In todays ever-evolving global business environment cross-cultural teams are reality and it is here to stay. Cross-cultural teams can be combination of many different strata such as different nationality, different regions of a nation, wide age difference, different economic background, different religious practices, different languages, and so on. Cross-cultural teams pose many challenges as well as advantages. To be successful as a member of a cross-cultural team or to be a successful manager of a cross-cultural team, everyone has to recognize, understand, and adapt to individual’s cultural needs. Some of the challenges cross-cultural teams face are difference in work-customs, lack of proper communication or differences in communication styles, difference in understanding of quality of work, difference in time zones, differences in rewarding practices, and many more. Before delving deep into cross-cultural teams, it is essential to briefly understand what culture is. It is very important to recognize that every culture is unique. It is easy to say what culture is NOT rather than what IS. The culture is not right or wrong, it is not about individual behavior, and it is not inherited. Culture evolves over time within each society to characterize its people and to distinguish them from others. I will be researching more on this topic and will post my further comments in coming weeks and as I will learn from class. To end this commend I would like to share an example I came across. In the process of decision making Americans believe in quick response and are forgiving even if the decision was wrong as far as it gets rectified or changed in next round. At the same time Indians would take long time to take any decision and they would consider effects of decision before it is taken. Germans are extremely detail oriented and will not take decision unless all “T”s are crossed and “I”s are dotted.
A) Communication, Language and Expression The quality of communication is a key concern in cross cultural teams. Everybody could be speaking English, but certain forms of slang or colloquialisms may not be clearly understood leading to misinterpretations. Teamwork is a collective effort and all the players have to fully understand the direction that the discussion is taking. Misinterpretations can be kept to a minimum if everybody aims for clarity, otherwise team effectiveness is bound to suffer. To prevent problems associated with miscommunication, team members have to be encouraged check with each other for clarity either through paraphrasing or by asking questions. Paraphrasing basically involves restating a point and then asking - "Is that what you meant?" If we consider virtual cross cultural teams that meet up in the virtual world on conference calling and video conferencing: the issue with them is decision making. Decision making is a team activity and given the time zone differences, the team has to find a mutually agreeable time band for direct communication through conference calls or video conferencing. If there is a great deal of divergence and disagreement on the right course of action to be adopted, then a stalemate may be reached. The team may need to follow up with lots of explanatory emails and calls before they reach a consensus. B) Work Style Work styles and approaches may also vary when a team has a cross-cultural mix of individuals. Some work cultures foster individual thinking and offer rewards for individual contributions– like the American’s for instance. In some work cultures people are uncomfortable with independence on the job and prefer to be tied to the apron strings of the boss in decision making! When your team has a mix of styles, the individualistic team members may prove to be aggressive team players while the not-so-individualistic ones may merge into the team and outwardly seem to contribute very little to the team process. It is important to draw out and get the best out of all the team members despite the differences in personality types. C) Dominating Influences There are concerns that a section of the team that has a certain cultural similarity or homogeneity may attempt to dominate the team process and overrule the rest of the team. The dominant group within the team may try to swing decisions towards a direction that they are comfortable with. This can create a frustrating environment for the rest of the team. D) Motivators and Expectations From the Job Motivators are basically the factors that indicate the things that make a person tick in a business and team environment. Team leaders who handle cross-cultural teams usually find that the factors that motivate each team member vary. The motivators for working professionals can range from tangible rewards such as monetary increments, incentives and career progression, to intangibles such as job satisfaction, praise and encouragement or recognition from top management. It is essential to make the effort to gauge individual motivators in order to encourage and motivate each team member to excel at their roles. In the absence of the right stimulus, the individuals may lack the enthusiasm and drive necessary to perform their role within the team
I have to agree with raj and Ritest Oza that cross-cultural teams often lead to a number of problems as stated by each of them. These cross-cultural teams are inevitable in today's world as the larger the organization, the more likely that the company has offices widely distributed across the globe. There are positive and negative aspects due to the diversity of the teams that come into play. On a more positive note, it is often seen that the larger the size of the team, the more likely to have increased ideas and solutions to problems due to inputs from all or most of the team members. Many a times, the management of such teams becomes quite challenging. When asked to manage a team that is distributed internationally, it often becomes a tedious process and can lead to issues that arise due to differences in the technical logistics across teams. There are a number of factors which can be listed on the pros and cons of cross-cultural teams and one area that I find really interesting is the management of such teams that are distributed globally.
I'm also going to agree with Raj's points on this, however I'm going to look at Communication in a different way, specifically the difference between Boomers and younger generations i.e. millenials. In my work place when it comes to communication the big difference I have seen is that people in my generation, the millenials, are more willing to send emails/instant messages to discuss work and search out answers. However, the older generation is more inclined to either pick up the phone and call the person they need to work with or go talk to that person face-to-face. I think this is just a difference in communication style that comes down to the younger generations trying to get more of a straight answer while the older generation is used to talking about several topics including current events as well as the work related question.
I completely concur with Raj and Ritesh on problems areas in cross cultural teams. Team members work in increasingly diverse environments: in terms of age, gender, race, language and nationality. Above and beyond these differences, there are also deeper cultural differences that influence the way conflict is approached. One reason that teams fail to meet performance expectations is their paralysis through unresolved conflict. What I am trying to convene here is the impact of culture on the prevention and resolution of conflict in teams.
