MULTICULTURALS IN ORGANIZATIONS:

THEIR ROLES FOR ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

A dissertation submitted for the degree of

DOCTEUR EN SCIENCES DE GESTION

DE L’ECOLE DOCTORALE
« ECONOMIE, MANAGEMENT, MATHEMATIQUES DE CERGY »
ED 405

FROM ESSEC BUSINESS SCHOOL

Presented and defended publicly the 1st of June 2012 by

Hae-Jung HONG

Jury

Anca Metiu Co-Supervisor Professor, ESSEC Business School (Cergy, France)

Mary-Yoko Brannen Co-Supervisor Professor, INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France)

Junko Takagi Chair Professor, ESSEC Business School (Cergy, France)

Yves Doz Referee Professor, INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France)

Susan C.Schneider Examiner Professor, HEC Geneva (Geneva, Switzerland)

 Abstract
This dissertation explores multiculturals in global corporations. To date, limited

research helps us understand the role of multicultural individuals in facilitating the

effective functioning of global teams. To investigate this under-examined phenomenon,

this dissertation presents the first empirical study of the roles of multiculturals in

organizations by facilitating 10-month ethnographic field work in two MNCs: a leading

cosmetic MNC and an auditing and consulting MNC. This dissertation comprises three

papers. The first paper develops the theoretical model of bicultural competence and its

impact on multicultural team effectiveness. I define bicultural competence, determine its

antecedents, and identify two roles that bi/multiculturals might play in promoting

multicultural team effectiveness: boundary spanner and conflict mediator. The second

paper examines multiculturals’ cultural brokerage role for team work processes in global

new product development teams: how multiculturals influence teams’ knowledge processes

and handle cross-cultural conflicts (not only collocated but also virtual between corporate

headquarters and local subsidiaries). Multiculturals play a critical role that influence

knowledge processes and cross-cultural conflict management within global teams where

cultural and national heterogeneity seems more complicated than organizational

researchers have recognized to date. The third paper investigates boundary conditions and

how they impact multiculturals to enact their roles. I compare and contrast multiculturals

in two MNCs in different industries. In particular, I identify boundary conditions that have

impact on multiculturals in three levels of analysis: organizational; team; individual.

Furthermore, I propose what factors challenge or enable multiculturals and accordingly,

how multiculturals overcome challenges and use given opportunities in order to perform

effectively or yield such challenges in organizations.

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 Table of contents

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………............. 3

Figures ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 7

Tables ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8

First Article – Bicultural Competence and its Impact on Multicultural Team Effectiveness…… 9

BICULTURAL COMPETENCE AND

ITS IMPACT ON MULTICULTURAL TEAM EFFECTIVENESS

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9

Recognizing and Defining Bicultural Competence ………………………………………………….. 11

Developing a Theoretical Model of Bicultural Competence ………………………………………… 17

Bicultural Competence and Multicultural Team Effectiveness ……………………………………… 26

Bicultural Members’ Roles in Multicultural Teams …………………………………………………. 29

Biculturals as boundary spanners ………………………………………………………………… 31

Biculturals as conflict mediators ………………………………………………………………….. 33

Discussion and Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………….. 36

References …………………………………………………………………………………………… 45

FIGURE 1.1 A conceptual model of bicultural competence and its impact on

multicultural team effectiveness …………………………………………………………………….. 60

TABLE 1.1 Comparisons among bicultural competence and

other cultural-related competences ………………………………………………………………….. 61

TABLE 1.2 Bicultural identity integration (BII) and bicultural employees’ roles

in multicultural team tasks ………………………………………………………………………….... 62

Second Article: Multiculturals as Cultural Brokers: Their Roles in New Product Development
Global Teams ………………………………………………………………………………………... 63

MULTICULTURALS AS CULTURAL BROKERS:

THEIR ROLES IN NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GLOBAL TEAMS

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………..……. 63

Perspectives on Multiculturals in Global Teams ……………………………………………….……. 64

Methods ………………………………………………………………………………………….…... 68

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 Research site and local work context …………………………………………………………….. 69

Data collection and analysis ……………………………………………………………………… 71

Cultural Brokerage in Global Practice …………………………………………………………...…... 78

Role 1: Managing knowledge processes in global teams ………………………………………… 79

Bringing new local product and market knowledge …………………………………………….….. 80

Translating cultural nuances ………………………………………………………………….………. 83

Connecting geographically diverse knowledge and skills …………………………………..…….. 84

Role 2: Managing cross-cultural conflicts in global teams ……………………………….…….…. 91

Reducing inter-regional misunderstanding ……………………………………………………….…. 92

Displaying flexible behavior to deal with people from diverse regions and cultures ………….. 93

Discussion and Conclusion …………………………………………………………………….…...... 98

References ………………………………………………………………………………………...… 106

FIGURE 2.1 Diverse team vs. Global team ………………………………………………………. 113

FIGURE 2. 2 Team composition and its work within and across units at BEAU ……………..… 114

FIGURE 2. 3 Cultural identity definition ………………………………………………………… 114

FIGURE 2.4 Data structure: Roles of multiculturals as a cultural broker ………………………... 115

FIGURE 2.5 Grounded theoretical model of multiculturals’ cultural brokerage role

for team work processes ……………………………………………………………………………. 115

TABLE 2.1 Interviewees profile and their team composition …………………………………... 116

TABLE 2.2 Demographic details of interviewees ………………………………………………. 118

TABLE 2.3 Representative quotes, events, and archival entries underlying

second-order themes …………………………………………………………………...…………… 119

APPENDIX 2.A The ideal profiles of interviewees and team observation ………………………. 124

APPENDIX 2.B Question guide to ethnographic interview at BEAU …………………………… 124

Third Article – When Do Multicultural Employees Become Cultural Brokers?:

A Comparative Ethnography Study Of MNCs in Consumer Goods Versus Auditing And
Business Consulting ……………………………………………………………………………….. 126

WHEN DO MULTICULTURAL EMPLOYEES BECOME CULTURAL BROKERS?:

A COMPARATIVE ETHNOGRAPHY STUDY OF MNCS IN CONSUMER GOODS VERSUS
AUDITING AND BUSINESS CONSULTING

Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………… 126

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The Social Construction of Multiculturals’ Cultural Brokerage Role in Organizations …………… 130

Methods …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 138

Research sites and data collection ………………………………………………………………. 140

Data Analysis …………………………………………………………………………………… 147

Multiculturals’ Cultural Brokerage Roles and Boundary Conditions Affecting the Enactment of Such
Roles ………………………………………………………………………………………………... 149

Roles of multiculturals in AuditCo. vs. BEAU …………………………………………………. 149

Boundary conditions affecting the enactment of cultural brokerage role ……………………….. 158

Organizational conditions ……………………………………………………………………. 158

Organizational culture and professional identity ……………………………………………... 158

Human resource management practices ………………………………………………………… 163

Language diversity management …………………………………………………………………. 166

Work team conditions ………………………………………………………………………... 168

Team heterogeneity and leadership……………………………………………………………... 168

Stereotyping in global teams ……………………………………………………………….…….. 172

Value conflicting ………………………………………………………………………………….… 175

Discussion and Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………. 179

References ………………………………………………………………………………………....... 185

FIGURE 3.1 Team composition and its work within and across units

at BEAU……………………………………………………………………………………………... 203

FIGURE 3.2 Team composition and its work at AuditCo. ……………………………………….. 204

FIGURE 3.3 Cultural brokerage role for global team work processes and

boundary conditions ………………………………………………………………………………… 205

FIGURE 3.4 Framework of boundary conditions for multiculturals’

cultural brokerage role ……………………………………………………………………………… 206

TABLE 3.1 Interviewee profile and team composition at BEAU ……………………………….. 207

TABLE 3.2 Interviewee profile and team composition at AuditCo…………………………….… 209

TABLE 3.3 Demographic details of interviewee at BEAU ………………………………………. 211

TABLE 3.4 Demographic details of interviewee at AuditCo …………………………………….. 211

TABLE 3.5 Comparison of work settings: AuditCo vs. BEAU ………………………………….. 212

TABLE 3.6 Multiculturals’ cultural brokerage role in AuditCo and BEAU ……………………... 213

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TABLE 3.7 Boundary conditions for cultural brokerage role ……………………………………. 219

APPENDIX 3.A The ideal profiles of interviewees and team observation ……………………….... 225

APPENDIX 3.B Question guide to ethnographic interview

at AuditCo and BEAU ………………………………………………………………………….….. 225

Concluding thoughts ……………………………………………………………………………… 227

APPENDIX 4 – Résumé substantial en Français ………………………………………. 230

References ……………………………………………...………………………………….. 248

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 Figures
FIGURE 1.1 A conceptual model of bicultural competence and its impact on

multicultural team effectiveness …………………………………………………………………….. 60

FIGURE 2.1 Diverse team vs. Global team ………………………………………………………. 113

FIGURE 2. 2 Team composition and its work within and across units at BEAU ……………..… 114

FIGURE 2. 3 Cultural identity definition ………………………………………………………… 114

FIGURE 2.4 Data structure: Roles of multiculturals as a cultural broker ………………………... 115

FIGURE 2.5 Grounded theoretical model of multiculturals’ cultural brokerage role

for team work processes ……………………………………………………………………………. 115

FIGURE 3.1 Team composition and its work within and across units

at BEAU……………………………………………………………………………………………... 203

FIGURE 3.2 Team composition and its work at AuditCo. ……………………………………….. 204

FIGURE 3.3 Cultural brokerage role for global team work processes and

boundary conditions ………………………………………………………………………………… 205

FIGURE 3.4 Framework of boundary conditions for multiculturals’

cultural brokerage role ……………………………………………………………………………… 206

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 Tables
TABLE 1.1 Comparisons among bicultural competence and

other cultural-related competences ………………………………………………………………….. 61

TABLE 1.2 Bicultural identity integration (BII) and bicultural employees’ roles

in multicultural team tasks …………………………………………………………………….…….. 62

TABLE 2.1 Interviewees profile and their team composition …………………………………... 116

TABLE 2.2 Demographic details of interviewees ………………………………………………. 118

TABLE 2.3 Representative quotes, events, and archival entries underlying

second-order themes …………………………………………………………………...…………… 119

TABLE 3.1 Interviewee profile and team composition at BEAU ……………………………….. 207

TABLE 3.2 Interviewee profile and team composition at AuditCo…………………………….… 209

TABLE 3.3 Demographic details of interviewee at BEAU ………………………………………. 211

TABLE 3.4 Demographic details of interviewee at AuditCo …………………………………….. 211

TABLE 3.5 Comparison of work settings: AuditCo vs. BEAU ………………………………….. 212

TABLE 3.6 Multiculturals’ cultural brokerage role in AuditCo and BEAU ……………………... 213

TABLE 3.7 Boundary conditions for cultural brokerage role ……………………………………. 219

8
 BICULTURAL COMPETENCE AND

ITS IMPACT ON TEAM EFFECTIVENESS

This paper develops the concept of bicultural competence and explores its impact
on multicultural team effectiveness. Biculturals are individuals who have deeply
internalized two cultural schemas. A cultural schema is a set of knowledge about
values, norms, and beliefs for a given culture. Biculturals are an increasing
workforce demographic, and hence a growing part of multicultural teams. Their
innate skills that result from being bicultural may help solve central problems in
multicultural teams, including managing conflicts and boundary spanning across
cultures. Specifically, this paper defines bicultural competence, determines its
antecedents, specifies its impact on the two main roles bicultural individuals play in
teams, and explores their impact on multicultural team effectiveness. Theoretical
and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords: multicultural team effectiveness, bicultural competence, boundary spanner,

conflict mediation

In today’s globalized world, multicultural teams accomplish a significant

proportion of organizational work. Multicultural teams are formed because they

improve organizational effectiveness in the global business environment (Cox, 1993;

Galbraith, 2000; Kirchmeyer and McLellan, 1991; Kirkman and Shapiro, 2001; Tung,

1993). As such, multicultural teams offer huge potential to organizations. However,

ironically, cultural diversity often prevents such potential from being realized. The most

critical and practical challenge multicultural teams face is managing conflicts across

members’ national cultural boundaries (Joshi et al., 2002; Marquardt and Horvath,

2001; Mateev and Nelson, 2004). Other cultural challenges in multicultural teams

include dealing with coordination and control issues, maintaining communication

richness, and developing and maintaining team cohesiveness (Joshi et al., 2002;

Marquardt and Horvath, 2001). For multicultural teams to be effective, members must

learn to address the challenges that arise from team members’ differing nationalities

and cultural backgrounds.

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 Biculturals are individuals who have internalized two cultural schemas (Hong et

al., 2000). A cultural schema is knowledge about the values, norms, and beliefs of each

culture. Researchers have not yet recognized that bicultural employees are a growing,

yet unexploited workforce with latent skills that could play a role in addressing

challenges within multicultural teams.

Are bicultural individuals an often-ignored asset that could transcend the paradox

described above? Can they be important members who promote multicultural team

effectiveness? Recent research has shown that certain biculturals have agile responses

to cultural and situational cues (called cultural frame switching; Hong et al., 2000).

Biculturals have also been found to possess more cognitively complex cultural

representations (Benet-Martinez and Haritatos, 2005; Benet-Martinez et al., 2006) and

are better able to adapt their behavior in cross-cultural settings than are monocultural

people (e.g., Friedman and Liu, 2007; Nguyen and Benet-Martinez, 2007; Padilla,

2006). LaFromboise, Coleman, and Gerton (1993) suggested that biculturals possess

specific abilities such as cross-communication skills; knowledge of cultural beliefs and

values; and dual cultural role repertoires. In addition, Brannen, Garcia, and Thomas

(2009) found that many biculturals have higher levels of cultural metacognition than

monoculturals. Cultural metacognition is defined as the ability to monitor and regulate

one’s knowledge processes and cognitive and affective states in relation to an objective

and to abstract knowledge from a specific experience to broader principles for future

cross-cultural interactions (Thomas et al., 2008).

