Analyzing Leadership Failures in Multicultural Teams: A Case Study

This essay delves into the challenges of leadership within multicultural teams, highlighting key issues that hinder effective team performance. It identifies linguistic barriers, such as language diversity and cultural-specific terminology, as significant obstacles. The essay also examines communication differences, contrasting direct and indirect communication styles prevalent in Western and Eastern cultures, respectively. Furthermore, it addresses difficulties in managing structural differences, where varying cultural norms impact authority and task management. The decision-making processes are also explored, emphasizing the need for adaptability and understanding of diverse approaches. The essay concludes by emphasizing the lack of leadership as a result of the diversity in a team and how these factors contribute to leadership deficiencies, providing a comprehensive overview of the complexities faced by leaders in diverse team environments.

Running head: LACK OF LEADERSHIP IN MULTICULTURAL TEAMS
Lack of Leadership in Multicultural Teams
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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LACK OF LEADERSHIP IN MULTICULTURAL TEAMS
There are various advantages to work in a multicultural team. As a result of the fact, it is
becoming more and more common in the present days. In order to receive the best talent in a
group, people from all the corners of the world are welcomed frequently. There are two sides in
every coin, thus besides the advantages, there are some drawbacks as well. These are in the form
of linguistic issues, forms of communication, difficulty in managing the structural differences
and differences in the decision making.
Linguistic issues
The most important and noticeable challenges that a leader of a student team of a
university faces is the diversity in terms of language. An international university has students
from each and every corner of the world. Diversity in the languages, issues in the fluency of a
particular language and certain terminologies that are oriented one particular culture, may or may
not be liked by the people of other cultural groups (Kubota 2014). This might lead to lowering
the self-esteem of others, especially if the majority of people belong to one national group. There
are problems in translating one language so that all the people are capable to understand it.
Forms of Communication
Different cultures have different forms of communication. For instance, the people from
the West prefers the direct ways of communicating with each other whereas the people from the
East prefer indirect communication with each other and are found to be rude, combative and
criticizing. It is not possible for the leader to cope up with all the negative aspects of the group.
The leader from the West will not be able to adapt to the changes instantly if he or she has to
lead a team of students who belong the East and vice versa (Moran, Abramson and Moran 2014).

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LACK OF LEADERSHIP IN MULTICULTURAL TEAMS
Managing the Structural Differences
According to Wilson (2014), the way a team should be managed and in specially the accepted
norms in relation to the authority varies greatly from one culture to another. When any member
of the group wants to intensify a situation, to the leader of the team, the right method of doing so
is not accepted by all the members of the group. This is because the different cultures have
different methods of a doing a particular task and only a clear system that has been well
explained and enforced will solve the situation that has arisen. To make every one understand,
the systems and the decisions taken should made in written format taking special care of the
members from different cultural backgrounds. This is possible for the managerial team at the
organizations but not for the leaders of a team in an educational organization.
Decision Making
Most people consider that the decision making process is the same all over the globe and
every cultures of the world, which is not true. In fact, different cultures of the world have
different process of making decisions. The key element in the process is the adaptability. It is the
most difficult thing to expect that the people will be able to change their method of decision
making, but people can easily accept and adapt to other methods of decision making. Most of the
team members in an educational organization do not take any positive step in the adaptation of
other methods of decision making (Levy 2013). Thus there are no leaders in a team where there
is much diversity in the cultures.

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LACK OF LEADERSHIP IN MULTICULTURAL TEAMS
References
Kubota, R., 2014. The multi/plural turn, postcolonial theory, and neoliberal multiculturalism:
Complicities and implications for applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics, 37(4), pp.474-494.
Levy, J.S., 2013. Psychology and foreign policy decision-making. In The Oxford Handbook of
Political Psychology.
Moran, R.T., Abramson, N.R. and Moran, S.V., 2014. Managing cultural differences. Routledge.
Wilson, H.F., 2014. Multicultural learning: parent encounters with difference in a Birmingham
primary school. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 39(1), pp.102-114.