Cultural gap bridging in multinational teams
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Cultural gap bridging in multinational teams Julia Backmann1 , Rouven Kanitz2 , Amy Wei Tian3 , Patrick Hoffmann2 and Martin Hoegl2 1
UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin, Carysfort Avenue, Blackrock, Co., Dublin, Ireland; 2 Institute for Leadership and Organization, LudwigMaximilians-Univ. Munich, Geschwister-SchollPlatz 1, 80539 Munich, Germany; 3 School of Management, Curtin Business School, Faculty of Business and Law, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, Perth, WA 6102, Australia Correspondence: J Backmann, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin, Carysfort Avenue, Blackrock, Co., Dublin, Ireland e-mail: [email protected]
Received: 28 March 2018 Revised: 13 October 2019 Accepted: 16 January 2020
Abstract Multinational teams are an organizational reality, but they present several challenges. The literature suggests that individuals with multicultural identities are more likely to show behaviors that aim at improving intercultural interactions in multinational teams, though scholars have yet to determine the precise nature of these behaviors. We address this research gap in a multimethod two-study design by identifying five team cultural gap bridging behaviors (CGB behaviors: facilitating, translating, integrating, mediating, and empathetic comforting). In Study 1, we draw on one qualitative and two quantitative datasets to identify within-team CGB behaviors and develop a measure of CGB behaviors. In Study 2, drawing from two-wave survey data, we investigate and find support for the direct relationships between cultural identity plurality and CGB behaviors and the indirect relationships via cultural intelligence. Journal of International Business Studies (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-020-00310-4 Keywords: teams and teamwork; survey methods; multiple regression analysis; multiculturals; cultural intelligence; cultural gap bridging behaviors
INTRODUCTION International business (IB) necessitates collaboration across borders and interactions between employees from an organization’s various country units. Such international collaboration within organizations is largely organized in multinational teams from different cultural backgrounds (Jackson, Joshi, & Erhardt, 2003). Effectively leading culturally diverse teams is a key challenge for multinational organizations (Barkema, Baum, & Mannix, 2002). These challenges persist despite the potential benefits of multinational teams such as increased creativity through the integration of variant perspectives (Stahl, Maznevski, Voigt, & Jonsen, 2010). Impaired social integration within a team, communication barriers and conflicts between team members, stemming partly from cultural differences, are salient challenges in intercultural collaboration (Cox, Lobel, & McLeod, 1991; Pieterse, Van Knippenberg, & Van Dierendonck, 2013; Stahl, Maznevski, et al., 2010). Organizing and enabling collaboration despite cultural differences, particularly at the team level, remains the focus for IB scholars
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