GLOBE Research Project

What GLOBE Research Project does

GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) Research Project is a registered non-profit academic research initiative founded in 1991 by Robert J. House at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business in Burnaby, British Columbia. It operates as a volunteer-run collaborative research network with nearly 500 researchers and 476 active Country Co-Investigators across 150+ countries, making it one of the largest multi-phase, multi-method, multi-sample studies in the social sciences examining interrelationships between societal culture, leadership, and organizational practices. The project's flagship intellectual assets are two proprietary validated frameworks: nine cultural dimensions (Performance Orientation, Assertiveness, Future Orientation, Humane Orientation, Institutional Collectivism, In-Group Collectivism, Gender Egalitarianism, Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance) and six global leadership dimensions (Charismatic/Value-Based, Team-Oriented, Participative, Humane-Oriented, Autonomous, Self-Protective), derived from surveys of 17,000+ middle managers in 62+ societies.

Methodologically, GLOBE administers 182-item questionnaires (GLOBE 2020) via Qualtrics with professional translation/back-translation protocols coordinated by Country Co-Investigators. The latest GLOBE 2020 phase has collected 60,000+ confirmed survey responses across 143 completed countries (covering 99.18% of world GDP and 96.04% of world population), with findings published as peer-reviewed articles, books, and public data visualizations. Notable outputs include the 2004 foundational book (9,000+ Google Scholar citations), the 2007 in-depth studies of 25 societies, and the 2014 CEO Study covering 24 countries.

The business model is non-commercial: GLOBE does not sell products or services and does not pay salaries to members or the board of directors. Revenue consists entirely of donations and institutional grants (SSHRC Insight Grant, Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation, university support), with 100% of donated funds directed to research. Go-to-market relies on academic dissemination channels including peer-reviewed publications, books, conference presentations, and organic social media presence (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn).

Name

GLOBE Research Project

Legal name

GLOBE Foundation

Website

https://globeproject.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

GLOBE Research Project is a volunteer-run non-profit academic consortium studying societal culture, leadership, and organizational effectiveness across 150+ countries. Founded in 1991, it leverages nearly 500 researchers and validated nine-dimension cultural and six-dimension leadership frameworks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cross-cultural management research

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

International & Comparative Education Policy Organizations (EDADADAL)

Keywords

• Cross-cultural research
• Leadership behavior studies
• Organizational effectiveness research
• Cultural dimensions analysis
• Academic research consortium

Headquarters

HQ city

Burnaby, British Columbia

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: GLOBE operates as a registered non-profit organization. 100% of donated funds go towards research. The project receives funding from government research councils and university partnerships.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

GLOBE Research Project conducts large-scale cross-cultural research on the interrelationships between societal culture, leadership, and organizational practices across approximately 150 countries. The project administers standardized survey instruments through a network of nearly 500 Country Co-Investigators, producing peer-reviewed publications, scholarly books, and data visualizations that document cultural and leadership dimensions for use by academic and practitioner communities.

Product overview

The GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) Research Project is a large-scale multi-phase, multi-method, multi-sample academic research initiative focused on studying the interrelationships between societal culture, leadership, and organizational practices. The project conducts studies across approximately 150 countries with nearly 500 researchers. Key research phases include: the original GLOBE study initiated in 1991 examining societal culture through nine cultural dimensions; the 2004 Culture and Leadership Study measuring cultural values and practices in 62 societies with over 17,000 middle managers; the 2014 CEO Study examining strategic leadership effectiveness across 24 countries with data from over 1,000 CEOs and 5,000+ senior executives; and the ongoing GLOBE 2020 Research Program expanding to 150+ countries to study cultural change, interpersonal trust, and gender differences in leadership perceptions. The project produces scholarly publications, books, data visualizations, and cultural cluster reports. All research outputs are made available through the GLOBE website, including survey instruments, aggregated data, and country-specific results.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GLOBE 2020 Research Program: The latest phase of GLOBE research focusing on culture change, interpersonal trust, and gender differences in leadership perceptions across 150+ countries

