Global Leadership Academy:

DI & CBS Global Leadership Seminar: Revisiting Global Leadership

A high quality in global leadership is key to seizing global business opportunities. But what does global in a leadership context actually ­really mean?

Global Leadership Conference 2015: Don’t let complexity get in the way

Dealing professionally with the complexity of doing global business is paramount to the ­competitiveness of Danish companies.

Seminar: Global Mindset

A global mindset helps companies view the world as one arena with multiple perspectives; and helps them take actions that work both ­locally and globally.

Seminar: Global Operations & ­Innovation

Challenges for strategy and management!

Workshop: Leadership across ­Borders

An increasing number of leaders lead across borders, cultures, and time zones. And the number will rise in the future.

Seminar: Corporate Governance – For better or worse

The global scene is becoming extremely difficult to govern especially for companies with a string of subsidiaries and affiliates abroad.

Training: Leadership across ­Borders

Providing you with the knowledge and skills required to lead the employees who are separated from you in time and/or distance

Seminar: Managing Human Capital

Lessons learned from emerging markets.

Seminar: Global security in a moving world

The geopolitical agenda is becoming increasingly more important for companies active on the global scene.

Workshop: Global Collaboration

Global Collaboration - how to collaborate in ­globalizing companies across business func­tions, national borders, geographical distances, time zones etc.

Workshop: The innovative global organization

The innovative global organization – how to lead innovation processes in a global perspective.

Alle publikationer og rapporter i akademiet er udkommet på engelsk. Nedenstående er derfor på engelsk.

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP PRACTICE AND DEVELOPMENT REVISITED; EXPLORING 3 ROLES - DISCOVERING 7 DUALITIES

Practicing leadership in multinational corporations competing in global markets is often portrayed as calling for a particular type of leader­ship competences and behaviours, typically called ”Global leadership” framed in opposition to and distinct from local, general management. There is, however, little agreement on what global leadership actually is as well as (inconclusive or at least) highly diverse evidence concerning who the global leaders are and little knowledge of what global leaders do in practice (that is their behaviours). Against this backdrop, this study explores what global leaders see as the key activities and behaviours they need to perform when holding a global job role, and how to acquire and sustain the necessary competences. This study was carried out by assistant professor Rikke Kristine Nielsen, Aalborg University Copenhagen with the assistance of Jens Boye Nielsen.

Nielsen, R.K. with Nielsen, J. B. (2016). Global Leadership Practice and Development ­Revisited - Exploring 3 Roles - Discovering 7 Dualities. Global Leadership Academy – Danish Confederation of Industry and Copenhagen Business School.

DANISH LEADERSHIP STYLE IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT

Danish-style leadership - exercised in a global context - can be characterized as democratic and equality oriented as well as informal, open, and trusting; i.e. very similar to its manifestation domestically. In general, Danes have strong international leadership skills when compared to other nationalities. Yet, while ­Danish leadership can be extremely effective in some situations it can be outright destructive in others. Researchers from Aarhus University have identified both upsides and downsides of Danish-style leadership when practiced in an international work setting.

Lauring, J. & Klitmøller, A. (2015). Danish Leader­ship Style in a Global Context. Copenhagen: Global Leadership Academy – Danish Confederation of Industry and Copenhagen ­Business School.

DESIGNING ORGANIZATIONS WITH A GLOBAL MINDSET

A global mindset is ”one that combines an openness to and awareness of diversity across cultures and markets with a propensity and ability to synthesize across this diversity”. This definition is the outset for a more thorough investigating into global mindset, how it is established and developed. The central question in this report is: How can a global mindset be cultivated at an organizational level? Based on a series of interviews with expats and international professionals at middle and senior management level in headquarter functions, the aim is to explore the learning points in the process of cultivating a collective, organizational global mindset. The research was carried out by post.doc Marianne Storgaard, University of Southern Denmark and senior lecturer Irene Skovgaard-Smith, senior lecturer, Anglia Ruskin University, England.

Storgaard, M. & Smith, I. S. (2012). Designing Organizations with a Global Mindset. Copenhagen: Global Leadership Academy – Danish Confederation of Industry and Copenhagen ­Business School.

