135x Filetype PDF File size 0.36 MB Source: www.joebm.com
Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, February 2019 Leadership for Multicultural Teams: The Challenges in Managing Cross-cultural Conflicts Afzalur Rahman accountability is encouraged. Abstract—Globalization opened many opportunities for People in long-term oriented culture do not expect multinational companies but it also created some major immediate result while in short-term oriented culture instant challenges for global leaders. While in Chinese culture outcome is a major concern [2]. From a leadership gift-giving is a popular approach to build strong relationship perspective, understanding this dimension is critical dealing between businesses and government, in the United States it is with time-sensitive projects. seen as a corrupt and morally repugnant way of doing business. Moreover, it is important to recognize how much a society Additionally, conflict may rise due to negative stereotyping such as ethnocentrism that causes cross-cultural conflict because it values traditional male and female roles. According to encourages promoting inequality within an organization. Hofstede [1], in Italy it is preferable to appoint a male as a Leaders of multicultural teams need to understand different team leader; however, in the Netherlands male and female cultural values, behavioral attributes, and organizational should be treated equally. dynamics which are essential to succeed in global marketplaces. Index Terms—Global leadership, international human resource management, cultural dimensions, cross-cultural II. CULTURALLY SENSITIVE LEADERSHIP management. Strong culturally sensitive leadership can accelerate an organization towards diversity where all employees are I. INTRODUCING HOFSTEDE’S CULTURAL DIMENSIONS respected and valued regardless of their age, ethnicity, gender, Understanding the cultural dimensions of Hofstede [1], [2] race, or other dimensions [4]. This requires the ability to be is helpful to precisely address critical cross-cultural issues open to others’ ideas and opinions [5]. To handle the and collaborate with employees from different cultural challenges of global diversity, leaders need to develop backgrounds. Hofstede identified five cultural dimensions cultural intelligence as well. Cultural intelligence refers to “a such as power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism person’s ability to use reasoning and observation skills to and collectivism, masculinity and femininity, and interpret unfamiliar gestures and situations and devise long/short-term orientation. appropriate behavioral response” [4]. A successful global Multicultural leaders must realize that in a high power leader must believe in his or her ability to understand distance society such as Malaysia, people accept inequality in different cultures. power among individuals [1]. While in a low power distance society such as Denmark, people expect equality in power. Understanding the power distance of different cultures is III. GLOBAL LEADERS’ BEHAVIOR imperative for leaders to consider diverse work practices. In a House et al. [6] identified six global leader behaviors such study, Chand [3] found that Indian software workers accept as value-based leadership which inspires and motives the decision of the superiors, even an autocratic one. employees for high performance outcome, team-oriented However, in the United States employees are encouraged for leadership which emphasizes on effective team building, brainstorming and constructive criticisms [1]. participative leadership that reflects the degree to which Leaders should also understand uncertainty avoidance managers involve others in making decisions, which refers how the members of a culture feel threatened by humane-oriented leadership which includes compassion and uncertain situations [1]. Employees from one culture such as generosity, autonomous leadership which refers to unique Singapore (8) may be willing to take risks while Portuguese leadership attributes, and self-protective leadership which (104) are risk-avoiders. focuses on the safety and security of the employees. According to Hofstede [1], high context culture which is based on collectivism prefers to establish relationship in a A. Participatory Leadership workplace for mutual trust. Individualist culture, on the other Participatory leadership is helpful to make sound decision hand, focuses on task orientation rather than relationship because everybody’s opinion is counted [7]. Participatory building. Global leaders must identify this difference to leaders also make sure that their workforce is adequately develop organizational strategic objectives and its trained cross-culturally. This style is democratic, appreciate implementation. For example, in Japan team makes diversity, and culturally