, particularly given the increasing number of expatriates working in Mexico
and the recognized shortage of competent managerial resources in the country.
Another compelling reason for addressing this research question is the fact that
international corporations operating in developing countries, such as Mexico, often
face differing challenges ranging from hiring practices, to communication issues, to
problems associated with the cultural gap. It is of paramount importance to know and
understand how international firms handle these differences and difficulties, because
this can have a direct impact on the success of their operations in the host country
(Litrico, 2007). Stephens and Greer (1995) argued that the challenge of managing people
from different cultures is even greater when foreign managers perceive local culture as

What makes
managers
effective?
133

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

LODJ
34,2

an obstacle for the organizations success. This cultural issue could even raise ethical
concerns when international managers attempt to force their managing strategies
on local values and customs, thus, creating conflict between the local workforce and
expatriates. Our study is an attempt to provide new insight and understanding of the
effective manager and ineffective manager as perceived by people in Mexico.

134

Theoretical framework
The theoretical framework guiding our research is known as implicit leadership
theory. According to this theory individuals have beliefs, convictions, and assumptions
about the attributes and behaviors that distinguish effective from ineffective leaders
(Eden and Leviatan, 1975). And they use these implicit theories to encode, process, and
recall specific events and behavior (Shaw, 1990). Phillips and Lord (1986) have
demonstrated that implicit leadership theories can best be understood in terms of
cognitive categorization processes. These processes involve the classification of nonidentical perceived stimuli into categories or groups based on similarities with stimuli
in the same category, and differences with stimuli in other categories (Rosch, 1978). The
classification of a large number of stimuli into a smaller number of categories permits
symbolic representation of the world in terms of the labels given to the categories,
and allows for communication and exchange of information about the categorized
entities (Cantor and Mischel, 1979). Resulting from cognitive categorization processes
followers hold implicit cognitive prototypes of leaders, and leader behavior is
perceived and judged in terms of its fit with these implicit prototypes (Cantor and
Mischel, 1979). The better the fit between the behavior of perceived individual
managers (leaders), and the internal leadership prototypes (implicit theories) held by
their subordinates/followers, respectively (the perceivers), the more likely they will be
judged as effective or ineffective. Additionally, subordinates (followers) perceptions
of leadership behavior and cognitive prototypes are thought to be developed and
influenced by the organizational environment and situation (Gerstner and Day, 1994),
and by the national culture (Helgstrand and Stuhlmacher, 1999). This implies that
subordinates and followers from different cultural backgrounds may perceive different
levels of managerial and leadership effectiveness from the same manager (leader),
because of the different prototypes guiding their expectations (Chong and Thomas,
1997). Any discrepancy between subordinates (followers) implicit leadership theories
and those of their respective managers (leaders) may result in dissatisfaction,
disengagement, and increased employee turnover (Engle and Lord, 1997).
Research aims and questions
As previously mentioned, the present study of perceived managerial and leadership
effectiveness in Yucatan, Mexico replicates several previous replication studies
carried out by author 2 and author 3 with various other co-researchers in a diverse
range of countries. As with these past studies, the subject focus of our research is
senior, middle, and first line managers. And the aim is to identify what people in
Mexican organizations perceive as effective and ineffective managerial behavior.
In other words, to identify the implicit cognitive prototypes of good and bad
managers against which their superiors, peers, and subordinates perceive and judge
effective or ineffective their managerial performance. In following Hamlin et al., who
followed Latham and Wexleys (1981), we have adopted the following definitions of
effective and ineffective managerial performance. Effective managerial performance is
behavior which you wish all managers would adopt if and when faced with a similar

circumstance. Ineffective managerial performance is behavior which, if it occurred

repeatedly, or was seen once in certain circumstances, might cause you to begin to
question or doubt the ability of that particular manager in that instance. Our study
addressed two research questions as follows:

What makes
managers
effective?

RQ1. What managerial behaviors are perceived as effective in Mexico?

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

RQ2. What managerial behaviors are perceived as least effective or ineffective in