GLOBAL MINDSET AS MANAGERIAL META-COMPETENCE AND ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITY

This industrial PhD project was carried out in a collaboration between one the Global Leadership Academy member corporations, Solar A/S, and academy co-founder Copenhagen Business School by Rikke Kristine Nielsen, now assistant professor at Aalborg University Copenhagen. Based on a conceptual analysis of global mindset, this dissertation argues that the development of global mindset as a managerial meta-competence and organizational capability is an avenue for multinational corporations to improve their opportunities and performance internationally. An empirical analysis of strategic global mindset as a meta-competence and organizational capability supplements the conceptual analysis of global mindset, as laid out in the ”strategic global mindset capability model”, by adding empirically founded suggestions for organizational/structural and individual enablers of strategic global mindset seen from a middle manager perspective in a single case study deliberately seeking to establish global mindset as a collaborative competence.

Nielsen, R.K. (2014): Global Mindset as Managerial Meta-competence and Organizational Capa­bility: Boundary-crossing Leadership Cooperation in the MNC. The Case of ”Group Mindset” in Solar A/S. Doctoral School of Organization and Management Studies, PhD Series; 24, 2014.

The complete dissertation (250 pages) can be downloaded from: here; a short 2-minute video-version of the dissertation: here.

TRUST AND TENSION IN GLOBAL WORK

The ability to manage issues related to trust and conflict is fundamental for the success of Danish professionals working in international job roles. However, trust is not ”just trust” and conflict is not ”just conflict.” Several different types of trust and conflict exist, all of which have a different impact on global collaboration and, accordingly, need to be managed differently. The aim of this report is to raise Danish leaders’ general awareness of issues related to trust and conflict in global work and provide tangible managerial advice in order to increase the effectiveness in global work. Researchers from Aarhus University and the University of Southern Denmark have carried out the study; and the results are based on both quantitative and qualitative data.

Lauring, J. & Klitmøller, A.(2014). Global Leader­ship Competencies for the Future. Trust and Tension in Global Work. Global Leadership ­Academy – Danish Confederation of Industry and Copenhagen Business School.

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR

Research conducted by Aarhus University has identified two main leadership styles that characterize successful global leaders – they call it an alignment-oriented and a diversity-oriented style. Both styles have their advantages and disadvantages, but there is potential for achieving even better organizational results by strategically shifting between the two; and ”it is this leadership agility that can make all the difference” conclude the researchers from Aarhus Business School.

Lauring, J.; Klitmøller, A. & Normann, J. (2014). Global Leadership Competencies for the Future. Global Leadership Behaviour. Global Leadership Academy – Danish Confederation of Industry and Copenhagen Business School.

VIRTUAL COLLABORATION RESEARCH

The amount of virtual collaboration in international firms is growing by the minute, yet very little research on global virtual work has been conducted – in particular in a Danish organizational context. The purpose of this study was to understand how temporal dispersion, cultural/linguistic differences, technological challenges, and virtual leadership all impact global virtual collaboration.

The results build upon 110 qualitative inter­views and observations in three ­international organizations, as well as quantitative data from three separate surveys in different ­Danish ­owned international organizations. The research was conducted by Professor Jakob ­Lauring, Aarhus University, and Assistant Professor Anders Klitmøller, University of Southern Denmark.

Lauring, J. & Klitmøller, A.(2014). Global Leader­ship Competencies for the Future. Virtual Collaboration. Global Leadership Academy – Danish Confederation of Industry and Copenhagen Business School.

