Managing Across Cultures - Report Example

Manage Across Culture Contents Contents 1 Introduction 2 Why is working with global teams important to me if I want to pursue a career as a manager across cultures? 4 What have I learned (about working with global teams) and how will I use that knowledge in the future? 8 Conclusion 12 References 13 Introduction As a result of increasing globalisation and the changing business environment, many companies have responded by introducing a global virtual team (Bartel-Radic 2006). A global team involves employees and members who are geographically dispersed but can coordinate together and communicate through electronic technology such as email, video-conferencing, etc. (Joshi, Labianca & Caliguiri 2002). Also, the growing use of new communication technologies has accelerated this trend and has made the management of global teams very easy. Working with global teams is especially important to companies with human talent located in different geographical areas. One important reason for global teams is to utilise the competencies and expertise of different employees located in different regions (Joshi, Labianca & Caliguiri 2002). Global teams are associated with numerous benefits that result in organisational success. According to Hertel, Geister and Konradt (2005), global teams differ from other teams on the basis of heterogeneity on multiple dimensions and dispersed work environment. In a global team, team members work across national boundaries, sometimes in the absence of face-to-face communication, and integrate their activities to achieve common goals and objectives (Joshi, Labianca & Caliguiri 2002). A global workforce is affected by cultural differences that interfere with its effectiveness. This essay will highlight why working with global teams is important to me, especially in my pursuit of management across cultures. It will also describe the lessons I have learnt about working with global teams and how the knowledge will assist me in the future. Why is working with global teams important to me if I want to pursue a career as a manager across cultures? A career as a manager across cultures requires the involvement of global teams (Joshi, Labianca & Caliguiri 2002). To succeed in the global market, it is important to rely on geographically dispersed employees. Global managers build teams that provide the best expertise, combined with local knowledge of potential markets (Brewer 2015). Global teams bring together people from different cultures with different perspectives on organisational success (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler 2012). As such, global teams assist firms to compete in today’s competitive business environment and boost their competitive advantage (Engardio, 2007). Companies operating in different regions cannot succeed without the help of global teams (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler 2012). Working in today’s business world is considered complex and unpredictable. In multinational corporations it is important to ensure effective communication and collaboration between geographically distributed employees (Shaw, Jarvenpaa & Staples 2004). Because I have a company in my hometown (in Saudi Arabia) and I have teams from different countries such as Palestine, Jordan, Dubai and China, it is convenient and appropriate for me to work with global teams. The teams from Palestine and Jordan are specialists in marketing strategy. The team from Dubai is responsible for distribution. The team from China is responsible for purchases. The team in Saudi Arabia is responsible for operations and the head office is in Saudi Arabia. With all these elements distributed in different geographical areas, it is important to ensure effective cooperation between employees in China and distributers in Dubai to make yield benefits such as better quality of products and services, reduced costs and reduction in the time-to-market for the products (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler 2012). New product development will require collaboration between global teams distributed in China, Dubai, Palestine and Jordan. The use of open communication and collaboration when working with global teams plays a fundamental role in gaining and maintaining trust (Ebrahim, Shamsuddin & Taha 2009). Global team members do not work at the same place or time. Often they are under tight schedules and required to perform exceptionally well. Therefore, with distributers, marketers and purchasers in different locations, the success of my company will only be possible when the team members collaborate productively at a distance (Kreitz 2008). Regardless of these challenges, effective management of global teams will yield benefits for my company. Global teams in a multinational environment have different cultural backgrounds and beliefs. In a global context, team members are often outside their comfort zone and are pressured to adapt (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler 2012). For instance, my teams from China, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Palestine have different cultures and differ in terms of their communication skills. However, put together, they are more creative in developing ideas and solving challenges. Pursuing a career in global management will require me to use global teams (Shaw, Jarvenpaa & Staples 2004). Employees in different regions will assist in increasing understanding of global markets and customer preferences. It is often hard for multinational companies to determine the needs of foreign markets and this can affect their profitability. However, working with global teams will provide extensive information about global markets. It will also identify the changes an organisation can undertake to satisfy international customers (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler 2012). Although it takes a longer time to make decisions within a global workforce, the resulting decisions are more conventional, accurate and inclusive (Brewer 2015). Global teams have higher