1. Cross-Cultural Teams
Matthew Bradford
Patrick Flynn
Gautham Submaranian

2. What is Cross Cultural?
 First we have to define culture-
 Culture-the act of developing by
education, discipline, social experiences:
training or refining the moral and
intellectual faculties
 Cross cultural teams in business would
include a variety of all of these attributes of
culture and apply them to the Business
atmosphere as is the case of Nokia in Europe.
 Why has it become so important?

3. Globalization
 Introduction of new technologies
 A smaller planet
 Easier communications
 Outsourcing
 Need for cultural understanding
 Need for language berries to be breached
 Global market
 Multiple perspectives
 Customs, tastes, and marketing

4.  Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer
Electrolux used the following in an
American campaign: Nothing sucks like
an Electrolux.

5. Arguments
 Many people hold an optimistic view of
cross-cultural teams
 A global perspective
 Many points of view represented
 Different perspectives provide more
input to solve problems
 Provide a bridge for different cultures
involved in business

6. Arguments
 Teams tend to focus on similarities
rather than differences
 Lack of proper leadership can hinder
the ability of cross-cultural teams to
meet their full potential
 Research has shown that demographic
diversity is unrelated to team
performance overall*

7. Cross-Cultural Teams (CCT)
 Forming
 Managing
 Communicating & Motivating
 Training

8. Forming Cross-Cultural Teams
 Develop acceptance
 Sense of belonging
 Global identity in parallel with local/national
identity
 Establish trust
 Communication
 Clear boundaries and expectations
 Avoids or deals with conflict

9.  Provide the right tools
 For collaboration
 For communication
 Encourage diversity
 Support from
organization, culture, management
 Improves group performance
 Wider range of perspectives and skills

10. Managing Cross-Cultural
Teams
 Hiring
 Global perspective
 Integration
 Past experience
 Recognize cultural skills
 Competitive advantage resources
 Competencies
 Knowledge
 SynergyGlobal leadership behaviours
 Highly directive to self-facilitating
 Design activities that get people to know each other

11. Communicating & Motivating
 Reward structures
 Offer significant variance
 Communication
 Explicit
 Tools
 Agree on standards and terminology
 Eliminate jargon
 Language (native)
 Freedom to allow others to work more efficiently

12. Training Cross-Cultural Teams
 Focus on global perspective and integration
 Cultural diversity and intelligence
 Undo stereotyping
 Conflict
 Prepare for, address, and provide sensitivity
 Equity
 Focus on individual achievement
 Channel to group
 Provide growth, development opportunities
 Reward accomplishments accordingly

13. Cultural Misunderstandings

15. Context Cultures
Chinese
High Korean
Context
Japanese
Vietnamese
Arab
Greek
Spanish
Italian
English
North American
Scandinavian
Low Swiss
Context
German

16. To reduce Misperception
 Assume Differences until similarity is
proven
 Emphasize Description rather than
interpretation or Evaluation
 Practice Empathy
 Treat your Interpretation as a working
Hypothesis

17. Cultural Stereotyping
Stereotyping Employees based on
Culture.
Examples:
 All Asians are good at Math
 All Jews are good with money
 Chinese are diligent
 Americans are innovative
 Italians are expressive

18. Effects of Cultural
Stereotyping
 Cultural stereotypes limit management's ability to
make best use of their employees' skills and help
them develop new skills.
 Cultural stereotypes affect employee morale and
productivity.
 Stereotypes lead to decreased
productivity, dissatisfied customers and reduced
revenues.
 They hinder open communication and teamwork.
Failing to include diverse employee perspectives
and skills limits the company's creativity, problem
solving and competitive abilities.

19. Cultural Values
American Values Japanese Values European Values
 Equality  Obligation to the  Appreciation for
 Individuality group aesthetics
 Work hard, play hard  Behaving according  Intellectualism
= success to status  Socialism
 The sky is the limit  Harmony  Tradition
 Freedom  Effort  Leisure
 Mobility  Self-improvement  Sensuality
 Safety  Self-criticism  Family and friendship
 Competition  Collectivism

20. References
 Joshi and H. Roh, “The role of Context in Work Team Diversity
Research: A Meta-analytic Review”
 Stephen P Robbins, Timothy A Judge “Organizational Behavior
13th Edition”
 http://smallbusiness.chron.com
 http://www.stanford.edu/