Inter-Cultural Teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Inter-Cultural Teams - Essay ExamplePeople who are assigned to inter-cultural teams often begin running(a) closely with a sort out of new team members, and the welfare of the new group tends to displace the welfare of the individual as the team attempts to build cohesiveness and a sense of interdependence. (Wellins, 1990, 76)As with self-management, the use of teams in the workplace also may best be thought of as lying on a continuum. At one end, teams with a low degree of interdependence consist of employees who rarely see each other and perform their undertakings without exchanging information or materials.At the other end of the continuum, teams with a high degree of task interdependence consist of employees who frequently interact and constantly exchange materials and information to complete their tasks.1 On a highly interdependent team, successful task accomplishment obviously depends greatly on the interaction of employees. Our definition of a inter-cultural teams, however , implies very little variation. Thus, we study that resistance to inter-cultural teams is, essentially, resistance to interdependent teams.The resistance to inter-cultural teams can be due to a persons philosophy about teamwork kind of than to his or her views on particular task characteristics (such as a tasks degree of self-management).For example, when introduced to the idea of inter-cultural teams, an i... Thus, an employees philosophy about working in a highly interdependent fashion, rather than in an independent manner, may be a key factor in determining that individuals support of, or resistance to, inter-cultural teams. (Adler, 1997, 117)Collectivism versus individualismWhen people value the welfare of the group more than the welfare of the individual, they are called collectivists. Hofstede defines collectivism as a tight genial framework in which a persons identity is based in the affectionate system and his or her belief is placed in group decisions (1980b 48). Peopl e from collectivistic cultures tend to put aside their own self-interests in deference to the interests of their group. For example, some(prenominal) studies have found that people in South Korea and Sweden (cultures that are highly collectivistic) disregard individual performance differences when determining employee settle withs. Consistent with this, collectivists believe in cooperating rather than competing, following a group purpose rather than individual agendas, and promoting the welfare of the group over that of the individual members. In addition, people from collectivistic cultures fear creation ostracized personally or bringing shame to their group for behavior not contributing to the welfare of the group. Conversely, people in individualistic cultures tend to put onward and promote their own welfare over the interests of their group or organization (Hofstede, 1980a). People in the United Kingdom (a highly individualistic culture) had higher incidences of social loafi ng than did the Chinese (a highly collectivistic culture) when working on an interdependent group task. People in the United Kingdom also prefer reward distributions that