TY - JOUR
T1 - Changes in authority relations when moving between more and less authoritarian cultures
T2 - The impact of Anglo-American education and return home
AU - Epaminonda, Epaminondas
PY - 2014/8/13
Y1 - 2014/8/13
N2 - By analysing the experience of Cypriot workers who studied and worked in Britain and the United States and then returned to Cyprus to work, it is argued in this article that the time abroad contributes to making their authority relations' conceptions less authoritarian. On return home, many of the individuals who studied abroad wish to retain the newly acquired elements in their attitudes and behaviour, but even though they seem able to influence workers around them, especially subordinates, to act in a less authoritarian manner, they find that they have to adjust, at least to an extent, to local norms, particularly when other co-workers did not go through a similar educational experience. These findings suggest that an experience in a less authoritarian society compared to the home culture tends to shift authority relations norms to the less authoritarian but adjustment is likely needed on return home. Implications for managerial practice are briefly discussed.
AB - By analysing the experience of Cypriot workers who studied and worked in Britain and the United States and then returned to Cyprus to work, it is argued in this article that the time abroad contributes to making their authority relations' conceptions less authoritarian. On return home, many of the individuals who studied abroad wish to retain the newly acquired elements in their attitudes and behaviour, but even though they seem able to influence workers around them, especially subordinates, to act in a less authoritarian manner, they find that they have to adjust, at least to an extent, to local norms, particularly when other co-workers did not go through a similar educational experience. These findings suggest that an experience in a less authoritarian society compared to the home culture tends to shift authority relations norms to the less authoritarian but adjustment is likely needed on return home. Implications for managerial practice are briefly discussed.
KW - Acculturation
KW - Anglo-Saxon education
KW - authority relations
KW - change
KW - Cyprus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84909645316&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1470595813510709
DO - 10.1177/1470595813510709
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84909645316
SN - 1470-5958
VL - 14
SP - 173
EP - 193
JO - International Journal of Cross Cultural Management
JF - International Journal of Cross Cultural Management
IS - 2
ER -