Introduction
In the business world, small groups of persons form in order to achieve organizational objectives; these teams comprise of individuals with complementary skills and commitment to a common purpose. Their operations depend on a sense of mutual accountability for success. The progress and success of many organizations depends on the formation of efficient teams; this promotes the combination of multiple experiences, skills and judgments. The use of teams increases the chances of acquiring good results through collective cooperation. The team rather than operations of the larger organization are efficient due to ease of creation, operations, communication and disbanding; they note high levels of productivity due to the presence of clear and well-defined objective. In teams, members exhibit high levels of commitment thus achievement of desired results.
It is evident that teams play a significant role in organizational progress. Their presence supports the broad-based changes crucial for high-performing organizations. Their role in ensuring innovation, quality, cost efficiency and customer service makes them useful in business worldwide. Team members exhibit diversity in various aspects such as; skills, talents, abilities, culture and ideologies. International teams, for instance, experience the impact of cultural diversity on their operations. It influences how objectives are achieved. The team, for instance, has members from India, China and Algeria. Culture in these parts of the world have influence on business decisions and operations; this influences how they handle operations and meet objectives. The diversity brings with it advantages and disadvantages. In most cases, it results in conflict of ideas on strategies of operation; there is thus a need for the creation of efficient ways of operating. Team operations should accommodate the diverse cultures. It depends on efforts from both the leader and team members. The appropriate consideration of differing backgrounds ensures they converge towards similar management practices; it promotes high efficiency due to learning. Different cultures have varied ways of adopting and implementing quality practices. However, when all are considered, team members come up with efficient practices; this view relies on power distance cultural dimension. It is one of the four main inter-cultural theories including; individualism-communitarianism, universalism-particularism, specificity-diffuseness,low-high power distance, sequential-synchronous time, and high-low context. Though international teams operate in a similar manner, their operations occur on a wide scope. They handle complex challenges through personal responsibility; every member of the team must produce high quality work in order to ensure overall success. Apart from specific responsibilities, the members must exhibit interdependence; cooperation of members increases their efficiency in operation.
Despite the cultural diversity, every member of the team is accountable to the organization. They must operate in accordance to the organization’s experience, values and openness to teamwork. The operations should not only focus on the achievement of objectives, but also personal improvement. The team focuses on developing every member’s skills; this increases the ability to deal with complexities. It occurs through open operations and provision of feedback. In these teams, leaders have outlined roles.
Success of international teams
The leader of a culturally diverse team must lead the team in making and communicating decisions. For instance, in the team, I must guide in making decisions that accommodate ideas from Indian, Algerian and Chinese perspectives in quality practice. It is the leader’s role to set set performance goals; these guide in determining and allocating individual responsibilities according to abilities. The definition of individual work products focuses on their responsibilities. The efficient work approach and pace of operation are also decisions made by the leader. Throughout the group’s operation, he/she determines whether to speed up or slow down activities; this depends on the rate of meeting deadlines and objective achievement by members and other groups as a whole. He/she must ensure the team acquires high quality and reliable results; these should be in line with the organization’s needs. In order to run group operations efficiently, the leader must; establish standards and benchmarks for communication between members. The team members too have responsibilities in ensuring the team’s success.
Kantor’s 4-player model
The success of organizational teams relies on the leaders’ ability to perform efficiently. Kantor’s 4-player model, also known as the dialogic leadership, shows the four main qualities evident in actions during team communication. According to the model, the team members’ interactions involve interplay of filling up four roles of; move, follow, oppose and by-stand. Some people are movers; they offer direction and initiate ideas. They make efficient leaders in teams. Other people are followers, they go along with the views of movers; they merely offer support and clarification to the ideas of others. Opposers, on the other hand, challenge suggestions and question their validity. They are likely to complain about the lack of empirical data in support of various views. Last but not least, there is the bystander. He/she notices the proceedings and provides perspective on what occurs; the bystander invites team members to be more reflective. He/she does this by outsourcing data from another team, historical perspective or insight on the team’s operations.
