Multicultural Team Management

Companies operate in a global economy, and technology has allowed them to benefit from a globally diverse workforce (Heinz, 2014). It is not uncommon for a company to operate in several countries or do business with companies around the world. This global scope has created situations in which companies have team members from various cultures or backgrounds. Because of this, leaders must possess additional skills to handle multicultural teams.  Since team members are dispersed around the world in these instances, they cannot meet face-to-face like they would in an office setting. Leaders must have the knowledge and skills to handle the challenges that come with this diversity. Many benefits come along with operating globally, but without effective leadership, a multicultural team will suffer. This paper will analyze multicultural team management, including issues and dilemmas. The impact of remote working and how it impacts multicultural team management will also be addressed. 

Analysis of the Field 

Companies are using technology more to share ideas across borders and reduce costs for innovation and knowledge sharing (Eisenburg & Mattarelli, 2016). This knowledge sharing increases innovation and improves employees’ knowledge of other cultures. A person that can handle various cultural settings is said to have high cultural intelligence (Erez, Lisak, Harush, Glikson, Nouri, & Shokef, 2013). It has been identified that managing cross-cultural differences is a serious issue that multinational companies face (Sogancilar & Ors, 2018). 

One benefit of a multicultural team is that team members have various cultural backgrounds and experiences to share, improving innovation and reducing costs (Eisenburg & Mattarelli, 2016). A further benefit to multicultural virtual teams is that there is a lack of physical contact or interaction between team members. This will reduce communication confusion due to body language or physical cues (Zakaria, Amelinckx, & Wilemon, 2013).  

Cultural intelligence is an important skill that managers and leaders need to have in this global environment. Cultural intelligence is defined as how well an individual can effectively handle a culturally diverse setting (Erez et al., 2013). A person gains cultural intelligence by working with other cultures, being around other cultures, or learning about other cultures. Individuals have a natural global identity based on the country in which they were raised or their cultural heritage. Global identity is defined as a sense of belonging to a group and identifying within the global work context (Erez et al., 2013). This identity is important because it allows others to have at least some basic knowledge of a person. For example, you would not refer to a person from Japan as Chinese, as this would be an insult. A person with a darker complexion and black hair living in South Florida does not always speak Spanish. These can be damaging stereotypes and should be avoided.  

Current Issues or Dilemmas 

Communication is essential for any company. Communication for remote workers is accomplished using technology such as email, phone, teleconference, video conferencing, or instant messaging (Morgan, Paucar-Caceres, & Wright, 2014). Most of these methods are static and require the reader to interpret the message’s meaning. Video conferencing is the only one where the two parties can see each other and receive visual cues to help in the communication process. Sometimes this lack of visual cues can be a benefit, as body language can often be confusing (Zakaria et al., 2013). People send messages with their body language that they may not intend to send. For example, crossed arms, poor posture, and lack of eye contact are just some of the visual cues that can convey a negative message. 

Conflict is normal in every teamwork setting and is inherent in the daily interactions of the team members (Tabassi, Abdullah, & Bryde, 2019). Conflict is one of the biggest challenges facing organizations. Conflict is defined as the perceived disagreements and incompatibilities between individuals (Windeler, Maruping, Robert, & Riemenschneider, 2015). Some conflicts can be positive, but there can also be damaging conflicts that can dramatically affect the team. Managers and leaders need to recognize when conflict is damaging and address it promptly. Damaging conflict should not be ignored (du Plessis, 2012). Ignoring the conflict conveys the message that leadership is not concerned with the issues causing the conflict. This has a damaging impact on team performance until the conflict is recognized and resolved.  

Understanding team dynamics is important when trying to evaluate the conflict that is occurring. For example, Tabassi et al. (2019) found that conflict can be ignored when dealing with a temporary construction company in Malaysia. This, however, does not apply to every situation. The thing that team members need to remember is that communication is the most important thing when working with individuals from other countries. If there is something that a person doesn’t know, do not assume anything, but rather, ask the other person about it (Markman, 2018). People will have more respect if a question is asked rather than assuming something inaccurate. 

Sogancilar & Ors (2018) identified several main challenges when dealing with multicultural teams. These were ineffective communication and misunderstandings, different working styles and expectations, intolerance, and lack of knowledge related to diversity. The authors also identified three solutions offered by the executives of their study. These were embracing diversity and encouraging team members to acknowledge it, becoming approachable and eager to learn more, and communicating simply and straightforwardly (Sogancilar & Ors, 2018).  

Research Topic 

Background of Multicultural Team Management 

In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a shift in the way companies organized their workforce. Companies devoted considerable efforts to creating and building effective teams (Hennessy & West,1999). With the development of teams, there was a need for managers that understood the dynamics of teams to manage them. As companies started to operate in a global environment instead of domestically, workforces became more culturally diverse (Sogancilar & Ors, 2018). Companies also merged and acquired companies from other companies, spreading their workforce among various locations and countries. There was an urgent need for leaders to have the skills to handle these new multicultural teams effectively.  