Team Dynamics: Successful teams develop cultural distinct pathways to communicate, make decisions, problem solve and resolve conflict. A team member's commitment to the team and the team mission can increase if the conflict is well managed and resolved, but decreases if the conflict goes unresolved. If conflict goes unresolved for too long team members are likely to quit. Communication Style: There are a number of factors that contribute to communication style. One factor is the extent to which it is expressive or restrained. Some team members may have been socialized to reveal strong emotions and to feel comfortable with prolonged eye contact and touch. Others may be more stoic, and mask emotions with a poker face, use monotone speech and avoid eye contact. These different communication styles are not problematic in and of themselves. However, problems arise when value judgments are made on the basis of the different styles. For example, if team members disagree and one represents his views and feelings forcefully with a raised voice, another more restrained team member may see that as arrogant. The same 'arrogant' team member may conclude that the restrained team member is untrustworthy because eye contact is not maintained. Another area of cultural difference relates to directness. Some cultures are very direct. They like to 'cut to the chase' and get frustrated with someone who 'beats around the bush'. Indirect cultures prefer to deal with relational aspects first, and to restore harmony before addressing substantive issues.
Some cultures are individualist and some are collective. Individualistic cultures place high value on autonomy, creativity and authority in decision-making. Collective cultures value the group over individual. Group conformity and commitment is maintained at the expense of personal interests.
Most of the teams these days are multi-cultural and conflict will arise from time to time. How a team chooses to responds can be the difference between success and failure.
In above comments we have seen many challenges encountered while managing cross cultural teams. There are few points come to my mind when I think about how these challenges can be successfully overcome. As communication is the key in managing cross-cultural teams, lot of conflicts can be avoided if managers avoid making assumptions or instant judgments about individuals or their working style. Before communicating information, managers must thinik about how the information might be received and they should take time to ensure that message is clearly understood by the team. In other words manager should put themselves in the team member’s position. As we learned in class, method of communication is also very critical. E-mails can be easily misunderstood and therefore sensitive and difficult messages should be conveyed through e-mails. For such messages face to face communication should be adopted. Timeliness of delivering the information is also very crucial to avoid agitation and frustration. Managers must set up ground rules before organizing meetings and they should consider accommodating individuals whose first language is not English (or any other language primarily used by majority in meeting). Managers should also take enough time to know individuals’ preferred working styles and should attempt to build on individuals’ strengths. If managers are managing teams in different countries or regions, they should take time to check issues of the culture that they are unsure of and they should know a little about the culture of other country or region. Showing interest in learning about other culture itself help a lot in building trust and motivation.
FFor organizations that conduct business across borders and interact with numerous cultures, it is important that 'cultural sensitivity' training be offered. I agree with several comments on this forum that being open minded and tolerant are important in managing cross cultural teams.
Let's also not forget that there are several layers of culture i.e.: National Culture, Professional and Corporate Culture. To understand the complexity of managing cross cultural teams let's take a company based in the US as an example. It may have presence in the UK or China. The corporate culture within the foreign based business of the organization may be more in tune with the US corporate culture. However, the national and professional culture of the country that the foreign offices are based also manifest themselves in the course of conducting business there. Such a mix makes it even more critical for companies to invest time in training Managers not just on cultural sensitivity but also identifying where issues may incorrectly be attributed to 'National Culture' differences but may truly be Corporate or Professional differences/philosophies.
I am from 'International O.B.' group. While working on our project, I learned about some classical studies about the differences in National Cultures.
Just as Tony K pointed out, we cannot attribute all difficulties to differences in national culture. However, I think it’s still critical for managers to understand to what extent a particular behavior is attributable to national culture.As a start, we need to recognize and understand the differences in national cultures.
Two leading interpretations of national culture are those of E. T. Hall and Geert Hofstede.
Renowned anthropologist Edward T. Hall made a distinction between cultures he characterized as “low context” and “high context”. Low-context cultures rely on elaborate verbal explanations, putting great emphasis on spoken words. The low-context countries tend to be in northern Europe and North America, which have long traditions of rhetoric, placing central importance on delivering verbal messages. By contrast, high-context cultures such as Japan and China emphasize nonverbal messages and view communication as a means to promote smooth, harmonious relationships. They prefer an indirect and polite face-saving style that emphasizes a mutual sense of care and respect for others.
Dutch anthropologist Geert Hofstede conducted one of the early empirical studies of national cultural traits. He collected data on the values and attitudes of 116,000 employees at IBM Corporation representing a diverse set of nationality, age, and gender. His investigation led Hofstede to delineate four independent dimensions of national culture: • Individualism versus Collectivism: This refers to whether a person functions primarily as an individual or as part of a group. • Power Distance: This describes how a society deals with the inequalities in power that exist among people. • Uncertainty Avoidance: This refers to the extent to which people can tolerate risk and uncertainty in their lives. • Masculinity versus Femininity: This refers to a society’s orientation based on traditional male and female values. Masculine cultures tend to value competitiveness, assertiveness, ambition, and the accumulation of wealth. Conversely, in feminine cultures, such as the Scandinavian countries, both men and women emphasize nurturing roles, interdependence among people, and caring for less fortunate people.
A member of our "cross-cultural teams" group brought up in class the other day that there are many similarities between our project and the "virtual teams" project. It's true that many of the same issues are prevalent. I believe the biggest hurdle to overcome is the absence of contextual cues in conversation...the ability to read a person from their mannerisms, eye contact, proximity, voice modulation, directness..etc. Whether this is really a factor seems to be where cultural background comes into play. As Ritesh and others have stated, some cultures rely heavily on this context in communication, whereas others are more direct. I would think the more direct cultures would have an easier time with just shooting an email out to ask questions or present ideas. However, it may very well be that proper handling of virtual teams may mitigate cultural differences and allow members to operate together on an even keel.
