Perceptions of Seventh-day Adventist Church Elders in Ghana and the United States on Servant

162 Pages·2017·2.34 MB·English

by  Appiah Kubi Kwarteng

Andrews University
Digital Commons @ Andrews University
Dissertations Graduate Research
2014
Perceptions of Seventh-day Adventist Church
Elders in Ghana and the United States on Servant
Leadership and Culture: a Correlational Study
Appiah Kubi Kwarteng
Andrews University
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and Culture: a Correlational Study" (2014).Dissertations. 504.
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ABSTRACT

PERCEPTIONS OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH
ELDERS IN GHANA AND THE UNITED STATES ON
SERVANT LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE:
A CORRELATIONAL STUDY

by

Appiah Kubi Kwarteng

Chair: Erich Baumgartner
ABSTRACT OF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH

Dissertation

Andrews University

School of Education

Title: PERCEPTIONS OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH ELDERS IN
GHANA AND THE UNITED STATES ON SERVANT LEADERSHIP AND
CULTURE: A CORRELATIONAL STUDY

Name of researcher: Appiah Kubi Kwarteng

Name and degree of faculty chair: Erich Baumgartner, Ph.D.

Date completed: July 2014

Problem
Servant leadership has been discussed and described mostly in the North
American context. Thus, there are concerns that this model of leadership may be
culturally anchored in North American metaphors and thinking and may have limited
universal applicability outside that context. In recent times, the Seventh-day Adventist
Church has seen its membership swell mainly in non-Western areas such as Sub-Saharan
Africa.
With the changes taking place in the church membership globally, and the
challenges these changes impose on leadership, this study was pursued with a twofold
purpose. One was to investigate the differences in the perceptions of elders of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ghana and the U.S. on four servant leadership attributes
(Agapao Love, Empowerment, Vision, and Humility). The second was to investigate their
on the relationship between servant leadership and three cultural dimensions (Power
Distance, Gender Egalitarianism, and In-Group Collectivism).

Method
A quantitative research design was used to survey the elders of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church in two selected union conferences in two different countries, Ghana
and the United States of America (USA). The Servant Leadership Assessment Instrument
(SLAI), prepared by Dennis (2004) three cultural variables incorporated from the
GLOBE Research Study (2004), served as part of the survey instrument for the collection
of data on servant leadership and cultural attributes. In addition, a one-page, nine-item
instrument was used to collect demographic information.
These surveys were sent to 3,000 randomly selected Seventh-day Adventist
church elders which resulted in responses from 1,284 elders of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church in Ghana and U.S., 831 and 417 respectively. Hoteling’s T2 or two-group
between subjects multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze the
differences in perception of servant leadership. Canonical correlation was used to analyze
the relationships between servant leadership and culture.

Conclusions and Recommendations
The findings revealed statistically significant differences in the perceptions of
elders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ghana and the U.S. regarding the servant
leadership attributes of Agapao Love, Empowerment, Vision, and Humility. Elders in
U.S. reported experiencing servant leadership behaviors significantly more than did their
Ghanaian counterparts.
Secondly, there were statistically significant relationships between the perceptions
of elders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ghana and U.S. regarding the servant
leadership attributes of Agapao Love, Empowerment, Vision, Humility and cultural
dimensions of Power Distance, Gender Egalitarianism, and In-Group Collectivism. The
elders in both countries reported moderate relationships between servant leadership and
the cultural dimensions. In Ghana, the relationships were high between Gender
Egalitarianism and Empowerment, while in the U.S., they were high between In-Group
Collectivism and Vision.
Because the Seventh-day Adventist Church currently operates in 203 countries
where cultures influencing the expectations about the process of leadership differ widely,
it is imperative that it takes time to examine the qualities that characterize servant
leadership, to assess current practices, to identify gaps, and to provide training to make
up the difference.
Andrews University

School of Education

PERCEPTIONS OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH
ELDERS IN GHANA AND THE UNITED STATES ON
SERVANT LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE:
A CORRELATIONAL STUDY

A Dissertation

Presented in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

by

Appiah Kubi Kwarteng

July 2014
© Copyright by Appiah Kubi Kwarteng 2014
All Rights Reserved
PERCEPTIONS OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH
ELDERS IN GHANA AND THE UNITED STATES ON
SERVANT LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE

A dissertation
presented in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
Doctor of Philosophy

by

Appiah Kubi Kwarteng

APPROVAL BY THE COMMITTEE:

________________________________ _____________________________
Chair: Erich Baumgartner Dean, School of Education
James R. Jeffery

________________________________
Member: Tevni Grajales

________________________________
Member: Duane Covrig

________________________________ _____________________________
External: Lester Merklin Date approved
Dedicated to my family and particularly in honor
of my beloved wife, Grace Kwarteng,
my children, Jemimah and Samuel,
my brother, Joseph Kwarteng,
my late father, Agya Yaw Kwarteng,
and my late mother, Godogodo Grace Adade.

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