• Danish-style leadership in global work – effec­tive or not? GLA Insights July 26, 2015, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• Communicate your way to success. GLA ­Insights June 30, 2015, Helene Sønnichsen and Cirkeline Buron
• Leadership across borders takes extra ­effort. GLA Insights October 1, 2013, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• How to build resilience in your team. GLA ­Insights May 13, 2014, Jill Flint-Taylor
• Creating a ”common culture” in FLSmidth. GLA Insights April 16, 2015, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• Can global leaders be developed? GLA ­Insights June 2, 2015, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• Language skills are more important than you think. GLA Insights March 12, 2015, anonymous
• When headquarter staff contributes to ­conflict. GLA Insights February 23, 2015, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• Mind the blind spot in your leadership style. GLA Insights February 3, 2014, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• Middle managers: Under-glorified and stuck in the middle. GLA Insights October 13, 2014, Andrea Straub-Bauer.
• When a thousand kilometers separate mana­ger and employee. April 14, 2014, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• Virtual leadership skills. GLA Insights ­January 12, 2014, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• Cultural Agility – the skills needed to navigate successfully in multi-cultural contexts. GLA Insights September 2, 2014, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• Leadership in a global context is first and foremost hard work. GLA Insights September 1, 2014, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• Pay attention to the non-verbal signals. GLA Insights June 16, 2014, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• In need of a more modern culture paradigm. GLA Insights June 16, 2014, Elisabeth Plum
• Building resilience – individual, team and organisational perspectives. GLA Insights May 13, 2014, Jill Flint-Taylor & Alex Davda
• The effective global leader is a team. GLA ­Insights August 28, 2012, Bente Toftkær
• Actively managing differences. GLA Insights April 4, 2013, Elisabeth Plum
• Global mindset – not so easy come, but easily gone. GLA Insights, Andrea-Straub-Bauer
• ”Multiculturals” – a valuable resource in ­global organizations. Andrea Straub-Bauer
• Can global managers become too global? GLA Insights February 25, 2013, Marianne Storgaard
• False mantra: Leadership is the same everywhere. GLA Insights January 1, 2013, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• Global Leadership Competencies – an overview. GLA Insights January 30, 2013, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• Leading globally - are Danish managers well prepared? GLA Insights December 6, 2012, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• The value of values when practicing global leadership. GLA Insights December 6, 2012, Bente Toftkær
• Paradox: Reflections on Mastering Organiza­tional Tensions. GLA Insights October 2012, by Claudy Jules
• Why does a Manager need to become a Leader? GLA Insights January 23, 2012, Claus Valentiner
• Is global leadership not just general leadership in a different context? GLA Insights October 24, 2011, Claus Valentiner
• The global workforce: Challenge or asset? ­October 27, 2011, Susanne Gargiulo for CNN
• The need for a global mindset. GLA Insights October 24, 2011, Bente Toftkær
• Fitting in, without giving in. GLA Insights February 3, 2014, Andrea Straub-Bauer & Rikke Kristine Nielsen
• Tre nye globale ledertyper og fire råd til globale ledere. GLA-website October 7, 2016, Liv ­Thøger and Danielle B. Lyndgaard
• Cultural Agility – the skills needed to navigate successfully in multi-cultural contexts. GLA website September 2, 2014, Andrea Straub-Bauer
• Discovering the blue ocean of global mindset, GLA Insights March 3, 2011, Rikke Kristine Nielsen
• Mindset and leadership – group mindset in ­Solar A/S. GLA Insights March 6, 2012, Rikke Kristine Nielsen
• The Global Manager’s Boundary Spanning Role(s). GLA Insights. November 28, 2011, Rikke Kristine Nielsen
• Nyt værktøj til at styrke global ledelse. GLA website, October 7, 2016, Liv Thøger and Danielle B. Lyndgaard
• Handel globalt og lokalt. Jyllands-Posten, October 22, 2014, Rikke Kristine Nielsen
• Læg kamæleonen på hylden. Jyllands-Posten, July 31, 2013, Rikke Kristine Nielsen
• Globaliseringen er overdrevet. Jyllands-Posten August 8, 2012, Rikke Kristine Nielsen
• Global mindset – succeskriterium ude og hjemme, Jyllands-Posten November 3, 2010, Rikke Kristine Nielsen
• Globale ledelsesdilemmaer: Fra korruption til kultursammenstød. GLA-website June 28, 2017, Liv Thøger and Bente Toftkær
• Folkemøde 2017 forpremiere: Fire stærke råd til globale ledere. GLA-website May 24, 2017, Liv Thøger og Bente Toftkær
• Danske ledere mangler global træning. DI Business October 8, 2016, Felix Bekkersgaard Stark
• Hvor global en leder tror du selv, at du er? ­Jyllands-Posten/Finans.dk July 25, 2017, Rikke Kristine Nielsen
• Fra Skive til Shanghai – danske ledere famler på udebane, Jyllands-Posten October 9, 2016, Sille Wulff Mortensen
• Danske ledere mangler globale evner. Jyllands-­Posten October 7, 2016, Rikke Kristine ­Nielsen
• Globale ledere har ingen uddannelse. Jyllands-­Posten January 12, 2016, Rikke Kristine Nielsen
• Danske ledere er for ”self-made” i globalt ­perspektiv. GLA-website August 25, 2016, Liv Thøger and Danielle Bjerre Lyndgaard