flexibility and time control than local teams. Since they operate in different time zones, their operations depend on the availability of team members (Allen et al. 2004). This increases motivation and empowerment of the team members. In addition, global teams are recruited on the basis of their expertise instead of their availability. They are able to work around the clock and are flexible when it comes to response to market demands (Day 2007). In addition, employing global teams reduces the expense for travel and offices. Also, in a multinational company, global teams are essential as they assist in developing regions in terms of employment, infrastructure, reducing environmental strain such as traffic and pollution and in considering people with low mobility such as the disabled (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler 2012). Global teams also offer the concept of diversity in organisations. Diversity has become an integral part of large organisations (Shaw, Jarvenpaa & Staples 2004). People from different cultures have the right to find better employment opportunities. Global teams offer diversity to organisations, which has been linked to high productivity. Employees with varied skills, distinctive capabilities and multiple cultural underpinnings have a better chance at developing creative solutions to problems and improving productivity (Kreitz 2008). With a diverse workforce, an organisation is able to enhance its business reputation. Diversity manifests itself in creating a great reputation leading to high productivity. Companies’ reputations flourish when there is an indication that they are committed to cultural diversity (Hertel, Geister and Konradt, 2005). With global teams, an organisation can attract a larger customer base and a wider pool of qualified candidates. What have I learned (about working with global teams) and how will I use that knowledge in the future? There are several lessons that I have learnt from working with global teams. To start with, global teams are expected to fulfil some important goals such as greater efficiency across operations in different geographical regions, to manage local differences and to enhance learning across boundaries (Joshi, Labianca & Caligiuri 2002). With members operating in different regions and having conflicting goals, there is a high likelihood of conflict within global teams. With my company operating across China, Jordan and Dubai, the likelihood of the occurrence of conflict is very high. I have learnt that conflict is likely to occur between employees who are already working in different regions, in different time zones and under different cultural norms (Joshi, Labianca & Caligiuri 2002). In spite of being physically separated, global teams often experience the burden of accommodating different group dynamics and cultures (Joshi, Labianca & Caligiuri 2002). There are several sources of conflict within global teams such as competition over scarce organisational resources, differences in time orientation, disputes over goals and interpersonal relationships. I have also learnt that conflict may be caused by differences in language, culture and nationality (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler 2012). As a result of the physical separation between global team members, there can be a lack of trust and confidence among employees and a breakdown in communication, which will eventually result in interpersonal conflict. Therefore, to avoid conflict, it is important for a manager to prevent or mitigate it (Joshi, Labianca & Caligiuri 2002). I have learnt that it is important for leaders to possess certain competencies to overcome the challenges facing global teams (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler 2012). These competencies include communication, motivating and inspiring, team playing and goal setting. Therefore, as a leader, I should possess or work towards achieving these competencies in order to ensure the success of the global team (Engardio 2007). What differentiates between a successful global team and an unsuccessful one is the ability of a leader to manage cultural diversity (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler 2012). With the mentioned competencies, I would be able to enhance collaboration and trust among members in different countries. I can act as a mentor and team leader for the multicultural global team members from China, Jordan, Dubai and Palestine. Leadership style also determines the ability to mitigate conflict and other challenges facing global virtual teams (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler 2012). From the literature review on working with global teams, I have learnt that leadership styles such as transformational, charismatic and inspirational leadership are important in managing virtual employees (Bartel-Radic 2006). Utilising these leadership styles would enable me to bridge the gap between global team members and create a common goal or objective. I have also learnt that different teams across different regions have different points of view and knowledge that will help a great deal in my business (Joshi, Labianca & Caligiuri 2002). In contrast to local teams, the use of global virtual teams is beneficial since using employees from different regions brings together different abilities and skills that ensures a successful business operation (Chavaren 2003). When recruiting locally, it is likely that I would be restricting myself to a smaller talent pool. Recruiting a global team allows me to look for talent beyond geographical boundaries. This brings together expertise from different regions who can work successfully on a project. With global teams, there is an increase in knowledge sharing and innovation that enhances the performance of my company (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler 2012). For example, my team in Palestine and Jordan are very good at marketing strategy, and the other teams are very good at other operations such as sales and distribution. Therefore, bringing together expertise