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Effectiveness in multicultural teams ( Source: Based on Dr. Carol Kovach’s research at Graduate School of Management, UCLA and reported in Nancy J. Adler, International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, 2nd Edition, PWS – Kent Publishing: 1991)
Source publication
Multi-cultural workplaces in multinational enterprises (MNEs) have been found to be the providers of best team performances. Most multinational firms focus on strategies to bring cultural diversity at workplaces to improve performance. However cultural diversity at multinational workplaces also poses new challenges especially relating to friction a...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... book argues that organizations must develop the cultural sensitivity and abilities to manage and build future capabilities if they are to achieve this balance. However, it should also be noted that linking different individual cultures to project outcomes is controversial. And the understanding of the behavioral process and its real structure in multicultural project teams in most industrial sectors is still in its infancy. While multiculturalism and diversity in work teams can have positive impact on team performance, if poorly led it can also lead to sub – performance too. As suggested in figure 1, cross cultural competencies and correct leadership is essential for cross cultural teams. Highly productive and less productive teams differ in how the diversity is managed and whether so called, cross cultural competencies are developed or not by the team leaders. Therefore diversity can be an asset as well as a liability for international project teams depending upon how these are handled in MNE workplaces. As have been said earlier in the book, efficient management of cross cultural teams can generate useful experience and innovative thinking for international organizations to remain competitive in market place. The framework for such competencies may be based on several research works done is last few decades 6 . These competencies seem to be generally related to the understanding of ...
Citations
... As a result, not only has the mobility of the individual changed, but also the work and workplace per se has changed its nature towards a more multinational and transnational context (cf. Jain and Costa e Silva 2015). Furthermore, there are many individual level drivers behind these developments, such as marriage migrations, mixed and transnational families, and other relational structures that contribute to a changing locus of life and the development of a boundaryless lifestyle (Heikkilä 2017). ...
International migration and mobility, and the concept of self-initiated expatriation (SIE) (SIE as abbreviation is used for self-initiated expatriation as a concept, and for a self-initiated expatriate (SIE) or self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) as individuals) are intensively debated, ranging from research and politics to families and corporate recruiting strategies. Today, previously nonexistent possibilities and contexts enable and advance new processes and patterns of highly skilled mobility, such as self-initiated expatriation. An emerging field of study examines the concept of SIE and boundaryless career building processes from the perspectives of highly skilled people and human resource management. The importance of ‘global talents’, the demand for skills in globalizing labour markets, and the phenomenon of individualization influence policies at multiple levels and pull highly skilled people in diverse destinations. International opportunities beyond traditional corporate assignments generate various life and career options for these ‘talents’. The aim of the chapter is to foster reconceptualization and contextualization of SIE and its cross-dissemination. It provides an overview of the approaches and debates in international migration and mobility research, and focuses on these talents as embedded individuals. The chapter addresses recent theory discussions, such as the ‘mobility turn’ and the ‘big data’ in empirical social research, and it synthesizes a theory landscape on SIE research. It incorporates various disciplinary angles, interlinking different lenses, framings and mechanisms to trigger future research. The contribution broadens understanding of SIE concept both empirically and theoretically with particular insights from the Finnish context.