For the field of international business management, this paper suggests that

biculturals’ rich abilities may constitute a specific type of competence that could make

them key members of cross-cultural teams. Moreover, the construct of bicultural

competence this paper develops does not merely apply existing competence constructs

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to a new domain. Rather, it proposes that bicultural competence is a unique

construction of biculturals’ cultural intelligence in the service of effective cross-cultural

interactions that benefit organizations, specifically multicultural team effectiveness. As

such, this study extends the existing biculturalism research developed by social

psychologists and the literature of cultural intelligence.

This paper has two aims. First, this paper develops the construct of bicultural

competence. Second, it identifies the roles that biculturals play in promoting team

effectiveness by using their bicultural competence in multicultural teams. This paper

proceeds by defining bicultural competence and outlining the main dimensions in the

model (see Figure 1). It then explains the relationship between bicultural competence

and the two critical roles biculturals play in multicultural teams: 1) boundary spanner

and 2) conflict mediator. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of the model

are discussed.

Recognizing Bicultural Competence

Two literatures impact the construct of bicultural competence: cross-cultural

psychology and international management. The literature in cross-cultural psychology

emphasizes the antecedents of biculturalism rather than measuring its applications in cross-

cultural business contexts. For example, LaFromboise et al. (1993) found that biculturals

possess knowledge of cultural beliefs and values; positive attitudes toward majority and

minority groups; bicultural efficacy; communication ability; a wide role repertoire; and a

sense of being grounded. In particular, LaFromboise et al. (1993) focused on a bicultural’s

psychological well-being when living in a bicultural context (e.g., immigrants and Native

Americans in the US). In addition, by the virtue of internalizing and being able to switch

between dual cultural schemas, biculturals tend to have more complex cultural representations

(Benet-Martinez et al., 2006) and greater integrative complexity (Tadmor and Tetlock, 2006;

11
Tadmor et al., 2009). Although these researchers provide useful insights into developing the

construct of bicultural competence, their definitions are culture-specific; that is, they are

limited to cultural knowledge and skills of certain national contexts such as Chinese versus

American.

Little research on bicultural competence is found in the international management

literature. However, Friedman and Liu (2009) suggested two main elements of bicultural

competence: adaptability and boundary spanning. Although their definition was narrow and

culture-specific, it emphasized that biculturals have the ability to use their dual cultural

schemas to behave appropriately in cross-cultural business contexts. Several researchers have

recently suggested that biculturals have higher levels of culture-general skills such as cultural

metacognition than do monoculturals (Brannen et al., 2009; Thomas et al., 2008). This

metacognitive ability to manage complexity in cross-cultural interactions helps biculturals

interact more effectively in multicultural contexts (Brannen et al., 2009; Thomas et al., 2008).

Cultural metacognition is culture-general (relating general frameworks to groups of cultural

characteristics and attributes) and is a critical dimension in constructing the bicultural

competence this paper defines.

Previous conceptualizations of biculturals have not adequately provided an

understanding of bicultural as a function of both culture-specific and culture-general skills. As

such, this paper posits that bicultural competence, the combination of culture-specific (e.g.,

cultural frame switching) and culture-general (e.g., high levels of cultural metacognition)

skills, is an important construct developing theory related to multicultural team effectiveness

because biculturals possess a unique competence to interact across cultures.

Cultural frame switching (CFS), a bicultural’s ability to switch between cultures, is the

core of the bicultural competence construct. It is a dynamic link between cognitive cultural

knowledge and the ability to adapt and communicate. In other words, biculturals switch

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between languages and social interactions when dealing with friends who share their culture

or with a host-culture acquaintance. For effective cross-cultural interactions in multicultural

environments, biculturals must also possess culture-general skills such as a high level of

cultural metacognition. With this skill, biculturals become adept at cognitively using

appropriate interaction strategies that specify when, why, and to what degree one cultural

value should prevail over another (Tetlock et al., 1996: 28). For example, consider the case of

a Korean businesswoman shaking hands with her Western male counterpart who is older than

she. In Korean culture, shaking hands with a male or with an older colleague is neither

customary nor appropriate in public, including business-related environments. To a Korean

monocultural woman, this interaction would entail behaviour that conflicts with deeply rooted

cultural values. However, if the Korean businesswoman was a bicultural with both highly

internalized Korean and Western cultural schemas and cultural metacognition, shaking hands

might not entail such value conflicts. Instead, she might understand dual sets of social cues

and could transcend Korean-specific cultural values regarding male-female and old-young

interactions and respond more agilely in that moment of interaction. This careful and

metacognitively demanding approach is how biculturals acknowledge the legitimacy of both

cultures; behave appropriately not to offend; and gain positive impressions from interacting

parties in cross-cultural contexts.

Defining Bicultural Competence

The lack of a broadly accepted definition of bicultural competence requires

investigating the definition of competence itself. Sundberg and his colleagues (1978) defined

competence as the personal characteristics (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) leading to

achievements that have adaptive payoffs in significant environments. The notion of adapting

points to the need to assess both the person’s motives and the environment’s demands and

resources (Sundberg et al., 1978: 196). Thus, defining bicultural competence calls for relating

13
biculturals’ capabilities to contextual and situational demands. In this paper’s context, this

entails the challenges of multicultural team effectiveness.

Considering bicultural competence from an international management perspective,

therefore, raises numerous questions. In which situations can a ‘bicultural person’ best

function? What things can a ‘bicultural person’ do in various organizational environments?

(Sundberg et al., 1978: 196). We need to move from the how much question of traditional

psychology to questions of where and which that consider the surroundings bicultural people

encounter, their resources for coping, and their active interests (Sundberg et al., 1978). As

noted, this study focuses on the context of multicultural teams. A multicultural team is a

cross-cultural situation in which bicultural individuals have much to offer organizations.

Because multicultural teams often face challenges in managing diversity and conflicts,

biculturals should be able to use their abilities to initiate activities that address such

challenges.

To summarize, based on previous literature and considering the cross-cultural

environment of international business, the following definition of bicultural competence is

proposed for the international management field:

Bicultural competence is a bicultural’s ability to draw upon cultural

knowledge and cross-cultural abilities (such as adapting one’s
behavior and communicating across cultures) to effectively switch
cultural frames and apply cultural metacognition to disparate
cultural contexts in order to work successfully with people from
different cultural backgrounds toward a desired organizational
outcome.

This definition is broad, yet straightforward. Bicultural competence results from

behavioral flexibility gained from multiple cultural experiences that these individuals then use

14
to interact effectively with people from different cultures in cross-cultural contexts. Figure 1

illustrates this conceptual model, which this paper describes in detail in the next section. It

differs from previous definitions (e.g., LaFromboise et al., 1993) in that it focuses on how

successfully a bicultural individual exploits knowledge, cultural abilities (behavioral

adaptability and cross-cultural communication skills), cultural frame switching (Hong et al.,

2000) and cultural metacognition (Brannen et al., 2009; Thomas et al., 2008) that he or she

must possess for effective cross-cultural interactions.

While this paper’s definition of bicultural competence emphasizes biculturals’

performance-focused attributes in multicultural business contexts, it has distinct differences

from the traditional literature on cultural competence. A summary of how bicultural

competence is distinct from related concepts of cultural competence is presented in Table 1

and discussed in the following section.

First, cultural frame switching, a linking function in the construct of bicultural

competence, is a unique ability bicultural people have that monoculturals do not. Second,

cultural metacognition also plays a critical role in conceptualizing bicultural competence as a

linking function. Metacognition is sharp perceptual awareness in a specific domain; in this

case, cultural experiences and strategies (Thomas et al., 2008). For effective cross-cultural

interactions in multicultural contexts, biculturals must also leverage culture-general

knowledge. In other words, biculturals transfer culture-specific knowledge into broader

principles. This ability is the outcome of reflective observation, analysis, and abstract

conceptualizations that create new mental categories and re-categorize cultural characteristics

that have accumulated through ongoing culturally-complex experiences in a sophisticated

cognitive system (Thomas et al., 2008:131). Consistent with the cultural intelligence

literature, yet applied specifically to biculturals’ high level of cultural intelligence, the

construct of bicultural competence this paper develops emphasizes how cultural frame

15
switching (culture-specific skills) and cultural metacognition (culture-general skills) make

biculturals highly competent in effective cross-cultural interactions in multicultural contexts.

Third, bicultural competence is a dynamic, interacting construct. On one hand, constant

cultural frame switching actively links the knowledge dimension and cross-cultural abilities

(behavioral adaptability and cross-cultural communication skills). On the other hand, cultural

metacognition allows bicultural competence to emerge from the interaction of its dimensions

(Thomas et al., 2008:132). Fourth, the majority of literature on cultural competence addresses

how monoculturals can improve their cultural competence. Research on cultural competence

has focused on monoculturals’ knowledge and abilities rather than how they can successfully

use their skills to respond to situational cues in cross-cultural interactions that will benefit

their organizations. However, bicultural competence, as outlined in this paper, deals with

biculturals who have higher levels of each dimension than monoculturals: culture-specific

knowledge, behavioral adaptability, cross-cultural communication skills, and cultural

metacognition. Finally, this paper’s concept of bicultural competence highlights biculturals’

contribution to multicultural team effectiveness by playing roles such as the boundary spanner

and conflict mediator.

In addition to highlighting the distinct features of bicultural competence, it is also

noteworthy to describe how cultural frame switching theory and cultural metacognition

literature differ yet complete this paper’s construct of bicultural competence. The bicultural

competence construct in this model identifies how biculturals can benefit multinational

organizations; more specifically, multicultural team effectiveness. As such, the cultural frame

switching literature is limited in explaining biculturals in multicultural contexts. Cultural

frame switching is a unique ability that allows biculturals to competently interact cross-

culturally, yet operate cognitively based on his or her two specific cultures (original and

adopted). This prevents biculturals’ competence in cross-cultural interactions from being

16
considered a culture-general skill. In addition, cultural frame switching theory was developed

by experimental lab studies using limited samples (e.g., bicultural university students in Hong

Kong and immigrants in the US and Canada). On the contrary, but complementary to

bicultural competence, cultural metacognition is a core concept of cultural intelligence that

describes how individuals in general effectively interact with culturally different others.

Cross-cultural interaction requires an individual to understand other cultures’ reasoning and

thinking processes and use this information to create effective interaction strategies.

Biculturals’ cultural metacognition for understanding him- or herself is critical such that

potential overlaps (and conflicts) among cultures are identified and used to the best

advantage. In other words, biculturals’ verbal or non-verbal behaviors depend on the situation

that must be regulated and accommodated for ultimate outcomes. In addition, cultural

metacognition explains how biculturals transfer their abilities based on cultural frame

switching experiences (culture-specific skills) to broader principles (culture-general skills),

which can be used in future interactions in other settings such as multicultural teams. Thus,

cultural metacognition is more broadly applicable to biculturals in organizations,

complimenting the limitations of cultural frame switching theory.

Developing a Model of Bicultural Competence

With bicultural competence defined, this paper explains the logic for including each

dimension of the model (construct validity; Schwab, 1980), and provides propositions. The

nature of the dynamic interaction among these dimensions linked by cultural frame switching

and cultural metacognition is also described. These discussions result in bicultural

competence emerging as a unique construct. Also discussed are the dimensionality, level of

analysis, and how a nomological net would be established. All dimensions of the construct are

described to highlight the effectiveness of biculturals in multicultural teams.

17
Culture-specific knowledge

Cultural knowledge works in a cognitive system that includes knowledge content and

cognitive processing (Earley and Ang, 2003). Culture-specific knowledge involves the degree

to which a bicultural is aware of and knowledgeable about a culture’s history, institutions,

rituals, and daily practices. Furthermore, culture-specific knowledge is crucial to the

bicultural’s self-image, is highly self-relevant, and is similar to other personality traits; thus, it

is highly accessible to memory (Markus, 1977; Nowak et al., 2000). Several aspects of

acculturation suggest culture-specific knowledge may be essential to the biculturals’ self-

definition. Thus, culture-specific knowledge is the foundation of bicultural’s cultural frame

switching because it is required to comprehend and decode the behavior of others and

themselves. Previous research suggests that cultural knowledge positively relates to cultural

adjustment (Black and Mendenhall, 1990; Wiseman et al., 1989).

The construct of bicultural competence includes culture-specific knowledge that

biculturals must possess to switch cultural frames effectively in response to situational cues.

Culture-specific knowledge is composed of both explicit (factual and conceptual) and tacit

knowledge (Bird et al., 1993). Explicit knowledge relates to the country’s history, its political

and economic systems, institutions, and social structure. Tacit knowledge includes the

culture’s values and beliefs and their impact on behavior. While explicit knowledge is easy to

document, tacit knowledge involves awareness of appropriate behavior. Tacit knowledge

means understanding techniques and processes that are learned through socializing and

interacting within an organization and with society. It is deeply embedded in a person’s

consciousness and is difficult to access (Brannen, 2009). Tacit knowledge, therefore, is

difficult to convey in a formal environment such as classroom-based training (Johnson et al.,

2006). Monocultural people may achieve a certain level of explicit cultural knowledge

through education and training, but will not gain the tacit knowledge that bicultural people

18
have developed naturally. Culture-specific knowledge also includes basic knowledge of the

environment in which international businesses operate and within the economic, political,

legal, social, financial, and technological systems that co-exist (Johnson et al., 2006).

Internalizing more than one system of culture-specific knowledge and switching

between them frequently in response to situational cultural cues, biculturals develop cognitive

complexity (Benet-Martinez et al., 2006). Doing so further develops their cognitive ability to

manage CFS complexities effectively (Brannen et al., 2009; Thomas et al., 2008). In this way,

a more elaborate, cognitively complex culture-specific knowledge structure is positively

related to understanding the aspects of another culture, and in turn, to adaptive behavior

(Porter and Inks, 2000).

In addition, based on accumulated experiences of quickly switching between cultural

cues and learning specific experiences with culturally different others, biculturals may create

general knowledge of new cultures (beyond the two cultures in which they specialize: the

original and the host). That is, cultural knowledge gained from culture-specific experiences is

recoded for general frameworks that include comparing/contrasting differences across

cultures. These activities require a higher order cognitive process, which is described under

cultural metacognition (Thomas et al., 2008).

The culture-specific knowledge dimension of bicultural competence has an important

implication for effective knowledge transfer in multicultural teams. Knowledge-intensive

work is often project-based and is carried out by multicultural teams in multinational

corporations (MNCs) (Gibson and Cohen, 2003; Kirkman et al., 2001; Snow et al., 1996).

