Multicultural Teamwork: Exploring Paradoxes in Conflict Management

This report delves into the complexities of multicultural teamwork, drawing insights from an article that examines teamwork paradoxes and conflict management in 21st-century organizations. It highlights the challenges arising from diverse employees, including communication issues, cultural misunderstandings, and slower decision-making processes. The report also discusses potential solutions, such as establishing a common language, fostering inclusive workplace practices, and involving employees in decision-making. Furthermore, it emphasizes the opportunities that intercultural working teams offer, including enhanced innovation and a broader range of perspectives. The analysis underscores the importance of effective multicultural management in achieving organizational goals and maintaining a competitive advantage in the globalized business environment. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments for students.

Multicultural
teamwork

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
A study directly coming from intercultural team experience......................................................3
Workplace in 21st Century discussed in the Article...................................................................3
Teamwork paradoxes in the article.............................................................................................4
Multi cultural management in article..........................................................................................5
Challenges faced due to diverse employees................................................................................6
Solution of these problems..........................................................................................................7
Opportunities of intercultural working teams.............................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
Books and Journals...................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Multi culture team comprises of members that are from different countries and culture. All
the people are from different languages as they belong from different background. Globalisation
is a word that is used to describe the independence that is given to world economy. Here in the
people are given opportunity to trade Multi border. All the barriers of trade are removed so that a
business organisation can in its operation round the globe. It is increase the number of
opportunities that were available in the market (Romani, Barmeyer, Primecz & Pilhofer, (2018)).
This has given rise to diversity of employees seen in organisations that work at multinational
level. It is seen that people from different cultures, background as well as religion come at a
single place to work together. It is the responsibility of company to manage the diversity of
people and provide them good working environment where there are able to achieve their goals
and objectives. The employees play a major role in a business organisation so they must be given
proper multicultural management in order to keep them satisfied from their job. This report is
based on article “Exploring teamwork paradoxes challenging 21st-century Multi cultural conflict
management in a multicultural organizational context”
MAIN BODY
Article: paradoxes and conflicts in intercultural teams
A study directly coming from intercultural team experience
The article discusses the teamwork experience in multinational organisations. The team
members were asked several questions related to cultural differences in team. The use of
qualitative thematic
data analysis provides insights related to cross cultural conflicts so that multi cultural
management can be achieved. The study is based of multi-cultural paradoxes in context to South
Africa. In the article, It is seen that 8 multicultural teamwork paradoxes were confirmed by 107
respondents that were surveyed. It is analysed that people face problem when they give one
project in group with different cultural employees.
Workplace in 21st Century discussed in the Article
All the business organisations that are working at global level are facing the issue of multi
culture teamwork. It is important to understand that there is key role of employees in an
organisation. If they have come from different background it is up to the management of

organisation. In today's time, the business environment is dynamic and there are several changes
seen in external factors (Mahadevan, (2017)). All these factors directly impact the working of
business organisation. So it is necessary for a company to work effectively on the internal factors
so that there is equal to achieve success at the present scenario. If all the employees work
together in an effective manner cooperating with each other than, no one can stop the company
from being successful. The workplace must balance the employees and provide them training
regarding effectively working in team. Team working skills play a major role in order to beat all
the challenges that are faced by Multi cultural management in the company to earn revenue a
company needs to understand the value of employees. All the employees in multi cultural team
are different from one another. But regardless of the difference, they have their own strengths
that help them to work effectively. If all the employees will work together and carry on the work
together the company will be able to attain success and growth. So, it is the responsibility of the
management in the organisation to keep them focused about their work by providing them good
working environment.
Teamwork paradoxes in the article
This paradox says that there is competitive business organisation. Every one during
employment focuses on own skills and they grew in collective environment. Individuals are
capable of completing their own work but in business organisation there is need of teamwork.
Teamwork can be defined as different people working together in order to complete the work
and achieve the goals and objectives. In multinational organisations employees come from
different cultures that have given rise to multicultural teamwork in the organisation (Tjosvold &
Leung, (2017)). It is necessary to understand that all the employees that are different from one
another have the common goal and that is to work effectively in the business organisation.
Proper guidance and leadership helps to achieve success. If all the employees will be dedicated
and committed towards their work, then they will be able to enhance the productivity of the
organisation. Each and every company wants to achieve success and by providing proper training
to the employees they will be able to do the same. The company must follow the principles of
total quality management and make the team understand that they have to complete the project
with quality standards (Guttormsen & Lauring, (2018)). The best way to complete a task is to
teach the members of team that they must work effectively.

