Managing multicultural teams

Multicultural teams offer a number of advantages to international firms, including deep knowledge of different product markets, culturally sensitive customer service, and 24-hour work rotations. But those advantages may be outweighed by problems stemming from cultural differences, which can seriously impair the effectiveness of a team or even bring itto a stalemate. How can managers best cope with culture-based challenges? The authors conducted in-depth interviews with managers and members of multicultural teams from all over the world. Drawing on their extensive research on dispute resolution and teamwork and those interviews, they identify four problem categories that can create barriers to a team's success: direct versus indirect communication, trouble with accents and fluency, differing attitudes toward hierarchy and authority, and conflicting norms for decision making. If a manager--or a team member--can pinpoint the root cause of the problem, he or she is likelier to select an appropriate strategy for solving it. The most successful teams and managers, the authors found, dealt with multicultural challenges in one of four ways: adaptation (acknowledging cultural gaps openly and working around them), structural intervention (changing the shape or makeup of the team), managerial intervention (setting norms early or bringing in a higher-level manager), and exit (removing a team member when other options have failed). Which strategy is best depends on the particular circumstances--and each has potential complications. In general, though, managers who intervene early and set norms; teams and managers who try to engage everyone on the team; and teams that can see challenges as stemming from culture, not personality, succeed in solving culture-based problems with good humor and creativity. They are the likeliest to harvest the benefits inherent in multicultural teams.     

Sport within Muslim organizations in Norway: ethnic segregated activities as arena for integration

During recent years, there has been a growing focus within sports research on ethnic minorities and their involvement in sports. In UK, studies show that Muslim organisations offering sports activities to their members are a common phenomenon. The establishment of sports clubs by minority groups has been met with scepticism from governmental bodies because it is perceived as a ‘segregated’ activity that does not contribute to integration. However, in Norway, no research has been conducted on the output of these establishments, something this paper hopes to redress in part. The paper reports on a research project which aimed to examine the role of Muslim organisations in Norway in the development of social capital and integration through sport. The theoretical approach to the study of integration has Putnam’s concept and understanding of social capital as point of departure. The study is based on interviews with representatives of seven Muslim organisations (mosques) in Oslo as well as participant observation at two arrangements. The sports activities offered by the mosques are first and foremost used by the mosques as a tool to recruit and gather Muslim youth. The study reveals the integration aspect of the work conducted by the Muslim organisations. It is argued that the Muslim organisations’ idea of supporting youth to become ‘Norwegian Muslim’ is built on an ‘anti-racism multiculturalism’ discourse which rejects assimilation. A key aspect of this discourse is that minorities turn a negative difference ascribed by the majority into a positive identity to be proud of. As such, the work emphasises the possibility of being both Muslim and well-integrated into Norwegian society. Hence, the article argues for an integration perspective that recognises the integration work being carried out by minority organisations, even though this work, in terms of social networks, has more of a bonding character.     

Exploring perceptions of interdependencies: Strategic options in supplier-customer relationships

This paper investigates how three indicators, 1) convergence-divergence in actor characteristics, 2) relationship atmosphere, and 3) degree of overlap in the network pictures of collaborating partners, relate to the perceived interdependencies and strategic options seen in specific supplier-customer relationships. The paper presents the case of a Danish food company, which offers the same pallet of new products to different customers. Joint developments are coordinated equivalently across customer relationships, and the customers draw on the same company technology and knowledge resources. Still, the company perceives interdependencies and related strategic options as very divergent across the customer relationships.     

Co‐Worker Exclusion and Employee Outcomes: An Investigation of the Moderating Roles of Perceived Organizational and Social Support

When does social support alleviate or exacerbate the effects of being excluded by colleagues in the workplace? This study integrates belongingness and social support theories to predict and demonstrate the differential effects of work‐related support (i.e., perceived organizational support; POS) and non‐work‐related support (i.e., family and social support; FSS) on employee reactions to co‐worker exclusion. Consistent with our predictions, we found that employees reporting high levels of co‐worker exclusion and high levels of perceived organizational support demonstrate higher levels of performance and increased levels of self‐worth than those reporting low levels of POS. Alternatively, support from family or friends intensified the negative relationship between co‐worker exclusion and self‐esteem and the positive relationship between co‐worker exclusion and job‐induced tension. Unexpectedly, FSS did not influence the supervisor‐rated task performance of excluded workers, nor did POS mitigate the relationship between co‐worker exclusion and job‐induced tension. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.     

Attitudes, experience and knowledge among farmers to recycling of sludge

Today's wastewater systems have been built to improve the hygiene level within households and the quality of water for other users, but have on the other hand created another environmental problem in the production of sludge. In many Western societies more than 50% of sludge produced is being distributed on agricultural land, and resistance to this practice among farmers is growing. In a survey answered by 1050 farmers, attitudes, experiences and knowledge towards use of sludge were investigated. Reasons for use were soil conditioner properties and compensation schemes. Reasons for non-use were fear of toxic compounds and infectious remnants, restrictions on use of land and unfamiliarity with use. There was more knowledge among users than among non-users. Compensation for sludge among farmers implied a perception of sludge as a waste. If farmers must accept sludge, then reliable and complete information from trusted sources is required: economic arguments about agronomic benefits are not sufficient and confidence with other stakeholders and a feeling of justice in solving environmental problems are central aspects.     

Language‐Based Exclusion and Prosocial Behaviors in Organizations

Organizations can be seen as amalgams of languages that can serve as a source of divisive tensions among employees. In our conceptual model, we draw upon social identity and social exclusion research to propose that linguistic diversity increases the potential for language‐based exclusion in multilingual work settings. Language may cue listeners to ethnic or cultural stereotypes as well as negatively affect perceptions of speakers’ competence, leading listeners to exclude speakers of certain languages. We contend that when excluded, perception of oneself can be cast in an antagonistic relation to perceptions of others, with detrimental effects on prosocial behaviors. Perceptions of procedural unfairness, a weakened identity, and impaired mood serve to amplify the association between language‐based exclusion and prosocial behaviors. However, organizational factors such as positive diversity climate may mitigate experiences with language‐based exclusion. We outline an agenda for future research and discuss implications for human resource practice. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Configuring designers? Using one agile project management methodology to achieve user participation

The aim was to examine the possibilities and limits of involving end‐users in applied knowledge‐producing settings. Is it possible to have user participation as a part of the design process? The agile method DSDM supposed to enhance user participation as well as improve other aspects of the management of computer system design projects.     

Dialogue and Relationship Building in Online Financial Communications

The use of social media in investor communications is a fairly new phenomenon. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States announced that corporations may use social media to disclose mandatory key information required by law. With that ruling, social media communications leaves the sometimes fancy world of creativity and image creation and enters the core of strategic communication linked to corporate viability and success. Investor relations in general are essentially about engaging in dialogues with shareholders. Whereas disseminating information online is quite established, online dialogues offer a greater challenge. Dialogue-oriented and dialogic communication processes are not the same according to speech philosophy; and dialogic communication serves only as one possibility for corporations to build relationships with stakeholders. The research presented here analyzes how listed corporations deal with the highly participatory and fragmented communication environment on the web. The prevalence and intensity of social media dialogues was analyzed in an empirical study that focused on the 150 largest global corporations listed on DJIA (United States), FTSE (United Kingdom), CAC (France), DAX (Germany), and NIKKEI (Japan). A framework has been constructed to analyze dialogue-oriented and dialogic financial communications on the Internet and social web.