Boundary spanning activities inside and outside of a team are critical for accumulating

knowledge, information, and political resources that help maintain the team’s effectiveness

(Ancona, 1990; Ancona and Caldwell, 1990, 1992a, b; Gladstein, 1984). The boundary-

spanning role of knowledge transfer in multicultural teams requires the abilities to understand

19
both decontextualization and anticipate recontextualization of tacit knowledge being

translated from headquarters (Brannen, 2004). In addition, biculturals’ high level of cultural

metacognition may allow them to effectively interact with other culturally different members

whose levels of understanding of such knowledge may differ. Ultimately, the team’s process

of applying knowledge acquired for a given project will be more effective.

Cross-cultural abilities

The cross-cultural abilities dimension builds on the culture-specific knowledge

dimension. This dimension includes behavioral adaptability and cross-cultural communication

skills. Ability refers to specific skills that have been acquired over time (Dunnette, 1976). The

concept of ability is inherent to bicultural competence because biculturals have spent

considerable time and effort to understand their new culture and the best ways to adapt. An

example is children of immigrants who have acquired and developed competence by

overcoming challenges to fit into two cultural worlds: their home (original) culture and the

society in which they currently live (their host culture). While the knowledge dimension is a

cognitive component of bicultural competence, the cross-cultural abilities dimension is a

behavioral component.

Behavioral adaptability. Behavioral adaptability refers to one’s ability to appreciate and

detect culture-specific aspects of social behavior. It requires a high level of culture-specific

knowledge. Behavioral adaptability helps biculturals regulate and produce culturally

appropriate verbal and nonverbal behavior in cross-cultural business contexts (Earley and

Ang, 2003; LaFromboise et al., 1993). Behavioral adaptability is an important qualification

for multicultural team members because team effectiveness is often hindered by

misinterpreting and misunderstanding different cultural backgrounds. Overt verbal and

nonverbal behavior that interacting parties express represent the most salient features of any

social interaction (Earley and Ang, 2003). Behavior appropriate in one culture may not

20
naturally reflect the same meaning or level of propriety in another culture (Giacalone and

Beard, 1994). As such, people are often frustrated by miscommunication, misattribution, and

misevaluation by interacting parties in a cross-cultural context (Giacalone and Beard, 1994).

Behavioral adaptability enables bicultural members to reduce tensions among members by

correctly interpreting the behavior of culturally different colleagues, and by appropriate self-

presentation depending on the context (Earley and Ang, 2003). In this way, biculturals are

more likely to be accepted and respected by members with different cultural backgrounds. As

a result, they span the cultural boundaries that exist in a multicultural team, and mediate

conflicts created by cultural diversity, and consequently promote effective knowledge

transfer. However, for this to occur, biculturals must have well-developed cross-cultural

communication skills.

Cross-cultural communication skills. Skill in cross-cultural communication refers to a

bicultural’s ability to communicate appropriately and effectively in a given situation as one

interacts, both verbally and non-verbally, in each culture in a cross-cultural context

(LaFromboise and Rowe, 1983). Cross-cultural communication skills require knowledge of

the specific culture, language, and behavioral adaptability that allow an individual to

competently interact in cross-cultural contexts (Black and Gregersen, 2000; Mendenhall,

2001; Gudykunst, 1998; Spitzberg, 1983). Being multilingual can be a major building block

for effective cross-cultural communication. Biculturals are often multi-lingual and their

linguistic capabilities may promote effective cross-cultural communications in multicultural

contexts.

Major challenges to multicultural team effectiveness include different communication

styles such as direct versus indirect communication and trouble with accents and fluency

(Brett et al., 2006). These problems arise from different cultural norms and the individual

members’ communication abilities. This attests to the role of biculturals in multicultural teams

21
to solve such problems and contribute to team effectiveness. For example, successful

knowledge transfer requires a high degree of communication ability in a multicultural team

(Mateev and Nelson, 2004). As noted, knowledge and information are often tacit and re- or

decontextualized in distinct social cultural environments (Brannen, 2004). A cross-cultural

and communicatively competent team member, such as a bicultural, can therefore explain

such knowledge and information while facilitating an interpersonal network among culturally

diverse members. This can result in a successful exchange of knowledge and information

(Spitzberg, 1983) in multicultural teams. Furthermore, a team with a high level of cross-

cultural communication likely has bicultural team members who recognize different

communication styles and interpersonal characteristics among members. As such, they

demonstrate their flexibility in resolving conflicts that may arise from these differences and

feel confident when communicating the team’s goals, roles, and norms (Mateev and Nelson,

2004). In this way, biculturals are able to increase a team’s level of cross-cultural

communication, which in turn, positively influences its performance (Mateev and Nelson,

2004).

To summarize, high levels of cross-cultural abilities (behavioral adaptability and cross-

cultural communication skills) are positively related to effective cross-cultural interactions.

To realize this, biculturals must translate high levels of culture-specific knowledge into

behaviors that are appropriate to cross-cultural interactions. Cultural frame switching requires

knowing what to do and how to do (culture-specific knowledge) and having tools in one’s

behavioral repertoire to respond appropriately and effectively to cross-cultural situations

(cross-cultural abilities). These two antecedents are essential for and interact dynamically

through cultural frame switching, which are the first necessary conditions for bicultural

competence. This leads to a proposition that proposes a link between culture-specific

knowledge and cross-cultural abilities and cultural frame switching.

22
 Proposition 1a: Given high levels of culture-specific knowledge,
individuals with higher cross-cultural abilities will engage in more
effective cultural frame switching.

Proposition 1b: Given higher levels of cross-cultural abilities,

individuals with higher culture-specific knowledge will engage in
more effective cultural frame switching.

Cultural frame switching

Biculturals shift between interpretive schemas rooted in their culture-specific

knowledge by responding to cues in the social environment (LaFromboise et al., 1993;

Hong et al., 2000). To capture how biculturals switch between cultural schemas (the

original culture and the adopted culture), Hong and her colleagues (2000)

conceptualized an internalized culture as a network of discrete, specific constructs that

lead to cognition when they come to the forefront of an individual’s mind. That is,

particular pieces of culture-specific knowledge guide how an individual constructs

meaning so that they respond promptly and appropriately to cultural situational cues. In

the context of bicultural competence, cultural frame switching (CFS) is a linking

function between culture-specific knowledge (the cognitive or “knowing” part) and

cross-cultural abilities (the behavioral or “doing” part).

Benet-Martinez and her colleagues (2006) proposed three reasons why biculturals’ CFS

functions as link between culture-specific knowledge and cross-cultural abilities. The first

reason is the accessibility of self-relevant cultural knowledge. Culture-specific knowledge is a

critical part of biculturals’ self-definition (Markus, 1977; Nowak et al., 2000). Because

biculturals have spent considerable time and effort fitting in to the society in which they

currently live, these cultural experiences may become an inseparable part of their biographical

memories (Benet-Martinez et al., 2006). As such, culture-specific knowledge is not only more

23
accessible in biculturals’ memory but also more intricate (Markus, 1977; Nowak et al., 2000).

By definition, CFS is the ability to cognitively switch between two sets of culture-specific

knowledge when responding to cultural cues. This allows biculturals to behave and

communicate appropriately to specific cultural situations. As such, a high level of culture-

specific knowledge is essential for high levels of cross-cultural abilities, and in turn, CFS. The

second reason is expertise in analyzing each culture-specific system. Through frequent CFS

experiences, biculturals are mindful that cultural norms and values vary depending on the

context, creating a new insight to comprehend the relativism and multidimensionality of each

culture-specific system (Gutierrez and Sameroff, 1990). Thus, biculturals will be more able to

adapt their verbal and nonverbal behaviors appropriately for interacting with culturally

different others. The third reason is a control process to apply culture-specific knowledge to

cross-cultural abilities: by switching cultural schemas (including languages and social scripts)

biculturals use a “supervisory attention system” that controls which cultural schemas should

be used and when (Benet-Martinez et al., 2006). That is, their cross-cultural analytical skills

dictate which cultural norms and values should be applied depending on the cross-cultural

context. Biculturals deliberately and effortfully process the cognitive cues that trigger or

signal appropriate behavior. These activities require higher order cognitive process, cultural

metacognition described ahead. This explains how CFS functions in the construct of

bicultural competence by dynamically linking the culture-specific knowledge to the cross-

cultural abilities dimension. Ultimately, biculturals who effectively switch between cultural

frames are more likely to have a higher level of bicultural competence. This discussion

suggests the following proposition.

Proposition 2: Individuals with higher effective cultural frame

switching will have higher bicultural competence.

24
Cultural metacognition

Biculturals’ constant CFS can impact their higher cultural metacognition. As Brannen et

al. (2009: 9) noted,

The more complex cognitive representations that biculturals develop as a result of

internalizing more than one set of (sometimes conflicting) cultural schemata suggest
that they will also develop higher order cognitive processes required to manage this
complexity. That is, they will, of necessity, engage in more active monitoring and
regulation of cognitive activities in the cultural domain. Thus, biculturals should have
higher levels of cultural metacognition.

According to Thomas et al. (2008:131), cultural metacognition refers to “the ability to

consciously and deliberately monitor one’s knowledge process and cognitive and affective

states and the ability to regulate these processes and states in relation to an objective”. This

also includes the ability to relate knowledge gained from a specific experience to broader

principles for future interactions in other settings (i.e., abstraction).

Cultural metacogntion is a link that allows bicultural competence to emerge from the

interaction of its constituent dimensions (Thomas et al., 2008). Cultural metacogntion is what

makes bicultural competence dynamic, just as CFS does. Yet cultural metacognition

complements what CFS lacks in conceptualizing bicultural competence with regard to

metacognitive experiences (active monitoring) and metacognitive strategies (consequent

regulation) for effective interactions across cultures (Thomas et al., 2008:132). Moreover,

cultural metacognition allows more general principles (culture-general knowledge) to be

retrieved or abstracted from specific cultural experience because it actively creates new

categories and considers new perspectives associated with this categorization of knowledge.

Knowledge encoded in memory in this way is more generalizable and less bound to the

specific experience that created it (Thomas et al., 2008).

It is this aspect of cultural metacognition that explains how biculturals, although

switching cultural frames within culture-specific knowledge, are more likely to be sensitive to
25
cultural similarities and differences beyond their two specialized cultures. They instinctively

pay more attention to new cultural cues and thus behave in an appropriate manner during

cross-cultural interactions in a multicultural context rather than being reactive or scripted

(Thomas et al., 2008:134). This explains that a high level of cultural metacognition positively

relates to bicultural competence. This discussion therefore suggests a link between cultural

metacognition and bicultural competence as reflected in the following proposition.

Proposition 3: Individuals with higher levels of cultural metacognition

will have higher bicultural competence.

Bicultural Competence and Multicultural Team Effectiveness

Now that we’ve unpacked the antecedents of bicultural competence, the construct, as

explained in the model, transitions to explicatively explain how biculturalism is related to

multicultural team effectiveness.

MNCs exist to achieve worldwide innovation, global integration, and local differentiation

in order to perform and compete successfully (Barlett and Ghoshal, 1989; Nohria and Ghoshal,

1997). A multicultural team is a team where two or more cultures are represented among the

team’s members (Adler, 1997). MNCs seeking to exploit the potential of foreign markets use

multicultural teams because they promise flexibility, responsiveness, and improved use of

resources to meet the dynamic demands of a global business environment (Mowshowitz, 1997;

Snow et al., 1996). Today, in most MNCs, multicultural teams have become a reality, and this

trend is certain to produce more such teams in the future (Adler, 1997; Hambrick et al., 1998).

For example, top management teams have become more multicultural in order to be more

effective in the increased globalization and diversity of the workplace (Bartlett and Ghoshal,

1989).

26
 Team effectiveness results from multiple practices and many dimensions working

together. However, no singular, uniform measure of multicultural team effectiveness exists

(Guzzo and Dickson, 1996; Senior, 1997). Thus, defining team effectiveness is a challenging

task. Following Hackman (1993) and Sundstrom et al.’s (1990) broad definition of team

effectiveness, Guzzo and Dickson (1996: 309) define team effectiveness as: 1) team-produced

output (quantity or quality, speed, customer satisfaction and so on); 2) the consequences that

participating in the team has for its members (satisfaction and interdependence); and 3)

enhancing a team’s capabilities to perform effectively in the future.

Gibson and Cohen (2003) took a different approach to identify the conditions that

promote team effectiveness. They suggested three enabling conditions for teams to perform

well: shared understanding, integration, and mutual trust. In multicultural teams, differences

in cultural norms and values challenge these enabling conditions.

Although the differences in cultural values offer potential for multicultural teams to

perform well (e.g., Ling, 1990; McLeod and Lobel, 1992; Watson et al., 1993), they also

influence members’ preferences for norms of social interaction (Bettenhausen and Murnighan,

1991; Earley 1993; Zander 1997). For example, members tend to interact most comfortably

and extensively with people who are like themselves (Lincoln and Miller, 1979; Marsden,

1988; Tsui and O’Reilly, 1989). Multicultural teams are likely to have structured gaps, or

faultlines, among cultural groups (Lau and Murnighan, 1998, 2005; Li and Hambrick, 2005).

Members often face challenges in cooperative decision-making (e.g., Anderson, 1983; Fiedler,

1966, Kirchmeyer and Cohen, 1992; Watson et al., 1993), which makes teams unable to

cultivate trust or break down often formidable communication barriers (Govindarajan and

Gupta, 2001). Brett and her colleagues (2006) summarized three main challenges regarding

communication: 1) direct versus indirect ways of communicating; 2) trouble with different

accents and fluency; and 3) different attitudes toward hierarchy and authority. They also

27
suggested four strategies to solve these problems: 1) adaptation (acknowledging cultural gaps

openly and working around them); 2) structural intervention (changing the shape of the team);

3) managerial intervention (setting norms early or bringing in a higher-level manager); and 4)

exit (removing a member). Thus, most research on multicultural teams has focused on team-

level solutions (e.g., Brett et al., 2006; Earley and Mosakowski, 2004, Elron, 1997; Ng and

Tung, 1998; Watson et al., 1993).