Multi cultural management in article
Organisational culture includes values, practices, expectations, norms that guide the
behaviour of individuals that work. The culture of a business organisation directly influences the
employees. After globalisation the companies include diversity of employees which means they
belong to different background, place, religion culture etc. This gives rise to multi-cultural
teamwork. The employees from different cultures must be provided such working environment
that motivates them to work together. All the big organisation that work at global level make the
employees understand the importance of multi-cultural teamwork. It is important to understand
meaning of multi-cultural management. Multicultural management can be defined as acceptance
and respect of differences that are present in all the employees (Fischer & Karl, (2020)).
Accepting them and working with them in such a manner that they are the members of the
organisation. It plays a major role because the company is able to gain competitive advantage at
global level if all the employees understand each other. It is seen that there are a number of
challenges and conflicts that are in among these people. various organisations Are unable to
manage multicultural employees.
The concept of multicultural management has derived in 21st century because before words
the traditional culture was followed. The employees are working only at National level and there
were no challenges related to diversity faced by them (Rezaei, Jafari-Sadeghi & Bresciani,
(2020)). They used to work at the native places and but able to co-ordinate in an effective
manner. There was no issue of language that was seem at that time. Along with that the same
background of the people motivate them to work together so that they are able to work
effectively for the success of organisation. But as a scenario is changing and the barriers to trade
have been removed. Business organisations are now having and hiring multicultural background
people. There is need of skills that are present in different employees and it is important to keep
them in the organisation. The task is to manage them in such a manner that they are able to
achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation and success. Employees must not focus on
individual success but must co-ordinate with each other and work in teams so that they are able
to achieve the overall aim of the organisation and become successful.

Challenges faced due to diverse employees
There are certain challenges that are faced by organisations due to multicultural employees.
There is diversity in the employees and that advises the challenges in the company. The
discussion related to the challenges is done below:
Communication issues: One of the major issue that is caused due to two different
employees is communication issues. They are unable to understand the language and the
communication style of other people. While working in team there are various conflicts and
issues that arise because of inability to understand the language of others (Dietz & et.al., (2017)).
At the same time the way and preference of communication among them is also different and
they are unable to manage the work. They are unable to communicate formerly as well as
informal communication also becomes an issue for the organisation.
Cultural misunderstandings: There are chances of cultural misunderstandings if the people
from different cultures come and work together. They are their own norms and values that they
respect a lot. There are chances of misunderstandings because all of them have different
background and are unable to trust each other. It is seen that cultural misunderstandings create
negative business environment and the company is not able to achieve the goals and objectives
successfully. there is rise and conflicts among employees and that harms the image of the
company as well.
Slower decision making: Different people that are from different culture have their own
opinions and ideas. They are unable to take effective decisions and process of innovation slows
down. Each and every person wants to achieve their own goals but they have different ways of
doing the same (Bonsu & Twum-Danso, (2018)). Team member that challenges in working
together and that causes issues in the organisation. They are unable to take effective team
decisions and working together is also a problematic situation for them. They are unable to speak
with the people and build relations that are problematic for the success of company.
Inequitable inclusion: A workplace must follow the principles of inclusiveness. Care for all
the team members and bring equality in working. There is need to manage them and respect all
of them. Working with inclusiveness helps the company to achieve their goals and objectives
successfully and in proper manner.

Solution of these problems
Culture is a complex concept and there is need to understand what the employees feel react
and think. It is important to use the same so that the people can work effectively in group. there
are various changes seen in the behaviour of people. Culture has powerful influence on the
behaviour of the people that work in the organisation (Bajaj, Khandelwal & Budhwar, (2021)).
They have to analyse the situation and follow all the values believes so that they are able to take
meaningful decisions. Conflicts arise when people of different culture work together. It is
important to develop good relations among them and making them understand the importance of
teamwork. All the business organisations that are working at global level must follow the
principles of multicultural team. The actions that must be taken by a company are as follows:
 The company must set one common language in which the organisation must cooperate.
It is necessary to have an effective way of communication. The company must hire the
employees and provide them training that is related to language. All the employees must
be taught a common language that will be used in organisation for their communication.
All the barriers to communication must be removed in the starting and the hierarchy of
discussion in the company must be told to the employees (Chatzipanagiotou,
Christodoulides & Veloutsou, (2019)). It is important to note that the problem of
language can be solved by providing a good and effective training to the employees and
making them understand the culture of the company.
 Effective workplace is a place that welcomes the feedback of the employees. If the
company provides them proper education and then make them part of decision making
the company will be able to get potential benefits. The target is to provide inclusive
practice where all the employees are motivated towards work and are able to understand
each other. If there is no barrier in communication the chances of misunderstanding also
get reduced and they are able to work effectively in organisation.
 Decision making plays a key role in success of a company. By involving all the
employees in decision making and keeping value of their point helps the company to
achieve success. It is important to acknowledge all the team members in value their ideas
so that they are able to achieve success in long run. Conducting meetings with
multicultural people is an issue but if each of them value others they are able to work

