Organizational behavior in groups and teams

¶ … team will face because of its multicultural makeup?

All members of the team were born in different countries. They therefore have a different perspective life, to work, as well as to work ethics and to relating with people amongst other factors. In this case, all, to, may have different ideas about resources that should go into crafting the shoe, about aesthetics of the shoe, specific material of the footwear, and all other variables related to producing the shoe such as selecting material, distribution, marketing, All, however, have to work together towards the same goals of making an inexpensive shoe for Nike that can be sold in Brazil. To do that, all will have to overcome cultural differences in order to share a shared understanding and perspective so that they can agree on the same important matters and work towards a coherent goal of making their project work.

Blair (n.d.) talks about friction of groups since the beginning of time with Cain settling in the land of Nod in order to avoid friction, but he forgets that one of the largest groups of all times gathered together to build the ziggurat (in Genesis) and due to different languages their project was foiled. Groups can work -- as long as they share the same vision, speak the same language (with all that that entails), and perfectly understand and agree with one another. Cultural differed need not always impedes. The most important thing is that all are on 'the same page'.

How could these challenges be overcome?

Tuckman's model of groups that are characteristically formed of 4 stages - forming, storming, norming, and performing (with later a fifth, Adjourning, added) - can help here (Chapman, n.d.).

In the Forming stage, the leader of the group can help each individual know each other and help them casually discuss their different cultural differences. He may use this stage in order to prevent the next one of storming (i.e. conflict) by encouraging them to generate possible differences in outlook and discuss them amongst each other. Once done, Norming occurs where co-operation prevails and the different participants listen to each other. Finally, Performing is the end-result where the group works effectively as a cohesive whole.

How would you compare the process of developing a virtual work team to developing a team of people who all work together in one place?

An offline encounter may have been more helpful since virtual encounters make it harder for the people to communicate, and communicating online often leads to misinterpretation and miscommunication. In an offline encounter too, the manager or a mediator can have the individual people sit around the table and communicate to one another. In fact all 4 stages - forming, storming, norming, and performing- are far more difficult to operate online than they are offline and therefore it is more important that the Storming stage (where factions may form and conflicts result) be avoided at any cost and that all potential differences are brought up and worked through at the Forming stage.