Business in Multicultural Environments: The Challenges Of: Groups and Teams

A.Y.
2018/2019
Lesson 4
Business
in The Challenges of
Multicultural Multicultural
Environments Work: Groups
and Teams
Francesco MECA
francesco.meca@isvnu.vn
Global Management Challenges Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
The Challenge of Multicultural Work: Groups and Teams
Team nowadays are diverse: composed of people of different

backgrounds, culture, gender, age. What does it mean in a
manager’s perspective?
• A group behavior is more than the sum total of individuals

acting in their own separate ways.
• Cultural differences become more apparent.
• It’s difficult to manage work groups composed of culturally
different members.
• Sometimes groups function with little face-to-face contact
Francesco MECA
Work Groups Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
Four distinctive characteristics:

1. Social systems that have boundaries with members who have different
roles and depend on each other; people within the group and outside
recognize the existence of the group and which individuals are members
and which are not.
2. Groups have tasks to perform.
3. Work groups need to deal with the relationship between individuals and
the group.
4. Work groups are part of a larger organization.
Francesco MECA
Work Groups
Three primary types:
1. Task forces: focus on the completion of a project, usually with limited time;
members are selected on task-related skills (ex.: group of national’s
managers to manage an international fund)
2. Crews: focus on the tools required to perform a task, with regimented

operations and requirements (ex.: airline flight deck crews)
3. Teams: focus on interrelationships among the members, with specific skills

and abilities to address a task over a long period of time
Effectiveness Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
The structure of a work group must be recognized in order for
the group to be managed optimally.
How well a group uses its resources to accomplish its task? Not every
organizational tasks have clear best answers!
Performances cannot be assessed only at a single point in time!
• Output of the group must meet quantity, quality and timeliness standards
• Processes employed by the group should enhance the ability of the
members to work together
• The group experience must contribute to the personal well-being of the
group members
Francesco MECA
Effectiveness Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
Underlying dynamics of the work group must be understood.

Set of six variables that influence the process and the performance of the work
groups:
• External conditions
• Group resources
• Group structure
• Group task
• Group process
• Group composition
An international manager should

be concerned with the cultural
composition and the geographic
dispersion of the group.
Francesco MECA
External Conditions Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
Part of the group behavior is determined by the larger organization to which it belongs.
• Strategy
• Authority structure
• Regulations used
These factors determine a context which may have positive and negative effects on
performance. Firm strategy and HR practices may support or inhibit efforts by team member in
multicultural environments.
What does the organization do to support cultural diversity?
Also, this is evident in the selection process and in the criteria adopted in it.
Geographical dispersion is a key factor that influences interactions within and among work
groups.
Francesco MECA
Group Member Resources Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
Personal attributes
• Personality
• Values
• Attitude
Skills
• Technical
• Social
Important attributes include: openness to experience,

conscientiousness, collectivism, preference for teamwork
Francesco MECA
Group Structure Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
Each category (task forces, crews, teams) shape the behavior
of group members in terms of:
• Norms
• Role expectations: role assignment can create conflicts!
• Status relationships
Norms are especially important in providing guidance on how to accomplish the
task:
• What methods and channels of communication are important?
• What is the level of effort expected?
The types of norms are shared, but the norms are unique for a particular group.
They can come from organization’s or a group member statement or from history
of the group. Francesco MECA
Group Processes Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
How groups achieve their outcomes?
• Focusing group efforts

• Functioning dynamics
• Relationships among members
When group processes like: communication patterns, decision processes
and reactions to conflicts, cause a failure in meeting the group’s potential,
the group suffered a process loss.
• Groupthink: group consensus is more important than other courses of
action
• Social loafing: i will do less because someone else will do my job
When group efforts exceed that of individual members, we have a process

gain or a synergy. Francesco MECA
Group Processes Over Time Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
All groups go through 5 stages, but not necessarily in sequence:
1. Forming: members start to think of themselves as part of the group
2. Storming: individual characteristics and expectations conflict with the

group structure
3. Norming: agreement is reached on expectations and acceptable

behaviors
4. Performing: accomplishing the task (teams remain here)
5. Adjourning: for task forces and crews, when the task is completed.
Francesco MECA
Group Processes Over Time Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
When there is a deadline for the accomplishment of the task, the group
could set its direction in the first meeting, then adhere to the pattern
decided, at least of the first half of its life.
Over time there may drop the previosu behavior to adopt new directions
and alternative enhanced activities.
Finally each members press each other to make their contribution to

accomplish the task.
There is an equilibrium at each point and this development model is

called «punctuated equilibrium model»
Pay attention: Orientation toward time varies with culture! Francesco MECA
Group Tasks Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
From the task in which the group is engaged it will depend:

• The process
• The outcome
• Degree and nature of interpedendence of group members
Classification of tasks:
1. Clearly defined production tasks

2. Cognitive or intellective tasks
3. Creative idea generation / decision making tasks
Francesco MECA
Group Composition Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
Composition influences group processes and outcomes.
A group can be homogeneous on a particular dimension, heterogeneous

on that dimension or minority-majority.
Surface level diversity: gender, ethnicity, etc.

