Values and behavior orientation in leadership studies: reflections based on findings in three German-speaking countries

The article focuses on two sets of concepts commonly used in the explanatio n of leadership behavior, including values in one area and behavioral inten tions in the other. Most leadership researches concentrate exclusively on o ne or the other area and there are few integrative approaches. The literatu re also shows that there are often implicit assumptions of a direct and lin ear relationship between the two sets of concepts. We introduce a model ref lecting this research dichotomy by differentiating between "far-from-action " concepts like values or leadership ideals and "close-to-action" concepts like intended behavior. In a next step, we question the assumption of a dir ect and linear link between the two sets of concepts and discuss two studie s in order to find out whether there is empirical support for our argument. We compare empirical findings on leadership ideals (GLOBE study) and inten ded leadership behavior (Vroom/Yetton study) collected from managers in the German-speaking countries Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, The results s how inconsistencies that suggest quite complex intrapersonal processes infl uenced by cultural factors. We conclude that the link between "far-from-act ion" and "close-to-action" concepts is worth pursuing further and expands t he initial model, thus paving the way for a more holistic understanding of the intrapersonal processes on which leadership behavior is based. Finally, we discuss the consequences of these processes for the stability of leader ship behavior. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.