Mexico?
Research methodology
We used the managerial behavior approach to management research (Noordegraaf
and Stewart, 2000). This approach is characterized by inductive empirical studies that
focus on analyzing managers and managerial work as it occurs in organizations with
the aim of developing categories, concepts and theories on the basis of empirical
evidence (Noordegraaf and Stewart, 2000, p. 429). The method used to generate data
was Flanagans (1954) critical incident technique (CIT) which author 3 had used for his
original and subsequent replication studies. CIT has long been considered perhaps the
best research technique for differentiating behaviorally effective from ineffective
managers (see Borman and Brush, 1993), and also for enabling researchers to look for
evidence of commonalities across cases to demonstrate the relative generalizability of
their findings (Chell, 1998).
Sample and data collection
The research design sought to collect 450 or more concrete examples (critical incidents
(CIs)) of effective and ineffective managerial behavior from a purposive sample of
40-50 managers and non-managerial employees in a diverse range of organizations
located in Yucatan, Mexico. However, establishing contact with Mexican people willing
to participate in the research could only be achieved by one of the authors, a native
of Mexico. Through a snowball sampling technique (Bryman and Bell, 2003) a
convenience sample of 35 people from six organizations was obtained. Of these 35
participants, 12 were males and 23 females, ten were non-managerial staff, 13 were
first-level managers, 11 were middle-level managers, and one was a senior manager.
Prior to a CIT interview taking place each participant was told the purpose of the
research and the benefit to their organization; what was hoped to be achieved at
the CIT interview; what was meant by various key words and terms that would be
used such as critical, incident, CI, and effective and ineffective managerial
performance; what the interviewee would be asked at the interview and how to
prepare; and the academic code of ethics that would be applied. The CIT interviews
typically lasted for 60-90 minutes, during which time the interviewee was asked to
describe up to a total of ten CIs that s/he had personally observed within the past six
to 12 months. The CIs could relate either to behavior exhibited by managers above,
at the same level, or below them in the organizational hierarchy. For each CI the
researcher posed and strictly adhered to three standard questions, as follows:
(1)

What was the background situation, circumstance, or context that led up to the
critical incident you have in mind?

(2)

What and in what way exactly did the subject (the manager you observed)
do/say or not do/say that was either effective or ineffective?

135

LODJ
34,2

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

136

(3)

What was the specific result or outcome of the critical incident that you have
described and on reflection, why do you perceive/judge this to be an example of
effective or ineffective managerial behavior/managerial performance?

As and when required, these questions were followed by probing and explicatory
questions to ensure the critical facet or aspect of the observed behavior had been
correctly identified. This was then recorded as far as possible using the same words
used by the CIT informant when s/he described the CI. Those CIT informants who
were in management roles were not allowed to offer CIs based on their own managerial
practice. Because of the strict code of anonymity informants were asked not to reveal
the identity of the manager whose behavior they were describing. The CIT interviews
generated 318 usable CIs. These were subsequently translated from Spanish to English
by author 1. In order to reduce any risk of loss of meaning in the translation a college
professor of Spanish a native speaker of English back-translated the English
version into Spanish. All the inconsistencies in the translation were then discussed
between the two translators until agreement was reached.
Data analysis
Initially the CIs were subjected to a variant of content analysis using first-level open
coding at the semantic level. Its purpose was to identify the discrete unit of meaning
of each incident, and to disentangle any CI where two (or more) units of meaning were
located (Miles and Huberman, 1994). No additional CIs emerged from this procedure. Out
of the 318 coded CIs, 154 were examples of positive (effective) managerial behavior and
164 were examples of negative (ineffective) managerial behavior. The CIs were then
subjected to inductive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) using second-level
open coding at the semantic level (Miles and Huberman, 1994). The aim was to search
for themes and patterns as identified within the explicit or surface meanings of their
respective discrete units of meaning. In total, 17 CIs appeared to have nothing in
common with any other CI. This suggested these particular CIs were managerial
behaviors that had been exhibited by either one or possibly two managers only, and thus
not widely exhibited and observed. In accordance with the common CIT protocol used in
the past for the previous replication studies, these CIs were eliminated from the data set.
This resulted in 301 CIs being retained for further analysis. In total, 33 themes emerged
from the inductive thematic analysis, of which 15 were related to effective (good) and 18 to
least effective/ineffective (poor/bad) management practice. Each theme, which consisted
of between a minimum of three and a maximum of 14 CIs, was given a label in the form
a behavioral statement reflecting its meaning. In some cases, a CI was selected and used
to label the theme. For other themes a compound statement was created to capture in
essence the meaning held in common to all the constituent CIs.
Results
This section presents the result of the thematic analysis of the 301 CIs. For better
illustration of the incidents, four tables are used to present the behavioral statements
(themes) that resulted from the analysis. A list of the 15 positive (effective) behavioral
statements and the 18 negative (least effective/ineffective) behavioral statements are
listed below. In addition, examples of CIs that support few selected behavioral
statements are provided in Tables I and II.
Positive (effective) behavioral statements:
(1) listens to the employees needs;
(2)

takes into account employees suggestions;