Cross-cultural teams tend to have their own share of problems once the novelty of interacting with new people fades. From seemingly easy issues such as understanding language idioms to more complex work culture issues, there is scope and room for a lot of problems and glitches. Global organizations are transferring people increasingly to other countries which increases cultural diversity within work teams.
Information gaps are another problem area for the virtual cross cultural team. Everyone should be on the same page or same wave length as far as information and data goes so that there is sync in the activities performed. Companies are paying a lot of attention to the use of the right technology to make communication and collaboration among virtual teams effective.
The other issue with international virtual teams is decision making. Decision making is a team activity:given the time zone differences, the team has to find a mutually agreeable time band for direct communication through conference calls or video conferencing. If there is a great deal of divergence and disagreement on the right course of action to be adopted, then a stalemate may be reached. The team may need to follow up with lots of explanatory emails and calls before they reach a consensus.
Just as Tony K pointed out, we cannot attribute all difficulties to differences in national culture. However, it’s still critical for managers to understand to what extent a particular behavior is attributable to national culture.
Renowned anthropologist Edward T. Hall made a distinction between cultures he characterized as “low context” and “high context”. Low-context cultures rely on elaborate verbal explanations, putting great emphasis on spoken words. By contrast, high-context cultures such as Japan and China emphasize nonverbal messages and view communication as a means to promote smooth, harmonious relationships. They prefer an indirect and polite face-saving style that emphasizes a mutual sense of care and respect for others.
Dutch anthropologist Geert Hofstede delineated four independent dimensions of national culture: 1. Individualism versus Collectivism: This refers to whether a person functions primarily as an individual or as part of a group. 2. Power Distance: This describes how a society deals with the inequalities in power that exist among people. In societies with low power distance, the gaps between the powerful and weak are minimal. Societies characterized by high power distance are relatively indifferent to inequalities and allow them to grow over time. 3. Uncertainty Avoidance: This refers to the extent to which people can tolerate risk and uncertainty in their lives. People in societies with high uncertainty avoidance create institutions that minimize risk and ensure financial security. Societies that score low on uncertainty avoidance socialize their members to accept and become accustomed to uncertainty. 4. Masculinity versus Femininity: This refers to a society’s orientation based on traditional male and female values. Masculine cultures tend to value competitiveness, assertiveness, ambition, and the accumulation of wealth. Conversely, in feminine cultures, such as the Scandinavian countries, both men and women emphasize nurturing roles, interdependence among people, and caring for less fortunate people. Welfare systems are highly developed and education is subsidized.
I believe that the quality of communication is a key concern in cross cultural teams. Everybody could be speaking English, but certain forms of slang or colloquialisms may not be clearly understood leading to misinterpretations. I know for one term that I have used a lot is “ I got you”, when im dealing with my team members in other countries they don’t seem to understand what I mean. In order for a team to succeed it must be able to have a collective effort and all team members have to fully understand the direction that the discussion is taking. I believe that misinterpretations can be kept to a minimum if everybody aims for clarity, otherwise team effectiveness is bound to suffer. I have always tried my best to maintain a certain type of neutral english and keep things simple so that the instructions maybe clearer for the other team member and I have even gone to the point of using illustrations to convey the message. The thing that hurts the most in my case is the we are an international virtual team. We usually work on a project without regular face-to-face interaction, and therefore have to make our written email communication and telephone conversations as clear as possible. A thing that’s important in our team is the promptness to answer any question that any of the team members could have. Some of the other things that I have noticed that as the world becomes more globalized teams like the one I currently manage will continue to be more common. However I think that the key to making the multi-cultural team work well, is focusing on the objectives of the team. If everyone stays on the same goal and is clear on everything, everyone can achieve their goals.
Cross cultural teams can bring in both challenges and benefits to any organization just as mentioned by others. This topic is quite intriguing as the business world is globalizing and bringing in numerous cultures into an organization. Cultures in any organization are something that cannot be avoided, and we must learn to accommodate and respect other cultural norms when working in a team.
Just as previously mentioned, communication is the key to working in any organizational teams. With teams comprising of different cultures, language can be a hindrance as people have different accents which may create confusion in delivering messages across teams. However, the technological advancement of emails and online discussions can alleviate some of the problems created due to language barriers in face to face communication. Another challenge is caused by different styles of communications. In some cultures, people are not as expressive, direct, or verbal and prefer to keep their distances. For instance, in some cultures, women prefer not to shake hands with their fellow male team members.
Time is another issue in cross cultural teams. Just as we discussed in class, some cultures set time that differ from the actual time meaning that the meetings do not start on time. However, I believe this issue is decreasing as more people are becoming culturally aware of the importance of time in any organization.
But, I believe it is imperative to build a tolerance for all cultures as organizations are becoming more and more diverse. Companies are also outsourcing and going abroad for their businesses, and learning to adapt to cultural differences can be a positive gain for employees and companies. Organizations should try to educate their employees about different cultures which can help with virtual teams as well as teams inside an organization. A better understanding of cultures can also resolve conflicts and facilitate better communication within cross cultural teams.
As many have noted in their comments, there are several obstacles for managers working within cross-cultural teams. Some obstacles mentioned are language barriers, cultural attributes (collective vs. individualistic) and distance/location. When conflicts arise within cross-cultural teams, what might a manager do to resolve issues that are related to culture?
