Managerial assignments of credit and blame: a five-country study of leadership desirability

Abstract

Purpose Although the international business literature has examined leader traits that are desirable in different cultures, it has not examined critical behaviors or managerial attributions of credit and blame. Credit and blame attributions have important consequences for the desirability of leadership across cultures. Arguing that these types of managerial attributions are likely to have a strong impact on what constitutes desirable leadership; the authors examine them in five countries, namely, USA, France, India, Turkey and Vietnam. The purpose of this paper is to contribute by examining the influence of credit and blame attributions on subordinate satisfaction and leadership perceptions (desirability), unaddressed in the literature. Design/methodology/approach The model was tested using questionnaire responses of subordinates in a variety of business organizations, from the five countries indicated, including manufacturing, telecommunication, financial and other services. Findings Using the implicit leadership theory, the authors contribute by demonstrating the importance of these attributions for leadership perceptions in five different cultures. The results are supportive of the hypotheses and suggest the important moderating role of subordinate performance for leadership perceptions. The authors discuss findings in the context of the literature, highlight contributions and identify limitations and future directions. Originality/value Using the implicit leadership theory, the authors contribute by demonstrating the importance of these attributions for leadership perceptions in five different cultures.