However, researchers have yet to explore the potential of bicultural members to contribute

to team effectiveness. As discussed, biculturally competent members help teams engage in

more effective cross-cultural communication and conflict resolution by playing two roles –

boundary spanner and conflict mediator. These roles can help avoid imposing approaches

based on a single-culture in multicultural situations (Brett et al., 2006). It is this aspect through

which bicultural members may help the team build shared understanding, integration, and

mutual trust.

It is important to note that the bicultural’s contribution to team effectiveness is also related

to the team’s cultural composition and how closely it resembles the bicultural’s two cultures.

For example, a French-Korean would work best in a team with other members from these two

cultures. However, this raises the question regarding how people who are merely biculturals

can be effective in multicultural teams. As described, highly biculturally competent

individuals should be capable of managing the complexity that often arises during interacting

cross-culturally in multicultural contexts. Furthermore, evidence suggests that if a person

possesses a certain level of competence in one domain, such as bicultural competence, it will

transfer to some degree to other domains, such as multicultural competence. This is

particularly true if the two domains share key components, such as cultural knowledge,

behavioral adaptability, cross-cultural communication skills, CFS, and cultural metacognition

(Streufert and Swezey, 1986). The logic is that the more functional similarities exist between

28
the original context (e.g., the bicultural context) in which some components were reinforced

and the new context (e.g., a multicultural team) (Markman and Gentner, 1993; Tadmor et al.,

2009), the more biculturals are likely to develop their bicultural competence to function

effectively in a new multicultural context (Holyoak and Koh, 1987). Further, linguistic

research shows that individuals who master more than one language (bilingual) are able to

acquire a third language (multilingualism) with a much less time and effort. For example,

highly biculturally competent people use inductive and analogical skills to step beyond their

existing knowledge. They do so to fully understand what is happening around them, inductively

mapping the new cultural setting to function effectively (Earley and Ang, 2003: 123). Thus,

they may be better equipped to facilitate cross-cultural interactions among members who are not

from one of their two own cultures. One reason for this is that they may be perceived as a

trustworthy third party with fair judgment regarding other cultural subgroups in a multicultural

team. So, while the cultural composition of multicultural teams may be an influential structural

characteristic, highly biculturally competent members can engage actively in integrating

activities that result in multicultural team effectiveness.

Bicultural Members’ Roles in Multicultural Teams

For a multicultural team to perform more effectively, it should synergistically combine

individual input to influence collective actions and outcomes. For example, one member’s

bicultural competence can be used to effectively integrate members for enhanced

communication and conflict resolution (Kozlowski and Klein, 2000; Steiner, 1972). This

requires the team to exploit a cross-level (individual and team-level) linking mechanism; that

is, the concept of “role.” A role is defined as behaviors that are interrelated with the repetitive

activities of others and the characteristics of a person in a particular setting (Biddle, 1979;

Forsyth, 1990; Katz and Kahn, 1978). Expectations, including norms, beliefs, and preferences

generate roles (Biddle, 1986). In other words, roles reflect constant patterns of behavior at the

29
individual level, while role configuration reflects collective interactions at the team level

(Kozlowski and Klein, 2000; Morgeson and Hofmann, 1999). When a biculturally competent

individual works in a multicultural team, he or she faces the challenges of cross-cultural

communication and conflicts caused by cultural differences among members. He or she thus

has the potential to adopt the role of an intermediary between two or more culturally divergent

groups. That is, bicultural competence can strongly indicate the roles a bicultural member

may adopt in a multicultural team. The actual roles adopted and the relative importance of

each of role are influenced by situational demands to solve challenges in a multicultural team

(Stewart et al., 2005). For example, biculturals’ propensity to span boundaries should promote

team effectiveness (Ancona and Caldwell, 1992a, b). At the individual level, biculturals’

boundary spanning capabilities can also benefit the biculturals themselves; indeed, it may give

the bicultural more access to a team’s strategic decision-making and greater opportunities for

promotion (Aldrich and Herker, 1977). As Thomas (1994) noted, while spanning cultural

boundaries internally and externally, biculturals acquire significant role benefits; they can

obtain resources, status, and information that other team members cannot. These role benefits,

in turn, increase biculturals’ job satisfaction, encouraging them to engage further in boundary

spanning activities (Thomas, 1994; Au and Fukuda, 2002).

Highly biculturally competent people are more likely to play a role such as cultural

broker: they become a boundary spanner and conflict mediator to meet the team’s

expectations, particularly when their team faces challenges caused by cultural diversity. This

discussion suggests the following proposition.

Proposition 4: The higher level of bicultural competence an individual

has, the more likely he or she will engage in boundary spanning and
conflict mediating roles in multicultural teams.

30
Biculturals as boundary spanners

Boundary spanners are essential to the efficient and effective operation of

organizations (Aldrich and Herker, 1977; Bradach and Eccles, 1989; Thomas, 1994;

Thompson, 1967). Ancona and her colleagues showed that boundary spanning activities

inside and outside a team at both team and individual levels are critical for gathering

knowledge, important information, and political resources that help maintain the team’s

effectiveness (Ancona, 1990; Ancona and Caldwell, 1990, 1992a, b; Gladstein, 1984).

However, we still do not know specifically how bicultural members play boundary-

spanning roles in a multicultural team.

In MNCs, teams typically carry out knowledge-intensive work. Creating, disseminating,

and using knowledge beyond each member’s cultural background are critical issues for team

performance (e.g., Grant, 1996; Kogut and Zander, 1993). Knowledge is transferred in two

ways: acquiring and applying (Haas, 2006). More specifically, Ancona (1990) identified four

activities of boundary spanning in knowledge transfer: 1) the ambassador activity, which

builds support from powerful outsiders; 2) the task coordinator activity, which requires more

focused communication than general scanning; 3) the scout activity to obtain competitive

market and technical ideas from different parts of the organization (fulfilled by those with

access to information about external competitive trends, for example); and 4) the guard

activity, which controls the information flow out of the group.

Although Ancona (1990) explored neither the context of multicultural teams nor

biculturals, the boundary spanning activities she identified can be applied to biculturals in

multicultural teams. Biculturals’ tacit knowledge increases the team’s effectiveness in

acquiring external knowledge that is often de- or recontextualized by social process.

Biculturals with a high level of behavioral adaptability and cultural metacognition (for an

effective cross-cultural interaction strategy) may span different cultural groups better than

31
monocultural members. This results in improving a team’s ability to apply the acquired

knowledge to a given team task. In other words, individuals with extensive work experience

in diverse cultural contexts and with high cross-communication skills acquire more

knowledge from external sources and thus enhance a team’s knowledge transfer. Accordingly,

multicultural teams with bicultural members are more likely to perform better (Haas, 2006).

Beyond individual roles, the team must have a shared meaning system or collective

integration process to transfer knowledge effectively. In spanning boundaries, biculturals may

facilitate such a shared meaning system. This may accelerate the integration process among

culturally different members, even at an early stage of the team’s life cycle. Biculturals

recognize members’ differences in communication and interpersonal styles that may inhibit

the team’s ability to share knowledge and information and manage verbal and non-verbal

behavior appropriately when interacting with culturally different members. In this way,

biculturals are more likely than monocultural to understand and emotionally relate to

members from different cultures. Thus, they are more likely to fit in and win the respect, trust

and friendship of colleagues. With trust and respect, biculturals help bridge the team’s

communication gaps caused by language and style differences by encouraging members to

express their ideas and debate how to complete tasks. In addition, teams are less likely to use

redundant information (Gruenfeld et al., 1996) or make premature decisions (Schulz-Hardt et

al., 2000). It is this aspect of biculturals’ boundary spanning role that promotes a team’s

shared meaning system and integration process that leads to effective knowledge transfer.

The bicultural’s boundary spanning role may also help develop more densely connected

intra-team connections. Because biculturals are more likely to build positive relationships

with different cultural subgroups, they may subsequently create positive relationships among

these subgroups. Such network density should enhance the team’s psychological safety

(Edmondson, 1999), allowing members to engage more deeply in discussing how to explore

32
and exploit knowledge with fewer relational conflicts (Jehn and Mannix, 2001; Simons and

Peterson, 2000). Although many researchers have argued that trust building is critical for team

effectiveness, the question of who can help culturally different members smoothly and

efficiently remains largely unanswered. However, biculturally competent members,

underrecognized to date, appear to help others in a multicultural team perform effectively

beyond cultural boundaries.

Biculturals as conflict mediators

While spanning multicultural boundaries, biculturals actively engage in

enhancing a team’s cross-cultural communication and building trust among culturally

different members. As noted, this results in a team effectively transferring knowledge

for given and future tasks. At the same time, biculturals’ ability to span cultural

boundaries may lead to success in mediating conflicts, which are often created by

cultural differences in norms and values.

Although cultural differences among members do not always create conflict (e.g., Salk

and Brannen, 2000), they do increase the likelihood of conflict (Armstrong and Cole, 1996).

Any team must resolve conflicts and build trust in order to perform well. Team conflict is

defined as perceptions among team members that they hold discrepant views or have

interpersonal incompatibilities (Jehn, 1995). Jehn and Mannix (2001) proposed that conflict in

working teams can be categorized into three types: relationship conflict, task conflict, and

process conflict. Relational conflict (affective and cognitive) means being aware of

interpersonal incompatibilities and includes affective components such as feelings of

annoyance, frustration, and irritation. Task conflict means being aware of differences in

viewpoints and opinions pertaining to a team task (Amason and Sapienza, 1997). Process

conflict (Jehn, 1997; Jehn et al., 1999) means being aware of controversies related to how to

33
proceed in accomplishing a task. For example, when team members disagree about who is

responsible for completing a specific duty, they are experiencing process conflict.

According to Jehn and Mannix (2001), these three types of conflicts are dynamic over

the life of the team. While high-performing teams experience different levels of process and

task conflicts, they are not always detrimental, but instead can be beneficial to the team’s

performance. Based on their research, Jehn and Mannix (2001) discovered that high-

performing teams are characterized by lower levels of process conflict and higher levels of

task conflict at the midpoint in the team life cycle than at the beginning and end of team

interaction. In addition, teams performing well have lower relationship conflict across all

phases of team interaction than do lower-performing teams. Relationship conflicts are least

likely to benefit the team at any point. Thus, teams must work to lower relational conflict to

maximize team effectiveness. In multicultural teams, culturally different members’ core

values and beliefs differ, and interpersonal tension and emotional upsets are more likely to

occur (Bar-Tal, 1989; Schein, 1986; Schneider, 1983), creating relational conflict. For

example, if members have pre-established work ethics such as valuing detail or working long

hours (see Brannen and Salk, 2000 for an example of a German and Japanese joint venture

case) that differ from their teammates, they are less likely to be satisfied with their team

(Jehn, 1994). In addition, as noted, multicultural teams often face communication problems

that generate conflicts that are difficult to resolve. As a result, teams with relational conflicts

often work toward a competitive rather than a cooperative goal (Amason and Sapienza, 1997;

Jehn and Shah, 1997).

Jehn and Mannix (2001) found that because biculturally competent members have more

cultural knowledge of work ethics and are more effective interacting across cultures, they are

more likely to engage in resolving relationship conflict and promoting group-consensus

values. Group-consensus values define the extent to which members have similar values

34
regarding work, such as innovativeness, carefulness, autonomy, adaptability, and informality

(Jehn and Mannix, 2001: 241). From the early stages of team interaction, biculturally

competent people must help the team operate under polite norms (low levels of relational

conflict) that allow cultural sub-groups to become more familiar with one another (Jehn,

1995; Shah and Jehn, 1993). Once team members have increased their familiarity with one

another beyond cultural differences, they are more likely to agree on group work ethics and

share knowledge and information for a given task. In this way, the team promotes harmony

(Nemeth and Staw, 1989), decreases relationship conflicts, and performs effectively

(Gruenfeld et al., 1996; Jehn and Shah, 1997; Shah and Jehn, 1993).

In multicultural teams, members are likely to have different interests that create

conflicts, but also different approaches to solving those conflicts (Karambayya and Brett,

1989; Karambayya et al., 1992). For example, Asians tend to be more indirect in managing

conflict than are Westerners (Earley and Ang, 2003). Asians do not approach the other party

explicitly to argue their case, because they innately respect the quality of the relationship that

may be hurt by direct comments. For example, “losing face” (an intense form of public

humiliation) is a mortifying experience for the Chinese; therefore, no one is confronted

directly in a meeting in Chinese society. However, in French society, direct confrontation

occurs frequently. Thus, if a team has French-Chinese bicultural members who understand the

logic and emotions that contribute to the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral tendencies of

the different cultural parties, the process of resolving conflicts will occur more effectively.

Biculturally competent people must analyze how each party thinks when conflict

occurs. They must be careful not to attribute the members’ actions and statements to bad

intentions. As such, they are less likely to accelerate conflict between the parties and more

likely to gain trust. This allows biculturals to play a role as a third party in disputes

(Karambayya and Brett, 1989; Karambayya et al., 1992). For example, when the French and

35
Chinese work together in global project teams based in Shanghai, it is a common to have

bilingual French-Chinese members with extensive life or work experience in both countries

acting as go-betweens. When problems or conflicts emerge, it is relatively easier for these

biculturals to approach both parties to affect a resolution.

To summarize, this model encompasses two important roles that highly biculturally

competent individuals play that contribute to multicultural team effectiveness. These roles are

the behavioral outcomes of bicultural competence as conceptualized in the model and are

critical functions for multicultural team effectiveness. A multicultural team is defined as a

cross-cultural social interaction setting that requires highly biculturally competent people,

who are keenly aware and fully responsible for the impact of their behaviors and those of

others. They then must engage in roles that promote effective team functioning such as

boundary spanner and conflict mediator. The positive relationship between multicultural team

effectiveness and bicultural competence is the focus of the construct of bicultural competence

developed in this article. This discussion thus suggests the following proposition.

Proposition 5: The more bicultural individuals are given the

opportunity to play boundary spanning and conflict mediating roles,
the more effective multicultural teams will be.

