This article critically evaluates the GLOBE project as an example of existing
cross-cultural studies into leadership, recognising the project's value in
communicating leadership differences across countries and summarising its
methodological limitations. It is suggested that a dynamic and interactive
approach is needed to overcome the shortfalls of the GLOBE project. Ailon-Souday
and Kunda's (2003) work points the way towards such an approach, and it is the
contribution of this article to apply this approach to the relationship between
cultural context and leadership in the German and UK chemical industry. Analyses
of a mixed methods data set support the theoretical arguments for the dynamic
nature of different contexts such as national, organisational, hierarchical and
departmental and the importance of this interaction for individual
participants'understanding of leadership. Implications are drawn for the
development of global managers in light of these new perspectives on the
interaction of cultural context and leadership.