Hambrick, D. et al. (1998). When Groups Consist of Multiple Nationalities: Towards a New Understanding of the Implications. Organization Studies 19(2): 181-205.
The researchers examined the ways in which international companies are increasingly coming to depend on multinational groups. At times these groups can be highly effective but at other times their multicultural dynamics prove frustrating to all concerned. The authors looked both to characteristics of individuals in these groups such as gender and education and then assessed how the traits of individuals affected overall group dynamics and leadership style.
Harris, L.C. (2006). The dynamics of employee relationships in an ethnically diverse workforce. Human Relations 59: 379-407.
This article makes the important point that multiculturalism is not a concept that means the same thing to everyone. Especially important for the researcher to consider is the fact that not everyone in a multicultural group will define what are the most relevant cultural facets of their lives: People have very different ideas about what culture itself means, and leaders of multicultural groups must bear this in mind.
Maznevski, M. & Chudoba, K. (2000). Bridging Space Over Time: Global Virtual Team Dynamics and Effectiveness. Organization Science 11(5): 473 -- 492.
Leaders of virtual teams can far too easily dismiss the importance of cultural difference because individual team members may not be in the same office often or even ever. However, cultural dynamics are still at play even when the members of a team are continents away from each other.
Miller, D.M. et al. (2000). Leadership and Organizational Vision in Managing a Multiethnic and Multicultural Project Team. Journal of Management in...
Each member may believe that they are acting purely logically rather than through a combination of logic and culture. Leaders must help each member to understand how culture is affecting their judgement and performance.
Mitchell, R. et al. (2002). Review: Toward Realizing the Potential of Diversity in Composition of Interprofessional Health Care Teams: An Examination of the Cognitive and Psychosocial Dynamics of Interprofessional Collaboration. Medical Care Research and Review 67: 3-26.
The authors examine a particular subset of multicultural groups, that of health and social care workers. They find that one of the barriers is the professional orientation of the workers. This is not surprising, of course, but it is an important reminder that while leaders of multicultural groups must consistently attend to the cultural aspects of the members, they must not in this process slight other potential factors of affiliation or conflict.
Randel, a. (2003). The Salience of Culture in Multinational Teams and its Relation to Team Citizenship Behavior. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 3: 27-44.
The author examines the degree to which cultural identification is important to group members. She found that groups that were either very highly diverse or relatively un-diverse tended to have members who were most likely to find culture to be highly salient. Members of groups that fell in the middle of this spectrum tended to downplay the salience of culture.
