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Article
Publication date: 11 September 2017

Jeanne Brett

The purpose of this paper is to discuss cultural causes of conflict in the workplace and call for research to address what happens when cultures collide generating workplace

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss cultural causes of conflict in the workplace and call for research to address what happens when cultures collide generating workplace conflict. The author assumes that because cultures differ in terms of functional solutions to problems of social interaction that there will be conflict when people from different cultures are interdependent in the workplace. The author discusses types of culture and their conflict management profiles with respect to three characteristics of conflict management: direct vs indirect confrontation; emotional expression, and third party conflict management. The author proposes what happens when cultures collide and calls for research on those collisions.

Design/methodology/approach

Application of the cultural literature on self-worth to three elements of workplace conflict: direct vs indirect confrontation of conflict, feelings and expressions of negative emotions associated with conflict and timing and type of third party intervention.

Findings

When people from dignity, face, and honor cultures are working together the fundamental differences in the logic of self-worth in these three types of culture may cause conflict. People from dignity and honor cultures are likely to confront conflict directly, while those from face cultures are more likely to confront conflict indirectly. Workplace conflict generates negative emotions, but culture seems to affect whether that emotion is anger, shame or both. The timing of third party intervention into workplace conflict, that is, how managers intervene in workplace conflict has some parallels with how community mediators act in that culture.

Research limitations/implications

There is limited research comparing management of workplace conflict in dignity, face, and honor cultures. The author generates propositions and suggests a research strategy for collecting data to test propositions.

Practical implications

Understanding what is culturally normative in terms of self-worth, confrontation, emotional expression, and managerial intervention can help people involved in workplace conflict understand what they are experiencing. It can also help managers intervene effectively.

Social implications

How people react to workplace conflict varies with culture as does how managers intervene. Knowing this provides people with the first element of cultural intelligence that may help them manage conflict to facilitate a more creative and effective multicultural work environment.

Originality/value

This paper integrates theory and research from cross-cultural psychology, the psychology of emotion and the literature on third party intervention into community conflict to explain the patterns of cultural conflict and conflict management in the workplace. It also suggests what it may take to manage cultural conflict in the workplace successfully.

Details

Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5794

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2017

Raveh Harush, Alon Lisak and Ella Glikson

Using social categorization perspective, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of global identity, perceived proximity, and team interdependence on relational…

1776

Abstract

Purpose

Using social categorization perspective, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of global identity, perceived proximity, and team interdependence on relational conflict in multicultural distributed teams.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants were 317 MBA students in 83 multicultural distributed project teams. Structural equation modeling and bootstrap methods were used to test the study model.

Findings

The results demonstrate that the indirect effect of global identity on relational conflict, through the pathway of perceived proximity, is moderated by team interdependence. More specifically, global identity leads to higher perceived proximity and lower relational conflict levels under low, rather than high, interdependence levels.

Research limitations/implications

The particular study context (multicultural distributed MBA student project teams) may limit the extent of the generalization of the findings.

Practical implications

The findings presented here can help practitioners in global organizations to defuse relational conflicts in multicultural distributed teams by embracing a global cultural approach and relying on shared global identity in team building, personnel selection, and development. Additionally, managers should be conscientious when they use the practice of facilitating interdependence between team members and assess the need for other interventions.

Originality/value

This study advances multicultural distributed team research by highlighting the role of global identity in reducing relational conflict, identifying the mediation mechanism of perceived proximity, and the boundary conditions of team interdependence levels under which this attenuation effect prevails.

Details

Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5794

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 August 2011

Belal Barhem, Hassan Younies and Pamela C. Smith

The purpose of this paper is to rank the importance of global manager characteristics according to the views of private and public leaders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In…

2301

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to rank the importance of global manager characteristics according to the views of private and public leaders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In addition, it will establish the most important and in demand managerial knowledge for UAE managers over the next five years.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was conducted using a two‐part questionnaire developed by the researchers. The purpose of the 52‐item questionnaire is to assess managers' ability to work in an international business environment. The sample includes 180 managers, from different public and private organizations in the UAE. Based on prior research, the characteristics examined include the following: communication skills, adaptability, open‐mindedness to foreign environments, strong technical skills, stress management, ability to work well with others, social intelligence, and valuing diversity and multicultural teamwork. Factor analysis is used to analyze the importance of these global leader characteristics.

Findings

The study found that the sample of UAE managers feel the top five global manager skills are: strong desire to go overseas, specific knowledge of overseas culture, the ability to adapt to time differences, the capacity to deal with expatriate work assignments, and overseas experience. In terms of the future, computer skills, communication skills, knowledge of worldwide networks and contacts, knowledge of home culture, and the ability to understand cultural dynamics are the most important skills.

Originality/value

The results will help in defining the major characteristics of future global managers in the UAE and the Gulf Corporation Council region.

Details

Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-7983

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Understanding Intercultural Interaction: An Analysis of Key Concepts, 2nd Edition
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-438-8

Article
Publication date: 30 July 2019

Malgorzata Rozkwitalska

The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences in learning experiences in mono- and intercultural workplace interactions and to address the research question of how…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences in learning experiences in mono- and intercultural workplace interactions and to address the research question of how employees experience learning in mono- and intercultural interactions.

