A reseacrh on the relationship between culture of Turkish society and leadership styles of managers

The main aim of this thesis is to research the effects of social culture on leadership styles of managers. In the theoretical section; topics related to social culture, Turkish social culture and effects of Turkish social culture on management and leadership styles have been discussed. The historical and social basis of prominent basic values in Turkish social culture are discussed at length and factors fostering the values have been rendered. In the research section; the interactions and the relations between collectivism, power distance, avoidance from uncertainty and democratic, liberal, autocratic leadership styles of superiors, paternalistic leadership behaviors of Turkish social culture have been explored. Managers and employees of total 11 public institutions and private businesses in Istanbul and Ankara have been assigned randomly as the sample for the research. A total of 826 participants including 413 entry and mid-level managers and 413 employees from banking, telecommunication, energy, satellite communication, aviation, food, textile, construction, education, service industries and municipalities have participated in this research. Three different scales have been utilized as the data collection method. Structural Equation Modelling has been used in hypothesis testing and statistical analysis of data. According to the findings based on the research conducted: The managers that participated in the research have high level of 'avoidance from uncertainty' and 'collectivism' cultural values. Significant effects of managers' leadership style have been found over the relationship of managers' sociocultural values and paternalistic leadership styles. The results indicate a positive relationship between managers' autocratic leadership style and 'avoidance from uncertainty' dimension, a positive relationship between autocratic leadership style and paternalistic leadership dimension and finally a negative relationship between democratic leadership style and power distance and paternalistic leadership behaviors.