This field study takes interest in subordinates' information seeking from their superiors through inquiry in a complex organizational setting. Information inquiry is investigated via typology, in the context of upward communication, in which organizational hierarchy and corresponding communication rules and procedures play an important role. Data were collected amid high levels of uncertainty, also capturing cultural influences by including in the study multi-country operations of a large, US-based MNC. The countries involved in this study are France, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the USA. Survey data (N= 2213) show significant influence of perceived transformational leadership style on the frequency of subordinates' information inquiry across all five countries. A series of moderated multiple regressions reveal weak moderating effects of vertical individualism, power distance, tolerance for ambiguity, and an employee's level in the hierarchy on this relationship.
Adsit, M. , London, S. , Crom, D. and Jones, D. (1997) ‘Cross-cultural Differences in Upward Ratings in a Multinational Company’ , International Journal of Human Resource Management8: 385–401 .
2.
Ajzen, I. (1987) ‘Attitudes, Traits, and Actions: Dispositional Prediction of Behavior in Personality and Social Psychology’, in L. Berkowitz (ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, pp. 20–163. New York: Academic Press .
3.
Ashford, S.J. and Cummings, L.L. (1983) ‘Feedback as an Individual Resource: Personal Strategies of Creating Information’ . Organizational Behavior and Human Performance43: 370–398 .
4.
Baron, R.M. and Kenny, D.A. (1986) ‘The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological Research: Conceptual, Strategic, and Statistical Considerations’ , Journal of Personality and Social Psychology51(6): 1173–1182 .
5.
Bass, B.M. (1997) ‘Does the TransactionalTransformational Leadership Paradigm Transcend Organizational and National Boundaries?’ , American Psychologist52: 130–139 .
6.
Bass, B.M. and Avolio, B.J. (1993) ‘Transformational Leadership: A Response to Critiques’, in M. Chemers and R. Ayman (eds) Leadership Theory and Research: Perspectives and Directions, pp. 49–88. San Diego, CA: Academic Press .
Berger, C.R. and Calabrese, R.J. (1975) ‘Some Explorations in Initial Interaction and Beyond: Toward Developmental Theory of Interpersonal Communication’ , Human Communication Research1: 99–112 .
9.
Brashers, D.E. (2001) ‘Communication and Uncertainty Management’ , Journal of Communication51(3): 477–490 .
10.
Brashers, D.E. and Babrow, A. (1996) ‘Theorizing Communication and Health’ , Communication Studies47: 243–251 .
11.
Brockner, J. (1988) Self-esteem at Work: Research, Theory, and Practice. Lexington, KY: Lexington Books .
Buzanell, P.M. (1987) An Information Acquisition and Use Approach to Perceived Career Uncertainty, Transitional Events, and Career Tracks. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Purdue University, West Lafayette.
14.
Carl, D.E. and Javidan, M. (2001) Universality of Charismatic Leadership: A Multi-national Study .Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Washington, D.C.
15.
Crant, J.M. (2000) ‘Proactive Behavior in Organizations’ , Journal of Management26(3): 435–462 .
Erez, M. and Earley, C.P. (1997) The Transplanted Executive. New York: Oxford University Press .
18.
Fedor, D.B. , Rensvold, R.B. and Adams, S.M. (1992) ‘An Investigation of Factors Expected to Affect Feedback Seeking: A Longitudinal Field Study’ , Personnel Psychology45: 343–358 .
19.
Goldhaber, G.H. , Yates, M.P. , Porter, D.T. and Lesniak, R. (1978) ‘Organizational Communication: 1978’ , Human Communication Research5: 76–96 .
20.
Hofstede, G. (1980) Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-related Communication. Newbury Park, CA: Sage .
21.
Hui, C.H. and Triandis, H.C. (1985) ‘Measurement in Cross-cultural Psychology: A Review and Comparison of Strategies’ , Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology16: 131–152
22.
Johnson, D.J. (1996) Information Seeking: An Organizational Dilemma. Westport, CT: Quorum Books .
23.
Kaufman, H.G. (1983) Factors Related to Use of Technical Information in Engineering Problem Solving. New York: Polytechnic Institute of New York .
24.
Kimberly, J.R. (1984) ‘Data Aggregation in Organizational Research: The Temporal Dimension’, in T.S. Bateman and G.R. Ferris (eds) Method and Analysis in Organizational Research,pp. 274–282. Reston, VA: Reston Publishing .
25.
Kumar, R. (2000) ‘National Culture vs. Organization Culture: Demystifying the Tangled Relationship’ , International Journal of Psychology35(3–4): 48–68 .
26.
Lastovicka, J.L. (1982) ‘On the Validation of Lifestyle Traits: Review and Illustration’ , Journal of Marketing Research19: 126–138 .
27.
Lenartowicz, T. and Roth, K. (1999) ‘A Framework for Culture Assessment,’Journal of International Business Studies30(4): 781–798 .
28.
Levy, P.E. , Cober, R.T. and Miller, T. (2002) ‘The Effect of Transformational and Transactional Leadership Perceptions on Feedback-seeking Intentions’ , Journal of Applied Social Psychology32(8): 1703–1720 .
29.
