INTERCULTURAL BUSINESS COMPETENCIES

Table of contents

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Building successful teams and teamwork
2.1 What is a team?
2.2 Team-formation
2.3 Benefits of having teams
2.4 Theories for group formation
2.5 Characteristics of a team
2.6 Example of team building
3.0 Cross-cultural collaboration in international teams
3.1 What is culture?
3.2 Cultural diversity
3.3 Challenges
3.4 Example of bad decision in teams
3.5 How can the challenges be overcome with cultural theories?
3.6 Reflective example of diversity of culture

4.0 Conclusion

References
1.0 INTRODUCTION

Due to more cross-cultural communication brought about by globalisation,

executives and other experts today are less likely to value cultural knowledge
(Birukou, Blanzieri, Giorgini, & Giunchiliga, 2013; Tahirkheli, 2022). Acculturation
processes that affect the majority group as they adjust to intercultural contact are a
part of globalised interconnectivity, which is when people from diverse cultures come
into connection in some way through media, changing the original cultural patterns
(Berry, 2008; Chen et al., 2008).

Organisations are using more international teams. According to theory, multicultural

teams help organisations since team members have a variety of perspectives and
special knowledge (Stahl, Maznevski, Voigt, & Jonsen, 2010). The truth is that the
advantages of multicultural teams depend on everyone's willingness and capacity to
engage with and learn from individuals from different cultural backgrounds (Bui,
Chau, Degl’Innocenti, Leone, & Vicentini, 2019; Homan, Buengeler, Eckhoff, Van
Ginkel, & Voelpel, 2015).
This article's argument and examples are intended to show how cultural diversity
may give organisations a competitive edge. A review of the literature is accompanied
by a description of the research's design in the remaining section of this essay. A
discussion follows the findings, and then a conclusion is offered.

2.0 BUILDING SUCCESSFUL TEAMS AND TEAM-WORK

2.1 What Is a Team?

A team can be described as a fundamental unit that conducts an organization's

strategic aim (Gerard, 1995); based on their broad knowledge and experience, well-
organized teams with different perspectives help their organisation deal with a
variety of environmental concerns (McGrath, Arrow, & Berdahl, 2000). Since high
team performance is commonly acknowledged to be beneficial to organisations,
management researchers are becoming more interested in the subject of what
causes such effectiveness (LePine, Piccolo, Jackson, Mathieu, & Saul, 2008). The
basic assumption behind creating an international team is the notion that participants
from various nations contribute special expertise and experience that can aid in
completing novel tasks or resolving challenging issues brought on by challenges
arising from uncertainty (Hajro, Gibson, & Pudelko, 2017; Hinds, Liu, & Lyon, 2011).
To adapt to the shifting nature of the global competitive scene, organisations have
moved away from individual-based structures and towards team-based ones. This
change enables teams with various backgrounds to do tasks that are unachievable
for individuals or homogeneous groups (McGrath, Arrow, & Berdahl, 2000). By
combining their resources and knowledge, teams may tackle complicated
challenges, but success depends on how effectively they are run.

2.2 Team-Formation

Team-formation is a type of both official and unofficial teamwork-level therapies

focusing on enhancing interpersonal relationships and delineating roles as well as
resolving task and interpersonal issues that impair team performance (Klein, et al.,
2009). Goal setting, role clarity, interpersonal techniques, and problem-solving are
the four components of team building. The goal-setting technique informs the team
members of the project's overall and detailed goals by defining a subtask and
assigning deadlines. Target setting team members will actively organise their actions
to find strategies to accomplish predetermined objectives (Aga D. A., 2016). Greater
communication regarding team duties among team members is emphasised
because of role clarification. Participants within role-clarification exercises are hoped
to have a better awareness of themselves and other team members' duties and
obligations (Al-Ghazali, 2020). To do this, it is important to clearly define each role's
needs, team norms, and shared duties.

