| MANAGING
MULTICULTURAL TEAMS Working
Across Cultures : Understanding Cultural Differences
- - Neena George
With
the increased globalization, the challenges of working across cultures are becoming
manifold. In case of virtual teams, it is even more challenging with the teammates
being spread out over two continents and three time zones. Managing multicultural
teams is not as easy as it may appear. Very often increased diversity in workplace
leads to heightened tensions among the employees, thus hindering company's performance.
© 2007 Neena George. All Rights Reserved.
© 2007 Neena George. All Rights Reserved. MANAGING
MULTICULTURAL TEAMS Cross-cultural
Awareness and Engaging in Multicultural Teams : An Ongoing Practice
- - Mohan Murti
The
importance of cross-cultural awareness and engaging in multicultural teams is
on the rise. The article discusses the cross-cultural differences, mistakes to
avoid, and how to function in a multicultural team. It also dwells on communication
issues and negotiation skills while engaging in multicultural teams.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
MANAGING
MULTICULTURAL TEAMS Multicultural
Teams : Challenges and Opportunities
- - Laraine Kaminsky
This
article discusses two types of multicultural teams and how each one needs strong
leadership and HR support in order to function more effectively than a culturally
homogeneous team.
© 2007 Laraine Kaminsky. All Rights Reserved. MANAGING
MULTICULTURAL TEAMS Diversified
Workforce : Why it Makes Good Business Sense
- - Diganta Chakrabarti
Workforce Diversity is a new buzzword in the corporate world. Apart from projecting
an organization as socially responsible, a diversified workforce also provides
a competitive advantage in a fast changing market. This article finds out why
Indian companies are following major global organizations like IBM to develop
diversity in workforce as a business strategy.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
MANAGING
MULTICULTURAL TEAMS Building
a Diverse Workforce : It's no Longer a Choice
- - Arun Kottolli
Diversity
is not a case of representation of different nationalities or ethnicities. It
is a process of creating greater wealth through increased creativity and productivity.
Creating a diverse workforce at all levels of the organization involves training
programs, recruitment strategy, and building a cadre of diversity aware managers.
© 2007 Arun Kottolli. All Rights Reserved. MANAGING
MULTICULTURAL TEAMS Managing
and Working with Diverse Teams : The Challenges
- - Chad Lewis
In
a multicultural team, the objective is to create an environment in which all the
members are recognized. In all cases, the intention is to work towards a balance
among all the team members. One of the challenges of working with a diverse group
is that for at least some team members the defined process will vary, which can
be the source of much angst. Some of the areas where managers may see problems
include: social norms, chronemics (the use of time), stereotyping, issues of trust
and of course, communication.
© 2006 Chad Lewis. All Rights Reserved. MANAGING
MULTICULTURAL TEAMS Multicultural
Teams and Superior Performance : The Role of Leadership
- - Dr. Kathleen Patterson, Dr. Paul B Carr, Dr. Myra Dingman
Today's globalization requires awareness of challenges and opportunities that
demand new leadership styles and techniques in order to be effective and successful.
Leading improved performance in multicultural teams can be challenging and fulfilling.
Barriers to performance within these teams include communication misunderstandings,
differing attitudes toward hierarchy and authority, and cultural norms for decision-making
can derail a team from achieving their desired purpose. This article examines
some creative strategies such as adaptation and interventions for improving work
performance with multicultural teams, factors that influence multicultural teams
and some leadership techniques, including improving team cohesion and using a
coaching style of leadership to implement them.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
MANAGING
MULTICULTURAL TEAMS Managing
the Performance of Teams : Manager's Role
- - Donald E Sexton
The
difference between successful and unsuccessful teams is often due to a manager's
skill and efforts to create the team. This article explores the key considerations
for a manager in building and managing a team and the special challenges that
emerge with multicultural teams.
© 2007 Donald E Sexton. All Rights Reserved. MANAGING
MULTICULTURAL TEAMS Managing
Diversity in India and the US : Challenges and Best Practices
- - Dr. Karine Schomer
This
article speaks about workforce diversity challenges in India and the USdemographic
differences, diversity categories, legal framework. It also discusses the best
practices for the diversity and multicultural team management.
© 2007 Karine Schomer. First Area publication rights granted for one-time publication
in Effective Executive. All Rights Reserved. MANAGING
MULTICULTURAL TEAMS Why
Multicultural Teams Malfunction Sometimes : Culture Plays A Big Role
- - Rana Sinha
Multicultural
teams are becoming more common with great promises of increased productivity,
synergy and creativity. But they frequently fail to deliver desired results and
sometimes even flop miserably. What are the main reasons for the underperformance
or failure of multicultural teams?