The first step in resolving cultural conflicts is to gain understanding. In cross-cultural conflicts, the named issue is usually not the real issue, but an extension of a deeper underlying conflict within the team or between co-workers. Culture is an integral part of each of us. We carry within us an entire system of values to which we hold without question and are many times unaware of how we came to possess such values. We protect our values and feel threatened when these values are challenged. For example, when a male worker has difficulty working alongside a female coworker, he may claim the issue relates to incompetence, but in reality he may struggle with a strong masculinity complex derived from his culture. In certain cultures, females are not allowed to question a male's authority, nor be seen as an "equal." The global manager would do well to be aware of such influences within a cross-cultural team.
Another key to resolving, and even preventing, conflict in cross-cultural teams is to respect cultural differences and create an environment that values cultural differences. Managers can welcome cultural diversity by allowing for informal discussion, or sharing. These moments are sometimes spontaneous and rely upon the participation of the team members. Participation should not be forced or be required. The global manager will look for opportunities to create a space for organic sharing of cultural values among team members.
E-mail and instant messaging are two technologies that must be used wisely in a cross-cultural team. A person whose primary language is not English might have a harder time communicating with someone whose primary language is English. In addition, they might misinterpret or not understand what someone else is saying if they aren’t familiar with all the shorthand or vernacular. Even when the language being used is the same, different cultures can interpret the same phrase two different ways. Furthermore, different cultures might use phrases that make sense to them, but that might need interpretation by the other side. One example I’ve seen at work is the phrase “please do the needful” being used at the end of e-mails. This phrase is basically asking the recipient to complete the work or tasks necessary to get the job/request done. However, when I first saw the phrase, I was puzzled as to what it meant. Additionally, there is also not a good way to add emotion or feeling to an e-mail or instant message, so people must be careful that their responses aren’t taken the wrong way (saying something that could be taken multiple ways).
Getting constant feedback from team members is also essential to a healthy cross-cultural group. The feedback can help eliminate any assumptions or biases that are made and can help detect, resolve, and perhaps even prevent any issues or conflicts that might arise. As always, asking questions, working on compromises and respecting different cultures is essential to a successful cross-cultural team. In order to succeed as a cross-cultural team, members must be encouraged to work together as one team with a similar goal, not a bunch of individuals working independently. Stereotyping is hurtful to any type of group but especially in cross-cultural groups since it is often much easier to do (if people are very similar to you then you don't tend to stereotype as much).
I agree with some of the points that Matthew Fertitta mentioned. I could see how this could complicate the connection/relationship between two companies from different parts of the world. I am a proposal engineer for our family dairy company in overseas and have been mostly in charge of international relations and communication with other foreign dairy producers. We have dealt with major companies and have gone through different experiences each time. One of the companies' representative had a weak english speaking skills and I always had the hardest time making sense out of their emails. But in another case, the foreign company always had a more effective communication skills and better english speaking skills as well. This is mainly because they held back from using phrases and slangs which would have different meaning in different culture and languages. They have always used very simple wording in their emails.
I am from China. And this is my first year to study and live in a foreign country with a totally different culture. So I have to deal with a great many cross culture problems in working and studying with some local guys and someone from other different countries. In order to handle those problems, I think that trying to know about others' culture background and find the best way for communication is the key point. My English is still not good enough to get to know everything the local people speak. Sometimes I found that different words may mean different things to different people in different culture background. Anouther factor that makes cross-cultural communication diffcult is that different cultures sometimes have very different cultural norms about using certain words.In addition to different vocabularies, cross cultural communication is made difficult by the fact that in different languages even tha same wordcan mean different things.
Cross cultural teamwork is going to increase as businesses expand on a more global scalemeaning that people from diverse backgrounds interact on a regular basis as a team. Many large corporations have clients with whom they work across multiple countries and these clients look for integrated global solutions. In such a scenario the cross cultural team has a definite advantage in being able to understand the needs of their clients better. The key to making the multi-cultural team work well, is focusing on the objectives of the team. The objective is the main output that a cross cultural team can potentially deliver. Team output is usually better when there is diversity of experience among the team players. This applies to any team output, whether or not multi-cultural. The chances of drawing out innovative thinking gets amplified when there is diversity. This is the factor that works in favour of cross cultural teams. The general consensus among experts is that the multi-cultural experiences that individual team members bring to the discussion tends to lead to superior creative solutions. The problems and conflicts are certainly going to be there just as one would have conflicts and problems within teams who belong to the same market. Pre-emptive measures in areas like communication, information sharing, motivation drivers, and group dynamics are called for to assist in the cross cultural team process. The goal should be to try and build on the strengths of such cross cultural teams, minimize conflicts, and diffuse the occasional miscommunication that diversity creates.
In todays ever-evolving global business environment cross-cultural teams are reality and it is here to stay. Cross-cultural teams can be combination of many different strata such as different nationality, different regions of a nation, wide age difference, different economic background, different religious practices, different languages, and so on. Cross-cultural teams pose many challenges as well as advantages. To be successful as a member of a cross-cultural team or to be a successful manager of a cross-cultural team, everyone has to recognize, understand, and adapt to individual’s cultural needs. Some of the challenges cross-cultural teams face are difference in work-customs, lack of proper communication or differences in communication styles, difference in understanding of quality of work, difference in time zones, differences in rewarding practices, and many more. Before delving deep into cross-cultural teams, it is essential to briefly understand what culture is. It is very important to recognize that every culture is unique. It is easy to say what culture is NOT rather than what IS. The culture is not right or wrong, it is not about individual behavior, and it is not inherited. Culture evolves over time within each society to characterize its people and to distinguish them from others.
