Cross Cultural Management - International Teams - Essay Example

They include Individualism; this dimension show the extent to which the people value self determination in the organization, different from their behaviors becomes examined by the collective will of the group in the organization. Power distance; in this dimension lies the question of involvement in the decision making. In the lower power distance cultures, employees always seek involvement and tend to have a desire for a participative management type. The employees will tend to work in a certain way, because they comprehend the fact that they get asked to do so by the organization managers.

Uncertainty avoidance; this dimensions deals with the employees tolerance of the ambiguity in their environment. In the cultures that have high uncertainty avoidance, the employees will look for the clearly defined, stipulated rules and regulations that govern their individual behaviors. Masculinity or femininity; in the highly male cultures, the dominant values relate to the assertiveness and the material acquisition. In the highly feminists cultures, the values focus on the relationship among different people, the need to help others and the quality of life.

Intercultural communication in an organization creates teamwork. It enables the employees understand each other’s cultural differences, and to be able to communicate efficiently without creating or raising misunderstandings. In a successful intercultural communication, employees are able to comprehend the cultures of different people on their behaviors and the communication tendencies. This creates teamwork as the employees respect each other’s unique talents, cultural background and capabilities.

When employees are aware of other people’s cultural influences, stereotyping gets eliminated which is always a danger to teamwork and effective communication. Understanding different cultures is a key to organizations success. One cannot understand other people’s culture without forming close relationships with these people. Intercultural friendships can develop among employees. However, how those friendships get formed and how they become viewed in an organization differs from one culture to the other culture.

Some people need their space in all areas, and they see those who encroach in their space as threats. Personal space is an example some people require less or greater distances between them. A Japanese individual who does not need much space will stand next to an American; this will make the American uncomfortable. According to Hall, all cultures can be situated in relation to one another according to the styles in which they communicate. He proposed differences in high- and low-context cultural dimension that depends on how identity rests in the total communication framework.

He claimed that different cultural frameworks for organizing and defining space, which becomes internalized everybody at an unconscious level, creates serious failures of communication and understanding in different cultural settings. According to hall; Intimate space; is the closest space surrounding an individual and it is only acceptable to very close friends and dear intimates. Consultative and social space; is the space that people feel comfortable conducting their social routines with friends and strangers.

Public space; this is the space area where people will perceive interactions as impersonal and relatively anonymous. Ethical practices are other contentious areas for the intercultural teams. The awareness of own and