Advantages And Disadvantages Of A Multicultural Team

A person acts according to the values and norms of his/her culture. This applies also in a working environment. Culture is the collective programming (thinking, feeling and acting) which distinguishes the elements of one group or category of people from another. Even if people used to working in a multicultural area become more open-minded, long-established habits and beliefs can lead to practical problems in a company. Multicultural teams are exposed to different national cultures, norms, attitudes and behaviors that influence each team member. Multicultural approaches have a significant impact on employee performance and effectiveness because the success of the company is highly dependent on the work performance of employees. Conflicts are not only …show more content…
Although a multicultural team has a competitive advantage in organizational life, there are sources of conflicts to overcome : miscommunication, cultural differences and mistrust.

We are going to examine the different ways to minimise conflict in a multicultural environment. The first one is to collect information concerning attitudes of people toward multicultural teams and their superiors. The second one is about organization. The third one is about communication. The fourth one is to identify the competencies needed for managers to effectively manage a multicultural team.

In the first place, one has to collect information concerning attitudes of people toward multicultural teams and their superiors. It is possible to prevent cross-cultural conflicts by learning about the different cultures. Systematic phased work on the conflict is needed. The parties describe what they find offensive in each other’s behavior. People get an understanding of the other person’s cultural perception. They can learn how the problem would be