Challenges Managing Global Teams for Cultural - myassignmenthelp

Question: Write about theChallenges Managing Global Teams for Cultural. Answer: Introduction Global team is widely used as a strategic Human Resource solution in a multinational organisation. It is important to note that a global team is formed across the temporal, cultural and geographical boundaries to hit into the available HR pools that are distributed around the world. The primary aim of using global team as a strategic HR solution is to increase the organisational performance and innovation by integrating diverse knowledge and targeting expertise regardless of the political boundaries (Magdaleno and Kleiner, 2016). The use of global team helps in achieving better efficiency by around-the-clock operations across various time zones. However, there are several challenges that are faced by the multinational organisations while managing global teams. The literature review has been developed in order to observe and critically evaluate challenges faced by the multinational organisations in managing global teams. Additionally, the study aims to present the impact of cultural d iversity and the implications of International HRM in the current business scenario. Defining Global Teams In order to define global teams, the previous literature reveals that most often the study of global teams overlapped with the research involving multinational teams, distributed teams, multicultural groups, and virtual teams (Dixon, 2008). Therefore to define the term global team, the topic must be distinguished from these areas of research. In recent years, globalisation has contributed towards the formation of a geographically dispersed workforce. Meanwhile, global teams are virtual teams that serve as the principal vehicle of business organisations utilised to achieve global efficiency. In order to offset management pressures come from the diversified target audience demand, converging markets, and resource allocation, organisation management has developed global teams. Modern business dynamics and internationalisation of businesses have emerged global teams to proliferate best operations and practices in the overseas markets. Evidently, in the twenty-first century, complex strategic business interventions have been managed and executed through global teams achieving sustainability and growth at the global stage (Araujo, 2009). Global teams are multinational working teams where team members are interconnected in a virtual note. Decisively, global teams have been geographically distributed and it requires significant knowledge and management skills to overcome the challenges of managing global teams operating at the different corners of the world. Managing virtuality and cultural diversity in global teams Managing global teams can be identified as one of the most difficult tasks in human resource management in compared to traditional teams (Hansen, Hope and Moehler, 2012). As global teams embed multiple geographical contexts, diversified cultural background, different time zones, and use of multiple communication technologies, the complexity of managing the teams is far trickier (Dixon and Panteli, 2010). Before reviewing the challenges of managing global teams, it is important to evaluate the methods of managing virtuality and diversity in global teams on the basis of previous literature. Scholars have evaluated a number of mechanisms that have been illustrated in the following section for managing virtuality and diversity in global teams. Mechanism for managing virtuality Managing virtuality within the international teams must be handled in an efficient order so that the virtuality of global team members cannot necessarily become berries in interactions. Most importantly, scholars have identified some of the tested mechanism to manage virtuality in global teams successfully. Traditionally, physical presence of team members has been vital in team management. Due to emerging communication technologies and presence of internet, managers now can efficiently control and monitor the performance of the global teams from any place (Gibson and Gibbs, 2006). Evidently, three mechanisms for managing virtuality in global teams have been reviewed in the study i.e. transactive memory systems (TMS), psychologically safe communication climate (PSCC), and developing trust. Transactive memory systems: Modern scholars have identified global teams as networked systems worked for a firm. In such networked system, transactive memory systems have been used as a primary mechanism to share knowledge within the global teams. As team members develop effective TMS, accurate set of knowledge and information can be transferred within the virtual teams influencing output (Hansen, Hope and Moehler, 2012). Psychologically safe communication climate: Gibson and Gibbs (2006) identified that PSCC, an interpersonal process can be effectively utilised by the managers to negate the adverse effect of virtuality of global teams. By developing such communication climate within the global teams, a bridge of unity can be structured among the team members. Developing Trust: In terms of managing the performance of global teams, building trust can be defined as one of the major functional mechanisms improving efficiency of workers. Through the development of trust among the virtual team members, the collaboration among the employees can be enhanced (Kelley, 2011). Thus, the productivity of virtual team projects will be increased. Mechanism for managing cultural diversity Managing cultural diversity must be prioritised in global team management to attain efficiency (Winkler and Bouncken, 2011). While some of the members of a team have efficiently collaborated with other teammates from diverse culture and background, most of them have failed to work together. Thus, the efficiency of managing cultural diversity may lead to expatriate failure (Orhan, 2014). Lack of training and collaboration has forced expatriates to seek a transfer from the host country leading towards operational failure (Wang, 2013). In order to solve the problem of managing cultural diversity in global teams, scholars and researchers have identified three mechanisms i.e. cultural intelligence, cultural agility, and global mindset. Cultural Intelligence: Evidently, Scholars and modern researchers have claimed that developing cultural intelligence can be imperative for contemporary management leaders to succeed in the cross-cultural group effort (Magdaleno and Kleiner, 2016). Understandably, cultural intelligence enhances interactions among the team members so that different cultural barriers can be broken during developing global teams. Thus, the output of the team will be increased. Cultural Agility: Caligiuri (2012) elaborates cultural agility as a meta-competency increases flexibility and performance of the professionals to work effectively in cross-cultural circumstances. Having cultural agility, global team members can influence their work efficiency in alien cultural norms (Caligiuri, 2012). Furthermore, cultural agility must be developed as a recommended skill for management