Benefits of Effective Cross-Cultural Collaboration-Free-Samples

Question: Your organisations recent global expansion has created new challenges of global collaboration. The general manager has asked you prepare areport for the Executive Team on practical steps that could be taken to enhance cross-cultural teamwork, communication and negotiation. Answer: Introduction Cross-cultural teamwork is defined as the actions and achievements of a group that includes people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds who are working together cooperatively to achieve common organisational objectives. Effective communication, negotiation, and teamwork are the primary requirements for an international corporation to succeed in international market. International companies operate in multiple countries hence they deal with people from different background and ethnicity and proper understanding of their culture can lead to substantial opportunities for the corporation. The enterprises face various challenges during their global collaboration; management can implement various cross-cultural theories to address such challenges. This report will focus on the problems and issues face by international organisation in relation to cross-cultural collaboration. Further, the report will recommend various cross-cultural collaboration theories to address the challenges Benefits of Effective Cross-Cultural Collaboration Globalisation has removed the boundaries between countries and digitalisation has made it easier for corporations to expand their business in other counties. Modern organisations are expanding their business in new territories in order to increase their market share (Gebauer, Sedikides and Neberich, 2012). The role of effective cross-cultural teamwork, negotiation, and communication is becoming significant with the growth of technology, global business, and internet-based services. Modern corporations can effectively operate their foreign divisions by learning about their culture and implementing it into their business environment. An effective cross-cultural communication includes understanding of different businesses beliefs, customers, traditions, and communication strategies (Stewart and Bennett, 2011). There are several benefits of establishing an effective cross-cultural communication, teamwork, and negotiation. Understanding Cultural Diversity: An effective cross-cultural communication enable employees and executives to learn about new cultural along with their own. The cross-cultural teamwork provides an opportunity to people for learning customers and traditions of other cultures and improve their understanding (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2011). New Opportunities: The management can improve understanding of other cultures that assist them in gaining new opportunities. Valuable experience: Working with diverse and multicultural individual provides a valuable experience to people that assist in their personal and psychological development. Challenges Following are few challenges that are faced by modern corporations regarding cross-cultural communication, teamwork, and negotiation. Communication, Expression and Language Barrier Effective and quality communications are the key to success of businesses. Teamwork requires collective effort from each party, and all the members have to fully understand the instructions or guidelines to work properly (Schuler, 2008). When team members speak different language it becomes difficult for people to understand each other. Pronunciations and accent can create confusion among the members, and it can hamper the quality of work. The communication barriers increase the decision-making time which reduces the performance of a corporation (Guffey and Loewy, 2012). Cultural Background In cross-cultural teams, the people are from different background, and they have distinct culture, ethics, values, and morals than each other. A person cannot possibly be aware of all the different cultures, and sometimes people perform some acts that unintentionally offend other individuals (Thomas, 2008). For example, in Egypt, UK, US or Russia, it is normal to reply or send emails after working hours, but in Latvia, people do not send email after working hours unless the matter is serious. Perception or Stereotyping People from developed countries consider individuals from developing nations as inferior or vice versa. Many people intentionally or unintentionally use stereotypes while communicating with people from other cultures which offend them (Posthuma and Campion, 2009). It creates a negative environment in the company because people feel like other department did not respect them, or they considered themselves as superior. Negative environment makes it difficult for managers to implement new policies which obstruct the growth of the corporation (Griffin and Moorhead, 2011). Different Attitude towards Disclosure In many cultures, it is not considered appropriate to become frank about personal problems, emotions, conflict, or misunderstanding in the office. People have to consider what they are talking about while dealing with people from different culture or else it can offend some people. Many people feel uncomfortable to share or reveal their personal details, and insensitive question of other people can upset them (Twenge and Campbell, 2008). Religion Religion is one of the most controversial topics in the world which has created several international issues; office environment is also not safe from issues of religion. People highly respect their religion, and they did