ReplyDeleteI will be researching more on this topic and will post my further comments in coming weeks and as I will learn from class. To end this commend I would like to share an example I came across. In the process of decision making Americans believe in quick response and are forgiving even if the decision was wrong as far as it gets rectified or changed in next round. At the same time Indians would take long time to take any decision and they would consider effects of decision before it is taken. Germans are extremely detail oriented and will not take decision unless all “T”s are crossed and “I”s are dotted.
What is a cross-cultural team consisting of?
ReplyDeleteCan a team be cross-cultural if there are no differences in habits, thinking, decision making, and communication?
What identifies a cross-cultural team?
Where does our culture come from?
Can an individual’s 'culture' change? If so, what would be some causations of this change?
POTENTIAL PROBLEM AREAS IN CROSS CULTURAL TEAMS:
ReplyDeleteA) Communication, Language and Expression
The quality of communication is a key concern in cross cultural teams. Everybody could be speaking English, but certain forms of slang or colloquialisms may not be clearly understood leading to misinterpretations. Teamwork is a collective effort and all the players have to fully understand the direction that the discussion is taking. Misinterpretations can be kept to a minimum if everybody aims for clarity, otherwise team effectiveness is bound to suffer. To prevent problems associated with miscommunication, team members have to be encouraged check with each other for clarity either through paraphrasing or by asking questions. Paraphrasing basically involves restating a point and then asking - "Is that what you meant?"
If we consider virtual cross cultural teams that meet up in the virtual world on conference calling and video conferencing: the issue with them is decision making. Decision making is a team activity and given the time zone differences, the team has to find a mutually agreeable time band for direct communication through conference calls or video conferencing. If there is a great deal of divergence and disagreement on the right course of action to be adopted, then a stalemate may be reached. The team may need to follow up with lots of explanatory emails and calls before they reach a consensus.
B) Work Style
Work styles and approaches may also vary when a team has a cross-cultural mix of individuals. Some work cultures foster individual thinking and offer rewards for individual contributions– like the American’s for instance. In some work cultures people are uncomfortable with independence on the job and prefer to be tied to the apron strings of the boss in decision making! When your team has a mix of styles, the individualistic team members may prove to be aggressive team players while the not-so-individualistic ones may merge into the team and outwardly seem to contribute very little to the team process. It is important to draw out and get the best out of all the team members despite the differences in personality types.
C) Dominating Influences
There are concerns that a section of the team that has a certain cultural similarity or homogeneity may attempt to dominate the team process and overrule the rest of the team. The dominant group within the team may try to swing decisions towards a direction that they are comfortable with. This can create a frustrating environment for the rest of the team.
D) Motivators and Expectations From the Job
Motivators are basically the factors that indicate the things that make a person tick in a business and team environment. Team leaders who handle cross-cultural teams usually find that the factors that motivate each team member vary. The motivators for working professionals can range from tangible rewards such as monetary increments, incentives and career progression, to intangibles such as job satisfaction, praise and encouragement or recognition from top management. It is essential to make the effort to gauge individual motivators in order to encourage and motivate each team member to excel at their roles. In the absence of the right stimulus, the individuals may lack the enthusiasm and drive necessary to perform their role within the team
I have to agree with raj and Ritest Oza that cross-cultural teams often lead to a number of problems as stated by each of them. These cross-cultural teams are inevitable in today's world as the larger the organization, the more likely that the company has offices widely distributed across the globe. There are positive and negative aspects due to the diversity of the teams that come into play.
ReplyDeleteOn a more positive note, it is often seen that the larger the size of the team, the more likely to have increased ideas and solutions to problems due to inputs from all or most of the team members.
Many a times, the management of such teams becomes quite challenging. When asked to manage a team that is distributed internationally, it often becomes a tedious process and can lead to issues that arise due to differences in the technical logistics across teams.
There are a number of factors which can be listed on the pros and cons of cross-cultural teams and one area that I find really interesting is the management of such teams that are distributed globally.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI'm also going to agree with Raj's points on this, however I'm going to look at Communication in a different way, specifically the difference between Boomers and younger generations i.e. millenials. In my work place when it comes to communication the big difference I have seen is that people in my generation, the millenials, are more willing to send emails/instant messages to discuss work and search out answers. However, the older generation is more inclined to either pick up the phone and call the person they need to work with or go talk to that person face-to-face. I think this is just a difference in communication style that comes down to the younger generations trying to get more of a straight answer while the older generation is used to talking about several topics including current events as well as the work related question.
ReplyDeleteI completely concur with Raj and Ritesh on problems areas in cross cultural teams. Team members work in increasingly diverse environments: in terms of age, gender, race, language and nationality. Above and beyond these differences, there are also deeper cultural differences that influence the way conflict is approached. One reason that teams fail to meet performance expectations is their paralysis through unresolved conflict. What I am trying to convene here is the impact of culture on the prevention and resolution of conflict in teams.
ReplyDeleteTeam Dynamics: Successful teams develop cultural distinct pathways to communicate, make decisions, problem solve and resolve conflict.
A team member's commitment to the team and the team mission can increase if the conflict is well managed and resolved, but decreases if the conflict goes unresolved. If conflict goes unresolved for too long team members are likely to quit.
