Cultural management in a virtual project team setting

Author: Iloka Benneth Chiemelie
Published: 23-September-2014

Research objective

The purpose of this research is to conduct an analysis and review of the issues that abound in the management of virtual teams that are culturally diverse and dispersed geographically. Examples will be taken from an assessment of real world settings in reference to theoretical frameworks that surround dynamism in virtual teams and cross-cultural management. Proposals will also be made on practical solutions to the most critical issues based on the best practices and discussed theoretical framework. Ethical implications that are in line with the management of cross-cultural virtual teams will also be identified and examined in the process.

1.      Introduction

The increase in globalization and internationalization of MNEs across the world has influenced the level of hyper competitions between brands, thus forcing MNCs to adopt continuous innovation as a way of keeping cost down and remain competitive in order to avoid tem perishing under the crushing competition from their competitors.

Coalescing the need for businesses to keep the price of goods down, while also enhancing their innovative culture and speed of market delivery as well as being aligning their operations with the market conditions and requirements has resulted to an increased level of adoption of virtual teams, which are in most cases culturally diverse as a result of the nature of their geographic distribution.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (2009) conducted  a survey amongst European companies, and the survey attracted 407 participants from different industries representing businesses that have at least US$100 million as their annual turnover, found that 78% of these businesses are either currently working with or have worked with virtual teams in recent times.

Another interesting observation form the above survey is that majority of the companies that have been involved with virtual teams had no plans of introducing such system, instead it came as a natural evolution in the form of a way to manage team facilitation by adopting advanced ICT systems and enhanced modern communication systems (EIU, 2009).

Another highlight is that one in three of the executives surveyed agreed that virtual teams are being managed badly, which calls for the need for managers to understand the level of dynamism in virtual teams in order to be more competent with the necessary approaches needed to manage virtual teams and the people involved in order to take full advantage of the virtual teams and delivery the promise of efficiency in gains and innovation.

2.      Theoretical background and analysis

2.1. Organizational design of teams

The use of teams comes in different forms and it has been recognized as an important tool for improving integration, innovation and productivity within the organizational system. Since the 1980s, the level of team adoption in the organization has increased (Child, 2005 p.103).

With teamwork becoming common in the workplace, different types of teams have also evolved within the organization, and such teams include top management teams, cross functional teams, research and development teams, project teams etc., with all these taking full advantage of facets like better decision making, committed and responsible workforce, reduced administrative overheads as a result of managerial responsibilities and high involvement through self-managed teams etc. Major differences between traditional teams and those embracing virtual teams are highlighted in the table below:

Table 1: Differences between organizations adopting traditional structure and team design

Source as adapted from: Child (2005).

2.2. Challenges in the management of multicultural teams

Leaders and managers are faced with certain challenges when it comes to the management of teams that are made up of members from culturally diverse background. As identified by Brett et al (2006), there are a number of such challenges and four ways of overcoming them. Challenges influenced by culture were identified to center on the following areas: communication styles (high context –vs- low context), issued with language ascents and fluency; power difference, and conflicting norms when it comes to decision making (uncertainty avoidance).

Communication styles – in some cultures (such as China), communication are high in context, which means that details are not necessary provided and ideas can be communicated in the form of signs and symbols. However, low context countries like USA demand that details be provided in their right order with supporting evidence. This can be a big issue in virtual teams as the Americans might view the Chinese as being secretive and not open – thus, influencing their level of trust for their Chinese counterparts.

Issues with ascent and fluency – even when virtual teams are made up of people with the same language such as USA and UK, the way language represented in the form of ascent and level of fluency can influence overall understanding and quality of information shared. For instance, Americans can replace the British “got to” with “gotta.”

Level of power distance – a virtual team that is made up of people from high power distance country (e.g. Japan) and low power distance country (e.g. Australia) can bring about issues in the management process. This is because the Japanese might see the Australian direct attack on them as disrespectful (especially when they are in top position), which can infuse conflict within the system.

Uncertainty voidance – this factor can bring about conflicting outcomes in decision making process. For instance, Nigerians are high in uncertainty avoidance as they want take necessary measures towards ensuring that the outcome of their actions are as desired. However, Germans don’t mind trying, failing, and trying again. This because an issue in the virtual teams as the Nigerians will be bugging the Germans to follow due process and protocols, while the Germans might want to try out new ideas an inventions. Overall, it can lead to confusion and complications in the virtual team setting.

In order to over these strategies, Brett et al (2006), identified four solutions as:

2.3. Management of culturally diverse virtual teams

Virtual teams are increasingly becoming very common because it is part of the strategic designs of MNCs. It is always important to consider the cross-cultural dimension because global teams have differing time, geography, organization and cultural boundaries (Symons & Stenzel, 2007).

In terms of what culture and cultural differences mean, there are numerous theoretical frameworks designed to answer such question. Although one might take a move against stereotyping by taking into consideration that national of other cultural dimensions is not a determining force when it comes to understanding an individual, it is still very important for international managers to understand these multicultural framework in cases where they are to deal with multicultural virtual teams. However, they also need to keep in mind that statements made about cultures are not so for individuals (Hofstede 1991, quoted by Symons & Stenzel 2007).

