Overview

A multicultural team can be described as a team whose members are from different cultures, backgrounds, and nations. In
today’s world of globalization, multicultural teams are very common in any multinational organization. This is more so due
to the increased mobility of labour across geographical boundaries, increase in the use of team work and increase in the
number of virtual teams used by organizations. As culture is a very important factor which affects an individual’s behavior
within the organization, cultural differences cannot be just ignored. Insensitivity and lack of cultural knowledge can injure,
permanently or temporarily, the relationship with co-workers and customers. It is found that various aspects of cultural
differences pose challenges to the global executive in global organizations. Cultural differences can influence work values,
motivation, and job attitudes. That is the reason why the multicultural teams require special management tactics and this
is one of the major challenges faced by multinational organizations today. The various challenges involved in managing a
multicultural team are conflict management, communication management, leadership etc. Failure to address these issues
may lead to employee exodus, low productivity, poor morale, and the list goes on. It is always important for an
organization to identify the diversity within multicultural teams and develop a strategy to manage or to address them.

The book focuses on managing multicultural teams in an organization. The core content includes perspectives of the
effective management of multicultural teams and ways of handling challenges of cross-cultural communication, conflict
management etc.

The book has been presented in two sections: “Management Perspectives” and “Experiences”.

Section I: Management Perspectives

The first article “Challenges of Managing Cross-Cultural Teams” written by Sumati Reddy of Icfai Business School
Research Centre, Hyderabad, provides an introduction to the key features of a multicultural team and the reasons why
there is an increase in their use. The success factors of a multicultural team can be discussed along three dimensions:
cultural Aspects, which include cross-cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity; technical Aspects, which discuss factors
such as team mix, team size, team development and training prior to working on teams, complementary skills, effective
means of communication and coordination; and human Aspects, which pertain to aspects such as resolving conflicts,
building rapport among team members, and developing high transparency and trust among members. By ensuring the
above aspects, team managers can ensure high performance multicultural teams. Training has a vital role to play in
preparing members to work within cross-cultural teams. The article lays emphasis on this aspect also.

The second article “International Teams: Beyond Cultural Differences” written by Jack Keogh of Keogh & Associates
Consulting LLC, briefs aboout the factors involved in managing the multicultural teams. It stresses that the secret of a
strong team is a clear common purpose, identification of each member with the group task, and influence of personality
differences in the team. The article draws insights from the experiences of an international team from Shanghai, China that
consisted of members from USA, Italy, the UK and China. The article further discusses the impact of culture, clash of
cultural differences and professional identities of individuals in multicultural team members, and highlights the importance
of emotional intelligence and vital role of adequate support systems for team building. The author emphasizes that leaders
who manage multicultural teams need to have a clear understanding of different dimensions of multicultural teams and to
develop themselves with new global competencies to deal with the challenges of culture.

The next article “Cultural Intelligence for Multicultural Teams” has been written by Brooks Peterson, who highlights
behavioral aspects that need attention to achieve cultural intelligence while working in an international team. Cultural
intelligence is defined as Knowledge about Cultures (facts and cultural traits) + Awareness (of yourself and others) +
Specific Skills (behaviors). The author proposes five simple scales involving opposing ideas for building awareness of
cultural issues and analyses the people behavior in the team with the help of a Boiling versus Freezing analogy. The five
simple scales are as follows: Equality versus Hierarchy; Direct versus Indirect; Individual versus Group; Task versus
Relationship; and Risk versus Caution. The author states that the five culture scales serve to improve one’s performance in
multicultural teams by understanding others’ cultures and applying this understanding to make changes in the way you
interact with others.

“Cross-Cultural Awareness and Engaging in Multicultural Teams: An Ongoing Practice” is written by Mohan Murti,
of Reliance Industries Limited. It discusses some of the cross-cultural differences that are relevant to the business
environment such as eye contact, greetings, concept of time, social etiquette, etc. It throws light on the 12 common
mistakes that should be avoided when doing business in Europe. They include inapt language, misuse of telephone, poor
listening skills, distracting mannerisms, failure to greet properly etc. It presents a few common stumbling blocks for
multicultural teams, which include communication issues, attitude towards hierarchy and authority, voice, tone and tenor,
robust leadership, etc. The article further discusses the three golden rules of engagement for multicultural teams. These
include flexibility, malleability and blending. It concludes that managing diversity and managing teams are complementary
and when properly implemented, multicultural teams can be a more effective way of using the knowledge, skills and
abilities of a multicultural workforce.