Deep-level diversity: values, beliefs, etc.
Heterogeneity can pose challenges in identification with the group and

satisfaction; but also relates positively on performance on task-related
abilities and skills. High potential and high probability of process losses.
Francesco MECA
Culture’s Influence on Work Groups
• Different cultures have different orientation toward what is appropriate

Cultural norms • Harmony (collectivists) vs Constructive conflicts
• Role of previous experiences in other groups to set expectations
Cultural • Groups acting face-to-face may suffer increased process losses

• Formation of subgroups with negative effects on information flows
• High or low cultural diversity groups perform better than the ones with a
diversity moderate level because of the development of fautlines
Relative • Members are aware they are different, thus they compare with others
• Task group VS cultural group
cultural • Different assessment of conflicts and expression of ideas
• Lower expectation of successful interactions, worse trade-off on efforts
Culture’s Influence on Group structures Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
Francesco MECA
Global Virtual Teams Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
Geographically dispersed structures

• not interacting face-2-face
• Use of electronic networks
• Separation by time, geography and culture
• Separation by work practices, organization, technology
Use of technology such as videoconferencing, collaborative systems,

internet-intranet based systems can help working regardless of
geographic and organizational boundaries.
Francesco MECA
Global Virtual Teams - Challenges Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
Relationship Building
Communication and Conflicts Task Management
Management
• Impossibility to replicate • Electronic intermediation • Level of interdependency
face2face interaction: poses a lack of evidence and urgency affects the
media richness, of cultural differences frequency of interactions
asynchronous with lag • Reduced process losses • Need for tacit or explicit
• Complexity and with less conflicts knowledge?
ambiguity of task • Slow group development • Increased need for
• Ease of use of electronic • Identification with the defined roles, task
media team… strategy, norms
• Ability to sense the social • Less confidence to work • Level of capability in
presence in virtual environments technology use
• Written words: 2° • Slowness, coordination
language use barriers due to
discontinuity
Francesco MECA
Organizational context Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
Work groups are influenced by the larger organization of which they are part.
Management support
• Effective work groups must receive materials and informations to
achieve their goals.
• Flexibility support over control
• Internal focus over external focus
• Support for diversity (respect for cultures), integration and
learning perspective
Group-level Rewards
• Rewards on group performances are not the same as individual
rewards; hybrid systems may lower individual efforts
• Culture affects reward allocation preferences Francesco MECA
A.Y. 2018/2019
Work Group Status

• Being a member of a high-status group will increase feelings
of self-worth and effectiveness
• Individuals from different cultures derive their self-esteem
from work groups in a different way
Training
• Training in interaction skills and technical skills is important
• Managers assume employees have the skills to be effective
• What about the ability to use electronic tools?
• Need for cross-cultural training to bridge expectations with
reality Francesco MECA
A.Y. 2018/2019
Self-Management
• Delegation of substantial amount of authority may have
positive and negative effects:
• Too much authority delegation may lead to inappropriate
direction adoption, in exchange for members’ empowerment
• Settling directions but dictating the processes and procedures
may inhibit group performance
• Insufficient directions may pose unclear task-related
processes
• Need for process-related feedback to overcome process
losses due to diversity
Francesco MECA
Additional Considerations Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
The purpose of managing multi-cultural work groups is to maximize the

positive consequences of homogeneity and diversity while minimizing the
negative consequences.
These depend on the work group task and structure:

• High level of interaction may bring more process losses or gains
• Less structured tasks (creative) are more open to cultural influence
• Some task may be more suitable for virtual environment, but the
communication channel and the task environment must match
Evaluation must take into account group processes, individual outcomes and
task accomplishments. Multicultural work groups take longer to reach their
potential than homogeneous ones.
Francesco MECA
Additional Considerations Business in Multicultural Environments
A.Y. 2018/2019
Exploration activities: experimentation, innovation, divergent thinking

Exploitation activities: production, efficiencty, convergent thinking
Exploration activities must be encouraged in considering broader evaluation criteria for

multicultural work groups.
The organization must ensure that a group has task-related skills, knowledge and abilities,
including cultural-based knowledge.
It’s very important to share a sense of purpose, conveying the idea of a goal that trascend
personal interests and individual differences (superordinate goal).
Managers must understand and be sensitive, bridging cultural differences by focusing on

commonalities but maintaining cultural distinctiveness.
Francesco MECA

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A.Y.

The Challenge of Multicultural Work: Groups and Teams

Team nowadays are diverse: composed of people of different

• A group behavior is more than the sum total of individuals

Four distinctive characteristics:

2. Crews: focus on the tools required to perform a task, with regimented

3. Teams: focus on interrelationships among the members, with specific skills

Performances cannot be assessed only at a single point in time!

Underlying dynamics of the work group must be understood.

An international manager should

What does the organization do to support cultural diversity?

Important attributes include: openness to experience,

• Focusing group efforts

When group efforts exceed that of individual members, we have a process

All groups go through 5 stages, but not necessarily in sequence:

1. Forming: members start to think of themselves as part of the group

2. Storming: individual characteristics and expectations conflict with the

3. Norming: agreement is reached on expectations and acceptable

4. Performing: accomplishing the task (teams remain here)

Finally each members press each other to make their contribution to

There is an equilibrium at each point and this development model is

From the task in which the group is engaged it will depend:

1. Clearly defined production tasks

Composition influences group processes and outcomes.

A group can be homogeneous on a particular dimension, heterogeneous

Surface level diversity: gender, ethnicity, etc.

Heterogeneity can pose challenges in identification with the group and

• Different cultures have different orientation toward what is appropriate

Cultural • Groups acting face-to-face may suffer increased process losses

Geographically dispersed structures

Use of technology such as videoconferencing, collaborative systems,

Work Group Status

The purpose of managing multi-cultural work groups is to maximize the

These depend on the work group task and structure:

Exploration activities: experimentation, innovation, divergent thinking

Exploration activities must be encouraged in considering broader evaluation criteria for

Managers must understand and be sensitive, bridging cultural differences by focusing on

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