MANAGING

CHALLENGES IN
MULTICULTURAL
TEAMS
Group 8
PGPIM 2018-20
APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING
MULTICULTURAL CHALLENGES
1. Examine effects of demographic difference among individuals
1. Wide range of experience and multiple perspectives
2. Difficult to communicate and develop work norms
2. Examine the impact of cultural orientation on preferences for group
processes
1. Varying tolerance levels for uncertainty, cooperation and
confrontation of conflict
2. Members with strong value for collectivism are more cooperative
3. Members with strong value for hierarchy prefer strong team leaders
4. Members who value egalitarianism prefer participative team
leadership
 COMPARING
SAME CULTURE
AND
MULTICULTURAL
TEAMS
➤Management challenges in Same-
Culture teams
➤ Management challenges: Multicultural
versus same-culture teams
MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES IN SAME-
CULTURE TEAMS
➤ Personality and Communication Conflict (conflict in team literature)
➤ Interpersonal tension between members, ego clashes and heated
discussions. Usually expressed as sarcasm, aggression or
accusations
➤ Differences of Opinion about work (task conflict)
➤ Differing viewpoints about facts and priorities for the task at hand.
This kind of challenges were constructive for the team unless
emotions were kept out
➤ Deciding on a Work Method or Approach (administrative or procedural
conflict)
➤ Differing viewpoints about the procedure to be adopted to
accomplish task at hand
➤ Issues with timing and scheduling
➤ These involve around how to spend team time, how much
time to spend on team tasks and meetings. Some members
preferred long meetings until task was accomplished while
others preferred quick meetings for coordinating work
➤ Problems with contribution and workload distribution
➤ This dealt with members disrupting group processes, like
lack of commitment or not upholding responsibilities. For
example, members arriving late for meeting or not
completing their assigned work.
 CROSS CULTURE MANAGEMENT
 Cross–cultural management describes organizational
behavior within countries and cultures

 It compares organizational behavior across countries and

cultures

 It seeks to understand how to improve the interaction of

co–workers, managers, executives, clients, suppliers, and
alliance partners from around the world
How to use Hofstede's Six Dimensions of Culture to work
effectively with people from a range of cultural and
geographic backgrounds
 Power Distance Index (high versus low) : This refers to the degree of inequality that
exists – and is accepted – between people with and without power. A high PDI score
indicates that a society accepts an unequal, hierarchical distribution of power, and that
people understand "their place" in the system. A low PDI score means that power is shared
and is widely dispersed, and that society members do not accept situations where power is
distributed unequally. Application: According to the model, in a high PDI country, such as
Malaysia (100), team members will not initiate any action, and they like to be guided and
directed to complete a task. If a manager doesn't take charge, they may think that the task
isn't important.

 Individualism Versus Collectivism : This refers to the strength of the ties that people
have to others within their community. A high IDV score indicates weak interpersonal
connection among those who are not part of a core "family." Here, people take less
responsibility for others' actions and outcomes. In a collectivist society, however, people are
supposed to be loyal to the group to which they belong, and, in exchange, the group will
defend their interests. Application: Central American countries Panama and Guatemala
have very low IDV scores (11 and six, respectively). In these countries, as an example, a
marketing campaign that emphasizes benefits to the community would likely be understood
➤ Masculinity Versus Femininity (MAS) : This refers to the distribution of roles between men
and women. In masculine societies, the roles of men and women overlap less, and men are
expected to behave assertively. Demonstrating your success, and being strong and fast, are
seen as positive characteristics. In feminine societies, however, there is a great deal of
overlap between male and female roles, and modesty is perceived as a virtue. Greater
importance is placed on good relationships with your direct supervisors, or working with
people who cooperate well with one another. The gap between men's and women's values
is largest in Japan and Austria, with MAS scores of 95 and 79 respectively. In both
countries, men score highly for exhibiting "tough," masculine values and behaviors, but, in
fact, women also score relatively highly for having masculine values, though on average
lower than men.

➤ Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI): This dimension describes how well people can cope
with anxiety. In societies that score highly for Uncertainty Avoidance, people attempt to
make life as predictable and controllable as possible. If they find that they can't control their
own lives, they may be tempted to stop trying. These people may refer to "mañana," or put
their fate "in the hands of God." People in low UAI-scoring countries are more relaxed, open
or inclusive. Bear in mind that avoiding uncertainty is not necessarily the same as avoiding
risk. Hofstede argues that you may find people in high-scoring countries who are prepared
➤ Long- Versus Short-Term Orientation: This dimension was originally described as
"Pragmatic Versus Normative (PRA)." It refers to the time horizon people in a society
display. Countries with a long-term orientation tend to be pragmatic, modest, and
more thrifty. In short-term oriented countries, people tend to place more emphasis on
principles, consistency and truth, and are typically religious and nationalistic.
Application: The U.S. has a short-term orientation. This is reflected in the
importance of short-term gains and quick results (profit and loss statements are
quarterly, for example). It is also reflected in the country's strong sense of nationalism
and social standards.

➤ Indulgence Versus Restraint (IVR): Countries with a high IVR score allow or
encourage relatively free gratification of people's own drives and emotions, such as
enjoying life and having fun. In a society with a low IVR score, there is more
emphasis on suppressing gratification and more regulation of people's conduct and
behavior, and there are stricter social norms. Application: According to the model,
Eastern European countries, including Russia, have a low IVR score. Hofstede
argues that these countries are characterized by a restrained culture, where there is
MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES: MULTICULTURAL
VERSUS SAME-CULTURE TEAMS
➤ Direct versus Indirect confrontation
➤ Difference in perception of conversation tone and direct
confrontation across cultures. Multicultural teams dealt with
different cultural expectation about an appropriate expression
of disagreement
➤ Norms for problem solving and Decision making
➤ Difference in preference for a more analytical problem
solving and relationship building process versus a more
efficiency focused approach to decision making. These
challenges were compounded in multicultural teams due to
fundamental differences regarding legitimate approach to
problem solving.
➤ Time, Urgency, and Pace
➤ Focused on cultural differences in expectations for project
deliverable timelines. The multicultural teams had to address
asymmetries in time estimates that differed by significant time
periods
➤ Differences in Work norms and Behaviours
➤ In case of multicultural teams there was a differing perception
of people arriving late for meetings. People viewed it as rude
and also offensive depending upon their culture
➤ Violations of Respect and Hierarchy
➤ Caused by differing respect for status, the chain of command
and business practices that created unorthodox power
differentials
➤ Inter Group Prejudices
➤ The challenges stem from pre-existing hatred, anger and
distrust seeping into the workplace. The most common
problems are from pre-existing prejudice and discrimination
along division of gender, religion and ethnicity
➤ Lack of Common Ground
➤ These include behaviours or business practices that
interfered with coordinating work, but that were not based on
innate prejudices. The complexity of managing multicultural
teams stems from the indirect messages resulting from
language differences
➤ Fluency
➤ This includes challenges caused by negative reactions to
accents and the different meaning of some words. Problems
stemmed from members equating lack of fluency with lack
of intelligence
➤ Thought you had Agreement? Implicit versus Explicit
Communication
➤ This includes challenges about differences in interpreting
the level of commitment behind agreements. The same
culture tens did not struggle with these issues however the
multicultural teams struggled as different words were
interpreted differently across cultures
Thank You