ABSTRACT
Many scholars operating in the field of global leadership began their careers studying expatriate performance. For decades they and other scholars have been studying expatriate adjustment, performance, and commitment, yet they did not actively attempt to rigorously define the independent variable of their study—expatriates. Despite the confusion in the general leadership field regarding how to adequately define it, most scholars would concur that leadership involves influence processes directed at people to motivate them to complete tasks. Working from the assumption that leadership depends on the context in which it occurs, context constitutes a critical contingency factor that determines specific global leadership roles and their requirements. The task complexity dimension is based upon two foundational constructs, "variety" and "flux". The relationship complexity dimension of the typology is based upon two foundational constructs, "boundaries" and "interdependence". Leadership roles within the operational global leadership type involve the confrontation of "high cognitive demands that arise from highly complex task conditions".
