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Diversity in Multi-Cultural Teams Creates Potential Advantages

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Diversity in Multi-Cultural Teams Creates Potential Advantages
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COMPARATIVE AND INTER-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT

'Diversity in multi-cultural teams creates potential advantages'. Discuss.

In the recent years, the movement of the modern business are very much according to the globalisation of the world's economy, which resulted in the increasing amount of international businesses, global economic competition, and the difference/divergence within the organisations. Globalisation creates international business environment that requires businesses to be more competitive. And in order to be more active and competitive, companies have to be able to adapt themselves to the constant change, which can be driven by cultural diversity (Salas, Goodwin and Burke, 2009). In the future, the skill to cooperate with diverse cultures is a significant device for a successful business (Thomas and Inkson, 2004). Yet, divergence within multicultural teams may create some drawbacks as well. Therefore, this essay aims to demonstrate whether the diversity in multicultural teams creates potential benefits.

The essay will initially give the definition of 'culture' and 'multicultural teams', then explore the advantages and disadvantages of diversity in multicultural teams. Examples of failure and success due to multiculturalism in teams will be present next. Hofstede’s theory of Cultural Dimensions will be used in order to analyse why multicultural teams can sometimes cause catastrophe to businesses.

Diverse multicultural teams are considerably important for international firms in the 21st century as most businesses require the creativity, mental flexibility, and ability of employees with various and different ideas working together to address their organisational challenges (Johnson, 2013). It seems to be crucial to provide the definition of 'culture' and 'multicultural teams' in order to further understand the essay proposition. The term 'culture' has many definitions because it is an intricate concept and is constantly



References: Brett, J., Behfar, K., and Kern C.M. (2006) 'Managing Multicultural Teams ', Harvard Business Review, Vol. 84, Issue 11, November, pp. 7. Brett, M.J. (2007) 'Jeanne M Brett on Multicultural Teams ', IBS Case Development Centre, Available: http://www.ibscdc.org/executive-interviews/Q&A_with_Jeanne_M_Brett.htm, [10 Mar 2013]. Cambridge University (2013) Multiculturalism, [Online], Available: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/multiculturalism [8 Mar 2013]. Hofstede, G. (1980) Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work related Values, London: Sage Publications. Hofstede, G. (1991) Cultures and organizations: software of the mind, New York: McGraw Hill. Hofstede, G. (2001) Culture’s Consequences, 2nd edition, Beverly Hills: Sage. Johnson, D.R. (2013) Multicultural Teams, [Online], Available: http://drrobinjohnson.com/Teams.html [9 MAR 2013]. Kale, S. and Barnes, J. (1992) Understanding the domain of cross-national buyer-seller interactions, J Int Bus Stud 1992;23(1):101. McCort, D. and Malhotra, N.K. (1993) Culture and consumer behavior: toward an understanding of cross-cultural consumer behavior in international marketing, J Int Consum Mark. Mulholland, J. (1991) The Language of Negotiation, London: Routledge. Salas, E., Gerald, F.G., and Burke, C.S. (2009) Team Effectiveness in Complex Organizations: Cross‐Disciplinary Perspectives and Approaches, New York: Psychology Press. Smith, E. (2007) The importance of understanding cultural differences in business, [Online], Available: http://www.helium.com/items/659301-the-importance-of-understanding-cultural-differences-in-business, [12 Mar 2013]. Soares M.A., Farhangmehr, M., and Shoham, A. (2006) ' Hofstede 's dimensions of culture in international marketing studies ', Journal of Business Research, Available: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296306001974, [14 Mar 2013]. Sondergaard, M. (1994) Research note: Hofstede 's consequences: a study of reviews, citations and replications, Organ Stud 15(3):447–56. Sotshangane, N. (2002) 'What Impact Globalisation has on Cultural Diversity ', Alternative Turkish Journal of International Relations, Available: http://alternativesjournal.net/volume1/number4/sortshpdf.pdf, [14 Mar 2013]. Steenkamp J. (2001) The role of national culture in international marketing research. Int Mark Rev 18(1):30–44. The Economist (2001) Renault 's alliance with Nissan: Halfway down a long road, [Online], Available: http://www.economist.com/node/757537, [15 Mar 2013]. The Hofstede Centre(2013) United Stated in Comparison with India, [Online], Available: http://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html [14 Mar 2013]. Thomas, D.C. and Inkson, K. (2004) Cultural Intelligence, San Francisco: Berrett‐Koehler Publishers. Tomoeda, K.C. and Bayles, A.B. (2002) ‘Cultivating Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Classroom, and Clinic’, The Asha Leader, Available: http://www.asha.org/Publications/leader/2002/020402/020402d.htm, [15 Mar 2013]. WebFinance (2013) 'What is Multicultural Organisation?’, Business Dictionary, Available: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/multicultural-organization.html, [10 Mar 2013]. Applegate, M.L., Austin, R., Collins, E. (2009) ‘IBM 's Decade of Transformation: Turnaround to Growth’, Harvard Business School, Available: https://faculty.washington.edu/socha/css572winter2012/HBR%20IBM%20Decade%20of%20Transformation.pdf, [12 Mar 2013]. Yoshino, Y.M. and Fagan, L.P. (2003) ‘Renault-Nissan Alliance’, Harvard Business Review, Available: http://hbr.org/product/renault-nissan-alliance/an/303023-PDF-ENG, [15 Mar 2013].

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