Melting pot or tossed salad? Implications for designing effective multicultural workgroups

Group Development and Integration in a Cross-Disciplinary and Intercultural Research Team

Cross-disciplinary research is necessary to solve many complex problems that affect society today, including problems involving linked social and environmental systems. Examples include natural resource management or scarcity problems, problematic effects of climate change, and environmental pollution issues. Intercultural research teams are needed to address many complex environmental matters as they often cross geographic and political boundaries, and involve people of different countries and cultures. It follows that disciplinarily and culturally diverse research teams have been organized to investigate and address environmental issues. This case study investigates a team composed of both monolingual and bilingual Chilean and US university researchers who are geoscientists, engineers and economists. The objective of this research team was to study both the natural and human parts of a hydrologic system in a hyper-arid region in northern Chile. Interviews (n = 8) addressed research questions focusing on the interaction of cross-disciplinary diversity and cultural diversity during group integration and development within the team. The case study revealed that the group struggled more with cross-disciplinary challenges than with intercultural ones. Particularly challenging ones were instances the of disciplinary crosstalk, or hidden misunderstandings, where team members thought they understood their cross-disciplinary colleagues, when in reality they did not. Results showed that translation served as a facilitator to cross-disciplinary integration of the research team. The use of translation in group meetings as a strategy for effective cross-disciplinary integration can be extended to monolingual cross-disciplinary teams as well.

Dynamics of a critical problem-solving project team and creativity in a multiple-project environment

Purpose

– This paper aims to explore the dynamics of critical problem-solving (CPS) project teams and creativity throughout a project’s duration, in a multiple-project environment with consideration of the project’s external factors, such as customer situations. In addition, behavioural elements of the CPS project – multiple team memberships, cross-understanding and the transactive memory system – will be investigated in a multiple-project environment.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper investigates the dynamics of a CPS project team and creativity in a global software support organisation by conducting semi-structured interviews in Japan and Germany. There were 53 interviewees in Japan and 51 in Germany. The results presented in this paper show the outcomes of a qualitative study, specifically focusing on the processes of CPS projects using thematic analysis. In the discussion section, propositions are given based on this research’s findings as well as existing literature to denote future research possibilities.

Findings

– The results of this study suggest that creativity to resolve critical problems in a project team occurs by integrating diverse information and knowledge at multi-level organisational units. They suggest that managerial functions are crucial to determining project composition, and appropriate project environments are created by facilitating multiple team memberships at multi-level organisational units.

Originality/value

– For the academic domain, the findings have contributed to the fields of project and human resource management, and team management in a multiple-project environment. To practitioners, this study shows the importance of managing multiple projects by considering human behaviour perspectives when solving critical problems.

A Review of Diversity Conceptualizations

In an attempt to develop a means for researchers to reach a common understanding of the substantive meaning of diversity, this article first reviews different approaches to diversity conceptualizations, identifying three common threads that are incorporated in various diversity definitions. Our discussion examines the variety of diversity conceptualizations by addressing the three key aspects that present two general trends that emerge in the literature. We then propose a framework to unify the fragmented definitions and understandings of diversity. The implications for practice and future research are also discussed.

Examining changes in group acceptance of a newcomer from a different culture

A local workgroup’s initial acceptance of a newcomer from a different culture is determined by the group members’ expectations of the newcomer that are influenced by his/her category stereotypes. If the resulting attitude towards the newcomer is not favorable initially, it becomes important to study how it can be changed to ensure that the workgroup functions properly. I draw from expectancy violation theory and argue that a change in group acceptance will occur if a newcomer violates a host group’s expectations of him/her. The findings of my study show evidence of changes in a foreign newcomer’s task-based and relationship-based group acceptance when the newcomer’s performance and cross-cultural adaptability do not confirm the group’s expectations. The direction of the change is determined by whether the violation that occurs is favorable or not.