Chapter 8 – The Challenge of Multicultural Work Groups and Teams

Vocabulary flashcards summarizing key terms, theories and concepts related to multicultural work groups, teams and global virtual collaboration.

External Conditions

Organizational strategy, authority structures and regulations that shape which work groups get resources and which behaviors are rewarded.

Group Member Resources

The personalities, values, attitudes, skills and abilities (technical and social) that individuals bring to a work group.

Process Loss

Reduction in group performance that occurs when communication, decision processes or conflict reactions hinder the group from reaching its potential.

Process Gain (Synergy)

Performance advantage achieved when coordinated group effort exceeds the sum of individual members’ contributions.

Groupthink

A process loss in which the desire for consensus overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives.

Social Loafing

Tendency for individuals to exert less effort on group tasks when they expect others to pick up the slack.

Tuckman’s Five Stages

Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning—sequential (sometimes overlapping) phases of group development.

Punctuated Equilibrium Model

Development pattern in deadline‐driven groups where a mid-point transition triggers a shift to higher activity and new direction.

Production Task

Clearly defined task requiring motor skills and having an objective performance standard; least sensitive to group process.

Intellective Task

Problem-solving task with a correct answer; rare in organizations and not the main managerial concern.

Decision-Making / Creative Task

Task focused on generating ideas or choosing among alternatives; highly sensitive to group interaction quality.

Surface-Level Diversity

Observable member differences such as gender, age or ethnicity.

Deep-Level Diversity

Non-observable differences such as values, beliefs, knowledge and attitudes.

Faultline

Hypothetical dividing line in a group that splits members into subgroups based on overlapping demographic attributes.

Cultural Norms (in Groups)

Culturally rooted beliefs about how work groups should function, communicate and resolve conflict.

Cultural Diversity

Number of different national or cultural backgrounds represented in a group.

Relative Cultural Distance

Extent to which each member’s culture differs from those of other members, influencing status perceptions and participation.

Hybrid Team Culture

Set of shared norms created by multicultural teams that blends selected norms from members’ cultures to reduce conflict.

Crew

Work group whose interaction is largely through standardized tools; member interchangeability is high; low sensitivity to cultural composition.

Task Force

Temporary, project-focused group with moderate member interaction; cultural diversity effects are intermediate.

Team (in this chapter)

Highly interdependent work group with strong interpersonal relationships; very sensitive to member differences.

Global Virtual Team

Geographically dispersed work group that relies primarily on electronic communication to collaborate across time, space and culture.

Media Richness

Capacity of a communication channel to convey cues; electronic media are generally less rich than face-to-face interaction.

Asynchronous Communication

Information exchange with time lag (e.g., email), slowing group formation and feedback loops in virtual teams.

Management Support

Provision of resources, information and an organizational culture that enables work groups, especially diverse or virtual ones, to succeed.

Group-Level Rewards

Compensation tied to collective rather than individual performance, often needing cultural tailoring (equity vs equality norms).

Work Group Status

Relative prestige a group holds in an organization, affecting members’ self-esteem and motivation.

Training (for Groups)

Instruction in technical tools, communication and cross-cultural interaction skills that enhances multicultural or virtual team performance.

Self-Management

Degree of authority delegated to a work group to regulate its own processes, goals and methods.

Exploration Activities

Group behaviors emphasizing experimentation, innovation and divergent thinking; often fostered to exploit diversity benefits.

Superordinate Goal

Shared overarching objective that transcends member differences and fosters common group identity.

Media-Based Distance

Psychological separation caused by reliance on electronic channels rather than physical proximity.

Task Interdependence

Degree to which members rely on one another to complete group tasks; higher interdependence calls for richer communication.

Process Feedback

Information given to a group about its interaction patterns, helping multicultural teams minimize process losses.

Integration and Learning Perspective

Organizational culture view that leverages diversity as a resource for learning and adaptation.

Results Orientation

Organizational or departmental focus on achieving measurable outcomes, which can moderate diversity’s impact on performance.

Collectivism vs Individualism (in Groups)

Cultural dimension influencing preferences for harmony, conflict handling and reward allocation within work groups.

Equality vs Equity Norms

Cultural preferences for distributing rewards equally among members or proportionally to individual contributions.

Virtual Team Task Management

Coordination of roles, timelines and technology use to match task urgency, interdependence and knowledge type in distributed teams.

Cultural Faultline Activation

Triggering event that turns latent subgroup differences into visible conflict and reduced information flow.