Cross-Cultural Management Nowadays - Essay Example

Cross Cultural Management The critical understanding of culture is vital for both the international and the local managers. Culture is distinctive methods in which people tend to behave in some situations, while management is the transfer of knowledge in the initial setting, countries and organizations. Therefore, cross cultural management are the application and the development of knowledge concerning cultures that are in practice in management. These tend to differ in their ethnicity, culture, skin color and work ethics. Cultural differences have always led to many crises in the real world. This does not favor the working together of individuals as a one team (Mead, R. & Andrews, T. 2009). The challenge for managing the multicultural teams effectively lies in the fact to recognize the underlying cultural reasons of conflict, and to interrupt in a way that would get all the teams back on its track and also empower the members in dealing with the future challenges themselves. This can be done by providing effective motivation. Motivation within the individuals is seen to vary across the subject areas (Harris, B. 2003). Research had suggested that motivation could be manipulated by using certain instructional practices though both positive and its negative effects had been demonstrated. When one manages a multicultural team consisting of people from nations such as Nigeria, China and Britain, leadership always play a key role. For a global leader understanding international interaction becomes very essential to implement transnational leadership in the global business world of today. Diversity as well as complexity seems to increase in the domestic scenario as the business operations gets more international (Henry J. 2001). The challenge while managing motivation in a multicultural team lies in recognizing "the patterns, values, symbols, meanings, beliefs, assumptions, and expectations. This challenge gets most apparent if the leader discovers that different cultures have views, which is a managerial method that is the best in one culture may not necessarily be effective in another. These differences observed in cultural outlook could also affect the leader’s communication with his team members if everyone is not found to be speaking in one particular language. There are various factors, which affect the level of motivation within the cross cultural team. First of all, while managing motivation in a cross cultural team, there are many things that need to be put in consideration. These can be in the form of respect for every culture, goal concentration, teamwork, clarity of thoughts and expression by the leader (Jackson, 2001). The leader needs to give special attention to the language and culture of the different people in the team. Employees who are respected as in their workplaces and made to feel as a part of the entire team have twice the chance to stick with their employer. Staff retention in turn which cuts the recruitment costs can make a huge impact for the whole organization? Using eye contact, body gestures and any formal language and their attitudes towards time-keeping, personal status and the rules are a few of the examples where the cultural differences can make an impact. There are many differences in the cultural attitude of the people from Nigeria, China and Britain. This can be simplified by the color white signifies peace in Nigerian and British culture, but in Chinese it indicates death. Indeed, the Chinese are demotivated when there is any mention of the color. Secondly, people should understand that a multicultural team has many components that might not be seen in the same nationality team. Multicultural teams can function in a very smooth, organized, as per the guidelines in good times. People might be jovial and flexible but in tense situations, they might revert back to their typical defensive behavior which they develop from their native upbringing and thus the team working suffers. This can hamper the motivation level as well if people realize that they cannot handle a situation within their limits outside their home country. If the team member never discusses what motivates him or her, as an individual as well as a representative for their own culture, they might misread the motives of the other team members as well. When a global multicultural team gets engaged in any project environment, these sorts of conflict are often detrimental to their performance. Miscommunication that is observed across cultural lines is usually regarded to be the vital cause for the cross-cultural problems in a multinational project. Thirdly, it is clearly seen that diversity in a multicultural team can affect motivation levels (House, R. 2004). Diversity in the form of communication patterns, languages, ethnicity can affect the motivation level of the team member. For example in a team consisting of British, Chinese and Nigerian people the Caucasian people might feel superior to the Asian of African counterparts. This is regarded as a racist fallacy where the people are de-motivated because of their skin color, facial features or other such aspects. This might force the non Caucasian members to take up measures to lighten their skin color. This is a clear indication of low motivation that leads to a feeling of inferiority. Moreover, indifferences in a cross cultural team can be task related or relationship related. Task related indifferences can occur when the members face difficulty in arriving at a common solution because of their decision making styles. The people can suffer from de-motivation and face problems in opening up before the other members and this can arise due to many factors that have been discussed above. Emotional conflict will prevent the person from being productive. This can be solved by conducting training sessions for the different cultural employees or the members that would involve modifying their mind, their emotions, the social behaviors, their tastes, and many more. This training would help the employees to move over their emotional or self conflicts, feel motivated and contribute in a better way. Furthermore, cross cultural teams have become common phenomena after the rise of globalization. A multicultural team is sensitive in many matters and the direct impact of these features fall on the motivation level. Motivation is guided by many aspects that can include both cognitive and non cognitive behaviors. In a team consisting of people of different ethnicity communication, culture, skin color, emotional values play an important role. There are many situations where the members can feel demotivated because of an issue that might arise because of this. The leaders of such teams need to be very careful while forming the measures that can affect their motivation levels. Lastly, language plays a vital role in communication. Language is thought to bind people together but if people are unable to communicate by the same language it can lead to many types of miscommunications and problems. A multicultural team always should make sure that it follows a language that is common to all the different team members (Hofstede, G. 2002). There can be clashes within the domestic circle involving multi cultural groups as well. Internal conflicts can take the form of cultural conflicts that would worsen the situation. To find a solution to these problems the leader needs to understand the requirements of each team member. In conclusion, it is clear that a cross cultural team leader must understand the cultural needs and values of his team members. No form of religious or personal attack should be made on each other to indicate superiority over the others. The leader must be able to unite them with a common goal and make them feel motivated. He must ensure that every member no matter which culture he might belong to is made a part of the team. This may result to a sense of belongingness in a person which would make him more motivated. References Harris, B. (2003). International Human Resource Management. London: CIPD. Henry, J. (2001). Creativity and Perception in Management. London: Open University Press. Jackson, T. (2001). International Human Resource Management. London: Sage. Mead, R. & Andrews, T. (2009). International Management. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. House, R. (2004). Culture, Leadership and Organizations: Sage: Thousands Oaks, CA. Hofstede, G. (2002). “The Business Goals Network what Goals do Business Leaders Pursue? A Study in Fifteen Countries”, Journal of International Business Studies. 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