Behavioral statements

Supporting critical incidents

Listens to the employees needs

Even though the manager was very busy, the manager

took the time to listen to the employees concerns and
addressed the issue. The manager understood that the
issue was important
The manager always listens to the employees and tries to
help them whenever possible
An employee did an outstanding job on three projects in a
row and the manager gave employee extra two days of paid
leave around a major holiday
The manager recognized the work of the employee and
gave her an award at a public event
The manager left for vacation without first communicating
to the team the information that the team needed to
complete the assignment. The manager did not leave a
phone number at which he could be reached
The manager does not authorize the training, saying that
there is no time for it. The manager does not try to make
arrangements so training can be provided

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

Provides rewards and recognizes

employees in front of others

Does not communicate to employees

important information
Does not care about the education
and training of employees

Background

Critical incident

Consequence

There is an annual economic

reward to the employee who has
the best performance

The manager is very fair in the

way that he chooses the best
employee. He takes into
consideration performance and
academic development
The manager says, with a rude
attitude that he is going to take
care of the situation. Sometimes
she even says that she cannot
do anything

The personnel try to work

well during the year and
also look for academic
development. Motivation to
work well is high
Employees are upset with
the manager because of her
attitude. Employees try to
avoid the manager

Employees report to the manager

the lack of equipment and
medicines in the department

(3)

makes decisions in a fair manner;

(4)

distributes workload without overloading employees;

(5)

understands employees personal and family needs;

(6)

does not make employees feel bad when they make mistakes;

(7)

makes recommendations for work improvement;

(8)

provides rewards and recognizes employees in front of others;

(9)

encourages employees development;

(10)

addresses employees concerns and questions;

(11)

makes sure employees have good working conditions;

(12)

provides good customer service;

What makes
managers
effective?
137

Table I.
Examples of positive
and negative behavioral
statements supported
by CIs

Table II.
Examples of critical
incidents with
background and
consequence

LODJ
34,2

(13)

makes special concessions to employees;

(14)

works hard and is always ready to cooperate when work is excessive; and

(15)

solves problems in an effective manner.

Negative (ineffective) behavioral statements:

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

138

(1)

does not care about the education and training of employees;

(2)

does not provide good working conditions and proper materials that enable
employees to do their work;

(3)

favors some employees over others based on friendship not performance;

(4)

exhibits an arrogant and rude attitude;

(5)

does not distribute work fairly;

(6)

does not acknowledge problems or denies them;

(7)

hires incompetent people based on friendship instead of qualifications;

(8)

assumes employees are to blame for problems that occur without first
investigating the situation;

(9)

does not communicate to employees important information;

(10)

does not recognize or reward employees;

(11)

does not do what he/she says he/she is going to do;

(12)

fails to solve problems in an effective manner;

(13)

overloads employees with work of other people who miss work;

(14)

makes employees feel bad in front of others when they make mistakes;

(15)

breaches companys policies;

(16)

makes arbitrary decisions;

(17)

no tolerance for mistakes on the part of the employees; and

(18)

lacks professionalism.

To illustrate the overall sense of the type of CIT data from which the behavioral
statements were derived, we provide in Table II the content of two CIT
data strips relating to one positive (effective) CI and one negative (ineffective)
CI. Each data strip reveals the background context to the particular concrete example
(CI) of observed managerial behavior, and also the resulting consequences/outcomes
that caused the two respective CIT interviewees to perceive and judge them effective
and ineffective, respectively.
It appears from our empirical findings that middle- and first-level managers in
Mexican organizations are perceived and judged especially effective by their respective
constituencies (superiors, peers, and subordinates) when, for example, they provide
good service to their internal and external customers, make recommendations for
work improvement, and demonstrate they are good at solving problems; actively
support their employees by ensuring work loads are distributed fairly so that no-one is
overloaded, and by lending a hand when there is an excess of work; shows care and
concern for their employees by being sensitive to and understanding of their personal

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

and family needs, by addressing their questions and concerns, and by making
special concessions in work arrangements as required; actively encourage employees
to develop themselves; involves employees by taking into account their ideas and
suggestions when making decisions; and communicates and consults well by actively
listening to their employees. Conversely, Mexican middle- and first-level managers are
perceived and judged least effective or ineffective when, for example, they disregard
their employees by overloading them with work and showing no tolerance if they
make a mistake; exhibit unfair, inconsiderate, selfish, or self-serving behavior such as
distributing work unfairly, hiring incompetent people, or favoring some employees
over others based on friendship rather than qualification and performance, and by
being arrogant and rude; undermine their employees and organization by making
people feel bad in front of others when they make mistakes, and by breaching the
companys policies; exhibit poor management and bad judgment by failing to solve
problems in an effective manner, making decisions arbitrarily, and by immediately
assuming their employees are to blame for problems without first investigating the
situation; ignore and avoid issues such as denying or being unwilling to acknowledge
problems, and not doing what they say they will do; deprive employees of proper
materials and good working conditions, fail to recognize or reward them, and fails to
communicate important information that they should have.
As can be seen the number of both effective and ineffective behavioral statements
sharply differentiate managerial behaviors associated with good and bad
managerial performance within Mexican organizations.