“Building Trust with Multicultural Teams” written by Robin Fletcher, of The Thomson Group, is a report of a study that
explores the effect of communication technology on trust building among multicultural teams. It stresses the idea that
good communication is of the utmost importance to build trust in multicultural diverse teams and discusses some of the
strategies for building trust. The author states that the most important factors for team building are undertaking
dependable actions (integrity) and clear and open communication (transparency). The article explains features and
principles of communication (face-to face, email and phone), how to structure these in multicultural teams, and the
purpose these different modes of communication serve in teambuilding. Despite the diversity in preferences and styles, the
principles for effective use of communication apply throughout and these should not be lost in the innovation of new
technologies, as all the means of communication have their own importance in the promotion of better understanding and
trust.

In the next article, “Globalization and Cross-Cultural Issues in Project Management” the author,Dennis G Ballow, of
PMP’ Project Management Knowledge Transfer, Inc. shares his experiences gained through interactions with people from
China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and India. His experiences pertain to the international socio-cultural
issues in business operations that companies encounter while globalising their operations. He presents cross-cultural issues
that arise while working with individuals from the perspective of Asians and Americans and their implications with respect
to language; individualism versus collectivism; cooperation; uncertainty avoidance; masculinity versus femininity; conflict
resolution; work group characteristics; and motivation systems. The author also provides cross-cultural implications for the
Non-Western and Western world in terms of beliefs, values, relationships, hierarchical structure, etc. He states that
implementing project management globally requires the use of key words, which are difficult to translate into other
languages. Moreover, individuals have a low tolerance for western ideas.

“Managing Multicultural Teams: Ensuring Functional Unity in Cultural Diversity” is an article written
by Mallikarjunan Krishnamurthy, who was earlier associated with UCO Bank, Hyderabad. He states that the task of
managing multicultural teams begins with a team building process aimed towards selection of right mix of members. The
article specifies that a holistic approach should be adopted while constituting a team and preparing it for effective
functioning and emphasizes the importance of planned and comprehensive training programmes for the members of a
multicultural team. The article lists out the factors to be considered for assessing multicultural teams and some strategies
and methods for successful functioning of the multicultural teams. It also suggests a management model “market process
model” (social construction model) for managing multicultural teams. It concludes that management of multicultural teams
should aim at suitable psychological and functional reorientation of the team for breaking through the barriers of
languages, cultures and practices to achieve functional unity in cultural diversity.

The succeeding article, “Managing the Performance of Teams: Manager’s Role” written by Donald E Sexton, of
Columbia University, explores the key considerations for a manager in building and managing a team and the special
challenges that emerge with multicultural teams. It discusses the impact of team members’ differing cultures, individual
values and the manager’s attitude towards culture on team building and how cultural differences affect the team
performance in terms of team goals, performance, objectives, approach, accountability, rewards, selection of team
members and team leaders. The author explains managerial interventions to bring the team back on track during different
kinds of problematic situations. The author concludes that managers must make an effort to know individual members of
the team and what their values and attitudes are to manage them effectively.

The next article “Multicultural Teams and Superior Performance: The Role of Leadership” has been written
by Kathleen Patterson, Paul B Carr and Myra Dingman, all of whom are associated with Regent University, VA, USA. They
focus on the challenges and opportunities that demand new leadership styles and techniques in order to be effective and
successful in the globalized world. The article provides examples of Coca-cola and Wal-Mart. The authors discuss barriers
to improved performance in teams, which include individual barriers, job barriers, organizational barriers and emphasizes
that awareness of these barriers is the first prerequisite for a team leader to be effective. It examines a few creative
strategies to overcome the barriers and improve work performance within multicultural teams. It briefs about the five
factors that influence multicultural team leadership: national culture, corporate culture, the nature of the industry or
functional culture, the stage of team development and personal attributes. It concludes that the role of leadership
comprises a continuum of various levels of support as well as knowing when to stay out of the way of the team to allow it
to perform at a superior level.

The following article, “Why Multicultural Teams Malfunction Sometimes: Culture Plays A Big Role” written by Rana
Sinha, of Dot-Connect, Helsinki, discusses the main reasons for the underperformance or failure of multicultural teams,
culture being one of the main factors. The author explains how culture affects the workplace based on a discussion of a
number of different cultural dimensions such as orientation to time, space, communication, competitiveness, power, etc.
He states that difference in communication styles and hitches in these areas become stumbling blocks ruining the
performance of the entire team. He cites examples from cultures of Sweden, Germany, Japan and Arab countries. The
more consciously decisions pertaining to clarification and communication of objectives, assignment of roles and
responsibilities are made, the less is the chance that cultural misunderstandings cause malfunctions in the team. It
concludes that multicultural teams are sure to fail if there is very little awareness of the factors of diversity that enrich the
human pantheon and the special challenges faced by multicultural teams.