together. It is necessary to take decisions within right time in order to attain success and
objectives.
 It is important to take feedback from the employees. There words are valuable and have
impact on the performance of the company. There is need to include all the employees so
that the company is able to manage diversity of employees. This also helps the business
organisation to attain competitive advantage.
Opportunities of intercultural working teams
There are various opportunities that an organisation gets if they are able to manage the
intercultural teams. They but discuss point help company to achieve success by following
inclusiveness and treating each and every employee equally. If a company will provide equal
opportunities to all the working staff, then they will be able to work properly in the team.
Teamwork plays a vital role in success of the company and help them to achieve their goals and
objectives. There are a number of possibility is that a company gets if they are able to work in
team.
Better performance: All the employees that have different background have different
skills. A successful team has capabilities and skills of all the employees. If there is proper
management then there are better results. If all the employees give their best and give their best
inputs that the company is able to enhance their performance (Jia, (2020)). The better
performance is result of coordination and proper decisions that are taken by the employees of the
company with the help of a leader that manages them.
Good learning experience: After all the conflicts are sold among the team members there
are good relations observed. Each of them start valuing each other and are able to understand the
lifestyle. The company engages them in in the programs and then they are able to celebrate all
the religious. There is respect and professionalism is seen in the organisation and proper
communication. All the team members learn from each other and there is overall development of
the company. The learning opportunities are more and the training programs are beneficial for
one another. The companies are able to work at global level in effective manner and they achieve
goals and objectives effectively by grabbing the opportunities. Such organisations that are able to
manage multicultural teams are able to gain competitive lead and establishment position in the
market

CONCLUSION
From the above report, it is analysed that there is need to manage the employees in an
organisation. There are several challenges that are faced by a company and one among them is
diversity of employees the globalisation has simplified the way of working and employees
migrate from one place to another in search of job. Because of this there are different employees
and all of them belong to their own culture. There is need to manage multicultural teams so that a
company is able to achieve their objectives. They must be given proper working environment
and time so that they are engaged with each other and achieve success.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bajaj, G., Khandelwal, S., & Budhwar, P. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of Multi-
cultural differences on crisis management: A conceptual model of transcultural crisis
management. International Journal of Multi Cultural Management,
14705958211060189.
Bonsu, S., & Twum-Danso, E. (2018). Leadership style in the global economy: A focus on
Multi-cultural and transformational leadership. Journal of Marketing and
Management, 9(2), 37-52.
Bouranta & et.al., (2019). The key factors of total quality management in the service sector: a
Multi-cultural study. Benchmarking: An International Journal.
Chatzipanagiotou, K., Christodoulides, G., & Veloutsou, C. (2019). Managing the consumer-
based brand equity process: A Multi-cultural perspective. International Business
Review, 28(2), 328-343.
Dietz, J., & et.al., (2017). Multi-cultural management education rebooted: Creating positive
value through scientific mindfulness. Multi Cultural & Strategic Management.
Fischer, R., & Karl, J. A. (2020). Experimental methods in Multi-cultural management. The
SAGE handbook of Multi-cultural management, 111-126.
Guttormsen, D. S., & Lauring, J. (2018). Fringe Voices in Multi-Cultural Management Research:
Silenced and Neglected?.
Jia, S. S. (2020). Motivation and satisfaction of Chinese and US tourists in restaurants: A Multi-
cultural text mining of online reviews. Tourism Management, 78, 104071.
Mahadevan, J. (2017). A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about Multi-
cultural management. Sage.
Rezaei, M., Jafari-Sadeghi, V., & Bresciani, S. (2020). What drives the process of knowledge
management in a Multi-cultural setting: The impact of social capital. European
Business Review.
Romani, L., Barmeyer, C., Primecz, H., & Pilhofer, K. (2018). Multi-cultural management
studies: state of the field in the four research paradigms. International Studies of
Management & Organization, 48(3), 247-263.
Tjosvold, D., & Leung, K. (2017). Multi-cultural management: foundations and future.
Routledge.