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Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, February 2019
Leadership for Multicultural Teams: The Challenges in
Managing Cross-cultural Conflicts
Afzalur Rahman
accountability is encouraged.
Abstract—Globalization opened many opportunities for People in long-term oriented culture do not expect
multinational companies but it also created some major immediate result while in short-term oriented culture instant
challenges for global leaders. While in Chinese culture outcome is a major concern [2]. From a leadership
gift-giving is a popular approach to build strong relationship perspective, understanding this dimension is critical dealing
between businesses and government, in the United States it is with time-sensitive projects.
seen as a corrupt and morally repugnant way of doing business. Moreover, it is important to recognize how much a society
Additionally, conflict may rise due to negative stereotyping such
as ethnocentrism that causes cross-cultural conflict because it values traditional male and female roles. According to
encourages promoting inequality within an organization. Hofstede [1], in Italy it is preferable to appoint a male as a
Leaders of multicultural teams need to understand different team leader; however, in the Netherlands male and female
cultural values, behavioral attributes, and organizational should be treated equally.
dynamics which are essential to succeed in global marketplaces.
Index Terms—Global leadership, international human
resource management, cultural dimensions, cross-cultural II. CULTURALLY SENSITIVE LEADERSHIP
management. Strong culturally sensitive leadership can accelerate an
organization towards diversity where all employees are
I. INTRODUCING HOFSTEDE’S CULTURAL DIMENSIONS respected and valued regardless of their age, ethnicity, gender,
Understanding the cultural dimensions of Hofstede [1], [2] race, or other dimensions [4]. This requires the ability to be
is helpful to precisely address critical cross-cultural issues open to others’ ideas and opinions [5]. To handle the
and collaborate with employees from different cultural challenges of global diversity, leaders need to develop
backgrounds. Hofstede identified five cultural dimensions cultural intelligence as well. Cultural intelligence refers to “a
such as power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism person’s ability to use reasoning and observation skills to
and collectivism, masculinity and femininity, and interpret unfamiliar gestures and situations and devise
long/short-term orientation. appropriate behavioral response” [4]. A successful global
Multicultural leaders must realize that in a high power leader must believe in his or her ability to understand
distance society such as Malaysia, people accept inequality in different cultures.
power among individuals [1]. While in a low power distance
society such as Denmark, people expect equality in power.
Understanding the power distance of different cultures is III. GLOBAL LEADERS’ BEHAVIOR
imperative for leaders to consider diverse work practices. In a House et al. [6] identified six global leader behaviors such
study, Chand [3] found that Indian software workers accept as value-based leadership which inspires and motives
the decision of the superiors, even an autocratic one. employees for high performance outcome, team-oriented
However, in the United States employees are encouraged for leadership which emphasizes on effective team building,
brainstorming and constructive criticisms [1]. participative leadership that reflects the degree to which
Leaders should also understand uncertainty avoidance managers involve others in making decisions,
which refers how the members of a culture feel threatened by humane-oriented leadership which includes compassion and
uncertain situations [1]. Employees from one culture such as generosity, autonomous leadership which refers to unique
Singapore (8) may be willing to take risks while Portuguese leadership attributes, and self-protective leadership which
(104) are risk-avoiders. focuses on the safety and security of the employees.
According to Hofstede [1], high context culture which is
based on collectivism prefers to establish relationship in a A. Participatory Leadership
workplace for mutual trust. Individualist culture, on the other Participatory leadership is helpful to make sound decision
hand, focuses on task orientation rather than relationship because everybody’s opinion is counted [7]. Participatory
building. Global leaders must identify this difference to leaders also make sure that their workforce is adequately
develop organizational strategic objectives and its trained cross-culturally. This style is democratic, appreciate
implementation. For example, in Japan team makes diversity, and culturally sensitive – building blocks for
important decision whereas in the United States individual leaders of multicultural teams.
B. Global Perspective
Manuscript received October 29, 2018; revised January 12, 2019. Leaders in MNCs need to understand the worldwide
Afzalur Rahman is with the Douglas College, British Columbia, Canada business environment from a global, rather than a
(e-mail: rahmana2@douglascollege.ca).
doi: 10.18178/joebm.2019.7.1.578 41
Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, February 2019
country-specific, perspective [8]. They should hold Leader’s ability to forming a strong team is vital to meet
knowledge about diverse cultures, languages, economic and organizational goal. A successful team can be created by
political systems, tastes, trends, technologies, and approaches “instilling teamwork values, establishing clear goals,
to conducting businesses globally. selecting the right team players, developing key skills, and
C. Transformational and Transactional Leadership developing team process” [19].
Transformational Leadership style is also appropriate for The participative and transformational leadership
global leaders which is not only based on “pure economic and encourage team members to involve in decision making
social exchange” [9], but also admiration [9], trust [10], high process which makes them feel important. However, the
level of effort [11] and satisfaction [9], personalized leaders must realize that employees from some cultures such
relationship [12], emotional attachment [6], loyalty [12], and Japanese do not mind being directed and monitored while the
respect [13]. Americans do not expect a lot of direction and monitoring
Furthermore, Transformational leaders are charismatic and [20].