What makes
managers
effective?
139

Discussion
The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of the managerial
behaviors associated with effective managers in Mexico. Based on the CIs provided
by the study participants, an effective Mexican manager is perceived as someone who
is behaviorally: approachable, democratic, fair, considerate, understanding,
supportive, caring, hard working, and good at problem solving. These attributes
are summarized in Table III.
Management literature has consistently characterized Mexican leadership as being
paternalistic and autocratic (see Stephens and Greer, 1995; Dorfman and Howell, 1988;
Miramontes, 2008). For example, consistent with Hofstedes (1980) findings, employees
in Mexico expect their employers to take care of them. Miramontes (2008) concluded
that Mexican leadership is influenced by paternalistic ideas. The finding of our study
indicate that the behavioral attributes of effective managers as identified by the people

Attributes

Behavioral statements

Approachable
Democratic
Fair
Considerate
Understanding
Supportive
Caring
Hard working
Problem solving

No. 1
No. 2
No. 3
Nos 4, 6
No. 5
Nos 7, 8, 9, 13
Nos 10, 11, 12
No. 14
No. 15

Table III.
Profile of an effective
manager in Mexico

LODJ
34,2

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

140

who participated in the research such as caring and supportive behaviors are
manifestations of paternalistic styles of leadership.
However, our results suggest Mexicans prefer a democratic rather than an
autocratic style of leadership. This finding challenges the conventional belief
about autocratic leadership being more appropriate in cultures that are high in power
distance, collectivism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance (Muczyk and Holt,
2008), such as Mexico (Hofstede, 1980). Instead, it indicates that Mexicans
appreciate managers who can involve employees in the decision-making process.
This characteristic is typical of a more participative or democratic leadership style
(Northouse, 2004). In this regard, our finding challenges Howell et al.s (2007) argument
about participative leadership style being ineffective in Mexico, except for the most
industrialized regions of the country that are close to the USA. Yet the CIs upon which
our findings are based were collected in Yucatan which is in the Southeast of Mexico
and one of the countrys regions furthest from the US border.
Our findings also question the findings of the GLOBE study in regards to the
perception of Mexican middle managers about the impact of autocratic and
non-participative behaviors on outstanding leadership. According to the GLOBE
study, when it comes to effective leadership, Mexicans are more tolerant of autocratic
and non-participative behaviors than the rest of their counterparts in Latin America.
Based on the results of this study this attitude toward autocratic and non-participative
leadership behaviors may be changing. However, it is important to mention that the
GLOBE study focussed on strategic leadership and included only middle managers in
the private sector while our study focussed on general leadership and included middle
managers, first-level managers, and non-managers.
In summary, the results of this study suggest that effective managers in Mexico
exhibit paternalistic and democratic behaviors. On the one hand, this study suggests
that Mexicans value managers who take care of their needs (paternalistic managers),
but also value managers who involve them in the decision-making process (democratic
managers). Northouse (2004) suggested that paternalistic leaders exhibit democratic
and autocratic behaviors. Northouse indicated that paternalistic leaders balance their
concern for results with their concern for people. Paternalistic leaders may consult
with employees before making their decisions. The findings of this study suggest that
the leadership style preferred by Mexicans may be shifting from paternalistic
autocratic to paternalistic democratic.
It is important to point out that our finding that being democratic is a perceived
attribute of effective leaders in Mexico could have been influenced by the
demographics of the sample of participants in the study, a significant majority of
whom were females (65.7 percent). As past research shows, females tend to prefer a
democratic leadership style (Eagly and Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001) and are slightly
more transformational than men (Eagly et al., 2003). However, there is controversy
about gender influence on leadership styles because, despite countless studies as well
as Eagly et al. (2003) meta-analysis, some of the recurrent findings are contradictory
(Smith et al., 2004). Some studies suggest that men and women have different
leadership styles with women being less hierarchical and more participative (Book,
2000; Rosener, 1995). However, other studies suggest organizational leadership is not
influenced by gender differences or, if so, the influence is minimal (Eagly and
Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001). Based on the evidence we have gathered in Mexico, we are
unable to draw any conclusions about whether or not gender differences have had a
definitive impact on the findings of our study.

