Cross Cultural Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cross Cultural Management - Assignment Example The challenge for managing the multicultural teams effectively lies in the fact to recognize the underlying cultural reasons of conflict, and to interrupt in a way that would get all the teams back on its track and also empower the members in dealing with the future challenges themselves (Bret, Behfar & Kern, 2012). This can be done by providing effective motivation. Motivation within the individuals is seen to vary across the subject areas (Lai, 2011, p.2). Research had suggested that motivation could be manipulated by using certain instructional practices though both positive and its negative effects had been demonstrated. In managing a multicultural team such as one consisting of Nigerian, Chinese and British people, leadership can play a great role. For a global leader understanding international interaction becomes very essential to implement transnational leadership in the global business world of today. Diversity as well as complexity seems to increase in the domestic scenario as the business operations gets more international (Jokinen, 2004, p.199). The challenge while managing motivation in a multicultural team lies in recognizing "the patterns, values, symbols, meanings, beliefs, assumptions, and expectations" (Paget, 2011). This challenge gets most apparent if the leader discovers that "because different cultures hold different views, a managerial style that is effective in one culture will not necessarily be effective in another" (Paget, 2011). These differences observed in cultural outlook could also affect the leader’s communication with his team members if everyone is not found to be speaking in one particular language. Factors affecting motivation in a multicultural team a. Motivation and cultural differences in a multicultural team While managing motivation a multicultural team, there are many factors that need to be addressed. These can be in the form of respect for every culture, goal concentration, teamwork, clarity of thoughts and ex pression by the leader (Reh, 2012. The leader needs to give special attention to the language and culture of the different people in the team (Babler, 2011). Employees who are respected as in their workplaces and made to feel as a part of the entire team have twice the chance to stick with their employer. Staff retention in turn cuts the recruitment costs can make a huge impact for the whole organization (Managing a multicultural workforce, 2008, p.3). Language and cultural attitude can also impact the motivation levels and work behavior. People from variant cultures might have various ways of communicating as well as different values. Using eye contact, body gestures and any formal language and their attitudes towards time-keeping, personal status and the rules are a few of the examples where the cultural differences can make an impact (Managing a multicultural workforce, 2008, p.6). There are many differences in the cultural attitude of the Nigerian, Chinese and the British people . As for example, the color white signifies peace in Nigerian and British culture but in Chinese it symbolizes death (Symbolism of Colors, Associations of The Five Elements, Chinese Beliefs, and Feng Shui, 1998). So if there is any mention of the color there are chances where the Chinese employee might feel de-motivated as he might not be used to such situations. b. Multicultural team work behavior different from others It must be understood that a