possess a strong sense of moral and ethical principles [9], Leadership competencies have critical impact on team
[14]. These characteristics and skills of Transformational performance. Successful multicultural team leaders
leadership are strongly related to successful maneuver of persistently monitor environmental conditions, provide clear
multicultural teams [7]. direction, anticipate problems, maximize information flow,
Transactional Leadership may also be implemented where develop interpersonal relationships with team members,
employees can be motivated through the system of reward encourage feedbacks, and modify changes if required. The
and punishment [12]. challenges of a global team can also be addressed by effective
and efficient use of advanced technology for virtual
collaboration such worldwide web, company intranet,
audio-visual conference, and internet and intranet relay
IV. OTHER IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS communications [21].
Yong and Ready [15] identified important attributes and
skills needed in cross-cultural leadership: articulating a
tangible vision, creating strategic and cultural change, VI. MITIGATING THE CAUSES BEFORE THE CONFLICTS
empowering subordinates, and managing strategy to action. OCCUR
Moreover, global leaders are required to have cross-cultural There are other steps which can be helpful dealing with a
skills such as communicating with employees of different foreign culture such as pre-departure training for home
cultural backgrounds, motivating and rewarding, managing country employees to understand the culture of the host
in structure, and resolving and negotiating disputes [16]. The country [22]. They should be provided with enough
preferred type of leadership, however, depends on specific information about the assignment well before their departure.
circumstance and cultural situation [5]. Even in pre-departure training, the family members of the
employees should be included because as mentioned before
staying away from family is a major cause of stress for
V. GOOD LEADERS CREATE GOOD TEAMS expatriate employees. The employees of host country should
The above-mentioned attributes, behaviors, characteristics also be trained to avoid possible conflicts with the home
and skills are desirable to make a good leader in multicultural country employees.
environment. A good leader tends to create an organizational Some companies select expatriate employees based on
culture which is positive, optimistic, constructive, professional and technical skills while ignoring cross-cultural
encouraging, caring, courteous, and cooperative [7]. These issues [22]. They failed to provide adequate pre-departure
elements are necessary for a multicultural team to build training. Companies should not only focus on cultural issues
strong relationship between members. With team spirit, they but also local values and norms for developing interpersonal
also motivate and inspire each other to meet personal and relationships with local employees. Conflicts may also be
organizational objectives. Moreover, employing full pre-resolved by selecting expatriate employees with high
diversity is beneficial for a multicultural team which brings emotional and cultural intelligence [22]. Additionally,
trust. If there is a trust, communication becomes simple and sending employees on pre-sojourn visits may also be helpful
easy [17]. Lussier and Achua [18] identified three to familiarize the culture of the host country and the
requirements to achieve full diversity level in an organization. organization.
They are: removing obstacles to achieving diversity, creating
a culture that supports diversity, and engaging employees in
diversity awareness training. VII. CONSEQUENCES OF CROSS-CULTURAL CONFLICTS ON A
Cross-cultural training is helpful to better manage a GLOBAL ORGANIZATION
diverse workforce [18]. It is also useful to develop trust and Failure to adapting a foreign culture may result early return
relationship between employees from different cultural of an expatriate employee which can cause lowered return on
backgrounds. The intention of cross-cultural training is to investment for the organization and lowered self-esteem and
improve the interpersonal relationships between employees career growth for the employee [22]. Conflicts may have an
so that they respect and value each other’s opinions. Training effect on a global organization’s strategic objective and
is designed to improve awareness and empathy for people implementation as well. Without building trust, collaboration,
from diverse groups. and relationship between members from different cultural
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Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, February 2019
backgrounds, it will be impossible for a global company as against ethnocentric behavior. Understanding local culture is
well as its employees to meet their respective goals. beneficent to precisely address critical issues and collaborate
Continuous conflicts create unfriendly and unhealthy with diverse colleagues. It may be advantageous for global
working environment which leads to unproductive output. leaders to follow the famous phrase “when in Rome, do as do
For a global virtual team, in addition to cultural differences, the Romans” to address country-specific elements which are
little or on face-to-face interaction and lack of on-site more reactive to local flavors.
monitoring make it harder to build team identify and
commitment [4]. It may be difficult for employees from a low REFERENCES
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Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, February 2019
Afzalur Rahman is a full-time faculty member at management, business strategy, and global entrepreneurship. Afzalur
Douglas College, British Columbia, Canada. Previously completed his Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in international
he has worked at Thompson Rivers University, The business from Argosy University-Tampa in Florida, United States. He also
University of British Columbia, Okanagan College, and completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from North
Shanghai Institute of Technology. Dr. Rahman’s research South University and a B.Comm. (Honors Business Administration) degree
has focused primarily on the areas of international from University of Windsor.
business, international marketing, human resource
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