Theories Regarding Multicultural Team Management 

Social Categorization Theory 

There have been a few theories reviewed for multicultural team management. One of those is social categorization theory. The social categorization theory states that people tend to socialize with others who are like them, and form groups based on their similarities (Windeler, Maruping, Robert, & Riemenschneider, 2015). Having teams comprised of individuals that would be considered outside their social category makes it difficult to have a cohesive team. One way to overcome this is to find similarities in other team members that can bring them together, a strategy known as shared understanding. 

Social Identity Theory 

Another theory is the Social Identity Theory (SIT). SIT suggests that people will categorize newly introduced people into two groups defined as like them or not like them (Tajfel, 1974). This grouping will help the individual identify with others and cause a sense of favoritism with members of the same group (Hennessy & West, 1999). This favoritism can cause problems in a business setting by giving promotions to those in the group and denying promotions to those not in the group. 

Schema Theory 

Schema Theory is another theory regarding multicultural management. The schema theory states that individuals will form opinions of a race based on prior knowledge or experience with people of that race and formulate them into schemas (Fiske & Taylor, 1991). Employees will develop schemas based on race, gender, or other demographic factors (Fiske & Taylor, 1991). People use stereotypes to make predictions of a person’s intentions (Fiske, 1993). This has been shown in several instances following the terror attacks in 2001, where people from the Middle East were stereotyped as having malicious intentions. 

Impacts of Multicultural Team Management on Social Change 

Social change is defined as ideas, strategies, and actions that promote the wealth, dignity, and development of a culture or society’s communities, organizations, and individuals (Walden, 2019). Multicultural management has a symbiotic relationship with social change since the company’s stakeholders are customers in the community in which the company operates (Kennett-Hensel, & Payne, 2018). Understanding various cultures is important since the company might acquire a company from another country or collaborate with individuals from other countries. Companies are operating in a global market and dealing with countries that were impossible in the past. This has required that leaders improve their knowledge and understanding of various cultures and increase their cultural intelligence. 

Future Directions 

Future Research Areas 

In the study by Erez et al. (2013), the cultural intelligence scale comprised 20 questions and used a 7-point Likert scale from 2006. With technological advances and the increase in diversity among multicultural organizations, the scale should be examined to determine if it can be updated in both questions and scoring. As research into leadership styles and their effectiveness continues, there should be further research on the impact of different styles in various multicultural teams to determine the most effective leadership style when dealing with multicultural teams. Communication styles are also something that needs further research regarding multicultural remote teams (McLarnon et al., 2019)., as advancing technology like video calls allows additional communication options that were not previously available. These options will alter the current way of communication and could introduce the same problems or concerns found with in-person communication.   

Another area for future research is cultural brokers. Cultural brokers are individuals who know the various cultures present in the subgroups within the teams (Eisenberg & Mattarelli, 2016). This person could be a member of the team, a team leader, a liaison, or another position with knowledge of these cultures. Cultural brokers are compared to Management of Information Systems (MIS) professionals as they help facilitate communication between business users and computer system designers. This role could dramatically impact the effectiveness of multicultural teams’ team management. 

Impact of Future Research 

Leading a team has its challenges, but leading a team of multicultural members adds even more challenges, especially as compared to a few decades ago. A recent study focused on the leaders of these teams and how they handle the challenges they encounter (Sogancilar & Ors, 2018). A leader needs to understand the cultural differences in team members to be able to manage them effectively. This begins with understanding the Core Cultural Dimensions (CCD) (Sogancilar & Ors, 2018). These are identified as: Hierarchy-Equality, Individualism-Collectivism, Mastery-Harmony, Monochronism-Polychorism, Universalism-Particularism. Additionally, there are nine country clusters to be considered with the CCD. These clusters include Anglo, Arab, East European, East/Southeast Asian, Germanic, Latin American, Latin European, Nordic, and Sub-Saharan Africa (Sogancilar & Ors, 2018). Leaders who can grasp these concepts will be more effective when dealing with multicultural teams.  

Conclusion 

With the global economy, companies are operating across borders. This has also changed the workforce dynamics and created a need for employee diversity. Diversity comes with benefits like knowledge sharing, innovation, and cost reductions. These benefits also come with the challenges of dealing with cultural differences that may cause team conflicts. Conflict management is one of the most important skills a manager can possess, as conflict is a constant when employees work in groups of two or more. Technology has also improved and led to teams connecting in ways they have not before. From this, communication issues arise that cause confusion and conflict. Leaders must support these new diverse teams by learning the most effective way to identify and handle communication and conflict. One of the tools to achieve this is identifying and increasing the leader’s cultural intelligence. This can be developed through experience and education. Cultural intelligence is a topic that needs further research to help leaders identify and improve their executives’ cultural intelligence and the best way to accomplish this very important task. Companies will not go back to operating domestically only. Because of this, leaders need to understand the benefits and challenges of having a diverse workforce. Leaders must create an environment that will encourage open communication and allow knowledge sharing and innovation for the company to grow and succeed.  

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