2.3 Benefits of having teams

Teams have a number of benefits, including the following: teams foster a culture that
promotes drive and cooperation; the project can benefit from bringing in different but
complementary talents and expertise; issues can be resolved by drawing on the
team's collective experience. Team members can "bounce" new concepts to develop
a functioning hypothesis; teamwork creates strong bonds that foster cooperation and
provides members with an understanding of how various disciplines within the group
function; communications channels are constrained, and the team leader can make
decisions without outside influence (Lester, 2013).

2.4 Theories for group formation

According to Tuckman theory of group formation, there are five stages of team
development, which are forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning.
While storming includes opposition, lack of engagement, conflict, and intense
emotions, forming entails exhibiting excitement, socialising, and a courteous tone.
Asking for input, recognising problems, normalising problems, and establishing trust
are all tactics at this stage. Norming involves clear objectives, boosted self-esteem,
and strengthened commitment. While adjourning entails potential melancholy,
acknowledging team and one's efforts, and disbanding, performing involves great
motivation, trust, and empathy. Leaders may help their teams’ overcome obstacles
and increase their general well-being, output, and success by putting these phases
into practise.

2.5 Characteristics of a team

The characteristics of a team are defined by ALPDEC, aims of the teams must be
shared; leadership of different types is required at different times and not always by
one individual; people- their skills and different roles are a key to success of a team;
design and delivery; environment; change (Winstanley, 2005). While having
knowledge or experience in a certain sector is a team member's primary
prerequisite, the ideal team should also have members that complement each other
in terms of personality as well as technical abilities. After nine years of investigation
by the Cambridge Industrial Training Research Unit, Meredith Belbin conducted a
study on team dynamics. Belbin came up with nine main categories that, to some
extent or another, are required to make form the ideal team (Lester, 2013).

Figure: Belbin’s Team Roles

Source: Qian, 2021.

2.6 Example of team building
For instance, an example of above theories leading to successful team building can
be observed in this case. team with mutual trust and a common objective is
necessary for the cardiac ERAS programme to be successful. For the programme to
be created, implemented, and sustained, it is essential to choose individuals who are
enthusiastic, influencing, open-minded, practical, and strong communicators.
Consensus and widespread support are established by a multidisciplinary team that
includes all stakeholders in cardiac surgery (Salenger, Bailey, Grant, Gregory,
Williams, MD, Engelman, 2020).

3.0 Cross-Cultural Collaboration in International Teams

3.1 What is Culture?

We have been socialised to act and think in certain ways. The programme of the
human mind, culture provides an environment in which people behave. Fundamental
cultural traits are shared by all participants in an identical operating setting. Culture is
described as a mental framework that establishes a group's identity (Hofstede,
2001). With a focus on distance from power, avoiding uncertainty, individualism
against socialism, maleness versus femaleness, long-term versus short-term
orientation, and pleasure versus restraint, Geert Hofstede's cultural dimensions are
categorization of national cultures. These dimensions cover issues such as gender
roles, individuality, stress, inequity, and fundamental human aspirations (Hofstede,
2011).

In sectors like manufacturing, cross-cultural management is a successful

organisational technique that calls for staff education in understanding various ethnic
cultures. Among the difficulties are approaches to communication, conflict-related
attitudes, work completion, decision-making procedures, and knowledge
approaches. The following six facets of corporate performance are directly impacted
by cultural diversity management: cost, employee attractiveness (such as retention),
advertising effectiveness (which involves innovation), innovation (including
invention), solving issues quality, and managerial flexibility (Ganapathy,
Kaliyaperumal, 2022).