sensitive – building blocks for important decision whereas in the United States individual leaders of multicultural teams. B. Global Perspective Manuscript received October 29, 2018; revised January 12, 2019. Leaders in MNCs need to understand the worldwide Afzalur Rahman is with the Douglas College, British Columbia, Canada business environment from a global, rather than a (e-mail: rahmana2@douglascollege.ca). doi: 10.18178/joebm.2019.7.1.578 41 Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, February 2019 country-specific, perspective [8]. They should hold Leader’s ability to forming a strong team is vital to meet knowledge about diverse cultures, languages, economic and organizational goal. A successful team can be created by political systems, tastes, trends, technologies, and approaches “instilling teamwork values, establishing clear goals, to conducting businesses globally. selecting the right team players, developing key skills, and C. Transformational and Transactional Leadership developing team process” [19]. Transformational Leadership style is also appropriate for The participative and transformational leadership global leaders which is not only based on “pure economic and encourage team members to involve in decision making social exchange” [9], but also admiration [9], trust [10], high process which makes them feel important. However, the level of effort [11] and satisfaction [9], personalized leaders must realize that employees from some cultures such relationship [12], emotional attachment [6], loyalty [12], and Japanese do not mind being directed and monitored while the respect [13]. Americans do not expect a lot of direction and monitoring Furthermore, Transformational leaders are charismatic and [20]. possess a strong sense of moral and ethical principles [9], Leadership competencies have critical impact on team [14]. These characteristics and skills of Transformational performance. Successful multicultural team leaders leadership are strongly related to successful maneuver of persistently monitor environmental conditions, provide clear multicultural teams [7]. direction, anticipate problems, maximize information flow, Transactional Leadership may also be implemented where develop interpersonal relationships with team members, employees can be motivated through the system of reward encourage feedbacks, and modify changes if required. The and punishment [12]. challenges of a global team can also be addressed by effective and efficient use of advanced technology for virtual collaboration such worldwide web, company intranet, audio-visual conference, and internet and intranet relay IV. OTHER IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS communications [21]. Yong and Ready [15] identified important attributes and skills needed in cross-cultural leadership: articulating a tangible vision, creating strategic and cultural change, VI. MITIGATING THE CAUSES BEFORE THE CONFLICTS empowering subordinates, and managing strategy to action. OCCUR Moreover, global leaders are required to have cross-cultural There are other steps which can be helpful dealing with a skills such as communicating with employees of different foreign culture such as pre-departure training for home cultural backgrounds, motivating and rewarding, managing country employees to understand the culture of the host in structure, and resolving and negotiating disputes [16]. The country [22]. They should be provided with enough preferred type of leadership, however, depends on specific information about the assignment well before their departure. circumstance and cultural situation [5]. Even in pre-departure training, the family members of the employees should be included because as mentioned before staying away from family is a major cause of stress for V. GOOD LEADERS CREATE GOOD TEAMS expatriate employees. The employees of host country should The above-mentioned attributes, behaviors, characteristics also be trained to avoid possible conflicts with the home and skills are desirable to make a good leader in multicultural country employees. environment. A good leader tends to create an organizational Some companies select expatriate employees based on culture which is positive, optimistic, constructive, professional and technical skills while ignoring cross-cultural encouraging, caring, courteous, and cooperative [7]. These issues [22]. They failed to provide adequate pre-departure elements are necessary for a multicultural team to build training. Companies should not only focus on cultural issues strong relationship between members. With team spirit, they but also local values and norms for developing interpersonal also motivate and inspire each other to meet personal and relationships with local employees. Conflicts may also be organizational objectives. Moreover, employing