“Optimizing the Performance of Multicultural Teams: The Unrecognized Bonus” is written byRensia Melles, of
Global Clinical Solutions. The author states that a multicultural workforce is an unrecognized bonus of globalization and
taking advantage of this opportunity can give the organization a competitive edge. Understanding of multiculturalism and
culturally competent behavior can support in attracting and retaining top talent and trust in the organization. Other than
implementing diverse policies, an attitude of respect, knowledge and cross-cultural skills across all levels of the
organization is essential to take advantage of the expertise and ideas present in the multicultural workforce. The author
further explains that a culturally competent organization can be created by making changes at the organizational as well as
at the team level.

Section II: Experiences

The first article of this section “Projects Without Borders: Gathering Requirements on a Multi-Cultural
Project” written by Elizabeth Larson and Richard Larson, both of Watermark Learning Inc., presents the challenges faced
by project managers and business analysts in multicultural projects and virtual teams. It identifies challenges of gathering
requirements from culturally diverse business customers, which include physical distance of stakeholders, clarification of
roles and responsibilities, language barriers across cultures, and not understanding the cultural landscape. It discusses
some of the tips and techniques to overcome the barriers in multicultural project teams. The authors conclude that the
ultimate goal of those managing multicultural teams should be to uncover requirements in a way that is easier for all
stakeholders, regardless of their language and culture.

The second article “Managing Offshore Software Projects: The Agile Way” is written byThavaranjan Thavendran. This
article is based on the experience gained from an offshore software project work based on agile methodology, which could
be used by anyone considering exploring offshore development and dealing with teams of various cultures, communication,
multiple locations, etc. A good understanding of offshore challenges such as trust, culture and language barrier, and
communication will help to alleviate the risks completely or reduce them drastically. The article stresses the need to
introduce agile software development methods, which provide benefits such as overall quality and efficiency, team morale,
improved relationship between IT and business staff and responsiveness to change. It illustrates how agile method is used
in different aspects of the project life cycle, such as Requirements Analysis and Documentation, Project Planning, Time
Boxes, Transparency and Progress Monitoring, Active Client Participation etc.

Article three “Facilitating Leadership in a Global Community: A Training Tool for Multicultural Team Leaders” is
written by
C Shawn Burke (University of Central Florida), Kathleen P Hess (Aptima Inc.), Heather A Priest(University of Central
Florida), Michael Rosen (University of Central Florida), Eduardo Salas(University of Central Florida), Michael Paley (Aptima
Inc.), and Sharon Riedel (Army Research Institute). This article lays special emphasis on military and armed forces. It
states that leaders of multicultural teams face additional challenges over those of culturally homogeneous teams that,
when overcome, can lead to teams that perform more effectively than their homogeneous counterparts. It describes team
leadership as a series of steps, i.e., leader’s response to social problems: problem identification and diagnoses, generation
of solutions, and implementation of a chosen solution. It identifies a number of cross-cultural dimensions that may have a
substantial impact on the leadership of teams within multicultural environments. It presents a series of principles organized
in terms of the three leadership skills: interpersonal skills, decision-making, and team building. Using these principles, a
training tool namely Functional Learning Levers – The Team Leader Toolkit was created. This tool includes elements of self-
learning, skill training, role play and scenario-based training. The authors state that training tools that will facilitate
effective leadership within multicultural teams can greatly increase success for military and organizational teams.

The last article “An analysis of Cultural Differences Upon Project Team Performance for Global Projects” is
written by S J Lee and T MA both of whom are associated with University of South Australia. The article examines the
impact of cultural difference upon global team performance. It also recommends how project managers can work
effectively and positively for global projects. It presents the five elements of cultural differences such as religion,
education, economics, politics and language and illustrates with US, Korean, Russian, French, Japanese perspectives. It
explains that the key impacts of cultural difference upon team performance are due to different approaches by team
members, in terms of problem-solving technique, decision-making process, communication, etc. It suggests effective ways
to maximize the efficiency of multicultural team members by reducing the impacts due to cultural differences. The article
further suggests “Strategic multicultural project management” processes to improve the team’s performance. It includes
the following processes: Environment analysis, Strategic planning, Performing, Checking & Controlling. The authors, state
that, when cultural differences are recognized, valued and used to the organization’s advantage, redundant greater
synergies can result for project management.