Establishing Cross Cultural Teams
The opportunity to develop culturally diverse teams is a fortunate position for a company to be within, especially within an international setting. Among the reasons culturally diverse teams are favorable to a company’s success is that diverse workplaces are most inclined to successfully execute innovation (Dangmei, 2016; Karim & Mitchell, 2004). In addition to enhanced innovation, companies who’ve developed culturally diverse teams are of increased capacity to experience heightened performance, profitability, and engagement (Jayne & Dipboye, 2004; Stein, 2020, para2-3). Thus, in the modern globalized economy, companies are increasingly experiencing the creation of multicultural teams, where workplaces possess more expansive cultural identities than existed prior to globalization. Communication, accompanied by the capacity to develop trust amongst stakeholders, are key components for establishing successful cross-cultural teams within the global economy; these competencies are built through the development of cultural intelligence (Molinksy & Gundling, 2016). Successful cross-cultural teams are established beneath the leadership of those possessing, modeling, and fostering cultural intelligence within the workplace.
The fortune of possessing the opportunity to develop culturally diverse teams is accompanied by a series of challenging responsibilities. A company choosing to leverage the value add of creating culturally diverse teams might discover that while the embodiment of varying cultural identities within a team has its benefits, it also presents challenges (Tang & Wang, 2017). The variances in team members’ cultural identities [from nationality, race, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion or philosophy, socio-economic status, degree of ability, age, or any other cultural identifiers] contain the potential for great success, but the potential for what might be seen as incompatibilities within the team also exists. These variances in perspective, and the ways these perspectives are communicated, within cross-cultural teams might present themselves in decision making processes, where misunderstandings might compromise trust. However, where culturally intelligent leadership exists, these challenges are not insurmountable. Instead is an opportunity for leaders to create a culturally intelligent work environment within the global economy, from which all benefit.
Where challenges exist, there too exists opportunity. Companies invested in leveraging the benefits of their position within the global economy will commit themselves to engagement in strategies to foster cultural intelligence. According to Rosenberg et al. (2012), some of the ways these cross cultural divides can be bridged amongst the workplace include the co-creation of meaning. One way this might occur is through acknowledgement of the goals and objectives shared by the diverse team. A recommended strategy is for managers approaching the challenges of cross cultural enterprises include the following action steps:
possessing, modeling and fostering cultural intelligence
refraining from use of speech that might discriminate or otherwise cause harm, distrust, or misunderstanding; avoiding stereotypes, generalizations, colloquialisms, or derision
producing reminders of what unites the team: shared missions, objectives, and goals
acknowledge the value added by the team’s diversity
implementing policies that are integrated throughout the company,
all of which are critical in mitigating and managing the potential challenges of cross cultural business operations (Dangmei, 2016).
The globalization of businesses in recent decades has resulted in an insurgence of cross cultural teams. While cross cultural teams present great potential for heightened innovation, performance, and profitability, there are also challenges that present themselves. However, leaders who possess cultural awareness are of heightened capacity to manage cross-cultural teams, and to apply strategies to mitigate potential problems within the multicultural global community. It is essential for organizational leaders across all industries to communicate in ways that produce trust amongst culturally diverse teams.
To Cite this article in APA7:
Drost, A.R. (2022). Establishing cross-cultural teams. The Braided Strategist. https://thebraidedstrategist.com/articles/establishing-cross-cultural-teams
References
Dangmei, J. (2016). Cultural intelligence: Bridging the cultural differences in the emerging markets. Indian Journal of Research 5(9).
Jayne, M.E., Dipboye, R. L. (2004). Leveraging diversity to improve business performance: Research findings and recommendations for organizations. Human Resource Management, 43(4), 409–424. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.20033
Molinsky, A., Gundling, E. (2016). How to build trust on your cross-cultural team. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/06/how-to-build-trust-on-your-cross-cultural-team
Rosenberg, A., Almeida, A., Macdonald, H. (2012) Crossing the cultural divide: Issues in translation, mistrust, and cocreation of meaning in cross-cultural therapeutic assessment. Journal of Personality Assessment, 94:3, 223-231.
Stein, J. (2020). The balancing act of diversity hiring. Employment Practice Solutions. http://www.epspros.com/news-resources/white-papers/2020/the-balancing-act-of-diversity-hiring.html
