Effective Multicultural Teams: Theory and Practice Advances in Group Decision and Negotiation Volume 3

Series Editor Melvin F. Shakun, New York University, U.S.A.

Editorial Board Tung Bui, University of Hawaii, U.S.A. Guy Olivier Faure, University of Paris V, Sorbonne, France Gregory Kersten, University of Ottawa and Concordia University, Canada D. Marc Kilgour, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada Peyman Faratin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S.A.

The book series, Advances in Group Decision and Negotiation — as an extension of the journal, Group Decision and Negotiation — is motivated by unifying approaches to group decision and negotiation processes. These processes are purposeful, adaptive and complex – cybernetic and self-organizing – and involve relation and coordination in multiplayer, multicriteria, ill-structured, evolving dynamic problems in which players (agents) both cooperate and conflict. These processes are purposeful complex adaptive systems.

Group decision and negotiation involves the whole process or flow of activities relevant to group decision and negotiation – such as, communication and information sharing, problem definition (representation) and evolution, alternative generation, social- emotional interaction, coordination, leadership, and the resulting action choice.

Areas of application include intraorganizational coordination (as in local/global strategy, operations management and integrated design, production, finance, marketing and distribution – e.g., as for new products), computer supported collaborative work, labor-management negotiation, interorganizational negotiation (business, government and nonprofits), electronic negotiation and commerce, mobile technology, culture and negotiation, intercultural and international relations and negotiation, globalization, terrorism, environmental negotiation, etc. Claire B. Halverson • S. Aqeel Tirmizi Editors

Effective Multicultural Teams: Theory and Practice Editors Claire B. Halverson S. Aqeel Tirmizi School for International Training School for International Training Brattleboro, VT Brattleboro, VT USA USA

ISBN: 978-1-4020-6956-7 e-ISBN: 978-1-4020-6957-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007941590

© 2008 Springer Science + Business Media B.V. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.

Printed on acid-free paper

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 springer.com I dedicate this book to my daughter Renya Halverson Larson who encouraged me to write this book and helped me with her outstanding writing skills - Claire

My mother Nighat Sultana taught me to embrace kindness and patience which continue to enrich my life and my father Ahmad Raza has always encouraged me to pursue my dreams - I dedicate this book to them - Aqeel Preface

Multicultural and multinational teams have become an important strategic and structural element of organizational work in our globalized world today. These teams are demonstrating their importance from the factory floors to the boardrooms of contemporary organizations. The emergence of multicultural teams is evident across a variety of organizations in the private, public, and civil society sectors. These developments have led to an increasing interest in the theory and practice of multicultural teams. Management educational and training programs are giving increasing attention to these developments. At the same time, there is emerging interest in research about and study of multicultural teams. This book emerged from our teaching, research, and consulting with multicultural and diverse teams in multiple sectors over the last several years. In particular, we have developed and refined our ideas about the concepts in this book from teaching an advanced course called Effective Multicultural Teams in the Graduate Program at the School for International Training (SIT) in Vermont. We have learned from the rich background of students who are from, and have worked in, six continents, and who are, or plan to be, working in the public, educational, not-for-profit, and for-profit sectors. Additionally, we have engaged with a variety of teams through our consulting and training, providing consultation to teams in a variety of sectors and continents as they struggled to become more effective. During our work we have developed a great appreciation for the roles that teams play in our lives and organizations, the complexity surrounding the individual and organizational factors that make them effective, and how the larger contextual and cultural dynamics impact them. We have been excited to see the potential of teams, particularly ones that are committed to shared leadership, participation, and/or self-management. We truly believe in the potential of diversity—international and multicultural—which for us includes age, race/ethnicity, gender, religion, class, and ability. In addition, diversity of viewpoint, personality, and professional role can improve effectiveness. There is also the potential that teams with this diversity will be less effective than more homogeneous teams. We see the study and practice of multicultural and international teams and how to manage them as an important discipline. We believe that this discipline is a complex and continuously emerging area of knowledge and practice. We have not found any textbook that is relevant to our

vii viii Preface students and participants who are working, or will work, globally in a variety of sectors. For years we kept hearing, “Why don’t you publish your own book?” So we took on this project and asked our colleagues to contribute some of the chapters. It has been a rich learning process. We bring our own diversity in age, race/ethnicity, nationality, ability, religion, and gender to the process, but we bring a common commitment to the potential of effective multicultural teams. We have both said that we could never have edited this book alone. The book is written for graduate students, advanced undergraduate students, or those pursuing a certificate in management or leadership. Cultural background, social identity, and individual characteristics provide an overlapping tri-lens through which to view the complexity of team member diversity. The chapters use a variety of examples, exercises, questions, specific ideas, and practical suggestions that we hope will engage you. Case studies and an assessment inventory are at the end of each chapter. Chapter 1 opens with a broad overview of the emergence and importance of multicultural teams, the different forms these teams may take, and the numerous factors that impact team effectiveness. Chapter 2 defines culture, and presents an integrated cultural framework that can be used to explain and understand behavior in multicultural teams. Chapter 3 discusses foundations of individual behavior, including social identity, personality, and multiple intelligences. Chapter 4 provides the reader with an understanding of typical stages a team experiences as it develops to a level of high performance, and describes team- building processes that may enhance this development. Chapter 5 discusses team process, both overt and covert, functional and dysfunc- tional roles team members may take, and how to conduct successful meetings. Chapters 6–9 discuss specific team processes: leadership, communication, conflict, and problem solving and decision making. Claire B. Halverson S. Aqeel Tirmizi Acknowledgments