Communication Style: There are a number of factors that contribute to communication style. One factor is the extent to which it is expressive or restrained. Some team members may have been socialized to reveal strong emotions and to feel comfortable with prolonged eye contact and touch. Others may be more stoic, and mask emotions with a poker face, use monotone speech and avoid eye contact.
These different communication styles are not problematic in and of themselves. However, problems arise when value judgments are made on the basis of the different styles. For example, if team members disagree and one represents his views and feelings forcefully with a raised voice, another more restrained team member may see that as arrogant. The same 'arrogant' team member may conclude that the restrained team member is untrustworthy because eye contact is not maintained.
Another area of cultural difference relates to directness. Some cultures are very direct. They like to 'cut to the chase' and get frustrated with someone who 'beats around the bush'. Indirect cultures prefer to deal with relational aspects first, and to restore harmony before addressing substantive issues.
Some cultures are individualist and some are collective. Individualistic cultures place high value on autonomy, creativity and authority in decision-making. Collective cultures value the group over individual. Group conformity and commitment is maintained at the expense of personal interests.
Most of the teams these days are multi-cultural and conflict will arise from time to time. How a team chooses to responds can be the difference between success and failure.
In above comments we have seen many challenges encountered while managing cross cultural teams. There are few points come to my mind when I think about how these challenges can be successfully overcome. As communication is the key in managing cross-cultural teams, lot of conflicts can be avoided if managers avoid making assumptions or instant judgments about individuals or their working style. Before communicating information, managers must thinik about how the information might be received and they should take time to ensure that message is clearly understood by the team. In other words manager should put themselves in the team member’s position. As we learned in class, method of communication is also very critical. E-mails can be easily misunderstood and therefore sensitive and difficult messages should be conveyed through e-mails. For such messages face to face communication should be adopted. Timeliness of delivering the information is also very crucial to avoid agitation and frustration. Managers must set up ground rules before organizing meetings and they should consider accommodating individuals whose first language is not English (or any other language primarily used by majority in meeting). Managers should also take enough time to know individuals’ preferred working styles and should attempt to build on individuals’ strengths. If managers are managing teams in different countries or regions, they should take time to check issues of the culture that they are unsure of and they should know a little about the culture of other country or region. Showing interest in learning about other culture itself help a lot in building trust and motivation.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFFor organizations that conduct business across borders and interact with numerous cultures, it is important that 'cultural sensitivity' training be offered. I agree with several comments on this forum that being open minded and tolerant are important in managing cross cultural teams.
ReplyDeleteLet's also not forget that there are several layers of culture i.e.: National Culture, Professional and Corporate Culture. To understand the complexity of managing cross cultural teams let's take a company based in the US as an example. It may have presence in the UK or China. The corporate culture within the foreign based business of the organization may be more in tune with the US corporate culture. However, the national and professional culture of the country that the foreign offices are based also manifest themselves in the course of conducting business there. Such a mix makes it even more critical for companies to invest time in training Managers not just on cultural sensitivity but also identifying where issues may incorrectly be attributed to 'National Culture' differences but may truly be Corporate or Professional differences/philosophies.
Hi, all,
ReplyDeleteI am from 'International O.B.' group. While working on our project, I learned about some classical studies about the differences in National Cultures.
Just as Tony K pointed out, we cannot attribute all difficulties to differences in national culture. However, I think it’s still critical for managers to understand to what extent a particular behavior is attributable to national culture.As a start, we need to recognize and understand the differences in national cultures.
Two leading interpretations of national culture are those of E. T. Hall and Geert Hofstede.
Renowned anthropologist Edward T. Hall made a distinction between cultures he characterized as “low context” and “high context”. Low-context cultures rely on elaborate verbal explanations, putting great emphasis on spoken words. The low-context countries tend to be in northern Europe and North America, which have long traditions of rhetoric, placing central importance on delivering verbal messages. By contrast, high-context cultures such as Japan and China emphasize nonverbal messages and view communication as a means to promote smooth, harmonious relationships. They prefer an indirect and polite face-saving style that emphasizes a mutual sense of care and respect for others.
Dutch anthropologist Geert Hofstede conducted one of the early empirical studies of national cultural traits. He collected data on the values and attitudes of 116,000 employees at IBM Corporation representing a diverse set of nationality, age, and gender. His investigation led Hofstede to delineate four independent dimensions of national culture:
• Individualism versus Collectivism: This refers to whether a person functions primarily as an individual or as part of a group.
• Power Distance: This describes how a society deals with the inequalities in power that exist among people.
• Uncertainty Avoidance: This refers to the extent to which people can tolerate risk and uncertainty in their lives.
• Masculinity versus Femininity: This refers to a society’s orientation based on traditional male and female values. Masculine cultures tend to value competitiveness, assertiveness, ambition, and the accumulation of wealth. Conversely, in feminine cultures, such as the Scandinavian countries, both men and women emphasize nurturing roles, interdependence among people, and caring for less fortunate people.
A member of our "cross-cultural teams" group brought up in class the other day that there are many similarities between our project and the "virtual teams" project. It's true that many of the same issues are prevalent. I believe the biggest hurdle to overcome is the absence of contextual cues in conversation...the ability to read a person from their mannerisms, eye contact, proximity, voice modulation, directness..etc. Whether this is really a factor seems to be where cultural background comes into play. As Ritesh and others have stated, some cultures rely heavily on this context in communication, whereas others are more direct. I would think the more direct cultures would have an easier time with just shooting an email out to ask questions or present ideas. However, it may very well be that proper handling of virtual teams may mitigate cultural differences and allow members to operate together on an even keel.
