Factors That Enhance Multicultural Communication for Virtue Teams Paper Example

Intercultural mistakes presented in the case study

There were intercultural mistakes presented in the case study. The main mistake was the use of the modern technology for communication. Most of the people and precisely the engineers based on this case study are using advanced technology to communicate with each other which is causing dragging the cultural interactions. Technology has had adverse effects on intercultural interaction by bringing an end to face-to-face communication which helps in multicultural interactions. People and in this case the engineers all over the world are using technology to hold virtue meetings. These meetings fail to address the issue of international interaction due to lack of one on one interaction and personal appeal. Technology is killing traditional communication, therefore, leading to slow cultural change.

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Assumptions made in the study

There were numerous assumptions made in this study. They include; culture difference between different people. Different communication styles based on the culture of the individuals participating in the communication. There was also the issue of time and proximity. Different levels of perceived powers and influence among the communicating parties were also assumed (HOVDE, 2014).

Influence of individual communication and on the outcome of the case study

Personal communication between participants from US and UK were different which influenced the result of the case study. For example in US participants were perceived not to challenge their leaders or someone in authority, unlike the UK participants. On the other side, the UK participants were perceived to be to pass decision up to the chain of command all the time. The management also had an effect on the outcome of the study wherein UK managers were found to be less inclined to the people that worked under them. In the US it was different, the managers were open to listening ideas from their juniors before making their decision (HOVDE, 2014). These effects had an enormous impact on the outcome of the case study.

Mistakes that impacted the case study

Some of the assumptions that influenced the outcome of the case study included the cultural assumptions which failed to address the issue of having different practices and styles of communication in different cultures. There was also the assumption of technological factor where different teams used various devices to communicate which influenced the outcome of the case study.

Virtue team definition

A virtue team is a group of participants in a communication that are in different parts of the world. The team is defined by the means of communication which involves the use of technology such as computers to hold meetings. The members or the participants do not need to travel and converge they communicate in a meeting from their offices all over the world through the use of video streaming among other technologies. In the study, virtue team comprises of people from a different culture who have been connected by the technology.

Factors that enhance multicultural communication for virtue teams

Cross-Cultural Training; It involves training the participants in the team on how to interact well regardless of the difference in culture. It equips the team members on virtues such as tolerance and understanding which helps them to co-exist in these virtue set-ups. It is very helpful in making the team players communicate effectively as if they are from the same culture.

Appropriate communication technologies; the devices and technologies used in communication between the team players need to be affordable and easy to use. Having such devices ensures that the participant will use it without spending much while at the same time having an easy time in operating these devices which ease communication process. The technology should also have high quality, for example, if it is a video-conference, the videos need to be of high quality while at the same time having other features to make the interaction more interesting.

Face-to-face interaction at the beginning; before the virtue teams start conducting virtue meetings, it is important that they consider holding a one-on-one meeting where all the members will physically avail themselves. It helps in creating social bond and confidence among members. Later when they will be conducting meetings virtually, they will be able to interact better because they already know each other from the previous meetings (HOVDE, 2014). The virtue meetings become even more fruitful when these face-to-face interactions are organised more than ones so that the teams can enforce their bonds whenever they meet.

Factors that undermining multicultural communication for virtue teams

Time and proximity issues; Different parts of the world have different time zones. At a single moment, there will be members who will have their time being in the middle of the night while the other it is in the morning and others daytime. It, therefore, implies that having a meeting at any given moment will inconvenience some members because there will be the way that all the members will be in the same time zone. It, therefore, means that there will be members who will be having these meetings at a very weird time such as midnight which will negatively affect communication.

Impact of multi-cultural training on communication

Multicultural training pays a significant role in communication between people of diverse culture. It helps in educating members on the best way to communicate with each other without conflicts. For example, there are values that are taught to the members such as tolerance which helps to keep up with other people despite the difference in beliefs and culture. This training is very helpful in ensuring that team members mutually co-exist despite holding different beliefs and cultural practices that would otherwise affect their interaction.

Differing cultural assumptions impact on multi-cultural virtue teams

Most of the time these virtue teams comprises people from different cultures which affects communication. Different cultural practices come with differences in communication styles. There are also factors such as the religion, holidays, sports, working days among other factors which affect the communication style and time for these virtue teams (HOVDE, 2014). These factors complicate the communication in virtue teams. The cultural assumption was one of the biggest issues that were common to most of the virtue teams.

Effect on the knowledge gained in management style

From the case study, I have learned ways of making a virtual team more effective which I will make use of them. For example, I will ensure that there is respect, understanding, and tolerance among the team members to ensure there is co-existence. Having a face-to-face meeting will also do well to the members because it will help to create social bond and confidence among the people. I will also influence the fellow team members in coming up with the most effective technology in terms of cost and quality because it will enhance communication. These are some of the issues that I will be applying to my virtue team to ensure my team operates effectively.

Reference

Bjorn, P., & Ngwenyama, O. (2010). Technology alignment: A new area in virtual team research. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 53(4), 382-400.

Bradner, E., Mark, G., & Hertel, T. D. (2005). Team size and technology fit: Participation, awareness, and rapport in distributed teams. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 48(1), 68-77.

Downey, G. L., & Lucena, J. C. (2004). Knowledge and professional identity in engineering: codeswitching and the metrics of progress. History and Technology, 20(4), 393-420.

HOVDE, M. (2014). Factors That Enable and Challenge International Engineering Communication: A Case Study of a United States/British Design Team [Ebook].

Panteli, N., & Davison, R. M. (2005). The role of subgroups in the communication patterns of global virtual teams. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 48(2), 191-200.

Rutkowski, A. F., Vogel, D. R., Van Genuchten, M., Bemelmans, T. M., & Favier, M. (2002). E-collaboration: The reality of virtuality. IEEE Transactions on professional communication, 45(4), 219-230.

Spinuzzi, C. (2003). Tracing genres through organizations: A sociocultural approach to information design (Vol. 1). Mit Press.