Slide 16.

Topic 8:
Working with international teams
• The international team: how do teams composed
of people from different cultures operate?
• In this topic, considers:
– the meaning of the term ‘team’
– the elements involved (types and roles)
– their processes
– how cultural difference affect their performance.

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Slide 16.2

Why Have Teams Become So Popular

• Teams typically outperform individuals.

• Teams use employee talents better.
• Teams are more flexible and responsive to
changes in the environment.
• Teams facilitate employee involvement.
• Teams are an effective way to democratize
an organization and increase motivation.

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Slide 16.3

Groups processes during international

encounters (1)
Teams in organizations
Definitions: ‘group’ and ‘team’
• When the members of a team display
complementary skills to achieve a certain goal,
this is teamwork.
• The term ‘group’ usually refers to two or more
individuals who share a collective identity and
have a common goal.
• The term ‘teamwork’ implies a synergy from
working together, which increases the
performance of the work being done.
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Slide 16.4

Team Versus Group: What’s the

Difference
Work Group
A group that interacts primarily
to share information and to
make decisions to help each
group member perform within
his or her area of responsibility.

Work Team
A group whose individual efforts
result in a performance that is
greater than the sum of the
individual inputs.
.
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Slide 16.5

Comparing Work Groups and Work

Teams

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Slide 16.6

Groups processes during international

encounters (2)
• Trust is a prerequisite for working effectively in a
team, but
– developing a climate of trust is a challenge
– the very concept of trust can vary from culture to
culture.
• Cultures also have different assumptions as to
the purpose of groups and teams:
– to spread information and discuss problems, or
– to make decisions and take action, or
– to enable the creation of social relations.

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Slide 16.7

Trusting other people

Degree of trust in other people in other cultures:

Figure 16.1 Trusting other people

Source: based on Inglehart as quoted by Schneider and Barsoux (2003)

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Slide 16.8

Types of teams

According to Robbins (2001) there are four types:

• Problem-solving teams: discuss regularly to
improve work processes and methods.
• Self-managed teams: team members involved
directly in decisions made about work.
• Cross-functional teams: members from different
departments, usually from same level in the
hierarchy.
• Virtual teams: can do same as above, but can also
co-opt members from other organizations (suppliers,
joint partners).

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Slide 16.9

Types of Teams (Robbins)

Problem-Solving Teams
Groups of 5 to 12 employees from the
same department who meet for a few
hours each week to discuss ways of
improving quality, efficiency, and the
work environment.

Self-Managed Work Teams

Groups of 10 to 15 people who take
on the responsibilities of their former
supervisors.

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Slide 16.10

Types of Teams (cont’d)

Cross-Functional Teams
Employees from about the same hierarchical level,
but from different work areas, who come together to
accomplish a task.

• Task forces

• Committees

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Slide 16.11

Types of Teams (cont’d)

Virtual Teams
Teams that use computer
technology to tie together
physically dispersed
members in order to
achieve a common goal.

Team Characteristics
1. The absence of verbal and nonverbal cues
2. A limited social context
3. The ability to overcome time and space constraints

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Slide 16.12

Team roles

Two roles which each member of a team must

perform:
1) Show his professional aptitudes as a specialist in
his area (personnel manager or sales manager).
2) Demonstrate personal characteristics: play
interpersonal role within the team.
According to Senge et al. (1995), also the need for
a trained facilitator:
– helps to clarify how decisions are taken and by whom
– can improve the team’s whole performance.

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Slide 16.13

The Belbin model

• The Belbin model is an instrument used by many

organizations to measure the influence of team
member diversity regarding the different roles
played in a team at work.
• The model shows
– the different stages of development of the team:
identifying needs, finding ideas, formulating plans,
executing ideas, establishing team organization,
following through;
– the different team roles which should each dominate
in a particular stage of development.