Our multicultural team of contributors included individuals who are engaged scholars and reflective practitioners in the field of multicultural teams. They included Linda Gobbo, John Ungerleider, Ken Williams, and Teressa Moore Griffin. We greatly appreciate their commitment and dedication to this project. Anitra Ingram, Susan Peters, Chulin Jiang and Mariana Syrotiak provided valuable support in terms of background research, formatting, editing and indexing. We are thankful to all of them for their contributions and attention to detail throughout the project. Veronica Johnson helped us edit all of the chapters in this version of the book. She provided a series of valuable comments and suggestions, which brought clarity and coherence to a number of our discussions appearing in different chapters. We are thankful to Adam Weinberg, Provost of the School for International Training, and Marla Solomon, Dean, for providing a grant to support the research and editorial work for this project. We would like to express our appreciation to Melvin Shakun, Myriam Poort and Esther Otten at Springer. Their encouragement and support greatly helped with the timely completion of this project. We recognize all those individuals who, over the years, have taught us the value and importance of culture in making work authentic and meaningful in multicultural settings.

ix Contents

Preface ...... vii Acknowledgments ...... ix About the Authors ...... xv

1 Towards Understanding Multicultural Teams ...... 1 S. Aqeel Tirmizi The Emergence and Study of Multicultural Teams as a Discipline Teams Defined Types of Teams Multicultural Teams and Team Performance A Model for Multicultural Team Effectiveness

2 The Impact of Culture in Multicultural Teams ...... 21 S. Aqeel Tirmizi Defining Culture: The Challenges Involved Cultural Values Frameworks An Integration of Cultural Frameworks for Multicultural Teams

3 Social Identity Group and Individual Behavior ...... 43 Claire B. Halverson The Impact of Social Identity Personality Multiple Intelligences Case Study: Euro American Female Working in an Asian American Organization Changing Oneself to Improve Team Effectiveness Assessment Instruments

xi xii Contents

4 Team Development ...... 81 Claire B. Halverson Overview of Team Development Models The Five-Stage Model The Punctuated Equilibrium Model Team Building

5 Group Process and Meetings ...... 111 Claire B. Halverson Overt and Covert Group Process Power and Group Processes Components of Team Process Formal and Informal Roles in Teams Observing Team Process Meetings

6 Effective Leadership for Multicultural Teams ...... 135 Ken Williams Defining Leadership Power and Influence in Multicultural Teams Differentiating Leadership from Management and Facilitation Effective Team Leadership Approaches to Leadership Shared Leadership Leadership of Virtual Teams

7 Effective Intercultural Communication ...... 173 Teressa Moore Grifﬁ n The Functions of Communication on Multicultural Teams A Communication Model Formal and Informal Communication Communication Structures Used by Teams Modes of Communication Virtual Teams and Communication Considerations Concerning a Team’s Communication Culture

8 Conﬂ ict ...... 211 John Ungerleider Defining Conflict Conflict in Stages of Group Development Personal Styles of Addressing Conflict Cultural Styles of Dealing with Conflict Contents xiii

Conflict Through the Lens of Culture Identity Issues Approaches to Conflict Resolution Collaborative Conflict Transformation on Teams: Communication Skills for Dialogue

9 Problem Solving and Decision Making ...... 239 Linda Drake Gobbo Approaches to Problem Solving A Synergistic Model for Problem Solving and Decision Making Cultural Considerations in Decision Making Self-Managed Teams PDM Individual and Social Identity Considerations in Decision Making Case Study: Individual and Social Identity Considerations—Community Nonprofit Housing Program Additional Factors That Impact the Decision-Making Process Creating Shared Mental Models Groupthink Developing Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Techniques in Teams Virtual Teams

10 Multicultural Teams—Some Considerations for Present and Future ...... 275 S. Aqeel Tirmizi Levels of Analysis Organizational Commitment Difficult Choices and Decisions Learning to Working Effectively in Multicultural Teams The Future

