A Cross-Cultural Test of the Japanese PM Leadership Theory

A total of 1052 assembly-line workers in five electronics assembly plants in the U.K., USA, Japan, and Hong Kong completed questionnaires evaluating their supervisors' leadership style. Their 84 first-line supervisors rated team performance on productiveness, work quality and group cooperation. Support was found for Misumi's (1985) PM leadership theory with reference to the measure of work quality, but not for productiveness or group cooperation. Significant differences were also found between the response of Japanese workers and those in other countries to high level planning and and pressure by the supervisor. These differences are interpreted in terms of Hofstede's conceptualisation of individualism and collectivism within work organisations.