Introduction
Globalization is a powerful force that is dictating a wide range of human and business operations today. More companies are diversifying and expanding their operations, thereby attracting more people with diverse backgrounds to complete a wide range of activities. This trend has affected most of the traditional business aspects, including organizational behavior (OB) and human resources (HR) practices. The concept of OB focuses on the manner in which individuals interact with each other and focus on the outlined goals (Errida and Lofti, 2021). Leaders who want to succeed in their respective positions need to be aware of OB dynamics, team relations, and possible issues that might hinder performance. The application of OB has the potential to guide more firms to pursue their functions efficiently and meet the changing needs of the targeted customers.
The ongoing wave of globalization has affected the nature of OB in business settings. Specifically, companies are compelled to study cultural dynamics, power distances, and leader-follower relationships (Errida and Lofti, 2021). The emerging observations are guiding managers to formulate the best models, integrate organizational culture, and recruit more workers who can identify and fulfill the changing needs of local customers (Rahman, 2019). The best example to support this argument is that many companies are presently consulting emerging evidence in international OB in an effort to attract top talent, address cultural gaps, and meet customers’ needs.
In the globalizing world, companies are compelled to open different operations in various areas depending on the availability of resources, targeted customers, and labor issues. These requirements have led to the increasing need for multicultural teams if businesses are to achieve their potential. The wave has triggered numerous alliances, acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, and projects that are being implemented in two or more countries (Rahman, 2019). The possible outcome is a culturally diverse and heterogeneous workforce intended to deliver results (Shankar, 2021). The best example of a company relying on this model and attracting employees with diverse cultural backgrounds is Smart Software Company (SSC). Currently, this Indian organization has its headquarters in Bangalore, South India.
Organizational managers who ignore the power of multicultural teams will have increased chances of becoming or being unable to meet the diverse needs of their customers. As organizations expand their operations, they are compelled to identify and recruit more people to complete the outlined tasks (Yuniati et al., 2021). The corporations find themselves in new markets characterized by unknown trends and practices. Failure to hire locals to complete various roles means that the company will encounter additional challenges, be unable to attract the best talent, and loose customers. These trends and realities in the global market explain why it the idea of multicultural teams is inevitable in the current business world.
The rationale behind companies creating and promoting the use of multicultural teams is that the concept helps them benefit from the skills and experiences of the selected workers. Additionally, the created groups will be in a position to provide services and support based on the social and cultural attributes of the targeted customers. The involvement of all key stakeholders becomes necessary if positive results are to be realized. This model for creating workforces delivers specific merits that organizational leaders need to take seriously (Errida and Lofti, 2021). First, the approach created a dynamic working environment whereby individuals can solve problems much faster, make timely decisions, and address emerging issues. Second, the workers become more involved and ready to deliver positive results. Third, the professionals will help mitigate the cultural gaps companies encounter when they launch global operations.
However, some demerits tend to emerge when companies choose to establish multicultural teams at the international level. The first one is that the individuals in the promoted workforce could harbor and exhibit unique differences that eventually disorient the overall level of business performance. The second problem could arise from the manner in which those in power can lead their followers with diverse backgrounds more efficiently (Rahman, 2019). The third demerit arises when the involved professionals find their managerial procedures incapable of supporting the changing needs of both the members of the multicultural team and the specific customers. Without proper mechanisms to address these gaps, most of the established multicultural teams will find it hard to formulate and pursue their goals.
Multicultural Teams at SSC
From the analyzed case, it is notable that David Smith, the national manager at SSC’s software designing and development segment, composed a multicultural team with the aim of maximizing performance. The first parameter from the Exhibit I was that he focused on people based on their qualifications and competencies (Jayakumar and Vasanthi, 2009). Such a consideration was essential to ensure that the workers were involved and ready to deliver results. The second one was to consider workers with diverse backgrounds in an effort to develop a team with a global outlook. These attributes would allow the individuals to relate with each other and consider the best approaches to deliver timely results. The final team was composed of these seven members: one British, two Indians, one Israeli, one American, one German, and one Japanese (Jayakumar and Vasanthi, 2009). The composed global team seemed perfect and capable of delivering results in a timely manner.
The rationale behind the composition of Smith’s team at SSC was that the workers would be able to represent the global community at the company. The leader believed that the selected skilled workers in the field of software development would present their insights from elsewhere, promote cooperation, and consider the best strategies to deliver positive results. A team with a global outlook would ensure that SSC fulfilled its expectations as a globalizing company (Jayakumar and Vasanthi, 2009). However, the manager would have to wait for the team to begin its operations in an effort to identify some of the recorded challenges and opportunities.
After the successful composition of Smith’s team, several issues emerged that could disorient the overall performance and functionality of the involved members. The members of the developed group were from different regions and pursued their goals in accordance with the existing values. The emerging trends were unexpected and capable of disorienting the goals of the multicultural team. For example, the case reveals that Smith found himself unwilling to question or lenient to the member from his national background, Martha Reid (Jayakumar and Vasanthi, 2009). The Indians and the Israeli in the team, V. Krishnamurthy and Ramen Stavi, become competitive and ready to compete with each other (Jayakumar and Vasanthi, 2009). Smith would eventually realize that the global team faced various challenges that resonated with the issues associated with globalization and OB. The emerging differences made it impossible for the team members to remain committed and focus on the anticipated goals.