not prefer when other individuals insult their religion. Many people start getting violent when people made insensitive comment about their religion. Many times, unintentional actions of people offend others religion which creates a conflict between them (Benefiel, Fry and Geigle, 2014). It is difficult for managers to properly manage the religious conflicts because whichever side he/she would take it will offend another party. For example, Indians respects cows and consider them a part of God, therefore, they do not eat them. But beef is popular among various cultures and many people eat it during special occasions. This difference creates a problem when a company from the United States or the United Kingdom establish their division in India (Rao, 2012). Negotiation Etiquettes Negotiation is a significant part of business while dealing in a foreign country; a company is required to negotiate with various parties including suppliers, investors, employees, local businesses, government, and others. Nonfulfilment or misuse of negotiation etiquettes can create problems for a corporation since it offends many people (Okoro, 2012). For example, in countries such as UK, US, and northern Europe, maintaining a direct eye contact is considered as a sign of sincerity and confidence. Specifically, in South America, eye contact is necessary since it conveys trustworthiness of parties. However, in many cultures, maintaining long eye contact is a sign of rudeness. In Japan, prolonged eye contact in business meetings is considered as a sign of rudeness, and it offends many people. There are several other negotiation etiquettes that aid in success or failure of a business meeting. For example, time is a critical part of different culture. In monochromic culture, people prefer to set schedules, planned breaks, meeting agendas and detailed communications. The countries with monochromic culture include Switzerland, United States, Germany, and Scandinavia. Whereas in Polychromic culture, people are comfortable with less structured meeting schedules, free information flows, spontaneous decisions and unstructured breaks. The countries with polychromic culture include Italy, France, Greek, Mexico, and others (Ke, 2011). Other Small Issues Following are various other small problems that become bigger challenges for managers while maintaining cross-culture communication, teamwork or negotiation: Formal versus Informal: Different cultures have different approach towards business operations which include various formalities and expectations from other parties. Nonfulfilment of such expectations results in failure of a negotiation or communication (Myers and Sadaghiani, 2010). For example, in US people prefer to use first name because it is a sign of friendliness, whereas, in Japan and Germany, people are more formal, and they prefer to address by their last name. Punctuality: Arriving late in a business meeting or dealing can create problems in case of some cultures than compared to others. For example, is United States and Germany, punctuality is important, and meetings get cancelled if other parties arrive late. Meeting and Greeting: Different cultures have different meeting and greeting styles. For example, a handshake is most commonly used greeting method, but in some cultures, it is not appropriate between genders. Recommendations for Resolving Cross-Cultural Issues A corporations global expansion creates various problems relating to cross-cultural communication, teamwork, and negotiation which are necessary to address properly in order to manage international operations successfully. There are several benefits of properly managing cross-cultural environment because it improves morale, productivity, and creativity. Employees started to gain respect for each other, and it improves trust between them. Following are few suggestions that can be implemented by organisations to address the challenges relating to cross cultures. Learning about the Culture During a global expansion, a corporation deal with various people from different cultures, therefore, it is necessary that corporation learn about such cultures to ensure effective operations. Managers should research and teach other employees regarding different cultures and their formalities to ensure that they did not offend any person (Eraut, 2008). For example, after a global expansion, a company hire local employees and to manage them effectively, it is necessary to learn their culture. Bridge the Culture Gap Managers can take necessary steps to fill the culture gap in an organisation to ensure effective operations. Small cultural differences can create bigger conflicts between employees and management (Carte and Fox, 2008). For example, in countries such as China, Japan, and Germany, it is considered as an insult if a person comes late to a meeting. Managers should let everyone know about these formalities and ensure that they are properly followed by the employees. Acknowledging Differences Building awareness about different cultures and properly acknowledging them is a key to improve cross-cultural teamwork. Managers should discourage the insensitive behaviour of employees which can make them feel unwanted or excluded (Kapoor and Solomon, 2011). The corporation should help prevent demeaning jokes or stereotyping or insensitive remarks which are based on culture, value, or religion. Effective companies implement a strict code of conduct which includes various rules for appropriate behaviour, and they also take disciplinary actions when violence occurs. Every employee should feel safe in the