ReplyDeleteCross-cultural teams tend to have their own share of problems once the novelty of interacting with new people fades. From seemingly easy issues such as understanding language idioms to more complex work culture issues, there is scope and room for a lot of problems and glitches. Global organizations
ReplyDeleteare transferring people increasingly to other countries which increases cultural diversity within work teams.
Information gaps are another problem area for the virtual cross cultural team. Everyone should be on the same page or same wave length as far as information and data goes so that there is sync in the activities performed. Companies are paying a lot of attention to the use of the right technology to make communication and collaboration among virtual teams effective.
The other issue with international virtual teams is decision making. Decision making is a team activity:given the time zone differences, the team has to find a mutually agreeable time band for direct communication through conference calls or video conferencing. If there is a great deal of divergence and disagreement on the right course of action to be adopted, then a stalemate may be reached. The team may need to follow up with lots of explanatory emails and calls before they reach a consensus.
Just as Tony K pointed out, we cannot attribute all difficulties to differences in national culture. However, it’s still critical for managers to understand to what extent a particular behavior is attributable to national culture.
ReplyDeleteRenowned anthropologist Edward T. Hall made a distinction between cultures he characterized as “low context” and “high context”. Low-context cultures rely on elaborate verbal explanations, putting great emphasis on spoken words. By contrast, high-context cultures such as Japan and China emphasize nonverbal messages and view communication as a means to promote smooth, harmonious relationships. They prefer an indirect and polite face-saving style that emphasizes a mutual sense of care and respect for others.
Dutch anthropologist Geert Hofstede delineated four independent dimensions of national culture:
1. Individualism versus Collectivism: This refers to whether a person functions primarily as an individual or as part of a group.
2. Power Distance: This describes how a society deals with the inequalities in power that exist among people. In societies with low power distance, the gaps between the powerful and weak are minimal. Societies characterized by high power distance are relatively indifferent to inequalities and allow them to grow over time.
3. Uncertainty Avoidance: This refers to the extent to which people can tolerate risk and uncertainty in their lives. People in societies with high uncertainty avoidance create institutions that minimize risk and ensure financial security. Societies that score low on uncertainty avoidance socialize their members to accept and become accustomed to uncertainty.
4. Masculinity versus Femininity: This refers to a society’s orientation based on traditional male and female values. Masculine cultures tend to value competitiveness, assertiveness, ambition, and the accumulation of wealth. Conversely, in feminine cultures, such as the Scandinavian countries, both men and women emphasize nurturing roles, interdependence among people, and caring for less fortunate people. Welfare systems are highly developed and education is subsidized.
I believe that the quality of communication is a key concern in cross cultural teams. Everybody could be speaking English, but certain forms of slang or colloquialisms may not be clearly understood leading to misinterpretations. I know for one term that I have used a lot is “ I got you”, when im dealing with my team members in other countries they don’t seem to understand what I mean. In order for a team to succeed it must be able to have a collective effort and all team members have to fully understand the direction that the discussion is taking. I believe that misinterpretations can be kept to a minimum if everybody aims for clarity, otherwise team effectiveness is bound to suffer. I have always tried my best to maintain a certain type of neutral english and keep things simple so that the instructions maybe clearer for the other team member and I have even gone to the point of using illustrations to convey the message. The thing that hurts the most in my case is the we are an international virtual team. We usually work on a project without regular face-to-face interaction, and therefore have to make our written email communication and telephone conversations as clear as possible. A thing that’s important in our team is the promptness to answer any question that any of the team members could have. Some of the other things that I have noticed that as the world becomes more globalized teams like the one I currently manage will continue to be more common. However I think that the key to making the multi-cultural team work well, is focusing on the objectives of the team. If everyone stays on the same goal and is clear on everything, everyone can achieve their goals.
ReplyDeleteCross cultural teams can bring in both challenges and benefits to any organization just as mentioned by others. This topic is quite intriguing as the business world is globalizing and bringing in numerous cultures into an organization. Cultures in any organization are something that cannot be avoided, and we must learn to accommodate and respect other cultural norms when working in a team.
ReplyDeleteJust as previously mentioned, communication is the key to working in any organizational teams. With teams comprising of different cultures, language can be a hindrance as people have different accents which may create confusion in delivering messages across teams. However, the technological advancement of emails and online discussions can alleviate some of the problems created due to language barriers in face to face communication. Another challenge is caused by different styles of communications. In some cultures, people are not as expressive, direct, or verbal and prefer to keep their distances. For instance, in some cultures, women prefer not to shake hands with their fellow male team members.
Time is another issue in cross cultural teams. Just as we discussed in class, some cultures set time that differ from the actual time meaning that the meetings do not start on time. However, I believe this issue is decreasing as more people are becoming culturally aware of the importance of time in any organization.
But, I believe it is imperative to build a tolerance for all cultures as organizations are becoming more and more diverse. Companies are also outsourcing and going abroad for their businesses, and learning to adapt to cultural differences can be a positive gain for employees and companies. Organizations should try to educate their employees about different cultures which can help with virtual teams as well as teams inside an organization. A better understanding of cultures can also resolve conflicts and facilitate better communication within cross cultural teams.
As many have noted in their comments, there are several obstacles for managers working within cross-cultural teams. Some obstacles mentioned are language barriers, cultural attributes (collective vs. individualistic) and distance/location. When conflicts arise within cross-cultural teams, what might a manager do to resolve issues that are related to culture?