The first meeting for Smith with members of his multicultural team exposed various issues that were critical for managers to consider when leading global companies. From his experience, it was evident that language barrier was a major problem whereby some of the individuals find it hard to express their views more effectively. Smith realized that it could be impossible to empower and motivate the professionals equally since they seemed to possess dynamic views and expectations from the existing leadership (Laig and Abocejo, 2021). The case indicates that some of the individuals remained skeptical and unwilling to cooperate with each other. All these problems were directly linked to the people’s cultural views and positions.
The involved two Indians, Krishnamurthy and Jain, would use Hindi to communicate with each other, a malpractice that left the other members of the team discouraged. The issue of language led to increasing levels of miscommunication among the members. Additionally, the existing issues made it impossible for most of the workers to collaborate and be in a position to deliver specific projects in a timely manner (Jayakumar and Vasanthi, 2009). This problem resulted from the divergent views and expectations from the members of the team. Some of the professionals would view their partners as incompetent or incapable of delivering most of the goals. These issues worsened the situation for Smith’s multicultural team despite the fact that it had a global outlook.
The existence of the problems outlined above led to new questions and opinions regarding Smith’s credibility and ability to take the company into the right direction. The time had come for the leader to consider practical solutions that could help address the existing predicaments and maximize performance. The unmet deadlines for various projects had worsened the overall performance of Smith’s multicultural team. The time had come for the professional to consider better solutions and help improve the overall level of performance (Yuniati et al., 2021). Some of the best remedies could have revolved around the use of practical strategies to overcome cultural barriers and employ personalized communication styles (Shankar, 2021). There was a need for the leader to engage in cross-cultural training to ensure that most of the existing obstacles were addressed in a timely manner (Warrick, 2017). Without the consideration of such solutions, it would have been impossible for the organization to achieve its goals and meet the changing needs of the targeted customers.
Managing Multicultural Teams
The studied case has outlined various challenges that leaders of multicultural teams experience when they choose to pursue international goals. Managers should be aware of the possible challenges that might be experienced and be ready to handle them using evidence-based approaches. The presence of differences and poor support systems can worsen the involvement of most of the followers and eventually disorient performance. The SSC case shows conclusively that the existence of differences and the absence of proper guidance can make any multicultural team less functional and incapable of achieving its objectives (Jayakumar and Vasanthi, 2009). The nature of these predicaments explains why it becomes necessary for leaders to identify emerging insights and apply them accordingly to manage such teams more efficiently.
Companies that want to ensure that the established multicultural teams function effectively need to begin by recruiting members based on the expectations of the other stakeholders. For the presented SCC case, the reader observes that Smith could have focused primarily on more individuals to complete most of the roles since the company had its headquarters in the country (Rahman, 2019). This approach would maximize cooperation, streamline communication, and ensure that all professionals were keen to address their personal differences (Karna and Knap-Stefaniuk, 2019). The consideration of this attribute would have increased chances of having a successful team.
Based on this understanding, it is notable that companies should consider various aspects before constituting any given multicultural team. First, the leaders should take the dominant cultural group into consideration when selecting the right people to minimize some of the possible challenges. Second, those in leadership positions should ensure that the selected people possess adequate cultural awareness competencies if they are to function optimally in their groups (Rahman, 2019). Failure to take this aspect into consideration means that the members will become more competitive and unwilling to focus on the anticipated goals. Third, the leaders should begin by relying on the use of an effective change model before introducing the idea of multicultural teams (Sittrop, Danny and Crosthwaite, 2021). The approach is capable of reducing the level of tension and allowing most of the followers to remain involved (Shankar, 2021). Fourth, a detailed analysis of the needs of the key stakeholders becomes necessary to ensure that the workers are capable of delivering the much-needed results.
The best recommendation for Smith to solve some of the recorded problems is to reorganize the current team in such a way that the included people are culturally competent and willing to work with each other. Before beginning its operations, Smith will have to introduce a change process whereby the professionals will be aware of the transition, manage their expectations, solve exiting gaps, and focus on the wider picture. As the leader, Smith will need to support communication processes, address language barriers, and provide incentives to streamline the operations of the formulated team (Rahman, 2019). The consideration of these proposals will help identify most of the outlined problems and ensure that they do not affect the outlined goals (Zafar and Hummayun, 2020). The concept of continuous monitoring would be necessary for Smith to offer a sense of direction, allow more members to remain involved, and guide them to focus on the changing expectations of the targeted customers. These considerations will make the multicultural team more involved and capable of delivering timely results.
Conclusion
The studied case has revealed that global companies relying on multicultural teams will always encounter diverse problems. Handlers and leaders of these people will face divergent predicaments that have the potential to disorient performance. However, the case of SSC needs to guide corporations to continue constituting the necessary multicultural teams. The important aspect is to recruit persons based on their competencies and encourage them to focus on the wider picture. They should possess the relevant cultural skills and be ready to deliver results in a timely manner. The managers need to remain involved, solve recorded obstacles, and mentor tier followers continuously. Firms that ignore the power of multicultural teams because of some problems that might emerge will have increased chances of becoming less competitive or obsolete.
Reference List
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