Magda Donia Awarded Grant for a Study on ‘Altruistic’ Leadership

Professor Magda Donia and lead researcher Alexandra-Joëlle Panaccio of Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business will study servant leadership in diverse cultural contexts through a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Servant leadership theory proposes that leaders who engage in altruistic or selfless behaviours help nurture positive employee behaviours, but little is known about the mechanisms that underlie that relationship. The researchers will therefore examine the mediating role of employee attitudes, and the moderating role of cultural context in the manifestations and impact of servant leadership behaviours. They will also examine how servant leadership may, over time, influence followers to themselves engage in organizational citizenship behaviours for altruistic motives.

To do this, the researchers will be collecting and analyzing data from employees and their immediate supervisors in three countries (Canada, Pakistan, and Brazil) and in two time periods.

The research will contribute to a better understanding of the impact of cultural values on the outcomes of particular leadership styles that will help improve the training and development managers. Titled Putting the needs of others above my own: The impact of cultural values on the manifestations and outcomes of servant leadership, this study will receive $49,351 over two years.