Author Index ...... 279

Subject Index ...... 285 About the Authors

Co-editors Claire B. Halverson, Ph.D., is a Professor of Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management, and designed the course Organization Behavior I: Effective Multicultural Teams at SIT. She has taught the course for 20 years, and has been the lead faculty for five simultaneous sections. Halverson compiled the text that is currently used, Effective Multicultural Teams, which includes overviews and additional articles for eight chapters. She has also published several articles on Edward Hall’s Cultural Context including “Cultural Context Inventory: The Effects of Culture on Behavior and Work Style” in the 1993 Annual: Developing Human Resources. She has taught at the University of the Northwest in South Africa, and the Global Partnership Program in NGO Management in Lima, Peru she is a professional member of the National Training Laboratories Institute for Applied Behavioral Science and the recipient of World Learning’s first annual Diversity Award. Halverson is currently doing research and planning writing on the applications of racial/ethnic social identity development theory internationally. S. Aqeel Tirmizi, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Intercultural Service, Leadership and Management at the School for International Training. During his ten- ure at SIT, he has chaired the Management Degree and Co-directed the Ford Foundation IFP Leadership for Social Justice Institutes Initiative. Dr Tirmizi’s professional portfolio includes more than 13 years of international experience in teaching, capacity building, research and management. He has a Masters degree in International Administration and a Ph.D. in Management. He teaches in the areas of organizational behavior, multicultural teams, performance management, human resources management and

xv xvi About the Authors leadership and change. He has taught at the State University of New York, Binghamton, The Lahore University of Management Sciences, and The Global Partnership Program in NGO Leadership and Management, BRAC, Bangladesh. Dr. Tirmizi conducts research on impact of culture on human processes including teams and interpersonal interactions, leadership, decision-making and human resource management. He has presented his work at several leading international conferences in Asia, Europe and the U.S., including the Academy of Management Conference, the European Academy of Management Conference, and the Global HRM Conference. He has undertaken training and consulting assignments for clients such as the Ford Foundation’s International Fellowship Program–New York, Heifer International– Arkansas, Eisenhower Fellows Program–Philadelphia, The World Bank-Pakistan, Canadian International Development Agency - Pakistan, DESCON Engineering Group-UAE, The Aga Khan Rural Support Program - Pakistan. Dr Tirmizi is a member of The Academy of Management, International Leadership Association and Leadership Learning Community.

Contributors

Linda Drake Gobbo is an Associate Professor, and the Chair of the International Education degree at the School for International Training. Linda teaches courses in International Education, Strategic Planning, and in the management core of the Program in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management. With over 20 years of service to SIT, Linda has served in several administrative capacities and received the Sustained Excellence Award. She is currently the Chair for the Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship knowledge community of NAFSA: The Association of International Educators, and was the lead curriculum designer for NAFSA’s Academy for International Education program. She has published in the International Educator journal on various occasions. Teressa Moore Griffin is the President of Freeman Associates, LLC. Her experience spans the pharmaceutical, financial, and consumer products industries. Since 1977, she has managed organization-wide culture change efforts, and has designed and implemented numerous training and management development processes and programs. Currently, Ms. Griffin specializes in individual development, the effective creation and utilization of a diverse workforce, executive coaching and leadership development. Providing services to public and private sector organizations, her work focuses on maximizing productivity through the development of people. While this is the first contribution to a text, Ms. Griffin is in the process of writing a book. The working title is Unmask the Lies. The book challenges readers to examine the limiting beliefs they hold which disempower and diminish their opportunities for success and satisfaction. Mrs. Griffin is a professional member of National Training Laboratories Institute for Applied Behavioral Science (NTL Institute). John Ungerleider, Ed.D., is a Professor at SIT where he teaches graduate courses in Conflict Transformation, Intercultural Communication and Organizational Behavior. About the Authors xvii

Ungerleider also teaches Conflict Resolution at Hampshire College and recently taught in Spain at the master’s program at the Bancaja Institute for Peace and Development. In 1997–98, he was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Cyprus, coordinating bi-communal conflict resolution activities. Since 1990 he has designed and directed summer programs for youth at SIT. These include Youth Peacebuilding Camps for teenaged Greek and Turkish Cypriots, Catholics and Protestants from Northern Ireland, Arab and Jewish Israelis, and Muslims and whites from England, as well as Confidence Building Workshops for university students from Cyprus. He also directs the Governor’s Institute on Current Issues and Youth Activism for Vermont teens. With a start up grant from the United States Institute of Peace, Ungerleider co-founded the CONTACT (Conflict Transformation Across Cultures) graduate certificate program for international peace- builders. With grants from the US Departments of Labor and Education, Ungerleider created and directs the Child Labor Education and Action project to teach US youth about the global issue of oppressive child labor. Kenneth Williams, who has a certificate of Education and a B.A. from the University of the West Indies, and Master’s degrees from London School of Economics and Columbia University, is completing his doctorate in Organization and Leadership at Columbia University. He is degree chair of Social Justice in Intercultural Relations and an assistant professor at the School for International Training, where he teaches courses in Social Identity, Research Methods, Organizational Behavior and Multicultural Team Effectiveness, Organizational Behavior and Leadership, and Multicultural Organizational Development. His doctoral dissertation focuses on Transformational Leadership and Organizational Learning in education.