University Teamwork Report: Cultural Differences in MGMT861

This report analyzes the dynamics of a diverse team comprising members from China, Somalia, and India, focusing on the challenges and successes encountered during a group presentation assignment. It explores how cultural differences impacted communication, team cohesion, and individual approaches to the task, highlighting issues such as varying work styles (individualistic vs. collectivist), language barriers, and differing levels of skill proficiency among team members. The report details both positive aspects, like the initiative taken to support less skilled members and the organized approach to gathering supporting materials, and negative aspects, such as communication breakdowns, time management issues, and instances of unequal contribution. The author draws on relevant literature to support the analysis of teamwork concepts and recommends strategies for mitigating cultural challenges and improving team performance in future group projects. The report concludes with reflections on the lessons learned and the importance of adapting teamwork strategies to accommodate cultural diversity.

Running head: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND TEAM WORK
Cultural Differences and Team Work
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction:
The effectiveness of the team is observed to play a significant role in the success of
achieving a common goal. The team work in the modern generation is a notable aspect and
the complexity level of the tasks is seen to be less in effective team setting (Salas et al.,
2015). However, the effective team work in the modern generation is significantly affected
by various factors like the cultural differences, the improper interpretation of the cases and
the difference in the understanding of the situations among the member of the organization
(Morse, 2014). A team which is having individuals from different country, rituals,
backgrounds and cultures, is seen to have noble differences in the various aspects of the value
dimensions and at the same time, the differences among the members of the team in the
aspects like the social belief, values and ethics becomes visible as well (Levitt, 2015). The
paper is focused in the elaboration of the issues that we faced as a team during the
preparation of the PowerPoint presentation of the recommendations on the given case study.
Along with this, the paper also produces in depth analysis of the activities that went well for
us as a team. In addition to this, the paper provides notable insights regarding the group
dynamics of our team.
Team Dynamics:
We had seven members in our team belonging to different countries like China,
Somalia and India. As the team included individuals of different backgrounds and cultures,
the dynamics and the cohesion in the team were observed to be bit affected (Levitt, 2015).
The team was able to experience some differences in the various aspects of the value
dimensions of the members. Majorly the team experienced notable differences in the
approach of the team members. It was visible that my team mate from India was significantly
collectivist in the preparation for the presentation. However, I was more of individualistic

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person. The other members of the team belonging to China, were following even more of a
collectivist approach in the preparation of the presentation (Hagger, Rentzelas & Koch,
2014). Hence the difference in the approach of seven of us was notably visible. Apart from
this, the preparation of the presentation was a major part of our course work and that is the
reason responsible for the production of the utmost focus from our part. In the aspect of
providing utmost quality in our work and becoming the top performers in the course work,
the intensity of all the members were pretty high (Si et al., 2015).
Positives:
In the previous assignment of our course work, we had to prepare a PowerPoint
presentation after evaluating a given case study and through the presentation, we were asked
to provide appropriate recommendations for the case. During the conduction of the task, we
faced a number of obstacles and situations that did not go well for us. The first barrier that the
team faced, is the incapability of three Chinese members in preparing a professional
presentation. The Chinese members were observed to lack the sufficient skills and the
competencies for the production of a good looking presentation. This was significant in the
generation of the dissatisfaction and stress among those members as the incapability of them
in operating efficiently was posing notable threats. The successful completion of the course
work was of great significance for the future of us and that was the main reason of the
generation of the concern of the mentioned Chinese students (Thompson et al., 2015). My
Indian teammate took the initiative to lead the team and the first activity of my teammate was
to provide the much needed motivation to those Chinese members by providing effective
sessions for the improvement of their skills to make sure that they do not face tremendous
stress issues.

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Along with this, the members of the team faced notable amount of difficulty in the
achievement of the effective supporting knowledge to evaluate the case. The proper
understanding of the case was much needed for us in providing appropriate and efficient
solution in the form of the recommendations. After effective consultation with the all the
team members, the leader of our group was seen to focus on the planning and organizing the
techniques for the efficient finding of the supporting study materials for the proper evaluation
of the case.
Negatives:
The list of the things that did not go well for us was pretty lengthy. As our team was
formed with the participation of the members belonging to different countries, the
communication was observed to be a significant issue. The different languages of the
members of the team were notably decreasing the effectiveness (Mira et al., 2014). The
efficient flow of the communication was seen to be interrupted as the existence of the
communication gap among the members of the team was evident. The communication gap
was able to affect the effectiveness of the sessions of our leader as the Chinese members who
faced the challenges of preparing the presentation, were unable to achieve the knowledge
effectively. We faced the same issue during the identification of the supporting materials for
the assessment of the case as well and that was also a major reason behind the excessive
consumption of the time.
The preparation of the presentation in the course work was one of the first major
group assignment for us. Hence we had to face notable amount of preliminary issues during
the preparation of the presentation. One of the major issues for us was the excessive
consumption of time from our part in managing the various parts in the formation of the
presentation (Murzi, 2014). As the course work was time bound, the excessive consumption

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of the time was a great concern for the team. The search of the supporting materials for the
effective understanding of the case given to us, was consuming considerable amount of time
as the entire process was pretty new to us.
Apart from this, the members of our team were subjected to the notable amount of
cultural differences. From the formation of team, it is pretty evident that the team included
the participation of the members of three different nations which are significantly different
from each other in terms of the social belief, values, ethics and the frameworks of thinking.
This reflected from the behaviours of the members. The integration of the members were
observed to be notably difficult due to such variations in the above mentioned aspects of the
culture. However, the team leader of our team was seen to try in significant manner to make
sure that the impact of the cultural differences does not become a major issue for our
operation. The Indian team member was observed to propose for the relevant member
engagement sessions for us. However, that did not take place due to the absence of scope for
such sessions. This increased our sufferings.
During the preparation of the presentation, one incident took place where one of the
Chinese members was observed to perform in a significantly ineffective manner. The
member was a mere spectator for a large part of the preparation activities which increased the
level of frustration of others. Along with this, the inactivity was significantly influential in
increasing the consumption of the time for the preparation of the presentation (Lavy, Bareli &
Ein-Dor, 2015). As the deadline of the assignment was approaching, this was significant in
making the other members of the team feel puzzled. This was creating such a state where the
other members of the team including me, were trying to complete our analysis of the case and
the task of producing relevant recommendations, in a hurry and that had the possibility of
resulting in wrong assessment of the case. Hence the ineffectiveness of the mentioned
member was not something that went well for us.

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As mentioned earlier, we faced some notable amount of issues in managing the
achievement of the supporting material for the proper understanding of the case. However,
the preliminary issues were managed efficiently and we were able to achieve a proper
understanding of the case. But after analysing the case, we faced the issues regarding the
achievement of the theoretical base for the support of our recommendations. We were able to
outline some of the recommendations which we considered to be effective and relevant,
however, we lacked the theoretical base to justify them in front of someone who was not a
part of our group. This was something that did not go well for us and was expected as well as
this was our first group assignment with this team.
Conclusion:
On a concluding note, we faced some wide range of issues during the preparation of
the presentation. Majority of the issues that we faced during the time, were because of our
newness to the task. However, we were able to overcome some of them and at the same time,
a small number of obstacles were not countered. These barriers which were not countered,
were a lesson for us for the future and we hope to figure out better techniques for dealing
with such problem in future.

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