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

The appreciation of the Mexican employees for management attributes which

have not been associated with the traditional Mexican culture might be the result of
globalization. It is reasonable to postulate that through globalization, international
ventures, free trade agreements, FDI, or even the media, may have had an impact on
the way employees around the world want to be treated by their managers. Indeed,
previous studies of managerial and leadership effectiveness conducted by various
researchers in other countries including China, Egypt, Germany, Romania, and the
UK (see Hamlin, 2004; Hamlin and Bassi, 2008; Hamlin and Cooper, 2007; Hamlin and
Serventi, 2008) show that the behavioral attributes of effective managers across
different countries are very similar. In addition, comparisons against the New Zealand
lay model of managerial effectiveness offered by Cammock et al. (1995), and against
the US empirically derived taxonomies of managerial and leadership behavior
offered by Borman and Brush (1993), Tett et al. (2000), and Yukl et al. (2002),
respectively, reveal substantial similarities.
A distinctive feature of our study has been our adoption of the managerial
behavior approach as described by Noordegraaf and Stewart (2000). This approach
is characterized by inductive empirical research which focusses on analyzing
managerial work and behavior as it occurs in organizations, with the aim of
developing categories, concepts, and theories on the basis of empirical evidence.
A relative merit of this approach is the rich descriptive detail of the collected qualitative
data, which contrasts sharply against the large-scale survey approach adopted by most
researchers of management and leadership. As Conger (1998) notes, most behavioral
studies of leadership are survey based, use pre-determined behavioral dimensions, and
more often than not the deployed questionnaires measure attitudes about behavior
rather than actual observed behavior and their effectiveness. Furthermore, typical
questionnaire items are expressed in broad terms that are relatively sterile in the
sense that a useful richness of detail is often missing. Thus, researchers end up
measuring the presence and frequency of static terms, which fail to advance
understanding of the deeper structures and specificities of effective leadership.
Practical implications
Our findings have practical implications for human resources professionals, Mexican
managers, and expatriates who manage operations and manage people in Mexico.
Human resources professionals can use the results of this study to develop programs
for leadership and management development. Human resources professionals can use
the characteristics of effective managers identified by the participants of this study to
build appropriate management competency models. For Mexican managers, the study
sets parameters of what is considered effective or ineffective managerial behavior. It is
important that managers in Mexico become aware of the importance of being effective.
Ireland and Hitt (2005) indicated that leadership practices are a crucial means for
organizations to enhance their competitiveness. Through effective leadership practices,
organizations can be better prepared to take advantage of the opportunities associated
with globalization and face the threats related to todays unpredictable global
environment. No matter what the organizations activity, or country, the better the
decisions of its managers and leaders, the more likely that the organization will thrive
(Rausch, 1999, p. 1). In light of this, it is imperative that Mexican managers incorporate
effective managerial leadership practices. By having enhanced awareness of the
attributes that behaviorally differentiate an effective manager from an ineffective one,
managers can start to develop or adopt the essential core behavioral competencies

What makes
managers
effective?
141

LODJ
34,2

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

142

associated with managerial and leadership effectiveness, and avoid the pitfalls that
could lead to managerial ineffectiveness and failure.
The findings of our study provide useful information to foreign MNCs that have
operations in Mexico. With knowledge of the characteristics of effective managerial
practices in Mexico, MNCs can better prepare their expatriates for international
assignments in this country. Our findings can also be used to design management and
leadership development programs targeting on expatriates. In the development of
effective managers, MNCs should consider not only factors that are culturally based
(e.g. paternalistic leadership), but also factors that may not be culturally expected in
Mexico (e.g. democratic leadership) though still necessary to effectively manage a
Mexican workforce. With enhanced awareness of effective managerial and leadership
practices in Mexico, expatriate managers are more than likely to have effective
communication and interaction with their Mexican counterparts, and be equipped to
manage the local workforce in a more effective manner. In addition, MNCs can use the
findings of this study for recruitment purposes. By being aware of what makes
managers effective in Mexico, MNCs are in a better position to look for candidates who
possess the necessary qualities and behavioral competencies, and therefore are more
likely to have the potential to be successful as an expatriate manager in that country.
Limitations and recommendations for future research
Given the little research attention given to management and leadership in Mexico, the
findings of our study adds much-needed knowledge to the scarce Mexican leadership
literature and contribute to international management knowledge. However, we
acknowledge the study has five main limitations. The first limitation relates to the
industry/context from which the CIs where obtained. Most of the CIs collected for this
study were collected from participants who work in the professional service area.
Because managerial behavior could be influenced by situational and organizational
factors (Vroom, 2000), it is imperative to include in future studies more participants
from different types of industries. The second limitation is the fact that the study
was undertaken in the Yucatan region of Mexico. Therefore, our findings should not be
assumed to be translatable and transferable across the whole country. We recommend
further replication studies should be conducted in other regions of Mexico. The third
limitation relates to the size of sample. In our research design we planned to obtain 450
or more CIs, but in the event collected 318 and were able to use 301 only. The fourth
limitation relates to the predominance of female participants which means gender
may have had an influence on the results. Therefore, it will be useful for future research
to recruit more balanced numbers of males and females. The fifth limitation is the
fact that the study focussed on the perceptions of Mexican participants only.
Consequently, the resulting portrait of effective managers in Mexico is highly value
laden. Such perceptions could be triangulated by exploring the issue from the
perspective of expatriate managers who have frequently interacted or worked with
Mexican managers.
Conclusion
In this paper we have demonstrated empirically that the perception of effective
managers in Mexico are those managers and leaders who are approachable,
democratic, fair, considerate, understanding, supportive, caring, hard working, and
good at problem solving. Our indigenous research specifically replicated previous
studies of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness. Consequently it makes

