2017-2018 Faculty Research Grants
Boubakar Sanou (Church Ministry), Erich Baumgartner (Leadership), Stan Patterson and David Penno (Church Ministry)
Power Distance and Cross-cultural Perceptions of Leadership Effectiveness in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in East and West Africa
This research examines the shifting perceptions of Power Distance (PD, the social inequality and power differences endorsed by a community) and leadership practice in the West-Central African (WAD) and East Central African (ECD) divisions of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church. Africa was chosen because it is fast becoming home to more than 50% of the church’s membership. It is also the region in which leaders tend to operate on the basis of high PD expectations. This study builds on our previous studies that showed that societal Power Distance tends to be a predictor of Power Distance practices in the church. While Western leaders dismiss high PD as contradictory to servant leadership and prone to abuse of power, leaders in the majority world are often expected to lead with unilateral power. This clash of leadership expectations is the focus of our study. Using a modified PD scale based on the prestigious GLOBE study two faculty and student teams will survey leaders and students at two Adventist universities in Africa in view of understanding how the most destructive aspects of high PD leadership can be modified. The findings of this study will be used to expand the study to other world fields.