3.2 Cultural Diversity

Cultural diversity gives people a wide range of perspectives from which to

understand, assess, and examine a specific phenomenon or circumstance. In a
collaborative study on cultural diversity, Stahl et al. (2010) discovered that although
cultural diversity enhances innovation and team happiness, it also raises task conflict
in 108 empirical research on processes and results in 10,632 teams. This study finds
that distinct mental modes and solutions to problems emanating from various
cultures enhance the creativity of team members. This finding builds on the well-
known fact that heterogeneity among groups increases the likelihood that a team will
be confronted with a broader range of perspectives (e.g., Cox & Blake, 1991;
O'Reilly et al., 1998).

3.3 Challenges of cultural variations

Managing the dispute that results from team members' strain brought on by genuine
or imagined differences is one of the greatest obstacles for teams in any situation
(De Dreu and Weingart, 2003b). Cultural variations between team members are a
major cause of conflict in multicultural teams (Hibbert and Hibbert, 2017). People
from different cultural backgrounds prefer to avoid each other (Pentland, 2012).
Members of a team from different cultural backgrounds encounter two particular
difficulties that heighten their apprehension about collaborating with one another:
differences in language and culture are both present (Hall, 1989). Without a shared
language, people cannot effectively communicate ideas or coordinate their activities
(Neeley, Hinds, & Cramton, 2012). People lack mutual expectations of the
behaviours necessary for performance in the absence of a common culture
(Guillaume, Van Knippenberg, & Brodbeck, 2014). These two difficulties might cause
avoidance as a coping mechanism for the uncertainty associated with working with
team members from different cultural backgrounds.

3.4 Example of bad decisions in teams

Consider the Challenger space shuttle accident in 1986 was caused by a problem
with the rocket stages as well as shoddy decision-making, communication, and
combustion. Groupthink, which happens when a large in-group emphasises
consensus over critical evaluations of alternative tactics, had an impact on NASA's
decision-making process. This "superglue" of cohesion has the potential to restrict
independent thought and produce bad decisions. Groupthink was first described by
Yale social psychologist Irving Janis. It can take many different forms, including an
illusion of invulnerability, innate morality, collective justification, out-group
stereotypes, self-censorship, unanimity, the repression of dissenters, and self-
appointed mind guards. This mistaken outlook resulted in a lack of accountability and
an unwillingness to deal with urgent problems. When a team's decision-making
procedure is influenced by the impacts of cohesion and conformity, groupthink can
result in disastrous outcomes, as shown in the Challenger accident.

3.5 How can the challenges be overcome with cultural theories?

Recognising which variables alleviate individual uncertainty as demonstrated in

avoiding of culturally different team members, as well as how steer clear affects
team members' outcomes, offers both significant theoretical as well as practical
benefits given that the efficiency of diverse groups depends on transparent and
successful information exchange (Bui et al., 2019).

According to the uncertainty reduction theory, people are inherently compelled to

seek assurance about who they are and the world they live in (Hogg, 2000). People
are driven to act in ways that would lessen their subjective uncertainty. Identifying
with a self-inclusive identity that is readily available, prescribes desirable behaviours
and mindsets, and immediately validates the self-concept is one method of reducing
uncertainty. Avoidance behaviours entail avoiding dangerous stimuli, which activates
the fight-or-flight response. They are fundamental reactions to unpleasant
circumstances. According to the uncertainty reduction theory, people look for
assurance about themselves and other people, which increases faith in expectations
and behaviour. Conversely, reflexive behaviours could happen when there is less
uncertainty (Hogg & Terry, 2000).

Cultural Intelligence and language proficiency are two personal qualities that might
lessen subjective ambiguity and, as a result, tamp down avoidance in cross-cultural
interactions. The ability of a person to perform well in cross-cultural settings is known
as cultural intelligence (CQ) (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008). Metacognitive, intellectual,
inspirational and behavioural dimensions make up the multidimensional construct of
CQ. These dimensions each represent qualitatively unique aspects of total CQ.
People with greater CQ are better at anticipating intercultural interactions, creating
plans that produce desirable results, and updating cultural knowledge and
presumptions as appropriate.

