Editing Power distance (section)

===The workplace===

====Effects on management style====
In organizations with high power distance, employees acknowledge their lesser standing, and are respectful and submissive towards their superiors, who in turn are more likely to give orders rather than consult with their employees while making decisions. Status symbols are often displayed and flaunted. Employers or managers would not have meals together with their subordinates, and might have private facilities such as rooms, parking lots, or elevators. Having a high level of education is important to climb the corporate ladder, and the higher-ranking members of the organization are often paid much more than their subordinates when compared with companies with lower power distance.<ref name="Velo">{{Cite book|first=Veronica|last=Velo |year = 2011|title = Cross-Cultural Management |location = New York |publisher = Business Expert Press |isbn = 978-1-60649-350-2}}</ref>

In low power distance organizations, superiors are not as concerned with status symbols and would be more open to employee discussion and participation. Employees are less submissive to their superiors, and are more likely to make themselves heard or to challenge the management.<ref name="Velo" />

==== The relationship between leadership and voice behavior ====
The ability for employees to speak up is described as their voice behavior and expression, which is dependent upon the leadership style as well as the power distance.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Sheng-min |last2=Liao |first2=Jian-qiao |title=Transformational Leadership and Speaking Up: Power Distance and Structural Distance as Moderators |journal=Social Behavior and Personality|date=1 November 2013 |volume=41 |issue=10 |pages=1747–1756 |doi=10.2224/sbp.2013.41.10.1747 }}</ref> Sheng-Min Liu and Jian-Qiao Liao developed a questionnaire that asked 495 subordinates (engineers) and 164 leaders (senior engineers and project managers) to determine the outcome of subordinate voice behavior based on the leadership style, which is influenced by power distance because of the closeness in proximity and structure of those cultures. The study finds that low power distance leaders facilitate a change-oriented environment for subordinates to discuss their ideas and concerns which leads to their admiration.

The study finds that in high power distance businesses, subordinates obey the gap between them and their leaders, and rarely interact with their superiors.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Farh |first1=Jiing-Lih |last2=Hackett |first2=Rick D. |last3=Liang |first3=Jian |title=Individual-Level Cultural Values as Moderators of Perceived Organizational Support–Employee Outcome Relationships in China: Comparing the Effects of Power Distance and Traditionality |journal=Academy of Management Journal |date=June 2007 |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=715–729 |doi=10.5465/amj.2007.25530866 }}</ref> The study further confirms that the ideas and solutions in this power index are given to them by their leaders, so it seems contradictory for those in the high-power distance to speak up about their concerns or ideas because they are accustomed to direction.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kirkman |first1=Bradley L. |last2=Chen |first2=Gilad |last3=Farh |first3=Jiing-Lih |last4=Chen |first4=Zhen Xiong |last5=Lowe |first5=Kevin B. |title=Individual Power Distance Orientation and Follower Reactions to Transformational Leaders: A Cross-Level, Cross-Cultural Examination |journal=Academy of Management Journal |date=August 2009 |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=744–764 |doi=10.5465/amj.2009.43669971 }}</ref> The contradiction of the high-power index shows that it weakens the leader–subordinate relationship causing a lack of expression. Thus, voice behavior and expression rely on the transformational leadership style often seen in low power distance cultures.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Walumbwa |first1=Fred Ochieng |last2=Lawler |first2=John J. |title=Building effective organizations: transformational leadership, collectivist orientation, work-related attitudes and withdrawal behaviours in three emerging economies |journal=The International Journal of Human Resource Management |date=1 November 2003 |volume=14 |issue=7 |pages=1083–1101 |doi=10.1080/0958519032000114219 |s2cid=154065859 }}</ref> The study concludes that the leadership style which is based on power distance culture correlates with the tools given to an employee to speak up in his or her environment.

====Effects on employee behavior ====
In business, power distance can be defined as the acceptance (by employees) of the relationship between the highest and lowest ranked members in an organization.<ref>"Power distance." The AMA Dictionary of Business and Management, George Thomas Kurian, AMACOM, Publishing Division of the American Management Association, 1st edition, 2013. Credo Reference, Accessed 25 February 2020.</ref> Studies have suggested that employees in low power distance workplaces directly impact the distribution of office power. This could be due in part to the employees possessing more power (and therefore, more freedom to make changes) than in a high-power distance setting. In addition, the opposite has been suggested for employees in high power distance environments, with superiors not varying much in their position. Culture can have an effect on this, as lower-level employees in high power distance cultures may be unable to have a large impact on their workplace.