in the different operations will boost the overall performance of the company (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler 2012). In the future, after learning from this course, Managing Across Culture, I will be able to deal with many people around the world through one company like the popular companies in the world. I will use the knowledge I learn from the course to improve the operation of a global company (Shaw, Jarvenpaa & Staples 2004). In past decades, before the advancement in the use of communication technologies such as video conferencing and the intranets, teams needed to be in the same location in order to work successfully (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler 2012). However, many companies today have employees based in different buildings, countries and continents and have been able to perform excellently. For instance, companies such as Siemens and Toshiba have been experiencing challenges in their global operations due to lack of communication and trust between employees working in different geographical areas (Joshi, Labianca & Caligiuri 2002). However, recently, these companies have been able to curb these problems by creating successful global partnerships and trust among global team members. Their success can be explained by their ability to provide clear and engaging purpose and measurable performance goals through preparation and practice (Joshi, Labianca & Caligiuri 2002). The head of IBM’s Cloud Labs has driven the company towards success by managing global teams productively. He has created trust among employees and has managed diversity in the workforce. Based on his success, I will use his strategies and action plans to build and manage global teams. For instance, I would build effective cross-cultural communication between global teams and use cultural differences to build participation and resolve conflict (Joshi, Labianca & Caligiuri 2002). In addition, I will build the leadership skills required for working with a global workforce and utilise the different conflict resolution strategies applicable to employees working in different geographical regions. I will also manage the different circumstances and situations under which a global workforce operates such as asynchronous time and culture and match communication styles to the global workforce environment (Joshi, Labianca & Caligiuri 2002). Conclusion Due to globalisation and the changing business environment, businesses have responded by introducing global virtual teams. Global teams are those that are geographically dispersed but can coordinate together to achieve predetermined goals. Working with global teams is important to companies with operations in different markets. Working with global teams is important to me if I want to pursue a career as a manager across cultures. Global teams are associated with more creativity in developing ideas and solving organisational challenges. These teams increase the understanding of local markets and result in strategic decisions that are comprehensive and acceptable to everyone. In addition, global teams offer higher flexibility and are based on expertise instead of availability. Adopting global teams will increase the productivity and performance of organisations. Therefore, they are an excellent choice for global managers. Cultural and national differences often increase the likelihood of conflict within global teams. From the course, I have learnt that global teams are only successful when they are managed effectively to reduce conflict. Although technology has allowed global teams to communicate, collaborate and work together, turning geographically dispersed individuals into a team requires good leadership and effective management skills. I have also learnt that global teams bring together a high talent pool that improves organisational productivity. References Allen, RS, Dawson, GA, Wheatley, KK & White, CS 2004, ‘Diversity practices: learning responses for modern organizations’, Development and Learning in Organizations, vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 13–15. Bartel-Radic, A 2006, ‘Intercultural learning in global teams’, Management International Review, vol. 46, no. 6, pp. 647–677. Brewer, P 2015, International virtual teams: engineering global communication, IEEE Press Wiley, Hoboken, N J. Chavaren, O 2003, Trust within global virtual teams: antecedents, facilitators, and sustainability factors, iUniverse, New York, NY. Day, R 2007, ‘Developing the multicultural organization: managing diversity or understanding differences?’, Industrial and Commercial Training, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 214–217. Ebrahim, AN, Shamsuddin, A & Taha, Z 2009, ‘Virtual teams: a literature review’, Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 2653–2669. Engardio, P 2007, ‘A guide for multinationals’, Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine. Retrieved 13th April 2017, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2006-07-30/emerging-giants. Hertel, G, Geister, S & Konradt, U 2005, ‘Managing virtual teams: a review of current empirical research’, Human Resource Management Review, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 69–95. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2005.01.002. Joshi, A, Labianca, G & Caligiuri, PM 2002, ‘Getting along long distance: understanding conflict in a multinational team through network analysis’, Journal of World Business, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 277–284. Kreitz, P 2008, ‘Best practices for managing organizational diversity’, Journal of Academic Librarianship, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 101–120. Shaw, RT, Jarvenpaa, LS & Staples, SD 2004, ‘Toward contextualized theories of trust: the role of trust in global virtual teams’, Information Systems Research, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 250–267. Zander, L, Mockaitis, A & Butler, C 2012, ‘Leading global teams’, Journal of World Business, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 592-603. Read More