Functional Specialization, Culture, and Preference for Participative Management

Six hundred and twenty-seven managers representing six cultures completed Exercise Supervise (Bass, 1967). Three hypotheses were evaluated. Is participative management universally preferred as a management style? Second, could earlier work by Heller and Yukl (1969) indicate that the functional specialization (finance, sales, and personnel) of American managers was a significant predictor of decision-making style (power differentiating versus power equalizing) be generalized to other cultures? And finally, are different qualities seen as necessary for success as a top manager, middle manager, and first-line foreman by managers from different cultures? Results indicated that there is some generality for American-style participation, but it is not a universal phenomenon; functional specialization was not a statistically significant predictor of decision-making style, but results were in the predicted direction; and the six cultures yielded significantly different profiles of qualities deemed necessary for success as a top manager, middle manager, and first-line foreman.