COMM 215 All Assignments COMM 215 All Assignments | Page 22

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Teamwork for these teams will involved an increased level of communication and will
require them to collaborate frequently on projects. Due to the different cultures and
backgrounds for each individual, they all will offer a lot of creative ideas.
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There is the possibility for member’s with differing opinions to clash. There is a study by
Roy Chua, an organizational behavior professor at Harvard, shows that “multicultural teams
bring many benefits to an organization—provided the workplace is harmonious”. (Vaccaro,
2014)
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Team members will likely have different ethnicities; some prefer direct communication
while others may communicate indirectly. This would cause some team members to ignore the
indirect communication and miss important information. (Duggan, 2014)
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Another important aspect is time management. Different cultures can view time
management differently. People coming from high-context cultures will have loose deadlines
and focus on indirect messaging. People from low-context cultures will typically follow a tight
schedule and be more direct when they are communicating.
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Employees or team members that have that understanding will more likely accept the
cultural differences and be more willing to collaborate with one another.
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Having effective teamwork and communication on a multicultural team is hard work.
Managers focusing on helping the team members become aware of the cultural differences will
help ease friction in the team and create a harmonious environment.
Primary Subject 3: Advantages and Disadvantages of a Multicultural Workforce
o Advantages
§ Fosters creativity and innovation
§ Promotes positive work environment
§ Increased problem solving
§ Broader coverage
§ Company image
o Disadvantages
§ Can affect employees ability to communicate and work on a team productively