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

a contribution to expanding current knowledge beyond the US and western

European organizational contexts. By focussing on Mexico, a part of the world which
has traditionally been underexplored, this study contributes also to furthering
understanding of international management. Our findings suggest that some of the
characteristics and behavioral attributes of effective managers in Mexico (i.e. being
democratic) may not correspond to the expectations informed by Hofstedes (1980)
Mexican cultural dimensions. On the contrary, they suggest there are managerial
behaviors which may be generic and near universally expected, accepted, and effective
across organizations, organizational sectors, and nations regardless of cultural
differences. This is consistent with similar findings resulting from the replication
studies in non-UK (Hamlin et al., 2010; Hamlin and Patel, 2011). These indicate there
are generic behavioral indicators of managerial and leadership effectiveness which are
far more universal than is normally assumed or anticipated. We suggest continued
research effort is needed to explore the existence of a general taxonomy of managerial
and leadership effectiveness.
References
Agata, D. (2005), Cross-national differences in the work values of employees of a US-based
multi-national corporation: a comparative study of the United States, Poland, and
Mexico, unpublished doctoral dissertation, the George Washington University,
Washington, DC.
Book, E.W. (2000), Why the Best Man for the Job is a Woman, HarperCollins, New York, NY.
Borman, W.C. and Brush, D.H. (1993), More progress toward a taxonomy of managerial
performance requirements, Human Performance, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 1-21.
Boseman, F.G. and Phatak, A. (1978), Management practices of industrial enterprises in Mexico:
a comparative study, Management International Review, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 43-8.
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006), Using thematic analysis in psychology, Qualitative Research in
Psychology, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 77-101.
Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2003), Business Research Methods, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Calderon, A., Mortimore, M., Razo, C. and Tavares, M. (2008), Foreign direct investment in Latin
American and the Caribbean, briefing paper, available at: www.eclac.org/publicaciones/
xml/4/36094/LCG2406i.pdf (accessed July 12, 2011).
Cammock, P.V., Nilakant, V. and Dakin, S. (1995), Developing a lay model of managerial
effectiveness: a social constructionist perspective, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 32
No. 4, pp. 443-74.
Cantor, N. and Mischel, W. (1979), Prototypes in person perception, in Berkowitz, L. (Ed.),
Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Academic Press, New York, NY.
Chell, E. (1998), Critical incident technique, in Symon, G. and Cassell, C. (Eds), Qualitative
Methods and Analysis in Organizational Research: A Practical Guide, Sage, London,
pp. 51-72.
Chong, L.M.A. and Thomas, D.C. (1997), Leadership perceptions in cross cultural context:
Pakeha and Pacific islanders in New Zealand, The Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 8 No. 3,
pp. 275-93.
Conger, J.A. (1998), Qualitative research as the cornerstone methodology for understanding
leadership, Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 107-21.
Dorfman, P.W. and Howell, J.P. (1988), Dimensions of national culture and effective leadership
patterns: Hofstede revisited, Advances in International Comparative Management, Vol. 3,
pp. 127-50.