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Slide 16.14

Types of teams

Team role Descriptors and strengths

Completer-finisher Conscientious, introvert, delivers on time
Implementer Conservative, reliable, turns ideas into practical actions
Team worker Extrovert, co-operative, avoids friction
Specialist Serious, provides knowledge and skills in rare supply
Monitor evaluator Introvert, open to change, judges accurately
Co-ordinator Dominant, good chairperson, delegates well
Plant Trustful, creative, solves difficult problems
Shaper Emotional, impatient, has the drive to overcome obstacles
Resource investigator Diplomatic, persuasive, communicative, develops contacts

Table 16.1 An overview of team roles in the Belbin model (adapted)

Source: Belbin (1993), p.22

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Slide 16.15

Global management teams (1)

• Develop a global perspective and communicate a

corporate culture while paying attention to the
needs of the local market.
• Establish and maintain relations:
– with suppliers, sales people and other
intermediaries;
– between teams of managers and technical people
who work together in locally operating companies
in different parts of the world.

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Slide 16.16

Global management teams (2)

• Internal interactions at all levels go on at the same

time as interactions with the external environment.
• Therefore need for a global teamwork AND ‘input’
of cross-cultural teamwork and interactions that
occur at many boundaries.
• Global management team members share a
number of national and professional identities.

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Slide 16.17

Team tasks and processes (1)

• Individuals influence group and team life but their

behaviour in turn is changed through the
dynamics that occur within the group.

• Cultural differences exist in terms of

– what the organization expects from the group;
– how group should operate.
• These expectations have to be negotiated in terms
of both task and process.

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Slide 16.18

Team tasks and processes (2)

Adler with Gundersen (2008, 2002) noted differences

between task-oriented cultures and relationship-
oriented cultures when international team members first
meet:
• Those from task-oriented cultures spent little time
getting to know each other before getting down to
business.
• Those from relationship-oriented cultures spent much
more time establishing a personal relationship.
It may be more difficult for such teams to build strong
relations than single-culture teams.

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Slide 16.19

Strategies for global teams

Gluesing and Gibson (2004) classify strategies in terms

of:
• task
• context
• people
• time (the amount of time the team work together)
•technology (information sharing and collaboration).
Global team-members may well work in different
contexts (in terms of e.g. climate, nationality, education,
political and economic systems.
So, cross-cultural competence and ability of team to
adapt are as important as professional expertise.
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Slide 16.20

Elements essential to team dynamics

Davison and Ekelund (2004) describe three aspects:

• Task and social processes:
– the task process directly influences team
performance
– the social process is related to the ability of the
team to work together over a longer time.
• Emergent states through interaction, especially
– mutual trust
– collective team identity
– confidence in the team’s ability to achieve its tasks.
• Coordinating mechanisms: face-to-face/on-line
meetings.
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Slide 16.21

Team dynamics

• The differences between team members,

particularly in global teams, can be seen at
several levels: profession culture, personality,
style and role, as well as organization.
• These differences can help increase the
performance of the team, but can also be the
source of conflicts depending on the way the
team deals with these differences.
• Davison and Ekelund (2004) have compiled a
table that gives an overview of the ways in which
differences can have an impact on global teams.

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Slide 16.22

The impact of differences in global teams (1)

Source of Opportunity Impact on Experienced as Integrated
difference presented mechanisms
Preferred To make leaders Effective Frustrations, Openness about
leadership and members leader/team disagreements on leader style and
styles actively search for member form. leader-team
the most effective interaction, Disappointment due member expect-
leadership role(s) decision-making, to failed ations. Identific-
and style where levels of expectations ation of conflicts
both adjust and satisfaction and the best ways
align their to handle them
expectations
National and Can give core People who share Perceived bias in Well-structured
organizational identity and sense the nationality of accepted norms and participative
culture of of cohesion that the organization levels of influence processes and
origin and can be adjusted/ and its leadership and access to inclusive policies
leadership of improved through are perceived as resources. Glass
the experience in more influential ceiling based on
organization other cultures than others nationality
Table 16.2 The effect of differences in global teams
(Source: Davison and Ekelund, 2004, pp. 232–234, Table 12.1, adapted)

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Slide 16.23

The impact of differences in global teams (2)

Source of Opportunity Impact on Experienced as Integrated

difference presented mechanisms
Preferred Confronts team Ability to address Denial of conflict. Joint definition of
ways of with need to find difficult challenges Displaced which conflicts
resolving synergistic and conflicts frustrations. Lack of need to be
conflicts solutions trust. Lack of group addressed and
efficacy how. Also which
conflicts are to be
avoided
Preferred Creates variety; The quality of, Lack of loyalty to Collective training
ways of highlights need to involvement in, decision and team. on which type of
decision- make decision- and follow up/ Dissatisfaction and decisions
making making processes implementation of lack of respect
explicit and decision-making
suitable for processes
different contexts