© 2007 Rana Sinha. All Rights Reserved. MANAGING
MULTICULTURAL TEAMS Optimizing
the Performance of Multicultural Teams : The Unrecognized Bonus
- - Rensia Melles
The
multicultural workforce of this new age is an unrecognized bonus of globalization.
Taking advantage of this opportunity can give the organization the competitive
edge it needs to differentiate itself in the marketplace, and in the struggle
to secure the talent.
© 2007 Rensia Melles (Shepell·fgi). All Rights Reserved. LEADERSHIP
Bob
Nardelli : Is this the Promised End?
- - GRK Murty
In
life, man is soft and supple;/ In death he is rigid and hard./ Plants and trees
in life are tender; in death/ they are withered and dry./ Therefore, softness
and tenderness mean life; /and hardness and stiffness mean death./ The tree whose
wood is the hardest is cut down/ The mighty and the strong are thus cut down;/
And the humble and low are set on high.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
INTERVIEW
"The
most successful teams and managers we interviewed used four strategies for dealing
with these challenges: adaptation, structural intervention, managerial intervention,
and exit."
- - Jeanne M Brett
Jeanne
M Brett is DeWitt W Buchanan, Jr., Professor of Dispute Resolution and Organizations
at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Her Ph.D. is in psychology
from the University of Illinois. Her current areas of research are cross- cultural
negotiations, the resolution of disputes, and the performance of multicultural
teams. Brett is an author of more than 100 articles and four books: Union Representation
Elections: Law and Reality, Causal Analysis: Assumptions, Models and Data, and
Getting Disputes Resolved: Designing a System to Cut the Costs of Conflict, which
received the 1988 Center for Public Resources Award for excellence and innovation
in alternative dispute resolution, and Negotiating Globally which won the International
Association for Conflict Management's Outstanding Book Award in 2002. Her current
research investigates how negotiation strategy develops over time. She is especially
interested in conflict and disputing, the intervention of third parties, and the
effects of culture.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
INTERVIEW
"The
need for strong domain knowledge is becoming increasingly pronounced. With organizations
moving towards verticalization in their offerings, understanding of the domain
along with technology expertise has become an essential. "
- - Kalpana Jaishankar
Kalpana
Jaishankar is the Vice-President, Human Resources and People Development at Patni.
In this capacity, she is responsible for all Employee Development activities,
SBU and Location HR matters. Kalpana completed her PGDRM (General Management)
from IRMA in 1984 prior to which she completed her B.Sc. (Mathematics) from Madras
University in 1982. Kalpana did her schooling at La Martiniere, Kolkata. Kalpana
has more than 20 years work experience across industry segments. She last worked
with Geometric Software Solutions Ltd. as Director HR. Prior to Geometric she
worked with Consumer Coordination Council, New Delhi as Coordinator and Secretary,
and as an Executive (Planning and MIS) with National Dairy Development Board,
New Delhi and Mumbai.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
INTERVIEW
"Building
and sustaining trust among the team members is probably the most difficult problem
and remains a major challenge"
- - Donald Chand and Gary David
Donald Chand is Professor of Information and Process Management at Bentley
College. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of business process
management, IT project management, global software development and ERP systems.
He has published articles in such flagship journals as the Communications of the
ACM, Journal of ACM, IEEE Software, and the Journal of Management Systems. He
has served as an associate editor of the Journal of Information Technology Management
and member of the editorial board of the Journal of Information Systems Education.
Prior to joining Bentley College, Don taught at Boston University, Indian Institute
of Management, Ahmedabad and Georgia State University in Atlanta, where he also
served as Chair of the CIS Department. Before starting his teaching career he
worked for Lockheed Georgia Company as a research scientist. He can be reached
at dchand@bentley.edu Gary David is Associate Professor of Sociology at Bentley
College. His research focuses on the role that interpersonal interactions play
in the formation of intergroup relations. He has conducted research primarily
in workplace settings where intercultural/intergroup interactions take place on
a regular basis. He is examining the nature of collaborative activity in multicultural
worksites, how co-workers build a collaborative relationship through engaging
in workplace practices, and the impact of information and communication technologies
on intercultural communication in the global organization. Dr. David also specialized
in Arab-American studies, and ethnic identity research. He has published articles
in Multicultural Perspectives, International Journal of Enterprise Information
System, Human Studies, as well as internationally in Biograf (Czech), Hermes (French),
and Do Humano (Brazilian). He can be reached at gdavid@bentley.edu
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved | 