workplace, and organisation should take appropriate steps to establish a positive environment. The managers and employees should research and observe local customs to ensure their actions are not offensive to anyone (Ball, 2010). The managers should acknowledge the difference between cultures and also teach other employees regarding the same. Effective Communication Following are few techniques that can be used by managers and employees to improve cross-cultural communication: Use of proper etiquette while talking with people from a different culture is necessary. Many cultures expect a certain level of formality during conversation and employees should research and learn about such formalities, so they avoid offending someone (Bovee, Thill and Raina, 2016). For example, in China, people reverse family name, and in Japan, people use san for men and women. The managers and employees should be aware of these formalities before taking to employees from a different culture. People should avoid using slang while talking with someone in a business meeting because most people did not understand slangs and it can confuse other parties. People from different culture speak different languages, and they have different accents which are difficult to understand by people. Therefore, while dealing with international employees, managers should talk slowly to ensure that employees understand them (Kitmoller and Lauring, 2013). While talking, employees should speak slowly and clearly to ensure other parties are able to understand them. Managers can also find other ways of communication to avoid the issue of different accents such as using email or other chatting application to communicate. Effective cross-cultural communication requires that parties are feeling comfortable and supportive while talking with each other. In conversation, people should treat each other with respect and do their best to communicate clearly. They should also avoid humour because it may be difficult for another person to understand its context, and they might get offended by the remark. Personal Time In case an employee from a different culture is working in an organisation than manager should spend personal time with him to learn about his/her culture and make them comfortable in the organisational environment. In personal time, the employee can tell manager about his issues and whether someone is treating him differently due to his culture (Fullan, 2014). The teammates should also spend personal time with the employee from a different culture to learn about his/her values and formalities to ensure they understood his/her culture and did not offend him unintentionally. Disciplinary Actions International corporations are required to establish a strict code of conduct for employees and managers to avoid any cross-cultural issues. The companies should punish the employees who make fun or bully people with different cultures. Diversity is necessary is modern corporations which assist in its development and growth. The diversity among employees can bring a new perspective in business strategies that increase innovation and creativity. Negative behaviour, bullying, racism, and office politics creates tension between employees and management which leads to office disputes (Mitchell, 2009). Conflicts in workplace decrease the productivity of employees, and it creates mental health issues for employees. Culture is a primary issue in conflicts; people are sensitive towards their values, and they did not prefer interference of others. Many people make fun or bully others culture to gain an unfair advantage. The company should avoid this behaviour and attitude by establishing proper guidelines for disciplinary actions. International corporations can establish a strict code of conduct which includes policies for punishing the employees or manager which intentionally hurts another persons feeling based on his/her culture (Fox and Stallworth, 2009). For example, the company can suspend or fire the person who acts insensitively to people with different culture because it creates various cross-cultural problems. General Principles The managers and employees should avoid making assumptions if they did not know about a particular religion or culture. Every person holds stereotype and preconceptions, but they should not act on them without knowledge. Even if a person thinks he/she knows about a culture or religion, they should avoid making assumptions because it can offend people that create a negative working environment. Every employee should receive equal treatment in the workplace, and they should not face discrimination based on race, caste, culture, religion or gender. The top-level managers should avoid discriminating between employees and take disciplinary actions against people who do so. It is not enough to treat everyone with equality; people should be treated the way they want to be treated. Conclusion From the above observations, it can be concluded that a company faces various cross-cultural teamwork, communication and negotiation issues when expanding their business globally. The managers find it difficult to supervise and direct the staff and maintain coordination between them. The cross-culture problems include communication barriers, language and accent difference, stereotyping, insensitive remarks, lack of negotiation etiquettes, different attitude towards disclosure, religion and others. It is necessary that corporations solve these problems to manage their domestic and international operations effectively. 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