CIICPD 2023

leadership style of their managers as “banging their fingers on the table” corresponding to others describing them as “ directive” , “dominant” , or “ feared ”, sometimes being reserved for feedback from the employees or making wrong decisions “regardless of advice from expert subordinates” . As a result, employees frequently hesitate to dispute their opinions against their superiors and rather choose “silence” . Some, especially the more junior managers or newly appointed managers felt their voice had lower authority in the company of senior or high-rank managers, which is seen especially during meetings; others believed that most of the employees adjust to the corporate culture and “head down to authority” with time and experience gained in the company. Many of the participants, however, provided varied objective reasons for authority bias in their company. Some of them saw respect for superiors as practical. Some mentioned time concerns arguing that when “a boss needs information quickly, there is no time for discussions” . Some also raised a lack of capacities or a need for efficiency, others granted the high-rank managers higher status based on their higher social or media visibility “in the open space” . Relatedly, a few participants believed their managers have more know-how and skill, claiming that “no wonder he is a boss, he has more experience, spent more time in the company and indeed is mostly right” . Many of the participants also attributed the role of authorities of their employer to sociocultural aspects and seniority. They mentioned Germany as the country of their company headquarters and its ingrained social and cultural attitudes, but their experience with the degree of respect to authority varied. Some believed that the high status and respect for authorities “is still one of the prevalent features” in Germany, as experienced in meetings or during negotiations. Others argued that “in Czechia, it is diff erent” , as Czechs tend to respect authorities more than Germans. To pinpoint the degree of authority status, some compared the Czech or German culture to China or Mexico as two opposite extremes in attitudes to authorities, with the former having the highest respect for authorities, where employees are frequently “ready to jump out of the window if a boss says so” , and the latter on the lowest scale where “the will or willingness to follow the opinion of a boss without a discussion is much lower” . The spectrum of experience of the managers participating in the training with varied leadership styles worldwide, illustrates the effects of globalisation and related cultural change, especially in multinational corporations. The managers gain experience from intercultural contact within or beyond their workplace in varied settings, and thus can make individual comparisons and change their own management styles. This affects their changing attitudes toward authorities in many cases. For example, one of the managers realised that “obedience to authorities leads to passive attitudes in discussions with authorities” and, at the same time, suggested to “take employees for negotiations with authorities so they can realise that communication with them is natural” . Others even observed changing trends and “thank God a critical atmosphere without just yes-men” or claimed not to be “afraid of conflicts with superiors” . Needless to say, these experiences are model examples for diversity management, as gaining critical judgement is the key to eliminating unconscious biases and stereotypes, and gaining from the potential of a diverse workplace.

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