Design/methodology/approach

The author reports and compares the main findings from two samples and 63 in-depth interviews with employees involved either in monocultural interactions or intercultural interactions, namely, 25 and 38 subjects, respectively. The abductive approach was used to analyze the data in interplay between empirical findings and theoretical lens of the job demands-resources (JD-R) model.

Findings

Learning was more often emphasized in intercultural interactions than monocultural interactions, which can be associated with the constellation of specific job demands and job resources in mono- and multicultural workplaces. The subjects involved in mono- and intercultural interactions portrayed learning, using slightly different vocabulary.

Research limitations/implications

The research gives some insights about workplace learning experiences and illuminates learning in social interactions and the JD-R model. In particular, it emphasizes the role of work design in promoting learning and identifies, using the JD-R model, job demands and job resources that can relate to learning in mono- and intercultural interactions. The results may contribute to the literature on workplace learning in culturally homogenous or heterogeneous social interactions. Moreover, they shed some new light on organizational learning via mono- and intercultural contact at work. Finally, they draw attention to the potential embedded in intercultural interactions and multicultural workplaces. Yet, the explorative character of the research does not allow for a broader results’ generalization.

Practical implications

The results suggest that job design may be of vital importance in stimulating learning at work. Thus, organizations should enable social interactions of their employees, especially intercultural ones, which are likely associated with more learning. Furthermore, to enhance workplace learning, they need to provide more organizational resources and support via HR interventions the development of personal resources of their staff to help individuals to deal with job demands and reduce strain, which impedes employee learning.

Originality/value

By applying the theoretical lens of the JD-R model to the analysis, the author exposes differences in learning experiences in mono- and intercultural interactions. The specific job demands (cultural differences and adaptation, the necessity to speak a foreign language) and resources (learning opportunities) inherent in multicultural workplaces can be perceived as a trigger of workplace learning.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 31 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2016

Silvia Ravazzani

– The purpose of this paper is to explore managers’ perspectives on and practices of internal crisis communication in multicultural environments.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore managers’ perspectives on and practices of internal crisis communication in multicultural environments.

Design/methodology/approach

After a review of relevant literature on crisis, culture and internal communication to define the framework and relevance of this study, results from qualitative interviews with Danish managers are presented.

Findings

Interviewees acknowledge the relevance of the cultural backgrounds of employees in relation to internal communication, especially in crisis situations. Cultural aspects affect message framing and employee sensemaking, especially when it comes to employees located in other countries. Line managers and local communicators are key in the adaptation of verbal and non-verbal communicative features. Employees are also seen as active sensegivers and communicators.

Research limitations/implications

Findings show how demographic and globalisation patterns, which are changing domestic and international workplaces, have important implications for internal communication and internal crisis communication. There is therefore a call for further research, especially from the perspective of employees.

Originality/value

Although cultural aspects have been highlighted as a recurrent feature of most crises today, and one of the new research areas to be explored, studies within this area are very few and concern mainly external audiences and practices. The present research study contributes to this overlooked area by offering valuable insights into internal crisis communication in organisations with a multicultural environment.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 December 2019

Frank Fitzpatrick

Abstract

Details

Understanding Intercultural Interaction: An Analysis of Key Concepts
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-397-0

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1996

Rebecca A. Proehl

In this article, the author begins with the assumptions that 1) groups are becoming an increasingly popular way of dealing with organizational challenges and problems and 2…

Abstract

In this article, the author begins with the assumptions that 1) groups are becoming an increasingly popular way of dealing with organizational challenges and problems and 2) organizations are becoming increasingly multicultural in their membership. Dr. Proehl seeks to demonstrate that the traditional ways of working with groups are not effective when the membership is multicultural. To support this contention, she identifies six commonly accepted assumptions about how to develop high performing groups and then challenges each assumption from a crosscultural perspective. The author closes the article by offering suggestions for working effectively with multicultural groups.

Details

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7606

Book part
Publication date: 19 January 2023

Sunaina Gowan

Abstract

Details

The Ethnically Diverse Workplace: Experience of Immigrant Indian Professionals in Australia
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-053-8

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2004

Alberto G. Canen and Ana Canen

The present paper aims to discuss the concept of competence from a multicultural perspective, for organisational success. It argues that models that view competence as a sum of…

2085

Abstract

The present paper aims to discuss the concept of competence from a multicultural perspective, for organisational success. It argues that models that view competence as a sum of competencies for management development within organisations could benefit from a multicultural perspective that put those competencies within the context of cultural sensitivity and understanding, so as to promote a trustworthy organisational environment crucial for any institutional change for competitive edge. It analyses theoretical approaches to the concept of competence in organisations, focusing particularly on those that take into account multicultural concerns and the need for building trust within organisational environments. It then addresses the meanings of competence as understood by executives acting in some organizations in Brazil, depicting emphases and silences in those discourses, as well as implications for logistics and management decision in a multicultural perspective.

Details

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7606

Keywords

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