The four roles are significant in the provision of momentum and connection, direction and energy, correction and elaboration, reflection, perspective taking, and openness to team operations. It increases the team’s efficiency by allowing the consideration of a wide scope of alternatives in meeting team objectives. The four actions must occur appropriately in order to ensure success in the team. If any of the four dominates, imbalance occurs; this affects the team’s health. For instance, a weak mover results in the lack of direction within the team. A weak by-stander results in the lack of relevant information and observations. The application of the model to organizations results in healthy teams according to Ancona and Isaacs. It occurs by ensuring the; balancing and enabling of all acts, reinforcement and support of by-stander and oppose acts and flexibility in who accepts what roles. It ensures the achievement of; inclusiveness, repair, adaptation and differentiation.
Role of cultural diversity in teams
Culture involves the common values and beliefs determining the actions of people; it provides a sense of identity for members. In the international business perspective, culture develops around organizational activities. It influences activities in a team in a variety of ways. It helps an organization in acquiring a good understanding of the increasingly diverse client base; this helps in the provision of relevant services. It develops the organization’s access to local and international markets for goods and services. The creation of culturally-diverse groups makes the achievement of goals easy; the incorporation of team members from various cultures creates a workforce capable of providing crucial; cultural knowledge and understanding, language skills, low-cost intelligence on overseas markets, customer tastes and preferences, business networks, protocols in overseas markets and knowledge of business practices.
Culturally-diverse teams contribute to the organization’s innovations and productivity. Appreciating and promoting the cultural diversity of team members is crucial for an organization’s progress. It ensures improvements in innovation and productivity. It also ensures the team takes advantage of the diverse talents and skills; this also reduces unnecessary turnover costs from racial discrimination. It gives the organization a chance to recognize the full range of skills and talents exhibited by employees; these include language and cultural skills. Through this, the organization ensures maximum participation and provision of quality services to the diverse scope of customers. Cultural diversity also ensures the building of cohesive teams; this occurs through an improvement of cross-cultural understanding and communication.
Alessandra and Vecchi use empirical evidence in support of the convergence hypothesis. The hypothesis states that employees with diverse cultural backgrounds work towards a similar management practice; through this, efficiency and progress occur. The presence of a wide range of research on convergence disregards the divergence hypothesis is business practice. Hofsted’s four dimensions of culture support the culture-specific hypothesis. The dimensions of power distance, individualism, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance help in explaining the influence of cultural aspects on employee activities. The three hypotheses facilitate the acquisition of knowledge relevant for quality management.
Low and high-context communication theories
Communication is an integral part of life; intercultural communication involves the transfer of information between a sender and receiver with different cultures. In order for an organization to function efficiently, it must have a basic awareness of societal and cultural norms; these determine the behaviors and decision-making habits of employees. One of the most influential intercultural communication theories high and low context theory. It provides information on how a person from another culture would prefer to communicate in a team. Hall’s theory on high and low context culture focuses on the basic communication styles of speakers from individualistic and collectivist cultural norms.
A high context culture involves the consistent sharing of information among all team members. It facilitates the building and modification of information; the meanings associates with the context in which they are spoken. Meanings depend on the physical context; this includes tone of voice, gestures and facial expressions. Thus the actual message has limited meaning. People may avoid saying what they want to say in an attempt to strengthen and preserve relationships. The communication style is fast, efficient and focused on intuitive understanding. However the establishment of a common understanding between members of various cultures may take a while.
Low context cultures, on the other hand, value explicit liberal communication processes. The culture, evident in USA, encourages the display of one’s opinions despite consequences. It focuses on the person’s message rather than the context in which it is transmitted. The value placed on maintaining good relationships is low. People say what they intend without going around in circles. They focus on providing information during the communication process; this makes up for what may lack in the context.
Application of low and high context communication theories
My team has members of Western, African and Eastern origin; there is a need to communicate efficiently with members from Algeria, China and India; it creates an understanding of how cultural backgrounds influence their activities and ideas. An understanding of the high and low context theory provides a framework on how to handle cross-cultural conflicts in the team and ensure efficient communication. Hall’s theory is relevant due to the presence of team members with diverse cultural backgrounds; the theory’ has influence in Asian countries. It is due to the presence of collectivist and individualistic culture norms.