Products and services

• GLOBE 2020 Research Program The current multi-country research study using a 182-item Qualtrics questionnaire (18 demographic, 92 culture/trust/marker, 72 leadership) administered across 150+ countries via Country Co-Investigators. Targets 60,000+ survey responses from middle managers to measure cultural change, interpersonal trust, and leadership perceptions; for academic researchers, policy analysts, and global business practitioners.
• 2004 Culture and Leadership Study Foundational GLOBE research program studying societal culture through nine cultural dimensions across 62 societies, based on surveys of 17,000+ middle managers in 950+ organizations. Provides validated frameworks for understanding cultural practices and culturally endorsed leadership behaviors; documented in the 2004 book with 9,000+ Google Scholar citations.
• GLOBE 2014 CEO Study Strategic leadership study examining CEO leadership behavior and effectiveness in 24 countries, based on data from over 1,000 CEOs and 5,000+ senior executives. Awarded the 2015 Scholarly Rigor and Critical Thought Award by University of San Diego and the International Leadership Association.
• GLOBE Data Visualizations and Country Results

Quantifiable outcome

• Validated nine cultural dimensions and six global leadership dimensions across 62+ societies
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Simon Fraser University - Beedie School of BusinesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGLOBE 2020 project is headquartered at Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University. Principal Investigator Dr. Ali Dastmalchian serves as Dean. Provides administrative infrastructure and research support.
• University of Victoria - Peter B. Gustavson School of BusinessminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsors the annual Robert J. House Best Paper Award for outstanding research on leadership and culture using GLOBE data. Professor Rick Cotton serves as Principal Co-Investigator from this institution.
• Thunderbird School of Global ManagementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Mansour Javidan serves as Project Director and Garvin Distinguished Professor. Provides intellectual direction and research expertise. Former CEO of GLOBE Foundation.
• University of DelawareminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Amanda Bullough serves as Principal Co-Investigator, focusing on gender and leadership research across cultures.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Schwartz Values Survey / Shalom Schwartz: Schwartz's cultural orientations research measures basic human values across 80+ countries using the Schwartz Value Survey. Often used alongside or compared with GLOBE and Hofstede frameworks in cross-cultural management research and represents the third major cultural dimensions framework.
• International Social Survey Programme (ISSP): ISSP is a cross-national collaboration of social scientists conducting annual surveys on topics relevant to social science research. Shares GLOBE's methodology of academic-led cross-national survey research with standardized instruments and academic dissemination.
• Erin Meyer / The Culture Map (Harvard Business Review Press): Erin Meyer's Culture Map offers a widely adopted practitioner framework for navigating cross-cultural business interactions based partly on GLOBE and Hofstede research. Represents a successful commercialization of cross-cultural frameworks into corporate training and executive education markets.

Direct peers

• World Values Survey: World Values Survey is a global research project that conducts nationally representative surveys measuring cultural values, beliefs, and attitudes across 100+ countries. Both projects share the academic cross-national survey research mission and produce comparable country-level cultural data used by scholars and practitioners.
• Hofstede Insights: Hofstede Insights is the most direct competitor to GLOBE, offering commercialized cultural dimensions research and country comparison tools for organizations. While GLOBE focuses on nine dimensions and Hofstede focuses on six, both serve the same fundamental use case of cross-cultural management and leadership development for global enterprises.
• Trompenaars / The Culture Factor Group: Trompenaars' cultural dimensions research offers commercialized cross-cultural frameworks used in corporate training. Comparable to GLOBE in measuring cultural dimensions but with a stronger commercial orientation and smaller academic footprint.

Regional players

• European Social Survey (ESS): ESS is a large-scale cross-national academic survey measuring attitudes, beliefs, and behavior patterns across European countries. Operates similarly to GLOBE with standardized survey instruments and academic consortium model but is regionally focused on Europe rather than globally.

Broad incumbents

• Pew Research Center: Pew Research Center conducts large-scale public opinion polling and demographic research with global scope. While more focused on public opinion than organizational culture, Pew shares GLOBE's model of multi-country survey infrastructure and rigorous methodological standards producing widely cited research outputs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/GLOBEprojectSFU
• Facebookfacebook.com/globefoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/globe-research-project

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about GLOBE Research Project