INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

International Business from Multicultural Point of Views

International Business from Multicultural Point of Views

Short Description of the Research

This research paper explores the different approaches to managing a multi-cultural team within an organization and ways to identify which approach an organization has adopted. The paper also investigates the result of the different methods and evaluates which is the most effective.

Positioning of the Research

Today's business and service organisations face a three-fold multi-cultural challenge. With management and employees of a variety of national and cultural backgrounds, they must:

* enable this heterogeneous workforce to work together harmoniously toward their common goals;

* maximise the contribution of each member of what is in fact a large team; and

* ensure fair treatment for all irrespective of background.

Whether the multi-cultural character of an organisation arises from its internationally mobile workforce and its local operations in various countries, or from the mixed backgrounds of a workforce in a single location (Begley and Boyd, 2003), the organisation must make systematic efforts to address this “diversity” if it is to achieve these goals.

Every organisation has a strategic choice to make in how it will face this challenge, between a fundamentally defensive and compliant approach, and one that is developmental in nature of both the individual and the group.

An organisation that adopts the defensive approach treats cultural and racial differences as hazards - a series of weak links and mismatches between people in which there is great potential for misunderstanding, mistrust, conflict and even resentment. It assumes at the start that certain people are inherently culturally insensitive to others. Handling cultural diversity therefore means avoiding giving offence to groups or individuals, preventing harassment, and managing grievances. Its goals are largely those of compliance with the law, regulation, policy, or with some best practice. It may have an implicit political objective as well, to reduce the supposed dominance of one culture over another.

The developmental approach on the other hand considers cultural differences for what they are - potentially different values, assumptions, expectations and behaviour which people bring to business as a result of their differing collective experiences. As expressed by one prominent writer in the field, culture is “the way in which a group of people solves problems” (Trompenaars, 1993). We could strengthen this definition by adding that culture is “the way in which a particular group solves common problems.” Different groups of people tend to respond to the various problems, questions and dilemmas ...