Madzar, S. (2001) ‘Subordinates’ Information Inquiry: Exploring the Effect of Perceived Leadership Style and Individual Differences’ , Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology74: 221–232 .
30.
Mayers, S.A. and Knox, R.L. (2001) ‘The Relationship between College Student Information Seeking Behaviors and Perceived Instructor Verbal Responses’ , Communication Education50: 343–356 .
31.
Morrison, E.W. (1993) ‘Longitudinal Study of the Effects of Information Seeking on Newcomer Socialization’ , Journal of Applied Psychology78(2): 173–183 .
32.
Morrison, E.W. , Chen, Y.R. and Salgado, S.R. (2004) ‘Cultural Differences in Newcomer Feedback Seeking: A Comparison of the United States and Hong Kong’ , Applied Psychology: An International Review53(1): 1–22 .
33.
Morrison, E.W. and Vancouver, J.B. (2000) ‘Within-person Analysis of Information Seeking: The Effects of Perceived Costs and Benefits’ , Journal of Management26(1): 119–137 .
34.
Mullen, E.C. (1994) Mentorship Revisited: Viewing the Protégé as a Source of Information for the Mentor.Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
35.
Nelson, R.E. and Gopalan, S. (2003) ‘Do Organizational Cultures Replicate National Cultures? Isomorphism, Rejection and Reciprocal Opposition in the Corporate Values of the Three Countries’ , Organization Studies24(7): 1115–1151 .
36.
Norton, R. (1975) ‘Measurement of Ambiguity Tolerance’ , Journal of Personality Assessment9: 607–619 .
37.
O'Reilly, C.A. (1982) ‘Variations in Decision Makers' Use of Information Sources: The Impact of Quality and Accessibility of Information’ , Academy of Management Journal25: 756–771 .
38.
Offermann, L.R. and Hellmann, P.S. (1997) ‘Culture's Consequences for Leadership Behavior’ , Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology28(3): 342–351 .
39.
Oyserman, D. , Coon, H.M. and Kemmelmeier, M. (2002) ‘Rethinking Individualism and Collectivism: Evaluations of Theoretical Assumptions and Meta-analyses’ , Psychological Bulletin128: 3–73
40.
Pierce, J.D. , Gardener, L. , Cummings, L.L. and Dunham, R. (1989) ‘Organization-based Selfesteem: Construct Definition, Measurement, and Validation,’Academy of Management Journal36(3): 622–648 .
41.
Ralston, D.A. , Vollmer, G.R. , Srinvasan, N. , Nicholson, J.D. , Tang, M. and Wan, P. (2001) ‘Strategies of Upward Influence: A Study of Six Cultures from Europe, Asia, and America’ , Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology32(6): 728–735 .
42.
Smith, P.B. , Peterson, M.F. and Schwartz, S.H. (2002) ‘Cultural Values, Sources of Guidance, and Relevance to Managerial Behavior: A 47nation Study’ , Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology33(2): 188–208 .
43.
Steenkamp, J-B.E.M. and Baumgartner, H. (1998) ‘Assessing Measurement Invariance in Cross-national Consumer Research’ , Journal of Consumer Research25: 78–90 .
44.
Stone, E.F. (1988) ‘Moderator Variables in Research: A Review and Analysis of Conceptual and Methodological Issues’ , Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management6: 191–229 .
45.
Thomas, J.B. , Clark, S.M. and Gioa, D.A. (1993) ‘Strategic Sensemaking and Organizational Performance: Linkages among Scanning, Interpretation, Action, and Outcomes’ , Academy of Management Journal34(3): 239–270 .
46.
Triandis, H.C. (1996) ‘The Psychological Measurement of Cultural Syndromes’ , American Psychologist51(4): 407–415 .
47.
Usunier, J.C. (1998) International and Cross-cultural Management Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
48.
Vancouver, J.B. and Morrison, E.W. (1995) ‘Feedback Inquiry: The Effect of Source Attributes and Individual Differences’ , Organizational Behavior and Decision Processes62: 276–285 .
49.
Vandenberg, R.J. and Lance, C.E. (2000) ‘A Review and Synthesis of the Measurement Invariance Literature: Suggestions, Practices, and Recommendations for Organizational Research’ , Organizational Research Methods3(1): 4–69 .
50.
VandeWalle, D.M. (1997) ‘Development and Validation of a Work Domain Goal Orientation Instrument’ , Educational and Psychological Measurement52(6): 995–1015 .
51.
VandeWalle, D.M. and Cummings, L.L. (1997) ‘A Test of the Influence of Goal Orientation on the Feedback Seeking Process’ , Journal of Applied Psychology82(8): 390–400 .
52.
Walsh, J.P. , Ashford, S.J. and Hill, T.E. (1985) ‘Feedback Obstruction: The Influence of Information Environment on Employee Turnover Intentions’ , Human Relations38: 23–46 .
53.
Weisberg, S. (2005) Applied Linear Regression, 3rd edn.Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons .
54.
Zahn, G.L. (1991) ‘Face-to-Face Communication in an Office Setting: The Effects of Position, Proximity, and Exposure’ , Communication Research18: 737–754 .