Table 16.2 The effect of differences in global teams

(Source: Davison & Ekelund, 2004, pp. 232- 234, Table 12.1, adapted)

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Slide 16.24

The impact of differences in global teams (3)

Source of Opportunity Impact on Experienced as Integrated
difference presented mechanisms
Expectations Forces awareness of Levels of Missed timing, Value checklist-
and values differences, participation, anger at type exercises
around assumptions, the mis- inappropriate to make
interaction and tensions that they understanding reciprocity. Feeling differences explicit
team behaviour bring and the need to misunderstood. and legitimate and
acknowledge and Things not then
work with them happening negotiate them

Cultural pre- Increased awareness Preconceived Stereotypical Highlighting team

conceptions of these. Approaching perceptions of comments or members’
them with humour, not more or less implicit behaviour strengths and
acting on them. A relevant toward relevant
learning opportunity experience, "disadvantaged" experiences up
that there are many education people or about front and
different ways of those "in charge" using the
seeing the world strengths

Table 16.2 The effect of differences in global teams

(Source: Davison and Ekelund, 2004, pp. 232–234, Table 12.1, adapted)

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Slide 16.25

The impact of differences in global teams (4)

Source of Opportunity Impact on Experienced as Integrated
difference presented mechanisms
International Can bring Ability to Bias that inter- Insist on international
experience empathy, flexib- -understand national experience experience as part of
ility, humbleness, implicit rules & & linguistic skills are international career
self-reflection. working norms more essential for path and selection
People with -speak different "other" nationalities criteria for
internat’l exp- languages. than for those whose international team
erience can act as -empathize with mother tongue is leaders
bridges between other team firm’s working
core & local sites members language
Different Allows global Who meets face to Impenetrable in Stress integrated
geographical efficiencies, local face and who groups in certain team model spread
locations responsiveness, does not. Co- locations. Lack of across world, not
and knowledge ordination, timing loyalty, invisible hub and spoke;
transfer and understanding of agendas visibility is local and
learning across importance of global
the organization required actions

Table 16.2 The effect of differences in global teams

(Source: Davison & Ekelund, 2004, pp. 232- 234, Table 12.1, adapted)

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Slide 16.26

A Team-
Effectiveness
Model

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Slide 16.27

Creating Effective Teams

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Slide 16.28

Creating Effective Teams (cont’d)

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Slide 16.29

Creating Effective Teams (cont’d)

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Slide 16.30

Creating Effective Teams (cont’d)

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Slide 16.31

Turning Individuals Into Team Players

• The Challenges
– Overcoming individual resistance to team
membership.
– Countering the influence of individualistic
cultures.
– Introducing teams in an organization that has
historically valued individual achievement.

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Slide 16.32

Turning Individuals Into Team Players

• Shaping Team Players

– Selecting employees who can fulfill their team
roles.
– Training employees to become team players.
– Reworking the reward system to encourage
cooperative efforts while continuing to
recognize individual contributions.

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Slide 16.33

Teams and Quality Management

• Team Effectiveness and Quality

Management Requires That Teams:
1. Are small enough to be efficient and effective.
2. Are properly trained in required skills.
3. Allocated enough time to work on problems.
4. Are given authority to resolve problems and
take corrective action.
5. Have a designated “champion” to call on
when needed.
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Slide 16.34

Beware: Teams Aren’t Always the

Answer
• Three tests to see if a team fits the situation:
– Is the work complex and is there a need for
different perspectives?
– Does the work create a common purpose or
set of goals for the group that is larger than the
aggregate of the goals for individuals?
–Are members of the group involved
in interdependent tasks?

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Slide 16.35

Conclusion to Topic 8

• Working in a team implies change not only in the

way of doing but also in the way of thinking.
• Teamwork will lead to the creation of common
values and ideas, a delicate process in
multicultural teams and organizations.
• Not all tasks are suitable for teams.
• Cultural differences and diversity play a role in
how well the team members work with each
other.

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