personnel working with global teams. Global Mindset: Global mindset can be addressed as a mechanism that influences the sense of responsibility of the global team members avoiding diverse cultural barriers. A global mindset of international human resource managers can be utilised to adapt different cultural orientation to develop a positive frame of mind among the team members. Challenges in Managing Global Team According to Armstrong and Cole (2002), the multinational corporations face several communication challenges while managing global teams. The low level of nonverbal and physical cues available in technologically mediated and geographically distributed workforce have created different challenges such as difficulty of sharing knowledge and faulty attribution of others (Kelley, 2011). The distribution of workforce across space, time and multiple groups creates challenge in managing attention and time among the multiple commitments that further results in high level of stress among the executive members. Furthermore, the presence of multiple culture and differences in ethical practices results in conflict and faultiness among the team members belonging to different nations and cultures due to the variation in attitudes, behaviour, values and broader institutional environments. The primary challenges that are faced while managing global teams are discussed in details herein below: Geographical separation: The geographical separation may lead to lack of mutual knowledge among the team members about each others situations and way of working that further leads to faulty attribution about the other team members (Kelley, 2011). It has been found through research that distributed team members are likely to make negative acknowledgments about the colleagues from other zones due to lack of situational awareness and limited cues regarding their working environment (Orhan, 2014). Hence, a lack of trust and mutual understanding can be evident among the members of global team. Furthermore, the level of conflicts among the team members is relatively high in global teams. Sharing knowledge across the globe: Another problem that is faced by the global teams is the challenge of sharing knowledge across the political borders. Furthermore, working at distances may lead to fewer opportunities to share tacit knowledge among the workforce. Additionally, the team members work in multiple teams with unequal commitment to share and contribute expertise and knowledge. According to Lee and Qomariyah (2016), local knowledge such as knowledge of working conditions and local holidays are difficult to share among the distributed teams as it is mostly taken for granted. Managing time and attention: The third issue or challenge that is faced by global teams is the management of time and attention. With the development of technology and internet, better communication tools such as instant messaging, email, and social media can be used as communication channel for transmitting messages across the time zone (Kelley, 2011). However, the excessive use of collaborative technologies may lead to information overload that further results in massive stress among the workforce (Barley, Meyerson and Grodal, 2011). The interaction between different time zones also leads to distraction and interruption of primary tasks. For example, the decision makers of the global organisations need to be available across the clock in order to promptly respond to the queries of other team members working in different time zones. Cultural Differences: The last and the most important challenge faced by the members of global teams are the cultural differences among the employees. According to Hofstede (2005), the members of global team can be differentiated as individualist and collectivist, high context and low context, and feminine and masculine on the basis of their culture and ethical practices. Cultural conflicts can be seen in several cases across the globe, which has emerged to be a major challenge for international human resource management (Orhan, 2014). Hence, it is important for the manager of an international team to understand the cultural differences and give equal importance to individual cultural believes to maintain peace and harmony among the global teams. Implications for IHRM On the basis of the above analysis, the International Human Resource (IHR) managers needs to attend and overcome the challenges related to cultural differences of the global team members as well as challenges related to virtuality such as knowledge sharing across the political contexts, faulty attributions, and managing time and attention in order to improve the effectiveness of the global teams (Winkler and Bouncken, 2011). The IHR manager plays a key role in training the global team members and leaders by developing transactive memory systems (TMS), psychologically safe communication climate (PSCC), and trust. Such techniques will help the multinational organisations to overcome challenges of virtuality and enhance employee productivity and satisfaction (Palthe, 2014). IHRM helps in developing global skills among the leaders to manage global mindset, cultural diversity and cultural intelligence. Hence, the challenges of managing global teams can be overcome by implementing IHRM str ategies in the multinational organisations. Literature Gap In managing global teams, significant level of descriptive research has been conducted by the scholars and modern researchers. Precisely, most of the literature reviewed in the past failed to identify the financial and non-financial parameters that should be considered in determining talent management of the virtual global teams. Besides, previous literature has put substantial emphasis on top level managers and their strategic interventions in managing global teams (Wang, 2013). But, literature reviewed in the past has not put much importance on non-executive level staffs associated with the global team management. In terms of managing virtual global teams, sometimes corporate culture and work-life balance of the global team members have not been prioritised. Therefore, a thorough research must be conducted in the identified area. Preferably, the identified contexts can be defined as the major constituents of literature gaps that must be taken into account during the further researc h on the subject. Conclusion By considering the above analysis, multinational organisations face different challenges in terms of managing a culturally and geographically diversified workforce. The geographical separation, cultural differences, and time zone differences lead to conflicts among the global team members. Furthermore, the variances in attitude, believes and ethical practices of the workers make it difficult for the IHR managers to maintain peace and harmony at workplace. Hence, modern IHRM strategies must be applied in order to overcome the issues and seek sustainable growth of business. However, it can be seen that the literature on challenges in managing global teams have not put much effort on non-executive level staffs. 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