full pre-resolved by selecting expatriate employees with high diversity is beneficial for a multicultural team which brings emotional and cultural intelligence [22]. Additionally, trust. If there is a trust, communication becomes simple and sending employees on pre-sojourn visits may also be helpful easy [17]. Lussier and Achua [18] identified three to familiarize the culture of the host country and the requirements to achieve full diversity level in an organization. organization. They are: removing obstacles to achieving diversity, creating a culture that supports diversity, and engaging employees in diversity awareness training. VII. CONSEQUENCES OF CROSS-CULTURAL CONFLICTS ON A Cross-cultural training is helpful to better manage a GLOBAL ORGANIZATION diverse workforce [18]. It is also useful to develop trust and Failure to adapting a foreign culture may result early return relationship between employees from different cultural of an expatriate employee which can cause lowered return on backgrounds. The intention of cross-cultural training is to investment for the organization and lowered self-esteem and improve the interpersonal relationships between employees career growth for the employee [22]. Conflicts may have an so that they respect and value each other’s opinions. Training effect on a global organization’s strategic objective and is designed to improve awareness and empathy for people implementation as well. Without building trust, collaboration, from diverse groups. and relationship between members from different cultural 42 Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, February 2019 backgrounds, it will be impossible for a global company as against ethnocentric behavior. Understanding local culture is well as its employees to meet their respective goals. beneficent to precisely address critical issues and collaborate Continuous conflicts create unfriendly and unhealthy with diverse colleagues. It may be advantageous for global working environment which leads to unproductive output. leaders to follow the famous phrase “when in Rome, do as do For a global virtual team, in addition to cultural differences, the Romans” to address country-specific elements which are little or on face-to-face interaction and lack of on-site more reactive to local flavors. monitoring make it harder to build team identify and commitment [4]. It may be difficult for employees from a low REFERENCES uncertainty avoidance culture to use advanced and complex [1] G. Hofstede, Culture’s Consequences: International Difference in communication infrastructure which requires physical and Work-Related Values, CA: Sage, Beverly Hills, 1980. mental abilities to deal with challenge and stress. [2] G. Hofstede, Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, Not understanding the cross-cultural issues effects each Berkshire, UK: McGraw-Hill, 1991. [3] D. Chand. (2004). Is an understanding of national cultures essential for and every aspect of an organizational – from product global IT manages? [Online]. Available: designing to customer service, from strategy formulation to http://www.varttika.com/papers/WP1-HofstedeModel.doc strategy implementation. For instant, offering a [4] R. L. Daft, “Developing leadership diversity,” The Leadership Experience, 4th ed. Mason, OH: Thomson Higher Education, 2008. product/service without addressing the local taste and [5] J. Hough and E. Neuland, “International management and leadership,” preference may result in poor sale. Developing interpersonal Global Business: Environments and Strategies – Managing for Global relationship with local employees is one way to understand Competitive Advantage, 3rd ed. Cape Town, South Africa: Oxford country-specific dynamics. University Press Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd, 2007. [6] R. J. House, J. Woycke, and E. M. Fodor, “Charismatic and noncharismatic leaders: Differences in behavior and effectiveness,” in Charismatic Leadership: The Elusive Factor in Organizational Effectiveness, J. A. Conger and R. N. Kanungo, Eds. San Francisco: VIII. MEASURES TO CONTROL AND MITIGATE Jossey-Bass, CA, 1988. CROSS-CULTURAL CONFLICTS [7] O. M. Gunu. (2009). Qualities of leading global multicultural teams: Leadership in global business environment. [Online]. Available: Building trust between the home and host countries http://knol.google.com/k/osman-masahudu-gunu/qualities-of-leading- employees can be supportive towards a productive working global/1kietb77pgwru/21 [8] N. J. Adler and S. Bartholomew, “Managing globally competent environment. Thus, a team approach should be employed. people,” Academy of Management Executive, p. 54, 1992. Additionally, to guard cross-cultural conflicts, it will be [9] B. M. Bass, Leadership and Performance beyond Expectations, New helpful to understand and adapt cultural