Discussion

This paper has defined the construct of bicultural competence and its impact on

multicultural team effectiveness. Bicultural competence is a set of dynamic interacting

dimensions consisting of knowledge, cross-cultural abilities (behavioral adaptability and

cross-cultural communication skills) linked by CFS and cultural metacognition. Each

dimension is a critical feature so that biculturals can play the roles of boundary spanner and

conflict mediator to promote multicultural team effectiveness. This definition differs from

36
related competence concepts in its dimensions; the manner in which these dimensions interact

(in particular the role of CFS and cultural metacognition); and the relationship between

bicultural competence and the critical roles they play for multicultural team effectiveness.

Bicultural competence, as defined in this article, is based on the literatures of

biculturalism and cultural intelligence and opens a new door to research on biculturalism in

organizations. Consistent with prior research, yet applying bicultural competence, biculturals’

high levels of cultural intelligence in cross-cultural interactions lead to multicultural team

effectiveness.

Previous research has documented bicultural competence, focusing in particular on the

psychological well-being of immigrants and native-Americans in multicultural environments

(e.g., LaFromboise et al., 1993). Systematically analyzing the performance of biculturals’

competence in cross-cultural interactions in organizations (such as multicultural teams) has

received less attention. This article contributes to this research stream by introducing the

concept of bicultural competence; providing a conceptual model of the construct; and

describing its impact on multicultural team effectiveness.

This paper has identified the critical dimensions of bicultural competence in cross-

cultural interactions. In doing so, it has made a positive association between bicultural

competence and two potential roles biculturals play in a multicultural team that promote its

effectiveness: boundary spanner and conflict mediator. Because cultural diversity makes it

difficult for a team to perform effectively, biculturally competent people must engage in these

two roles to promote their teams’ knowledge transfer and accelerate the integration process

for better performance. Role theory supports how individual level effectiveness impacts team

level effectiveness (Kozlowski and Klein, 2000).

In highlighting biculturals’ roles in multicultural teams, this paper makes a second

contribution by defining bicultural competence in international cross-cultural management.

37
This paper’s definition differs from those previously presented in biculturalism literature

regarding the manner in which each dimension interacts dynamically and how it is applied in

international business organizations. In addition, its distinct focus on both biculturals’ unique

cultural frame switching abilities and their high levels of cultural metacognition distinguishes

this research from the biculturalism literature by focusing on biculturals’ CFS ability and

culture-specific skills. It is also distinct from similar work such as cultural intelligence by

focusing on cultural metacognition, culture-general skills, cross-cultural competence,

intercultural competence, and cross-cultural adaptability. This paper posits that bicultural

competence, defined as the combination of culture-specific (cultural frame switching) and

culture-general (high levels of cultural metacognition) skills, is an important construct

developing theory about bicultural competence and its impact on multicultural team

effectiveness.

A third contribution of this approach is that it offers practitioners informed choices

regarding how to compose and manage multinational teams. It helps them recognize and

understand biculturals and their bicultural competence in increasing the effectiveness of a

multicultural team. The approach this paper presents should also encourage the cross-cultural

training of bicultural employees to enhance their competence further. By using this model to

guide selecting employees and to design customized training, organizations can make more

informed investments in their human cultural capital.

Future research

This paper’s model and the perspective developed suggest many directions for future

research. One would be to test the dynamics in the model, assessing the dimensions of

bicultural competence; that is, knowledge, behavioral adaptability, cross-cultural

communication skills, and cultural metacognition. Although measuring the dimensions has

already been well developed (see for example, Thomas et al., 2008; Johnson et al., 2006 for a

38
good review), the challenges now are to measure how cultural frame switching dynamically

links the three dimensions. More importantly, measuring how bicultural competence applies

to effectiveness-promoting roles in multicultural teams should be further explored. Future

work should empirically examine the relationships between bicultural competence and the

roles they play in the context of a multicultural team. In order to develop a sufficient number

of valid scenarios, researchers should seek extensive support and input from practitioners.

Mixed methodologies (qualitative and quantitative) would be an appropriate way to

measure this paper’s model (e.g., Brannen and Peterson, 2009; Brannen and Salk, 2000; Haas,

2006). First, a deep contextual understanding of biculturals’ functioning in multicultural

teams requires ethnographic research. Because the model and perspective developed here is a

nascent theory (Edmondson and McManus, 2007: 1162), “openness to input from the field

helps ensure that researchers identify and investigate key variables over the course of study.

Data collection may involve the full immersion of ethnography or, more simply, exploratory

interviews with organizational informants”. This inductive approach should focus on the

process of how bicultural members function in multicultural team settings rather than testing

the model.

A quantitative approach would then be useful to measure the dimensions (knowledge,

behavioral adaptability, cross-cultural communication skills, and cultural metacognition) of

bicultural competence (e.g., Brannen et al., 2009). Empirical analysis could also be applied to

the pattern of social networks among biculturals to understand their boundary spanning roles

in transferring knowledge and in mediating conflict (e.g., Cohen and Levinthal, 1990; Salk

and Brannen, 2005; Tsai, 2001). This quantitative approach could also be applied to measure

team performance (e.g., Ancona, 1990; Gladstein, 1984; Reagans and Zuckerman, 2001).

With a mixed methodology approach, the model presented here will have increased practical

value with valid and reliable data.

39
 The effect of Bicultural Identity Integration (BII; Benet-Martinez et al., 2002) on

bicultural competence and their roles for team effectiveness would also be an interesting area

to explore. BII refers to the extent to which bicultural people perceive their two cultural

identities as either compatible (High BII) or oppositional (Low BII). BII can be an important

personal variable that influences bicultural competence and its impact on multicultural team

effectiveness; more specifically, in terms of the boundary spanner and conflict mediator roles

(Benet-Martinez and Haritatos, 2005; Benet-Martinez et al., 2002; Brannen et al., 2009;

Cheng et al., 2006). For example, some research has shown that individuals with high BII

exhibit higher levels of innovation in tasks that require identity-related knowledge, which

ultimately increases team innovation (Cheng et al., 2008b). Individuals with high BII may

directly boost the team’s performance by contributing positively to both the task and the

team’s relational dynamics (Cheng et al., 2008b). Bassett-Jones (2005) argued that higher BII

individuals might be able to alleviate team conflict that is often prevalent in multicultural

teams. For example, higher BII members may serve as ambassadors (Ancona and Caldwell,

1992b) and facilitate communication between other members.

Another study suggests that low BII biculturals are more cognitively complex due to the

inner conflict required to maintain dual cultural identities (Benet-Martinez et al., 2006). As a

result, they become more systematic and careful in processing cues from cultural situations,

resulting in more complex cultural representations than high BII biculturals (Tadmor et al.,

2009). Recently, Brannen et al. (2009) found that the extent to which biculturals experience

conflict between their two cultural identities (Low BII) was positively associated with cross-

cultural skills such as tolerance for uncertainty, relational skills, empathy, and cultural

metacognition. Thus, low BII biculturals may be better equipped to handle the demands of

ambiguous, complex, and fast-changing cultural situations (Benet-Martinez et al., 2006: 402).

40
 Psychologically managing multiple cultural identities has an important impact on an

individual’s psychological well-being, professional achievement, and social networking (Cheng

et al., 2008). The degree of BII may moderate for biculturals to be more or less effective in

employing their bicultural competence for certain multicultural team roles in a multicultural

team. However, research on the effect of BII on bicultural competence has yet to be explored

more empirically. Although it is challenging to clearly connect the degree of BII and team task,

Table 2 summarizes how different types of biculturals (High BII and Low BII) can contribute

more effectively to specific team tasks such as a boundary spanner and conflict mediator.

In addition, research on team effectiveness suggests many other moderating factors on

the ability of bicultural competence to influence individuals’ roles in multicultural teams. For

example, Gladstein (1984) suggested the factors of team composition, team structure,

organizational resources available, organizational structure, team process, and group task may

be influential. The degree of BII is less likely to be a one single moderating factor; therefore, the

conceptual model developed in this paper continues without any moderating factors.

The bicultural’s unique ability to use CFS as a linking function between cultural

knowledge (cognition) and cross-cultural abilities (behaviors), and its effect on bicultural

competence also requires further empirical examination. In the conceptual model this paper

develops, biculturals’ CFS ability is one of critical dimensions that drive bicultural competence.

Alternatively, biculturals’ CFS and its cognitive, dynamic interaction with cultural

metacognition may be a facet of bicultural competence. Because the conceptual model this

paper outlines is tentative, and the relationships among constructs are complex, it is subject to

further development and testing. That is, for biculturals’ to be effective in cross-cultural

interactions requires not only the ability to switch cultural frames, but also high levels of

cultural meatcognition. Future research should explore the relationship between cultural frame

switching and cultural metacognition, and its effect on bicultural competence.

41
 The value of biculturals and understanding their roles in team effectiveness in a

multicultural context also offers implications for theory about virtual teams. Research on

issues such as the need for face-to-face meetings, cross-cultural communication, and trust

building could be reinterpreted through the lens of bicultural competence as developed here.

For example, given biculturals’ competencies, new ways can be identified to span cultural

boundaries, improve a team’s cross-cultural communication, and mediate conflicts. In turn,

these could improve the team’s knowledge transfer and promote trust building.

Beyond the cross-cultural context, highlighting the roles of biculturals can contribute to

the literature of organizational knowledge and learning by showing that human capital

characteristics can facilitate knowledge transfer. Prior theory and research have found that

knowledge is more difficult to transfer if it is more tacit or causally ambiguous (Brannen,

2004; Szulanski, 1996; Zander and Kogut, 1995). Explicit knowledge, on the other hand, can

be transferred more easily with well-designed document databases (Hansen and Haas, 2001).

This paper focuses attention on biculturals who can acquire and transfer such implicit and re-

contextualized knowledge. Future examining these skills would offer further insight into the

roles biculturals play in transferring tacit knowledge. In addition, recent research on

biculturalism has found that bicultural people are more creative (Cheng et al., 2008a; Leung

and Chiu, in press; Leung et al., 2008). For example, Cheng and her colleagues (2008a,b)

focused on high BII individuals in multicultural teams in terms of their greater creativity in

team innovation and Leung and Chiu (in press) have shown that simultaneously combining

two cultural networks, not merely being exposed to cultural knowledge, is essential for

elevating creativity. This indicates that biculturals can capitalize on the benefits of their

multicultural experiences (Tadmor et al., 2009). Future research should empirically examine

this possibility.

42
 Prior research on team composition (e.g., Janis, 1982) has suggested that a mix of

monoculturals (locals), bi- or multiculturals, and other team members is important to avoid

potential biases that may arise if multicultural teams are dominated by too many similar-

minded individuals (Haas, 2006). Haas (2006) also found that too many monoculturals or too

many biculturals reduces team effectiveness. For example, if the team is composed mainly by

monoculturals (e.g., A and B cultures) and biculturals (e.g., A+B cultures), it might not be a

good fit in terms of building trust. This is because the biculturals’ effectiveness on cross-cultural

interaction may be perceived as too flexible and difficult to trust. Thus, multicultural team

composition and its impact on biculturals’ effectiveness in cross-cultural interaction and team

effectiveness would be an interesting field to explore.

Practical implications

For MNCs, the theory of bicultural competence and its impact on multicultural team

effectiveness is useful for composing teams. Certain features in a cultural context may be

more or less challenging for some biculturals given their particular personal attributes such as

personality, skills, and cultural experiences. Thus, management should consider the fit

between the demands of a team and the characteristics of its bicultural employees.

Researchers have recently emphasized the importance of specificity in training

(Mendenhall and Stahl, 2000). This model can help multinational companies customize

training to the specific needs of bicultural employees. Training should focus on developing a

particular dimension (for example, behavioral adaptability) or on one of the roles (for

example, the boundary-spanning role) in which a particular bicultural presents less

competence. The first step for successful training is, of course, to evaluate a bicultural

employee’s level in each dimension of bicultural competence and in the two roles that

contribute to team effectiveness. By using the model this paper presents as a blueprint for

intervention and for teaching the bicultural workforce, MNCs will help biculturals improve

43
their competence through tailor-made training. This investment will ultimately improve

business performance.

MNCs that use project-driven multicultural teams face challenges in managing cultural

diversity that can critically affect team performance. Clearly, biculturals can improve team

effectiveness, which ultimately contributes to an organization’s success. Still, further

empirical studies should reinforce the conceptual model this paper develops.

44
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Figure 1-1 A conceptual model of bicultural competence and its impact on
multicultural team effectiveness

60
Table 1-1 Comparisons among bicultural competence and other cultural-
related competences

Concept Field Authors Definition Content

Cross- International Johnson, Cross-cultural competence in § Knowledge
cultural business Lenartowicz, international business is an § Skills
competence & Apud, individual’s effectiveness in drawing § Personal attributes
2006 upon a set of knowledge, skills, and
personal attributes in order to work
successfully with people from
different national cultural
backgrounds at home or abroad.

Intercultural Intercultural Abe & Intercultural competence is the § Communicative

competence management Wiseman, ability to explore one’s repertoire Behavior
1983; and actively construct an appropriate § AffectiveCognitive
Friedman & strategy. It involves overcoming the (Gersten, 1990)
Antal, 2005; constraints embedded in an
Gertsen, individual’s culturally shaped
1990; repertoire, creating new responses,
Hammer, and thereby expanding the repertoire
Gudykunst, & of potential interactions and
Wiseman, behaviors available in future
1978 intercultural interaction. (Friedman
and Antal, 2005)
Cultural International Thomas et al., A system of interacting knowledge § Knowledge
intelligence business 2008 and skills, linked by cultural (content and
metacognition, that allows people to process)
adapt to, select, and shape the § Skills
cultural aspects of their environment § Metacognition
Cross- Psychology Kelley & Cross-cultural adaptability inventory § Flexibility
cultural Meyers, 1999 was developed to measure cross- § Emotional
adaptability cultural adaptability resilience
§ Perceptual acuity
§ Personal autonomy

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Table 1-2 Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) and Bicultural employees’
roles in multicultural team tasks: Adapted from Ancona and Caldwell’s
(1992b) four boundary-spanning activities and Jehn and Mannix’s (2001) three
types of conflicts.