In high power distance regions, people in higher positions hold great amounts of power with little challenge. The hierarchy and authority empower employers and supervisors with more rights of resource allocation, rewards, and punishment, which reinforce their status and enable them to lead and guide their subordinates autocratically. The hierarchical differentiation between the top and the bottom gradually creates an invisible gap in the workplace, where subordinates tend to build greater sensitivity and cautiousness when communicating with their supervisors.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Kirkman B. L. |author2=Chen G. |author3=Farh J.-L. |author4=Chen Z. X. |author5=Lowe K. B. | year = 2009 | title = Individual power distance orientation and follower reactions to transformational leaders: A cross-level, cross-cultural examination | journal = Academy of Management Journal | volume = 52 | issue = 4| pages = 744–764 | doi=10.5465/amj.2009.43669971}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author = Lee F | year = 1997 | title = When the going gets tough, do the tough ask for help? Help seeking and power motivation in organizations | journal = Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes | volume = 72 | issue = 3| pages = 336–363 | doi=10.1006/obhd.1997.2746| pmid = 9606170 }}</ref>

It is a common phenomenon that junior employees turn to their seniors for help and advice when getting into a new environment.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}} Yet, some researchers recently attested that employees and junior staff from high power distance countries are less likely to seek help from their supervisors.<ref name="Ji" /> One of the reasons is that lower ranking staff have few chances and little time to meet the high ranking managers in person, as subordinates are usually only able to reach their immediate supervisors.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lonner |first1=Walter J. |last2=Berry |first2=John W. |last3=Hofstede |first3=Geert H. |title=Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values |date=1980 |ssrn=1496209 |journal=Cross Cultural Research and Methodology}}</ref> It is also widely believed that subordinates asking for help equates to incompetence or a lack of ability, which subdues themselves into unfavorable circumstances. Some supervisors who are incapable of solving more complicated problems will become suspicious of their subordinates, regard the problems as a challenge to their status and capabilities, or even as humiliation from the lower ranking staff.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lee |first=Fiona |year=2002 |title=The Social Costs of Seeking Help |journal=The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=17–35 |doi=10.1177/0021886302381002 |s2cid=144730667 }}</ref> Such climates have gradually reinforced employees to think that it is more effective and efficient to deal with difficulties by themselves, rather than talking to their managers.

In a high power distance environment, supervisors tend to pay more attention on tasks instead of employees, who are the main focus for supervisors in a low power distance environment.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Bochner S. |author2=Hesketh B. | year = 1994 | title = Power distance, individualism/collectivism, and job-related attitudes in a culturally diverse work group | journal = Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology | volume = 25 | issue = 2| pages = 233–257 | doi=10.1177/0022022194252005|s2cid=146254586 }}</ref> Apparently, task orientation emphasizes heavily on daily work completion and performance efficiency, yet the top-bottom relationship grows far more slowly since there is a lack of communication beyond work, which in turn reduces subordinates' willingness of seeking help from supervisors.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Madlock P. E. | year = 2012 | title = The influence of power distance and communication on Mexican workers | journal = International Journal of Business Communication | volume = 49 | issue = 2| pages = 169–184 | doi=10.1177/0021943612436973| citeseerx = 10.1.1.1031.1789 | s2cid = 145301210 }}</ref> Compared to low power distance countries, equality is embraced by the society that power is minimized to a large extent, where authority and hierarchy are not highlighted and supervisors are accessible and willing to build close relationship with subordinates, whose worries of any harm are turned down when seeking help from the top.<ref name="Ji">{{Cite journal|author1=Ji, Yang |author2=Zhou, Erhua |author3=Li, Caiyun |author4=Yan, Yanling  |name-list-style=amp |year=2015 |title=Power Distance Orientation and Employee Help Seeking: Trust in Supervisor as a Mediator |journal=Social Behavior & Personality |volume=43 |issue=6 |pages=1043–1054 |doi=10.2224/sbp.2015.43.6.1043 }}</ref>

The beliefs employees hold regarding procedural justice—defined as the level of fair treatment by the superiors in the organization toward the employees—shape the nature of their relationships with authority.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Cynthia |last2=Pillutla |first2=Madan |last3=Law |first3=Kenneth S. |title=Power-Distance, Gender and Organizational Justice |journal=Journal of Management |date=August 2000 |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=685–704 |doi=10.1177/014920630002600405 |s2cid=220587601 }}</ref> Fair treatment in the workplace is incumbent upon three established criteria: gender, trust amongst authority, and the psychological contract fulfillment—the employee's idea of receiving the benefits promised by the workplace. Employee perception of procedural justice is affected by power distance and gender. In low power distance cultures employees are more likely to have a strong personal connection and a better understanding of the authority they are dealing with. Negative behavior in a low power distance culture increases when organizations treat them poorly because they lack the characteristics of submitting humbly before authority.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Tyler|first1=Tom R.|title=A Relational Model of Authority in Groups|date=1992|work=Advances in Experimental Social Psychology|pages=115–191|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-0-12-015225-4|last2=Lind|first2=E. Allan|doi=10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60283-x}}</ref> Therefore, the relationship between employees and superiors are outlined by procedural justice and trust in authority in low power distance cultures. In contrast, employees in high power distance cultures are less likely to be themselves around authority; They are also less sensitive to insulting remarks, and more likely to accept an erroneous action from authority without consideration of fair treatment (procedural justice).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bond |first1=Michael H. |last2=Wan |first2=Kwok-Choi |last3=Leung |first3=Kwok |last4=Giacalone |first4=Robert A. |title=How are Responses to Verbal Insult Related to Cultural Collectivism and Power Distance? |journal=Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology |date=March 1985 |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=111–127 |doi=10.1177/0022002185016001009 |s2cid=145613406 }}</ref> For both low and high power distance cultures, they perceived fair treatment to be a fulfillment of the psychological contract made by the organization.