differences which York, NY: Free Press, 1985. exist in the physical, physiological and communication [10] B. M. Bass, The Bass and Stogdill Handbook of Leadership, New York, NY: Free Press, 1990. environment of the host country [22]. Cross-cultural training [11] J. Seltzer and B. M. Bass, “Transformational leadership: Beyond needs to be installed within an organization that should not initiation and consideration,” Journal of Management, vol. 16, pp. only include cultural dynamics but also interpersonal skills 693-703, 1990. [12] J. Lee, “Effects of leadership and leader-member exchange on and ethical teachings. Successful cross-cultural employees commitment,” Leadership & Organizational Development Journal, rely on personality traits and internalized skills to over vol. 26, no. 7/8, p. 655, 2005. conflict situation. They possess good listing skills, [13] D. Katz and R. L. Kahn, The Social Psychology of Organizations, 2nd ed. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 1978. open-mindedness, respect for other cultures, loyalty to the [14] K. Limsila and S. O. Ogunlana, “Performance and leadership outcome host organization, strong sense of humor, and understanding correlates of leadership styles and subordinate commitment,” about local values and norms. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 164-184, 2007. There are certain skills and abilities need to be applied [15] A. K. Young and D. A. Ready, “Developing leadership capabilities of which increase cross-cultural adaption such as self-awareness global corporations,” Human Resource Management, vol. 34, p. 52, for understanding the differences between home and host 1995. [16] R. Mead, International Management, 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell cultures, self-regulation for managing uncertainties with Business Publishers, 1998, pp. 109-110. self-learning and improvement, self-motivation for [17] J. Dash, “Think of people when planning virtual teams,” maintaining optimism in the face of new challenges, empathy Computerworld, vol. 35, no. 4, p. 34, 2001. for developing culturally sensitive learning, and social skills [18] R. N. Lussier and C. F. Achua, “Leadership of culture and diversity, and the learning organization,” Leadership: Theory, Application, & for building relationships and trust with culturally diverse Skill Development, 3rd ed. Mason, OH: Thomson Higher Education, workforce [23]. 2007. Moreover, initiatives must be taken to creating an [19] N. Brown-Johnston, “A formula for team success,” The Driving Force: Lessons in Teamwork from Saturn and other Leading Companies, organizational culture which sustains diversity [18]. The Xephor Press, 2004. leadership role is creating a diversity-supportive culture is [20] R. Vinaja, “Major challenges in multi-cultural virtual teams,” in Proc. imperative. Leaders need to develop personal characteristics the Conference of the American Institute for Decision Sciences, San Antonio, TX, 2003, pp. 341-346. which support diversity such as a personal vision that [21] B. Anthony. (September 2004). Leadership challenges in global virtual recognizes diversity, a broader knowledge of diversity, teams: Lessons from the field. SAM Advanced Management Journal. openness to constructive criticism, and ability to identify the [Online]. Available: http://www.allbusiness.com/management/284005-1.html potentials of diverse workforce [4]. Moreover, they need to [22] A. Jassawalla, C. Truglia, and J. Garvey, “Cross-cultural conflict an ensure that the concept of diversity is rooted in the expatriate manager adjustment,” Management Decision, vol. 42, no. organizational strategies. To avoid the cross-cultural 7/8, p. 837, 2004. [23] D. Coleman, “Leadership that gets results,” Harvard Business Review, conflicts leaders of multinational corporations need to have a pp. 78-90, 2000. global mindset – by thinking globally and acting locally. Besides, they need to develop cross-cultural literacy to guard 43 Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, February 2019 Afzalur Rahman is a full-time faculty member at management, business strategy, and global entrepreneurship. Afzalur Douglas College, British Columbia, Canada. Previously completed his Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in international he has worked at Thompson Rivers University, The business from Argosy University-Tampa in Florida, United States. He also University of British Columbia, Okanagan College, and completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from North Shanghai Institute of Technology. Dr. Rahman’s research South University and a B.Comm. (Honors Business Administration) degree has focused primarily on the areas of international from University of Windsor. business, international marketing, human resource 44
no reviews yet
Please Login to review.