What makes
managers
effective?
143

LODJ
34,2

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

144

Eagly, A.H. and Johannesen-Schmidt, M.C. (2001), The leadership styles of women and men,
Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 57 No. 4, pp. 781-98.
Eagly, A.H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M.C. and van Engen, M.L. (2003), Transformational,
transactional, and laissey-faire leadership styles: a meta-analysis comparing women and
men, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 129 No. 4, pp. 569-91.
Eden, D. and Leviatan, U. (1975), Implicit leadership theory as a determinant of the factor
structure underlying supervisory behaviour scales, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 60
No. 6, pp. 736-41.
Engle, E.M. and Lord, R.G. (1997), Implicit theories, self-schemas, and leader-member
exchange, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 40 No. 4, pp. 988-1010.
Flanagan, J.C. (1954), The critical incident technique, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 51 No. 4,
pp. 327-58.
Gerstner, C.R. and Day, D.V. (1994), Cross-cultural comparison of leadership prototypes,
Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 121-34.
Hamlin, R.G. (2004), In support of universalistic models of managerial and leadership
effectiveness: implications for HRD research and practice, Human Resource Development
Quarterly, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 189-215.
Hamlin, R.G. and Bassi, N. (2008), Behavioral indicators of manager and managerial leader
effectiveness: an example of mode 2 knowledge production in management to support
evidence-based practice, International Journal of Management Practice, Vol. 3 No. 2,
pp. 115-30.
Hamlin, R.G. and Cooper, D.J. (2007), Developing effective managers and leaders within
healthcare and social care contexts: an evidence-based approach, in Sambrook, S. and
Stewart, J. (Eds), HRD in the Public Sector: The Case of Health and Social Care, Routledge,
London, pp. 187-212.
Hamlin, R.G. and Patel, T. (2011), Perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness within the
European Union: a cross-sector and cross-nation study of effective and ineffective
managerial behaviour, paper presented at the 2011 AHRD International Research
Conference in the Americas, February, Schaumburg, Chicago, IL.
Hamlin, R.G. and Serventi, S. (2008), Generic behavioral criteria of managerial effectiveness: an
empirical and comparative study of UK local government, Journal of European Industrial
Training, Vol. 32 No. 4, pp. 285-302.
Hamlin, R.G., Nassar, M. and Wahba, K. (2010), Behavioural criteria of managerial and
Leadership effectiveness within Egyptian and British public sector hospitals: an empirical
study and multiple-case/cross-nation comparative analysis, Human Resource
Development International, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 43-64.
Helgstrand, K.K. and Stuhlmacher, A.F. (1999), National culture: an influence on leader
evaluations, The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 153-68.
Hernandez-Romero, E. (2010), Characteristics of Mexican leaders in complex organizations in
Monterrey Mexico: an exploratory study of the perceptions of human resource executives,
unpublished doctoral dissertation, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA.
Hickman, C. (1990), Mind of a Manager, Soul of a Leader, Wiley, New York, NY.
Hofstede, G. (1980), Cultures Consequences, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA.
House, R.J., Hanges, P.J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P.W. and Gupta, V. (2004), Culture, Leadership,
and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, Sage, London.
Howell, J., DelaCerda, J., Martinez, S., Prieto, L., Bautista, A., Ortiz, J., Dorfman, P. and Mendez, M.
(2007), Leadership and culture in Mexico, Journal of World Business, Vol. 42 No. 4,
pp. 449-62.

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

Ireland, D. and Hitt, M. (2005), Achieving and maintaining strategic competitiveness in the 21st
century: the role of strategic leadership, The Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 19
No. 4, pp. 66-77.
Keating, M. and Thompson, K. (2004), International human resource management: overcoming
disciplinary sectarianism, Employee Relations, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 595-612.
Kotter, J. (1990), A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs from Management, Free Press,
New York, NY.
Latham, G.P. and Wexley, K.N. (1981), Increasing Productivity Through Performance Appraisal,
Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
Litrico, J. (2007), Beyond paternalism: cross-cultural perspectives on the functioning of a
Mexican production plant, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 73 No. 1, pp. 53-63.
Martinez, S. and Dorfman, P.W. (1998), The Mexican entrepreneur: an ethnographic study of the
Mexican empresario, International Studies of Management and Organization, Vol. 28
No. 2, pp. 97-123.
Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M. (1994), Qualitative Data Analysis, Sage, Thousands Oak, CA.
Mintzberg, H. (2004), Managers not MBAs: A Hard Look at the Soft Practice of Managing and
Management Development, Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco, CA.
Miramontes, G. (2008), A qualitative study examining leadership characteristics of Mexican
leaders, unpublished doctoral dissertation, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA.
Mondy, W. (2010), Human Resource Management, 11th ed., Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Muczyk, J. and Holt, D. (2008), Toward a cultural contingency model of leadership, Journal of
Leadership and Organizational Studies, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 277-86.
Navarro, D. (2005), The influence of national culture of charismatic leadership perceptions: an
exploratory study of Mexico, Poland, and the United States of America, unpublished
doctoral dissertation, the George Washington University, Washington, DC.
Noordegraaf, M. and Stewart, R. (2000), Managerial behaviour research in private and public
sectors: distinctiveness, disputes and directions, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 37
No. 3, pp. 427-43.
Northouse, P. (2004), Leadership Theory and Practice, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA.
Ogliastri, E., McMillen, C., Arias, M., De Bustamante, C., Davila, C., Dorfman, P., Fimmen, C.,
Ickis, J. and Martinez, S. (1999), Cultura y liderazgo organizacional en 10 paises de
America Latina: El studio GLOBE, Revista Latinoamericana de Administracion, Vol. 1
No. 22, pp. 29-57.
Phillips, J.S. and Lord, R.G. (1986), Notes on the practical and theoretical consequences
of implicit leadership theories for the future of leadership measurement, Journal of
Management, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 31-42.
Rao, P. (2009), The role of national culture on Mexican staffing practices, Employee Relations,
Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 295-311.
Rausch, E. (1999), Management/leadership decision guidelines: critical ingredients for
competitiveness, Competitiveness Review, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 19-27.
Rosch, E. (1978), Principles of categorization, in Rosch, E. and Lloyd, B.B. (Eds), Cognition and
Categorization, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 27-48.
Rosener, J.B. (1995), Americas Competitive Secret: Utilizing Women as a Management Strategy,
Oxford University Press, New York, NY.
Rotondo-Fernandez, D., Carlson, D., Stepina, L.P. and Nicholson, J.D. (1997), Hofstede s country
classification 25 years later, Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 137 No. 1, pp. 43-54.
Schniederjans, M., Parast, M., Nabavi, M., Subba Rao, S. and Raghu-Nathan, T. (2006),
Comparative analysis of Malcolm Baldrige national quality award criteria: an empirical