Types of bicultural
Team roles Team task Specific contribution to the task

High BII Low BII

§ Developing contacts externally

Knowledge § Obtaining competitive market
acquisition and technical ideas from a
different part of the
Better organization (those with access
Boundary to information about external
spanning competitive trends (Scout
activity, Ancona & Caldwell,
1992b)

§ Developing team’s network

Knowledge density
application Better § Facilitating more focused
(sharing) communication than the more
general scanning done through
scout activities; Ambassador
and Task coordinator activity,
Ancona & Caldwell, 1992b)
Mediating § Promoting group value
relational consensus
conflict Better § Building trust
Conflict
mediation § Delegating well
Mediating § Clarifying responsibility and
process Better task
conflict § Handling the demands of
ambiguous, complex, and fast-
changing situations (Brannen
et al., 2009)
Mediating § Promoting decision-making
task conflict § Creative ideas
Better § Clarifying goals

62
 MULTICULTURALS AS CULTURAL BROKERS:
THEIR ROLES IN NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TEAMS

Through a 10-month ethnographic field study of multicultural workforce in global new

product development teams, I build theory about cultural brokerage role. Specifically, I
examine how multiculturals influence team work processes and outcomes by managing
knowledge processes and handling conflicts. Multiculturals’ cultural brokerage in global
teams was identified through brining new local product and market knowledge,
translating cultural nuances, and connecting geographically diverse knowledge and
skills for a team’s knowledge processes; reducing inter-regional misunderstanding
and displaying flexible behavior to do with people from diverse regions and cultures
for a conflict management. Implications of my findings for both theory and practice are
discussed.

Keywords: Cultural Brokerage, Multiculturalism, Global Team Effectiveness, New

product development process in Cosmetic Multinational firms, Ethnography.

Global teams in multinational corporations (MNCs) have become the network where

people from diverse cultures must find ways to work together effectively. The ability to

leverage diversity is one of the most significant challenges MNCs face in today’s

environment. Indeed, sources of learning are becoming more dispersed both geographically

and organizationally, and workforce demographics echo society’s increasing multicultural

complexity. Particularly in today’s knowledge-intensive global industries, managers must

excel at the softer, collaborative skills that facilitate co-learning and engage in knowledge

sharing across differentiated contexts. Critical to operationalizing these new mandates is the

ability to negotiate strong, effective, and synergistic working relationships within and across

diverse organizational and cultural contexts.

In practice, the cross-cultural skill sets needed to manage multicultural collaboration

and integration effectively are displayed most vividly in global teams within MNCs. To date,

however, limited research has examined such teams, with even fewer studies on multicultural

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individuals in multinational corporations. Further, virtually no research has sought to

understand the role multicultural individuals play to ensure that their teams function

effectively. Increasingly, people with multicultural origins—biculturals and multicultural

individuals—are numerous in the MNCs, and they constitute a rich research resource to

bridge and integrate across culturally diverse contexts (Brannen, Thomas, & Garcia, 2009).

The purpose of the present study is to build and enrich theory around the cultural

brokerage role (Geertz, 1960) that multicultural project managers play in global teams. To

accomplish this aim, I conducted a 10-month ethnographic field study in a leading cosmetic

and consumer goods MNC. I examined the cultural brokerage in the context of new product

development teams. Specifically, I examined how multiculturals influence knowledge

processes and handling conflicts in global teams. I define “multicultural” as an individual

with more than one cultural identity (Hong, Morris, Chiu, & Benet-Martinez, 2000), with

latent skills gained through (often) life-long cultural experiences working and living with

culturally different people (Benet-Martinez, Lee, & Leu, 2006; Brannen et al., 2009). I found

that multiculturals play a critical role in team work processes within global teams where

members’ cultural/national heterogeneity seems more complicated than organizational

researchers have so far recognized (e.g., Argote & McGath, 1993; Elron, Shamir, & Ben-Ari,

1998; Jackson, May, & Whitney, 1995; Jackson, et al.,1992; Lawrence, 1997; Snow, Snell,

Davison, & Hambrick, 1996). In the present study, my aim is to advance our understanding of

the implications of employing multicultural workers by exploring how they interact and what

makes them more or less successful at integrating diverse members who may not share similar

cultural traits, norms, values, or ways of approaching tasks.

PERSPECTIVES ON MULTICULTURALS IN GLOBAL TEAMS

Little research has examined the roles of multiculturals in global teams, yet an

amalgamation of perspectives draw on psychology, sociology, anthropology, and international

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management (Benet-Martinez et al., 2002, 2006; Brannen et al., 2009; Hong, 2010; Hong et

al., 2000; Geertz, 1960; Press, 1969). These perspectives share a focus on the evolving,

intertwined relationship between multiculturalism and its social-cultural/institutional contexts.

Thus, one way to understand multiculturals in global teams is to examine how they influence

team work processes and outcomes.

Team Heterogeneity

Theories on the impact of heterogeneity on team effectiveness are also relevant to the

present study, which focuses on the roles multiculturals play in global teams, where

multiculturals enact their brokerage role for work processes. (For an excellent review on team

heterogeneity, see Earley & Mosakowski, 2000.) Three literature streams inform how team

heterogeneity impacts performance: the cultural diversity literature (e.g., Cox, 1992; Larkey,

1996; Maznevski, 1994; Watson, Kumar, & Michaelson, 1993); organizational demography

research on team composition (e.g., Hambrick & Mason, 1984; Ibarra, 1992; Lawrence, 1997;

O’Reilly, Caldwell, & Barnett, 1989; Pfeffer, 1983; Tsui, Egan, & O’Reilly, 1992); groups

research (e.g., Hackman, 1976, 1987; McGrath, 1984; Moscovici, 1976; Nemeth, 1986;

Tajfel, 1982; Tajfel & Turner, 1979; Turner, 1985). Generally, these three perspectives all

suggest that a moderate level of heterogeneity can balance a homogeneous team’s

performance (Amabile, 1988).

In contrast, Earley and Mosakowski (2000) recently suggested that both homogeneous

and highly heterogeneous teams will be more effective than moderately heterogeneous teams.

Two aspects of Earley and Mosakowski’s (2000) study motivate the present study on the roles

of multiculturals in global team. First, at the individual level of analysis, Earley and

Mosakowski paid less attention to individual cultural background. Some team members in

their field work must be multiculturals (e.g., see the American and British in Team 4 of Study

1, p.32). Second, at the team level of analysis, in high performance teams—low and high

65
heterogeneity teams—have multicultural members. Integrating these two perspectives might

logically lead to postulating that the roles multiculturals play as cultural brokers is an

important function for team work processes and outcomes. The teams (i.e., global team in

Figure 1 Diverse team vs. Global team) that emerged from my ethnographic field work

looked much more complicated than diverse team (See Figure 1) in terms of individual and

team-level cultural heterogeneity. In contrast to previous research, while the present study

integrates literature on multiculturalism and cultural brokerage, it also pays careful attention

to individual cultural backgrounds (i.e., multiculturalism) in analyzing team heterogeneity.

Indeed, the present paper opens new discussion on the importance of individual roles on team

effectiveness.

Cultural Brokerage

Brokerage involves boundary spanning roles (Ancona, 1990; Ancona & Caldwell, 1992a,

1992b; Au & Fukuda, 2002; Thomas, 1994) across communities. Organizational researchers

have examined brokerage from three main perspectives: structural, practical (relational), and

cultural. From the structural conception of brokerage, brokers are structurally central (Gould

& Fernandez, 1989; Burt, 1992; Fernandez & Gould, 1994) conduits for accessing

information and thus can obtain information, power, and control benefits directly from their

individual use of that information. In contrast, from a practical or relational conception of

brokerage, brokers connect disparate people, knowledge, or ideas (Hargadon & Sutton, 1997;

Baker & Obstfeld, 1999; Obstfeld, 2005). In this role, they must integrate different ideas,

innovations, and contributions from others and synthesize them into a coherent whole to

obtain both individual and mutual benefits.

While structural and practical views on brokerage invoke the use of brokerage activities

in knowledge processes for innovative work, for Anthropologists, a cultural broker lives on

tension and attempts to serve both local and national groups. That is, culture brokerage, the

66
process of bridging cultural, social, political and often-opposite perspectives into an

innovative whole is common to a wide variety of contexts: a local Moslem teacher in post-

revolutionary Indonesia (Geertz, 1960); local teachers in a Yucantan peasant community

(Press, 1969); modern African chiefs (Fallers, 1955); a Maya Indian community (Nach, 1966);

a chiropractor (Wardwell, 1951/2); medical doctors (David, 1960; Lo, 2010, see Lo & Stacey,

2008 for a comprehensive review); and nurses in Bostwana (Barbee, 1987).

Wolf views the “cultural broker” as an individual who “is capable of operating within

both the community and national spheres. Cultural broker stands guard over the crucial

junctures of synapses of relationships which connect the local system to the larger whole.”

(1956, p. 1072). Cultural brokers must have mul(bi)ticulturalism (true competence rather than

just exhibiting a few behavioral elements and mastery of a language) as an insider and an

outsider. The empirical evidence to date has suggested that culture-straddling brokers

developed their innovator role by connecting the local and national levels of socio-cultural

integration and have fostered effective communication networks among sophisticated culture

and folk culture, even in a socially and culturally heterogeneous country such as, for example,

Indonesia (Geertz, 1960). Despite the prevalence of cultural brokerage across social and

organizational contexts, theoretical conceptions have not kept pace with this phenomenon

with multiculturals in global teams, where managing cultural heterogeneity among members

becomes a critical challenge.

Multiculturalism

Scholars examining multi- or biculturalism often focus on the antecedents of

(bi)multiculturalism; for example, more complex cultural representations (Benet-Martinez et

al., 2006) by switching between dual cultural schemas (called Cultural Frame Switching

[CFS], Hong et al., 2000), greater integrative complexity (Tadmor & Tetlock, 2006; Tadmor,

Tetlock, & Peng, 2009), and the effect on bicultural identity integration (Benet-Martinez &

67
Haritatos, 2005; Benet-Martinez et al., 2002; Cheng, Lee, & Benet-Martinez, 2006) on

bicultural competence and psychological well-being. Furthermore, several researchers in

international management have recently suggested that multiculturals have higher levels of

culture-general skills such as cultural metacognition than do monoculturals (Brannen et al.,

2009; Thomas et al., 2008). Finally Hong (2010) defined bicultural competence as a set of

dynamic interacting dimensions consisting of cultural knowledge, cross-cultural abilities

(behavioral adaptability and cross-cultural communication skills) linked by CFS and cultural

metacognition. Most of these scholars suggested applications of multiculturalism in cross-

cultural business contexts (e.g., Hong 2010; LaFromboise, Coleman, & Gerton, 1993). How

multiculturals exploit such skills in the global work place are as yet largely unrecognized or

unanswered.

METHODS

With the present research, I sought to understand how multiculturals influence work

processes and outcomes in global teams based on how they exploit skills acquired from

multicultural experiences. To generate novel, theoretically grounded insights (Glaser &

Strauss, 1967; Vaughan, 1992), I selected 25 multinational companies (MNCs) operating in

Paris that employ a multicultural workforce based on information gathered from their

websites and reputation. Selection criteria included the number and locations of foreign

subsidiaries, the company’s ranking in related business, and the company’s Human Resource

policy related to valuing diversity. After the first selection, I discussed my choices with my

five thesis supervisors, who have conducted research with various MNCs, and senior

professors who have conducted extensive research on MNCs both in France and worldwide.

Together, we narrowed down the list to seven companies in different industries that

represented the most appropriate research contexts. I sent my research proposal (two-page

summary) and my CV to the seven selected firms. Subsequently, four of the companies

68
contacted me. Two companies are cooperating with this research: a leading cosmetic and

consumer goods multinational and a leading auditing and business consulting multinational.

The present study was completed with the help of the cosmetic and consumer goods

multinational, using the pseudonym BEAU.

BEAU was an ideal site to study the roles of multicultural companies in global teams.

Most important, it employs many multicultural employees working in divisions such as new

product development, international marketing, and international recruiting. As the world’s

largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) MNC, BEAU needed employees who could

develop products that led global markets. Beginning in late 1990, BEAU realized that French

project managers were limited in their ability to develop products to satisfy local consumers.

BEAU thus started to recruit other individuals who were more qualified to develop products

for global consumers. The recruits were called ‘international talent’ at the company’s

headquarters (HQ).

Research Site

As a non-participant observer, I conducted a 10-month ethnography at BEAU at their

Paris location. BEAU has 67,500 employees in 130 subsidiaries worldwide. The present study

focused mainly on the company’s new product development division and international

recruiting division at the company’s HQ. Most of the company’s multicultural employees

worked at the Paris HQ. The new product development division employed 160 project

managers. Of these 160 project managers, 40% were recruited directly from local subsidiaries

and 60% were recruited in France. Overall, 40% of the project managers are multicultural.

BEAU has maintained this recruitment strategy in new product development for

approximately 10 years.

A basic description of multicultural project managers in new product development is a

prerequisite to understanding how they influenced teamwork processes and outcomes. The

69
work of new product development at BEAU progressed in phases, from creating new product

concepts and into promoting those products. Each new product took one and half or two years

to progress from being conceptualized as a new product to the manufacturing phase. In the

concept development phase, multicultural project managers developed a new product concept

by working with an experienced team leader (i.e., directors with more than five years of

experience as a team leader and a project manager). They also worked with other

organizational groups such as research and development (R&D), the market research team,

the international marketing team, and local subsidiaries (See Figure 2 Individual and Team

Cultural Heterogeneity). Developing new product concepts was a complicated process. It

involved various organizational groups within HQ and across regional offices so that projects

would have novelty in either local or global markets. At the same time, the newly created

concept had to be coherent with existing product lines (e.g., hair care products that used only

natural plants) and the product’s public reputation (e.g., environmental-friendly and people-

tested). Finally, the novelty had to be feasible for manufacturing without attracting any global

legal problems. Developing new product concepts lasted from six months to a year depending

on the product’s level of novelty. In developing a new product concept, multicultural project

managers had to present their work process to top management on a regular basis, both

formally and informally. After they obtained approval for their new product concept, they

presented their project at the ‘la journée mondiale’, BEAU’s largest and most important

yearly event at HQ. This event attracted all regional directors from all around the globe who

came to evaluate future products (i.e., those that would hit the market in one or two years). If

feedback was positive from the regional directors attending this event, the multicultural

project managers moved to the next phase of actually designing the product.

