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We examine the degree to which conceptual ability, emotional intelligence, and relationship management impact each other, as well as whether or not country cultural differences have an impact on these relationships, while controlling for gender differences. The subjects are 496 university business students from the United States, France, and Germany. This is the first research study of which we are aware that examines this set of relationships. Our results support the hypotheses which suggest positive relationships between these variables.
INTRODUCTION
The job of today's manager is becoming increasingly complex and challenging. Hill (2004) argues that as organizations become leaner and more flexible, managers are finding themselves with more direct reports and even multiple bosses. Effective team building and the need to partner with larger numbers of people across organizational and national boundaries requires the ability to build and manage relationships across what may be very different cultures. Yet, researchers and top management do not yet fully understand the forces that lead to a successful global manager/leader.
In a study of managers in 62 societies Javidan, Dorfman, Howell a& Hanges (2010) report identifying seven global leadership styles. Each leadership style appeared to be based in cultural characteristics of the society in which it could be mainly found. For example, in societies that value humane orientation (being friendly, caring, and kind to others), a complementary relationship-oriented leadership style would tend to be very effective. Countries that tend to be at the median or above with respect to their valuing of humane orientation include, for example, Nigeria, Finland, Spain, France, the United States, Turkey and Germany (Kabasakal & Bodur, 2004).
In order to be an effective manager and leader in today's environment, Hill (2004) suggests managers must accept the importance of relationship management skills, and so develop their emotional intelligence by learning about themselves, being able to cope with stress, and also coping with their own and other's emotions. Emotions have been defined as "a high-level mental property" which may be seen to be closely tied to conceptual abilities and the ability to see the "larger picture" (Schulze, Roberts, Zeidner & Matthews, 2005). However, there is little in the research literature which examines some of these relationships and whether or not they might vary among countries. Therefore,...