Through high context, the leader and team members interpret information from the physical aspects of communication such as tonal variation, gestures, and facial expressions. It provides information that may not be contained in the actual message; this establishes access to information that may be withheld by the sender. The leader should establish a comfortable environment and openness between members; this eliminates the fear of offending one another or disrupting the harmony through one’s opinions. The communication style is fast and efficient. However, in dealing with diverse cultures, it may take members a while to understand one another. Through low context style, the leader encourages team members to be open with their views. It does not focus on maintaining good relationships at the expense of information transfer. A blend between the high and low context styles must be established.
Power distance theory
Works by Geert Hofstede focus on the existence of cultural differences beyond national boundaries; this view is an integral part of organizational operations. The study on the role of cultural diversity in organization teams focuses on the theory of power distance of countries. According to him, the power distance between a subordinate and a boss, in a hierarchy, is the difference between the extent to which the subordinate’s behavior can be determined by the boss’ behavior. Culture thus determines the power distance accepted by the subordinate and boss and supported by their social environment. In simple terms, power distance is the extent to which less powerful members expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. It also applies to team operations; in most cases, some members have more power than others.
Power distance has a strong impact on organizational functioning. There are various studies in support of and against the power distance in organizations. Views in support of power distance show a need to elicit responsible behavior in the organization’s members. Through the formation of hierarchical cultures, chains of authority and command are established. It shows the need for an unequal distribution of status and power; it ensures the employees comply with organizational provisions without complaints. Critics of the power distance, on the other hand, encourage the adoption of egalitarian culture in the workplace. It focuses on the view that all employees are moral equals. Leaders, in this culture, motivate subordinates in a participative manner. The employees also have a say in decision-making and goal-setting activities.
Application of power distance theory
It is evident that organizations with large power distances have many layers and chains of command; this is evidence of a connection between leadership and power distance. For instance, employees in high power distance countries rarely challenge supervisors; they do not disagree with the managers’ or other leaders’ views. Employees in low power distance countries, on the other hand, exhibit opposite characteristics. The observation also applies to organizational teams and their operations. In my team, there are members from China, India and Algeria; the power distance in these countries are 80, 77 and 77 respectively. Members from India and Algeria are more likely to challenge the leaders’ views in handling various challenges; the members from China, on the other hand, may be hesitant in contributing.
Low power distance members provide feedback even in cases when the feedback is negative. Those in high power distance countries rarely provide feedback; if they do, it is only positive feedback. An understanding of the role of power distance theory in team operations provides the leader with information on how to handle every member of the team. Through the leader’s position and power must be recognized, he/she must recognize the role of every subordinate member of the group. There should be a balance between egalitarian, transformational, paternalistic, participative, and authoritarian leadership skills. In order to ensure the efficiency of international teams, various power distance factors must be considered. First and foremost, the inequality among group members should not exist; understanding that they work under equal terms increases cooperation and communication. An increase in interdependence between the members improves efficiency in achieving objectives. Consultation of all members ensures the provision of ideas and opinions with diverse cultural perspectives; this increases the chances of acquiring the best solutions to challenges.
Conclusion
International teams have members with different cultures;these differences affect their views, skills and experiences in business operations and related aspects. Both the leader and members have responsibilities in ensuring the successful operations in the teams. The Kantor’s 4-player model depicts how success in teams can be achieved. It outlines the roles of; mover, follower, oppose and bystander in ensuring healthy teams. There are research studies and theoretical perspectives on the workings of international teams. Among these are the power distance theory and high and low context communication theory. Power distance theory focuses on the extent to which the organization accepts that there is an unequal distribution of power; this has positive and negative outcomes according to various professionals. It also has an impact on the success on international teams. The high and low context theory shows how a team can take advantage of contextual and non-contextual communication in ensuring success.
References
(Labeled from summary 1)
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