Language proficiency describes how well a person "knows and is able to manipulate
the linguistic and semantic signals" of a language to express meaning
(Rasmussen, 2014). Language proficiency has a beneficial impact on how well
expatriates adjust and perform. In multiracial teams, individuals with more language
proficiency speak up more. They consequently have a higher likelihood of being
seen as knowledgeable in fields unrelated to language, enjoying higher status, and
becoming leaders. There is growing interest in examining the function of EQ in
handling conflicts in addition to CQ. Since they were formed from Gardner's (1983)
interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences, CQ and EQ are located inside the
many intelligences theoretical framework and so extend this theory. Having an
accurate working model of oneself, including one's moods, goals, motives, and
intentions, and being able to use that knowledge effectively in regulating one's own
life are all characteristics of intrapersonal intelligence. Emotionally intelligent people
tend to report less conflict at work (Jordan and EQ is a predictor of people's attitudes
and actions connected to the workplace (Shih, Susanto, 2010).
The Exclusionary Stage, the Club, Compliance Organisation, Affirming Organisation,
Redefining Organisation, and Multicultural Organisation are the six stages of
multicultural organisational growth identified by B.W. Jackson. The Club aims to
preserve social privileges for historically held social power, whereas the Exclusionary
Stage concentrates on sustaining the majority's dominance and privilege. While
Affirming Organisation eliminates discriminatory practises and encourages non-
oppressive behaviour among members, Compliance Organisation recruits and
recruits non-majority individuals to change social diversity practises. Alternative
organisational structures that guarantee inclusion, participation, and empowerment
for all members are sought for by Redefining Organisation. The Multicultural
Organisation (MCO), which works to reduce social inequity and inform people about
multicultural perspectives, represents the work and desires of diverse cultural and
socioeconomic groups.

Another way to create ideal group is a sort of social contact called negotiation
involves two parties debating and talking over a range of topics in an effort to reach
an agreement. The negotiation process is viewed in the Western world as a means
of resolving issues where the emphasis is on what transpires between stakeholders.
According to the distributive method, negotiators attempt to secure an ideal deal for
themselves, which may lead to a situation where both parties lose. With integrative
strategy, those involved work together to increase the resources that are available to
everyone. This results in successful resolutions and a win-win circumstance
(Sokolova, 2022).

3.6 Reflective example of diversity of culture

To cite a personal experience, simulations in educational institutions promote open-

mindedness, improve career prospects, and improve mental, emotional, and
behavioural growth. They encourage decision-making and involvement by supporting
understanding of corporate inter-functionality, multidisciplinary choice-making, result
transparency, and intra-team rivalry. But Asian and Indian pupils encounter
difficulties in the classroom due to issues like linguistic proficiency, anxiety about
"losing face," obedience to teachers, and reduced critical thinking. Asian students,
especially non-compatriots, are far less inclined to find models helpful for education
and team building. They dislike simulations because they like instructor-guided
organised input and constant interaction. Additionally at contrast with what
employers seek is the lack to cultivate highly critical levels of thinking. This method
of team selection may impede effective teamwork and jeopardise mutual respect,
understanding, and a chance to know one another.

4.0 Conclusion

In conclusion, intercultural business competencies are much significant in globalized

organizations and multicultural teams. Cultural diversity provides a competitive edge,
and individuals must engage with and learn from people from different backgrounds.
Building successful teams requires diverse perspectives, complementary skills, and
effective team management. If the formation of team is done with reference to the
stages of team development and the characteristics that contribute to a successful
team. Cross-cultural collaboration is crucial in international teams, and cultural
intelligence and language proficiency help reduce uncertainty and improve cross-
cultural interactions. Creating inclusive and empowering work environments and
negotiation for conflict resolution plays a vital role in today’s world. The article also
addresses the challenges faced by Asian and Indian students in adopting team-
building approaches in educational institutions. Overall, intercultural business
competencies are essential for success in today's globalized business environment.
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