The CEOs of Vinamilk Mai Kieu Lien  have been selected as one of the 48 most powerful women honored in the 2014 Forbes Asia Power Businesswomen list released on Thursday.— File Photo

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — New research from Grant Thornton released on Thursday reveals a stark regional split in business leadership practices. While Asia Pacific and Latin American economies appear more open to the use of coaching, intuition and creativity, peers in Europe rely on more traditional practices.

This split in leadership styles also closely mirrors a divergence in the proportion of women in senior positions.

Francesca Lagerberg, global leader at Grant Thornton, said: "We've identified two very different types of business leaders in our research.

In emerging markets like Brazil, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam, leaders we call the modernists are evident – they are open to coaching, value creativity and intuition, and are much more likely to be women – or surrounded by women in senior positions.

By contrast leaders in European economies like France, Germany, Spain and the UK are so-called traditionalists – they are far less likely to use a coach, place less value on creativity and intuition and are less likely to be women."

Grant Thornton asked business leaders whether they use a coach, or have done so in the past, to develop their leadership skills. More than two in five businesses leaders in ASEAN (44 per cent), Latin America (43 per cent) and Asia Pacific (41 per cent) have used a coach.

This compares to just one in four (25 per cent) business leaders in the EU. The North American result was level with the global average of 35 per cent. The percentage of business leaders that use or have used a coach in Viet Nam was however lowest among the Asia Pacific, at only 20 per cent.

Business leaders were also asked how important they believe certain attributes are to good leadership. Globally, integrity, a positive attitude and communication came out on top but an interesting split emerges in leadership traits such as creativity and intuition which have increased in significance relatively recently.

Nine in ten ASEAN leaders and 83 per cent of those in Latin America believe creativity is important, compared with just 57 per cent in the EU; while 85 per cent of ASEAN leaders think intuition is important, compared to only 54 per cent in the EU.

These rates in Viet Nam are even higher, where 94 per cent believe creativity is important and 98 per cent believe intuition is important, ranking Viet Nam the leading country globally for believing that intuition is an important attribute for good business leadership.

Francesca Lagerberg commented: "Business leaders in Asia and Latin America have been able to observe how management techniques in the West have evolved and matured. The research shows however that rather than simply copying and replacing management techniques, they are blending them with their own cultural and management practices to adapt a ‘third way' for their local market."

Grant Thornton revealed in its IBR report – Women in Business - in 2013, that while leaders in these emerging economies display different behaviour, they are also more likely to be female: 32 per cent of South East Asian senior business leaders are women, 29 per cent in Asia Pacific and 28 per cent in the BRICs.

Specifically in Viet Nam, this rate was 33 per cent. In comparison, only 21 per cent of senior positions in the G7 are occupied by women, and 22 per cent in the eurozone.

At board level specifically, 26 per cent of board members in BRIC economies are women, compared to just 16 per cent in the G7 and 19 per cent globally.

Vinh Ha Nguyen, Partner at Grant Thornton Vietnam commented "The survey result is not a surprise and the higher rate of women business leaders in the emerging markets is well supported by the leadership style as ranked by these economies.

Women leaders appear to show greater openness to coaching, they are more creative and trust the guidance of their intuition. They also place greater emphasis on more modern management techniques and are also more willing to delegate. We're definitely seeing the value to businesses having gender diversity in senior roles. This is what is also happening to us."

Francesca Lagerberg added: "There is a wealth of research suggesting that decision-making is affected by the gender balance on boards. As businesses with higher proportions of women in senior management tend to be found in emerging economies, the question is whether this offers them an advantage in the global race for growth.

"Economies in Europe and North America are picking up and business leaders are looking forward to the effect this will have on the growth of their own operations.

But longer-term, the danger is that the diversity and openness to modern leadership styles exhibited by modernist peers could result in better decision-making and, ultimately, stronger growth." —VNS