Findings from the 2009 survey conducted by the Economic Intelligence Unit have clear indication that issues arising from management of virtual teams for companies that operate globally are mainly due to misunderstanding of cultural and language differences (EIU, 2009).

One of the most talked about, researched and practiced cultural dimensions is that provided by Hofstede and it is illustrated in the figure 1 below.

Figure 1: Hofstede’s cultural dimensions

Source as adapted from: Child (2005).

Researches have also shown that although differences in culture is manifested more in traditional teams than in virtual teams, it is still important to put into consideration the possibility of impacts that cultural diversity can have in virtual teams (Symons & Stenzel quoting Duarte and Tennant Snyder, 2007, 2000). As such, those managing virtual teams are encouraged to set norms in the view of decision making, responsiveness, accountability, deadlines and feedback.

It is important to work with cultural diversity in the virtual team because it helps to create a global mindset, which ensures that members of the team understand and feel that they are part of a global network as such creating the right environment that will be beneficial for dispersed virtual teams (Siebdrat et.al. 2009).

Organizational culture does have fluctuation influence on the performance of virtual teams, and this fluctuation depends on the type of virtual team involved. In cases where the team is within the organization, organizational cultures can become a barrier to performance as members will have different influence from their own organizational culture, which is mostly based on how the members perceive the culture and apply it in the workplace. In cases where virtual teams act like MNCs, their organizational culture can be transferred to team members, making it easier for the team to function as a unit.

For MNCs that maintain global operations with the aid of virtual teams, it is important to consider the possible impact that the host nation’s culture can have on the team and also the strong organizational values that are inherent in the national cultures of the headquarter. In cases where virtual teams are permanent, issues of divergence, convergence, or crossvergence can occur over the course of time as members of the team start to either find their own way of working, or their cultural values changes to be more like that of the national culture of the headquarter (Mead &Andrews, 2009 pp. 407-419)(Ralston, 2008).

In essence, there are many ways of managing a culturally diverse team, but the overall essence is centered on having a great level of cultural awareness and adopting a corporate cultural that encompasses the cultures of all members in order to converge the whole system into a product and innovative unit.

1.      Conclusion

From this research, it is clear that the management of cross-cultural virtual teams are not easy because the differences in culture can bring about big crashes between members of the team. Thus, virtual team managers are charged with the need to create unison and comfortable working environment in order to sustain the productivity level of the system. Such is achievable through high level of cultural awareness. As culture is people’s way of life, differences in culture brings about differences in the way people behave within the virtual team. Thus, manages need to adopt a corporate culture that features unified aspects of the cultures of the team members.

2.      References

Brett, J. Behfar, K. Kern, M.C. (2006) Managing Multicultural Teams, Harvard Business Review, [online] available from:http://hbr.org/2006/11/managing-multicultural-teams/ar/1accessed: 28/12/2010

Child, J. (2005) Organization, Contemporary Principles and Practice, Blackwell Publishing.

Lee, M.R. (2009) E-ethical leadership for virtual project teams, International Journal of Project Management 27 456-463 [online] available from:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/10.1016/j.ijproman.2008.05.012accessed:25/11/2010

Majchrzak et.al. (2004) Can Absence Make a Team Grow Stronger? Harvard Business Review, [online] available from:http://hbr.org/2004/05/can-absence-make-a-team-grow-stronger/ar/pr accessed: 08/12/2010

Malhotra, A. Majchrzak, A. Carman, R. Lott, V. (2001) Radical Innovation Without Collocation: A case Study at Boeing-Rocket dyne, MIS Quarterly Vol.25 pp. 229-249[online] available from: http://www.truststc.org/wise/articles/benzel_carman.pdf  accessed: 14/12/2010

Mead, R. Andrews, T.G. (2009) International Management 4^th Ed. Culture and Beyond, Wiley and Sons.

Ralston, D.A. (2008) The Crossvergence perspective: reflections and projections, Journal of International Business Studies Vol. 39 pp. 27-40 [online] available from: http://www.palgrave- journals.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/jibs/journal/v39/n1/pdf/8400333a.pdf accessed:15/12/2010

Siebdrat, F. Hoegl, M. Ernst, H. (2009) How to Manage Virtual teams, MIT Sloan Management Review, Vol. 50 No. 4 [online] available from:http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/files/saleable-pdfs/50412.pdf accessed:08/12/2010

Symons, J. Stenzel, C. (2007) Virtually Borderless: an examination of culture in virtual teaming, Journal of General Management Vol.32 No.3 [online] available from:http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=25012463&site=ehost-liveaccessed: 25/11/2010

Witchalls, C. Woodley, M. Watson, J. (2009) Managing virtual teams, taking a morestrategic approach, A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit. [online] availablefrom:http://businessresearch.eiu.com/sites/businessresearch.eiu.com/files/NEC_Managing_ virtual_teams.pdf accessed: 19/12/2010