Discussion – Multicultural Teams

Discussion – Multicultural Teams

Working with multicultural teams reveals multiple setbacks. One of the challenges the new team will face in India is a communication problem due to language barriers. Hindi does not translate well with English, and this is likely to cause interpretation problems. For instance, Mercedes Benz innocently used the Chinese Mandarin word ‘Bensi’ when moving into the Chinese market. Unknown to them, the word meant ‘rush to death,’ the total opposite of what the company wanted to communicate. ASI would do better if it hires a mix of US and Indian nationals.

Apart from language, cultural differences will also cause workplace conflicts. Culture includes the differences in social norms and holidays between the company’s mother and host countries (Taras, 2021). Cultural differences also manifest when selling merchandise to international clients or managing international staff. Taking time to understand a client’s or employee’s culture negatively impacts their trust levels. Noting the cultural differences between the US and India, cultural conflicts will cause conflicts amongst internal teams and clients.

The management should acknowledge cultural differences between international teams to make them work. For instance, if there the teams have religious differences, the administration should facilitate them to share (Taras, 2021). Besides, the management should grant employees a chance whenever they ask for time to celebrate religious ceremonies. The management should also be flexible and adopt alternative working styles that accommodate diverse cultures, as long as this does not affect the company’s operations.

Moreover, the company has an obligation to employees’ families. First, they should advise or help them acquire good accommodation facilities since foreigners have little information about the host country. Also, the company can recommend the best learning institutions for employees with school-going children.

US nationals in ASI should first be ready to learn through interaction to adapt to the Indian environment. Interactions help team members learn role expectations, coping strategies, and problem-solving skills (Setti et al., 2020). Employees should also learn to use culturally sensitive words and body language whenever they communicate with their global colleagues.

References

Setti, I., Sommovigo, V., & Argentero, P. (2020). Enhancing expatriates’ assignments success: the relationships between cultural intelligence, cross-cultural adaptation, and performance. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00931-w

Taras, V. (2021, June 9). Research: How Cultural Differences Can Impact Global Teams. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/06/research-how-cultural-differences-can-impact-global-teams

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Assignment

Introduction: Cultural literacy is critically important when it comes to sending personnel overseas to live and work. If there are family members also moving overseas, their adaptation to the new environment may affect the employee’s ability to perform successfully abroad.

Discussion – Multicultural Teams

Read the scenario and then address the checklist items.

Scenario:
Jorge, as the global team manager, was hired to manage some new global teams for AlternativeSource Inc. (ASI), an alternative-energy company implementing wind, solar, and water-generated energy systems throughout the globe. Jorge had previously worked for a gas exploration company in North America, so he simply hired many of his previous company’s employees who had worked for him at the gas exploration company. Jorge deployed the teams along with their families to work with Indian nationals and clients in India. Since India is such a large country, although there is some autonomy for the teams, Jorge made all the decisions and then communicated with the teams.

After 5 months in the field, the teams are not performing well. The team members are frustrated by what they termed as internal conflicts and “the clients’ lack of cooperation,” and their families seem to be unhappy in the new environment. The ASI executive management team is beginning to ask questions not only regarding the team’s performance but also regarding the hiring process used. ASI has an employee handbook saying that the company hires people based on abilities from a diverse pool of candidates who also represent their diversity of global clients.

After completing your chapter reading and reviewing the learning activities regarding culture and global human resource management (HRM), address the following checklist items.

Checklist:

● Describe how the current practice of hiring global teams in India might lead to team conflict and how to improve the hiring process. Provide at least three specific examples that relate to this scenario.
● Describe how an HR department can assist managers, employees, and their families in preparing for and working in an overseas work environment.
● If you had been Jorge, how would you apply the three cultural adaptation skills from your reading in Chapter 16, “Managing Expatriates,” that would help the team members and their families be successful in adjusting to India?