In the design phase, multicultural project managers composed ingredients, chose

product colors, and designed packaging for the product. Their offices and work spaces were

70
decorated with product samples (e.g., previous and current products), packaging samples (e.g.,

boxes, cases, and bottles), and competitors’ product samples and even some non-related

products (i.e., Perrier in aluminum cans), all of which helped them choose colors for

packaging. Their work spaces looked like a small supermarket corner where people bought

shampoos and lipsticks. During this phase, multicultural employees also worked with

different organizational groups within HQ and across local subsidiaries, much as they did in

the first phase. In addition, they started working with the packaging team (often outsourced)

and manufacturing team (called Factory).

At the final phase, the multicultural project managers involved employees who executed

promotional campaigns through television, the Internet, and other advertising activities. They

set up all visual images of products, articulated the products’ selling points, and chose the best

way to promote the products they developed. Team leaders with more experience led the

promotion campaign directly. More specifically, experienced team leaders travelled to local

subsidiaries and directed all processes of promotion. Product promotion also involved various

new tasks were often outsourced to new groups. For example, to promote a make-up product

for Chinese women, the promotion team hired a famous local movie star, local make-up and

uniform team, local stage setting team, and a professional camera crew (which was a French

team). Television commercials are typically expensive and take months to complete.

Data Sources

My objective with the present study is to examine the roles of multicultural employees

and how they are engaged in the team work processes and outcomes in global teams. As such,

the design of the present study is open-ended, which allows unplanned themes to emerge from

the data among firms in different industries. In this way, I can cross-check internal

consistency and reliability (Denzin, 1978).

71
Ethnographic field work

BEAU designated one senior professional as my main contact person who was

responsible for planning meetings, interviews, and observations for my field work. Before I

met this individual face-to-face, I sent each firm’s senior professional the selection criteria for

interviewees and consulted with my contact concerning ideal interviewees and the firm’s

ability to fulfill my request. In a two-page description of selection criteria (see Appendix A

The Ideal Profiles of Interviewees and Team Observation), I provided details concerning what

defines multiculturals and monoculturals, multicultural team working experience, and how

many of interviewees I needed with multiculturals, monoculturals, and mangers.

Because I knew little about multiculturals in organizations when I began this study, I

started by conducting interviews with top management, six regional directors, and one HR

professional. My goal was to learn whether they were aware of the firm’s multicultural

workforce, why they think that multiculturals are important for their business, and how they

use multiculturals.

I elicited their views and observations regarding multiculturals and their personal

experiences in working with and managing multiculturals in teams. Through these interviews,

I learned that firms recognize a multicultural workforce and have tried to use their unique

competencies for various business purposes. For example, they use multiculturals’ experience

in new product development, knowledge transfer within and between HQ and subsidiaries,

team effectiveness, international market development, and international recruiting. Most

agreed that it is fundamental that organizations employ a multicultural workforce in order to

develop their business globally.

I then conducted 36 in situ interviews (27 multiculturals and 9 monoculturals; see Table

1 for Interviewee Profile and Team Composition, Table 2 for Demographic Details of

Interviewees) in a variety of hierarchical and functional positions. Most multicultural

72
interviewees have lived abroad at least two years. On average, each had lived in three

different countries. Most of them participated in an exchange program abroad during their

school days and travelled extensively both professionally and privately. All speak more than

two languages. Most of the teams were composed of at least three different nationalities. I

also conducted nine interviews with French (monocultural) managers to understand their

perspectives on multiculturals and their working experience with multiculturals. Interviews

typically lasted 100 minutes, ranging from 60 minutes (team leaders/managers and HR

manager) to more than two hours (most multiculturals). All interviews were audio-recorded

and were transcribed in verbatim. Although I modified interview protocols during each signal

of emerging themes (Spradley, 1979), common to each interview were a set of protocol

questions addressing: (1) how individual cultural identities are formed, (2) how they identify

themselves culturally, (3) what are critical incidents in their identity(ies) formation process, (4)

how cultural identity(ies) have impacted work performance and interacting with (culturally

different) others in teams (Appendix B for Interview Protocol).

I also conducted a semi-structured interview with the director and manager in the

Human Resource department. During the interview, I mainly asked when BEAU started

recruiting multiculturals (the HR manager called such employees ‘international talent’), why

BEAU decided to hire a multicultural workforce, and how BEAU recruited and managed

these employees once they were recruited. In addition, in terms of managing a multicultural

workforce, I asked about multiculturals’ overall performance, the challenges of managing

them, and the challenges a multicultural workforce faces, and the company’s future

recruitment strategy. I also had several informal discussions with directors and managers in

charge of DIVERSITY at BEAU. During these discussions, I asked them about BEAU’s

current and future strategy for a diversity policy in recruitment.

Most team meetings at BEAU were confidential because they discussed the process of

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developing new products. I, however, observed various team meetings in the new product

development department, including brainstorming sessions, bi-weekly meetings, and meetings

with other functional departments. Because I wanted to observe more team meetings in other

departments, I also attended team meetings in the international recruiting department. I

selected a team with a multicultural project manager and members with diverse cultural

backgrounds. Team observation lasted two full half days. Each day, I stayed in their office to

observe how they worked and attended a three-hour meeting. This team had a regular meeting

every two weeks. After the team meeting, I usually joined them for their coffee break. In

addition, I visited the site at least twice per week during the ten-month data collection process.

This way, I could observe employees in the company cafeteria and other public places (e.g.,

waiting areas, and libraries). In addition, I observed employees’ activities at company-

sponsored activities, conferences, and presentations. Some of the multicultural project

managers also invited me to lunch and to dinner and parties after work, which I often attended.

Other important sources of data included written materials. The documents included

curriculum vitae (CVs) that described the details of multiculturals’ working and living

experiences across countries, project pamphlets, organizational magazines, and press and

media publications. The CVs of the multicultural project managers were one of the key

elements that helped me understand their multicultural experience and how they formed their

cultural identities. I usually asked multicultural project managers to send me their CV before

meeting with them, and I studied these documents carefully to prepare for the interview. I also

took some pictures of them, the products they developed, and their office decorations. Taken

together, these secondary sources of data provided a richer context for understanding

interviewees’ responses and sparked new questions for interview protocols that could be

addressed in subsequent interviews with informants.

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Data Analysis

My data analysis followed an inductive, grounded theory development process (Glaser

& Strauss, 1967; Eisenhardt, 1989; Sutton, 1991). I wrote memos on reflections within a day

after each interview and observation, open-coded transcribed interviews and my observation

journal, and created a list of emerging themes. In order to visualize relationships between

different parts of the data and between the data and theoretical ideas (Miles & Huberman,

1994, p. 44), I, in addition to manual coding, used Nvivo9, a qualitative data analysis

program. This approach required an iterative process of theoretical sampling and comparing

and contrasting examples from the data to build theoretical categories that were compared

and interrelated to form the basis for the present study. At the same time, I updated my

interview protocol and research agenda for the next day of field work.

I analyzed data and adjusted categories periodically throughout the fieldwork to confirm

the test categories and further focus my study. When the field work concluded, I reanalyzed

field notes, memos, and interview transcripts to determine how my understanding and the

practices of multiculturals working in global teams differed and the impact that this had on

teamwork processes and outcomes within the new product development process. In the

present study, I begin by describing the work contexts of the multiculturals and their teams,

including multiculturalism in practice, locus of practices, and team cultural heterogeneity.

Because of the cultural heterogeneity in individuals and teams and the complexity of the

product development process, multicultural project managers could develop a culture-

straddling broker role across organizational, cultural, and regional boundaries.

Local Work Context

Multiculturals, Biculturals, or International Talent. Beginning with their recruitment,

multicultural project managers at BEAU gained credibility for new product development by

being labeled ‘international talent’ by the Human Resource department. Most had at least five

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years of working experience in sales and marketing in local subsidiaries prior to being

recruited for an overseas assignment. Most recruited in France had at least 12 months of

intensive training in product development at HQ and were graduates of top business schools

in France. At BEAU, they were called ‘the stars’ or ‘crème de la crème’ (meaning the best

out of the best). BEAU designated an HR manager who managed the performance and career

development of these employees who were anticipated to be top performers.

To identify multiculturalism, during the interview, I asked participants about their

cultural backgrounds, including their parents’ cultural backgrounds and foreign experiences,

whether it was living, studying, or working in a country other than their home country. I also

let them position themselves within a scale of cultural identity(ies) (see Figure 3 Cultural

Identity Definition). The results were surprising. Most self-identified as multiculturals, not a

bicultural, because they felt their cultural experiences were beyond biculturalism. After this

finding, I changed the focus of my research from ‘biculturals’ to ‘multiculturals’.

Locus of practices. Through all product development phases, multicultural project

managers worked with their colleagues in teams within and across departments at HQ and

local subsidiaries. Multicultural project managers worked with other organizational members

on three levels. On the first level, they worked in their own team (called the ‘unit team’),

where they managed informal relationships among other product managers. One product

development team was composed of two or three product managers who were responsible for

developing different products for the same region. For example, for Latin America, one team

(Lebanese-Spanish-American) was in charge of women’s hair coloring, while another

(French-Irish-Cambodian) was in charge of women’s hair care (hair damage). They shared

physical space so that they could exchange ideas, information, and feedback. At BEAU,

therefore, the levels of cultural heterogeneity within individuals and teams seemed more

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complicated than the concept of a diverse team as described by the diversity literature as I

described above.

On the second level, multicultural project managers worked with their direct boss

(called N+1: N standing for Niveau in French meaning level) and organizational members

within HQ. Although more than 40% of the project managers in the new product development

division were multiculturals, the majority of their direct bosses were monoculturals.

Interestingly, this trend became even more obvious higher in the hierarchy: the higher in

hierarchy, the more monoculturals of a dominant culture were found. Each multicultural

project manager worked closely with the international marketing department, which was in

charge of marketing the same projects. Although marketing managers focused on overall

marketing strategy, project managers focused on creating products. By the nature of the work,

they worked very closely; sometimes, marketing managers pushed project managers to

advance their work in order to meet the project deadline as promised to local subsidiaries.

Most of the unit teams did not set a regular meeting schedule. Project managers met their

direct boss quite freely any time they needed or vice versa. Regular divisional team meetings

with top management were held with other unit teams (for the same product line, such as hair

care Asia and hair care international), other functional departments, and teams in local

subsidiaries. Irregular meetings with other functional departments (e.g., R&D, supply chain,

advertising, and packaging) were held based on the phase of the product development process.

On the third level, multicultural project managers worked with local subsidiaries, via

email, phone calls, and video conferences. They also visited local offices regularly. It was the

project managers’ direct bosses, however, who visited local subsidiaries more frequently—at

least once a month—due to various phases of each product development process. This

occurred because a team was in charge of developing several products at the same time. In

addition, because multicultural project managers were mostly operating within a tight

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schedule, they accompanied their direct boss depending on the urgency and importance of the

work.

These detailed descriptions are vital to analyzing multiculturals’ work at BEAU, as they

suggest the dynamics of frequent interaction between multiculturals and other members of

different groups in a global work context. As described above, understanding team

heterogeneity at an individual level (i.e., multicultural members) and at the team level (i.e.,

various teams at HQ and local subsidiaries) was distinct from multicultural team literature.

These understandings are important for accomplishing work within this specialized use of a

multicultural workforce that has previously been taken for granted within organizations. It

was difficult to discern, therefore, the differences within multicultural project managers.

When members of different communities needed to interact to fix problems, however, and

monoculturals had a difficult time understanding local knowledge, multiculturals became vital

to smooth work processes. Below, I describe how multiculturals influence work processes and

outcomes in global teams, in which I identify two critical roles: managing knowledge

processes and handling conflicts.

CULTURAL BROKERAGE IN GLOBAL PRACTICE

Figure 3 illustrates the structure and ordering of the data from specific, first-order

categories used by informants to more general, researcher-induced second-order themes.

Because of their direct relevance to roles played multiculturals at BEAU, the second-order

themes served as the basis for the subsequent grounded theory of multiculturals’ roles. Figure

3 is not intended to be a causal model but, instead, is a representation of the core concepts and

their relationships that served as the basis for the emerging theoretical frame-work and a full

grounded theory model.

Table 3 presents representative quotations that substantiate the second-order themes I

identified. The first three roles in managing teams’ knowledge processes-brining new local

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product and market knowledge, translating cultural nuances, and connecting geographically

diverse knowledge and skills-occurred more-or-less sequential and were associated with each

other. The latter two roles in managing teams’ conflicts-reducing inter-regional

misunderstanding, and displaying flexible behavior to do with people from diverse regions

and cultures-were recurrent and occurred sequential fashion. Together, these sequential and

recurrent roles led to the development of the grounded theory, articulated after the findings

narrative.

At BEAU multicultural project managers in the new product development department

worked with various organizational groups within HQ and across regions. They worked at the

boundaries of the creative process, brokering relationships among several teams at HQ,

including market research, on/offline international communication, merchandizing, R&D, and

local teams. To develop a creative product successfully for a global market, multicultural

project managers operated in an area of continuously changing market trends, which form and

dissolve with the appearance and disappearance of new economic opportunities. Multicultural

project managers worked on tension between and attempted to serve both HQ and local teams.

They acted as a focal point for relating the local or HQ-oriented culture to the global and the

local-oriented members to the HQ-oriented culture or vice versa. In navigating this tension, I

found that multicultural project managers played a unique role in two areas: managing

knowledge processes and handling conflicts in global teams.

Role 1: Managing Knowledge Processes in Teams

In creating new products, multicultural project managers at BEAU manage two kinds of

knowledge: product-related knowledge and organizational/practical knowledge. The

multicultural project managers’ challenge was to integrate the creative options to be pursued,

while transforming local-oriented knowledge to global-product knowledge for higher quality

products. Multicultural project managers also introduced new ways to solve problems for

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effective work processes. To bring a creative product to fruition, they moved through three

phases during all stages of new product development: (1) brining new local product and

market knowledge, (2) translating cultural nuances, (3) connecting geographically diverse

knowledge and skills. Throughout these phases, multicultural project managers strove to

cultivate ideas across cultural boundaries to build generative possibilities for new product

concepts and then select or reject options from the possibility set.