ReplyDeleteThe first step in resolving cultural conflicts is to gain understanding. In cross-cultural conflicts, the named issue is usually not the real issue, but an extension of a deeper underlying conflict within the team or between co-workers. Culture is an integral part of each of us. We carry within us an entire system of values to which we hold without question and are many times unaware of how we came to possess such values. We protect our values and feel threatened when these values are challenged. For example, when a male worker has difficulty working alongside a female coworker, he may claim the issue relates to incompetence, but in reality he may struggle with a strong masculinity complex derived from his culture. In certain cultures, females are not allowed to question a male's authority, nor be seen as an "equal." The global manager would do well to be aware of such influences within a cross-cultural team.
Another key to resolving, and even preventing, conflict in cross-cultural teams is to respect cultural differences and create an environment that values cultural differences. Managers can welcome cultural diversity by allowing for informal discussion, or sharing. These moments are sometimes spontaneous and rely upon the participation of the team members. Participation should not be forced or be required. The global manager will look for opportunities to create a space for organic sharing of cultural values among team members.
Finally, the global manager may choose to create a third culture if the cultural differences are extreme among the team members. For example, a multi-national company chooses to send a manager to oversee operations in a foreign context. The manager is responsible for the performance of his diverse team and may choose to govern as he might in his home context. This method of governing without first seeking to understand his new foreign context will result in cultural conflict. At the same time, the manager cannot simply abandon his value system and “go native” in order to lead effectively. What is the solution? As mentioned, he can choose to build a third culture which is a blending of values from his home context with the values of the local context. Creating a third culture could be achieved through developing culturally appropriate incentive programs, observing local holidays, or practicing local customs such as drinking “maté,” the local tea in Argentina.
E-mail and instant messaging are two technologies that must be used wisely in a cross-cultural team. A person whose primary language is not English might have a harder time communicating with someone whose primary language is English. In addition, they might misinterpret or not understand what someone else is saying if they aren’t familiar with all the shorthand or vernacular. Even when the language being used is the same, different cultures can interpret the same phrase two different ways. Furthermore, different cultures might use phrases that make sense to them, but that might need interpretation by the other side. One example I’ve seen at work is the phrase “please do the needful” being used at the end of e-mails. This phrase is basically asking the recipient to complete the work or tasks necessary to get the job/request done. However, when I first saw the phrase, I was puzzled as to what it meant. Additionally, there is also not a good way to add emotion or feeling to an e-mail or instant message, so people must be careful that their responses aren’t taken the wrong way (saying something that could be taken multiple ways).
ReplyDeleteGetting constant feedback from team members is also essential to a healthy cross-cultural group. The feedback can help eliminate any assumptions or biases that are made and can help detect, resolve, and perhaps even prevent any issues or conflicts that might arise. As always, asking questions, working on compromises and respecting different cultures is essential to a successful cross-cultural team. In order to succeed as a cross-cultural team, members must be encouraged to work together as one team with a similar goal, not a bunch of individuals working independently. Stereotyping is hurtful to any type of group but especially in cross-cultural groups since it is often much easier to do (if people are very similar to you then you don't tend to stereotype as much).
I agree with some of the points that Matthew Fertitta mentioned. I could see how this could complicate the connection/relationship between two companies from different parts of the world. I am a proposal engineer for our family dairy company in overseas and have been mostly in charge of international relations and communication with other foreign dairy producers. We have dealt with major companies and have gone through different experiences each time. One of the companies' representative had a weak english speaking skills and I always had the hardest time making sense out of their emails. But in another case, the foreign company always had a more effective communication skills and better english speaking skills as well. This is mainly because they held back from using phrases and slangs which would have different meaning in different culture and languages. They have always used very simple wording in their emails.
ReplyDeleteI am from China. And this is my first year to study and live in a foreign country with a totally different culture. So I have to deal with a great many cross culture problems in working and studying with some local guys and someone from other different countries. In order to handle those problems, I think that trying to know about others' culture background and find the best way for communication is the key point. My English is still not good enough to get to know everything the local people speak. Sometimes I found that different words may mean different things to different people in different culture background. Anouther factor that makes cross-cultural communication diffcult is that different cultures sometimes have very different cultural norms about using certain words.In addition to different vocabularies, cross cultural communication is made difficult by the fact that in different languages even tha same wordcan mean different things.
ReplyDeleteCross cultural teamwork is going to increase as businesses expand on a more global scalemeaning that people from diverse backgrounds interact on a regular basis as a team. Many large corporations have clients with whom they work across multiple countries and these clients look for integrated global solutions. In such a scenario the cross cultural team has a definite advantage in being able to understand the needs of their clients better.
ReplyDeleteThe key to making the multi-cultural team work well, is focusing on the objectives of the team. The objective is the main output that a cross cultural team can potentially deliver. Team output is usually better when there is diversity of experience among the team players. This applies to any team output, whether or not multi-cultural. The chances of drawing out innovative thinking gets amplified when there is diversity. This is the factor that works in favour of cross cultural teams. The general consensus among experts is that the multi-cultural experiences that individual team members bring to the discussion tends to lead to superior creative solutions.
The problems and conflicts are certainly going to be there just as one would have conflicts and problems within teams who belong to the same market. Pre-emptive measures in areas like communication, information sharing, motivation drivers, and group dynamics are called for to assist in the cross cultural team process. The goal should be to try and build on the strengths of such cross cultural teams, minimize conflicts, and diffuse the occasional miscommunication that diversity creates.