What makes
managers
effective?
145

LODJ
34,2

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

146

study of India, Mexico, and the United States, Quality Management Journal, Vol. 13
No. 4, pp. 7-22.
Shaw, J.B. (1990), A cognitive categorization model for the study of intercultural management,
Academy of Management Review, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 626-45.
Slater, C., Boone, M., Alvarez, I. and Topete, C. (2006), Ideal images of educational leadership in
Mexico city and south Texas, The Educational Forum, Vol. 70 No. 2, pp. 154-71.
Smith, K.K., Matkin, G.S. and Fritz, S. (2004), A review of gender and full range leadership
research and suggestions for future research, Journal of Leadership Education, Vol. 3
No. 2, pp. 52-68.
Stephens, G. and Greer, C. (1995), Doing business in Mexico: understanding cultural
differences, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 39-55.
Tett, R.P., Gutterman, H.A., Bleier, A. and Murphy, P.J. (2000), Development and content validation
of a hyperdimensional taxonomy of managerial competence, Human Performance, Vol. 13
No. 3, pp. 205-51.
US Census Bureau (2009), Top ten countries with which the US trades, available at: www.
census.gov/foreign-trade/top/dst/current/balance.html (accessed May 10, 2008).
Vroom, V.H. (2000), Leadership and the decision-making process, Organizational Dynamics,
Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 82-94.
Wall Street Journal (2010), Mexico ranked 8th foreign direct investment destination, available
at: www.siliconborder.com/Mexico%20Ranked%208th%20Foreign%20Direct%20
Investment%20Destination.html (accessed January 25, 2010).
Wang, J. (2010), Exploring managerial effectiveness: empirical evidence from China, the
proceedings of the Academy of Human Resource Development 2010 International
Research Conference, Knoxville, TN.
World Bank (2009), Mexico: country brief, available at: www.worldbank.org (accessed October 31,
2009).
Yukl, G., Gordon, A. and Taber, T. (2002), A hierarchical taxonomy of leadership behavior:
integrating a half century of behavior research, Journal of Leadership and Organizational
Studies, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 15-31.
Further reading
Horner-Long, P. and Schoenberg, R. (2002), Does e-business require different leadership
characteristics? An empirical investigation, European Management Journal, Vol. 20 No. 6,
pp. 611-19.
About the authors
Carlos E. Ruiz is currently an Assistant Professor of Management at the School of Business of
Georgia Gwinnett College, a unit of the University System of Georgia. He teaches courses in
Principles of Management, Human Resources Management, and International Management.
Among his work experience, Carlos has held different managerial positions in the private and
public sector in Mexico. His areas of research include international HRD, cross-cultural training,
training and development, and managerial effectiveness. Carlos E. Ruiz is the corresponding
author and can be contacted at: cruiz@ggc.edu
Jia Wang is based at Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, USA.
Robert G. Hamlin is based at the University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK.

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com

Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

This article has been cited by:

Downloaded by Universidad de las Americas Puebla At 15:03 02 June 2015 (PT)

1. Luis Eduardo Torres, Carlos Enrique Ruiz, Bob Hamlin, Andres Velez-Calle. 2015. Perceived managerial
and leadership effectiveness in Colombia. European Journal of Training and Development 39:3, 203-219.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]