Bringing new local product and market knowledge

At BEAU, the first mission for multicultural project managers is to create a new product

concept, which must have novelty. The obvious source of novelty was new customer needs.

New market trends were locally oriented, may crossed regions, or be globally oriented as

well. For example, a locally-oriented trend would be an Asian male’s interest in a skin care

product in Asia. A concept that crosses regions might be a Western female’s interest in an

Asian female’s skin care know-how or product ingredients in American and European

markets. A global issue might be increasing public concerns for environmentally friendly

products using natural ingredients (e.g., oriental medicine). In this industry, the source of

novelty has two characteristics: it changes quickly and it flows across cultural/regional

boundaries as shown by the examples above. Multicultural project managers at BEAU were

expected not only to know what these attributes were but, more importantly, generate new

market trends. In addition, to secure the new product concept, they worked with other

members (e.g., team leaders, regional directors, R&D, and local subsidiaries) by reviewing

differing opinions of the commercial viability of new product concepts. In response to these

challenges, multicultural project managers: (1) bringing new local product and process

knowledge and (2) bringing local market knowledge. Their goal was to improve the project’s

quality and secure the support needed to move forward.

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 Bringing new local product and process knowledge. To create an engaging commercial

success for new products while differentiating current products (including competitors’

products), multicultural project managers at BEAU collected large volumes of information

about local and global market trends for inspiration. The source of novelty was achieved by

cultivating knowledge across national cultural boundaries. However, in the product

development process, when novelty arose (e.g., new customer interest in oriental medicine or

opportunities in former Communist countries), collaboration among members was required to

share and assess such novelty. Multicultural project managers at BEAU were brought onto

teams to compensate for shortfalls in deep local, contextual knowledge that monocultural

product managers may not have had. In other words, they reduced team members’

misunderstandings between HQ and local subsidiary cultures by co-creating common ground,

which transformed members’ understanding of the local culture and market trends. It was not

an easy task to develop new products in existing markets. More difficult yet was to develop a

new market and at the same time develop new products for that market. For example, a Hong

Kong-Canadian-Singaporean multicultural project manager, who explained the use of Chinese

oriental medicine, which has never been introduced to Western countries. A French director

noted the following:

People are more and more interested in Chinese oriental medicine. For example,
the effect of ginseng is quite well known to worldwide consumers. Our team tries to
find some natural ingredients for new hair care product. J (Hong Kong-Canadian-
Singaporean) knows all the Chinese medicine that has no translation either in
English or in French because it’s so authentic. J does not only explain these
ingredients but also suggest some ways we (team) can use for our new products.
(French director)

This multicultural manager improved her team’s knowledge about the meaning and use

of underexploited ingredients, which helped members develop new hair-care products using

specific oriental medicine. The fact that more Westerner consumers appreciate products using

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Chinese (oriental) medicine stands for change, as consumer choice and behavior are major

factors in market trend change.

Bringing local market knowledge. To infuse novelty into their new products,

multicultural project managers at BEAU combined several ‘inside’ and ‘outside’

characteristics. For example, when BEAU organized a new team to explore new markets in

Eastern European countries, it hired a Polish-French project manager for this particular

project. As a team leader, an American-French regional director emphasized not only the

Polish-French manager’s in-depth knowledge of consumers in the region, but also the way

this multicultural project manager helped generate a richer understanding of local culture. The

team was in charge of developing cosmetics for the East-European market. Here, a regional

director noted:

The Polish-French project manager was raised in Poland until age 20. She
described her life under the communist regime and after in terms of how she
evaluates and appreciates make-up products. She told us that she still loves certain
products because she used to get them on black markets. As our target consumers
are about her age, everything she shared with other members is valuable for
developing markets and products. And for me and other members who have never
lived in Poland and other countries in the region, she is actually educating us to get
a better understanding of consumers in the region. (American-French regional
director talking about Polish-French project manager)

BEAU multicultural project managers anticipated and provided for innovative

personalities and associated roles in developing new products by gathering ideas across the

boundaries of the organization, cultures, and regions and transforming product-related

knowledge to teams.

Another example relates to men’s interest in skin-care products that is quite trendy in

the European and North American markets, it seemed too unfamiliar (or unfit) for Asian

males. Indeed, Asian males were more traditional and deeply rooted in Confucian culture. An

Indian-American-French project manager, however, thought that younger generations (unlike

fathers or grandfathers) in Asia who favor and quickly adopt Western culture might be
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interested in their skin care habits. He thus started to develop male skin care products for the

Southeast Asian market. This Indian-American-French project manager noted:

When developing new product concept, you have to understand quickly what your
target market and at the same time other markets are doing. Markets in different
parts of the world are changing fast and reacting differently to even a same product.
I often get inspired from, for example, market trends in Europe and use the
inspiration to develop new products in Asia. (Indian-American-French project
manager)

This multicultural project manager understood a local market trend; beyond that, he saw

the potential market in another region and created a market trend for male skin-care in Asia.

He was capable of doing this because he had deep contextual knowledge from a multiplicity

of living experience in different countries. Being familiar with local knowledge, however,

does not guarantee creativity. According to BEAU’s history, the company started recruiting

multiculturals because they realized the limitations of French project managers who were

attempting to develop products for global markets. Bringing the novelty to new product

development requires intellectual flexibility. That is, according to a French director who had

been working with multiculturals for five years, “Multiculturals have a kind of gymnastic

intellectual training to think as if they were French, American, or Chinese and all together

inside them.” Such ‘gymnastic intellectual training’ resulted in the manner in which

multicultural project managers acted as culture-straddling brokers, arising to innovate in new

product development at BEAU.

Translating cultural nuances

Even if a common syntax or language is present, interpretations are often difficult not in

processing the information, but learning about the sources that create the semantic differences

that exist at cultural boundaries. The problem then shifts to who interprets what. A French

manager who planned a test of a new shampoo in a laboratory in Germany explained how his

French-German-British multicultural manager who used to work in Germany helped him:

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 If we say ‘dry hair’, dry hair on this floor (HQ) doesn’t mean as same as German
‘dry hair’ means. So, it is much safer to check with B who knows two cultures
(French and German) and translate exactly what I mean as ‘dry hair’. (B is
German-British-French director)

This French manager shared that he once failed his lab testing because he asked a

German staff in the same laboratory to translate. He later he discovered that there was a

discrepancy between what he meant and what the German staff translated. It was a very

delicate, nuanced difference. He had to run the test again, which cost him a significant amount.

Since that time, he has become more careful to find the right person to translate. This

German-British-French manager became a ‘specialist’ who was specifically concerned with

decoding any semantic nuances caused by cultural differences between HQ and the local

office in Germany. Beyond decoding semantic nuances, this multicultural manager used to

work in the German office and knew work practices within the German local team. What she

really tried to do was to generate the same interests from both parties.

Connecting geographically diverse knowledge and skills

Biculturalism literature tends to assume that multiculturals have accumulated

‘integrative flexibility’ through reflective observation and analysis facing culturally-complex

situations (e.g., cross-cultural interactions, Benet-Martinez et al., 2006; Tadmor & Tedlock,

2006). To generate creative ideas so that they can be implemented, multicultural project

managers must be able to access expertise and draw analogies from one cultural group (e.g.,

local) to other cultural groups (e.g., other regions or globally). One of the multicultural project

managers who successfully launched new men’s skin care products in the Southeast Asia

market where BEAU launched these products for the first time emphasized this skill:

The most important skill I need in order to develop and launch this product line
successfully is to exploit what I’ve got from one part to other parts of the world,
which brings something innovative in the market. I am able to do this because I
have a kind of stock of references in different languages—English, Hindi, and
French. I read books in three different languages, meet people from different

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 countries, eat food from different countries, and so on. I cannot think things in one
way. That’s not my way. (Indian-American-French project manager)

This Indian-American-French manager can think only in two or more ways (i.e.,

multiple ways), which suggests greater openness and transparency at the boundary between or

among domains (e.g., perspectives as Indian and French or Indian and American or Indian

and American and French).

BEAU’s organizational system as a leading beauty industry player accommodated the

rise of innovative behavior inherent to multicultural project managers. The beauty has Janus

characteristics: Whereas beauty is perceived differently across regional, cultural boundaries, it

has absolute value beyond these boundaries. Multiculturals must have the Janusian thinking:

the ability to constructively join two or more sets of culturally different perspectives and ideas

(McCasky, 1988). For example, European women have become more interested in Asian

women’s beauty know-how. A French-Cambodian-Irish multicultural project manager in

charge of the French market was always interested in market trends in booming Asian

markets such as China and Thailand. He noted:

Relating different cultural aspects on beauty helped me to create product concept

that French consumers like to buy. I am able to do this because I had have to make
my parents (father is a Cambodian and mother is an Irish) satisfied with me since
young. (French-Cambodian-Irish project manager)

This Cambodian-Irish-French product manager lived on tension and attempted to serve

both parents who were quite different in their cultural backgrounds (Cambodian versus Irish).

He acted as a focal point for relating Asian-oriented concepts to Western-oriented consumers.

As a result, he balanced universalistic-beauty and local-kin group expectations, introducing

something familiar from one area (Asia) to new to contexts (Europe).

Multicultural project managers have a privileged position in global organizations

because they occupy cultural broker roles as spanning cultural boundaries. They exhibit

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Janusian thinking ability to synthesize ideas and combine their expertise. Multiculturals,

therefore, function as an innovator More important, perhaps, is that they have organizational

permission to innovate.

Combining knowledge from various geographies to create new locally customized

products. Multicultural project managers who have ‘intellectual flexibility gymnastically

trained’ ideas synthesize those ideas from multiple sources—diverse cultural perspectives—

for innovative products. A Venezuelan-French-American director noted:

It is important to bridge different cultural perspectives in beauty business for

worldwide consumers. What is more important is that based on knowledge
integrated, you develop new products that are enough innovative to hit the market.
For an example of wrinkles, for Asian women, no wrinkles are the best; for French,
no wrinkles means so artificial; for Americans, some wrinkles are the most
appropriate. Now, the challenge is how to make an innovative concept of wrinkle
cream for Asian women that no competitors can beat us.” I am sure project
managers like me or those with similar backgrounds handle such challenges better
than monoculturals. (Venezuelan-French-American Director)

For example, a French-Cambodian-Irish project manager described how he overcame

such a challenge. He used the specificity of Asian women’s skin care (reducing winkles) to

develop a new product for the French market. He noted:

While researching Asian skin-care products, I found that in Asia, some tinted cream
(skin colored cream for make-up face) used ‘face lifting effect’, in France and
Europe, none of tinted creams used face lifting effect. I developed a new tinted
cream with face lifting effect for French market. It was a big success! (Team:
French-Cambodian-Irish project manager, a Chinese-French and two French)

This French-Cambodian-Irish project manager was capable of operating within both the

community he has lived and the cultural national spheres of his prior residences or his parents’

home, all of which influenced his multiculturalism. He understood well that women in Asia

pay particular attention to reduce wrinkles on their face. He caught the same beauty sense in

European women and created a new cream. As a cultural broker, he developed new products

for European women as a focus for synthesizing the local community-oriented ideas (i.e.,

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cream for Asian women) to the global (or other region)-oriented idea (i.e., cream for

European women).

Leveraging skills from diverse geographies. Multicultural project managers worked at

BEAU improved their expertise as they contributed to the new product development process:

from creating a new product concept to launching the product. Working with multiple sets of

perspectives and ideas involves possibilities for alignment among them; it can also lead to

integration that privileges one area of expertise over another beyond multicultural competence.

Here, three facets of expertise emerge: 1) access to the sets of ideas concerning the issue to be

decide, 2) control over the means of interpreting this information, and 3) the ability to

disseminate interpretations of idea sets from other groups (Borum, 1995, p. 89). One area in

new product development that requires such expertise is television advertising or a visual

campaign for a new product. Successful advertising through different media was as critical as

creating the new product concepts. It therefore challenged project managers and required

expertise. For example, television commercials involved several organizational groups: new

product development, international marketing, local teams, public relations (PR) agencies

(often outsourced from HQ and the local office), and television actors and actresses. It also

included different cultural groups: the local team, the HQ team, the local PR agency

(including the stars), and a professional camera crew from Paris. Television commercials also

incur significant costs; therefore, project managers felt more pressure in case top management

disapproved of the commercial’s quality. Thus, to lead a television commercial, the project

managers must have a variety of knowledge: the selling points of the product, camera

schemes, color and lighting effects, overall storyline of the commercial, and shooting points.

Senior project managers who had more than five years of experience in new product

development usually coordinated television commercial production. A Hong Kong-British-

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Canadian-French director working with a French PR agency noted her contribution to better

shooting:

I think in terms of the knowledge of Chinese consumer insights of the minds, I can
have a better understanding than monoculturals. For example, in terms of judging
aesthetics, I can pick up which camera angle Chinese women look more beautiful
on the advertising. Asian beauty is quite different from Western beauty, so those
contributions I definitely do for my team. (Hong Kong-British-Canadian-French
director)

Expertise in picking up the most effective camera angle for the best shot of an Asian

face does not come to this project manager without experience; indeed, she must have learned

such knowledge over years of experience. It requires knowledge of the new product,

specifications of the Asian face, the French way of shooting, a sense of aesthetics, and

knowing market trends. In addition, the project manager should be able to find the balancing

point for the product between location adaption and worldwide brand image. Only then can

the product attract local customers who have confidence in BEAU. Although the French PR

team has top world-class expertise, shooting the Asian face was a challenge for them. This

multicultural project manager incorporated ideas into a creative product development process

by synthesizing culturally disparate ideas for advertising.

BEAU’s multicultural project managers also possess work practices and organizational

knowledge that may lead to innovative solutions for efficiency in work processes. Their

cultural brokerage activity creates an effective juncture between one cultural pattern and

another and is in many ways the most essential pre-requisite for team effectiveness both in

one country and elsewhere.

Research on biculturalism assumes that multiculturals switch their behaviors by

responding to cultural situational cues (called Cultural Frame Switching, Hong et al., 2000).

From my field work, I found that BEAU’s multicultural project managers also engage in

counter-cultural frame switching when necessary for team work process. The following

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example regards a Dutch-Belgian-American manager who used to live and work in

environments where hierarchy was perceived as less important. Now, he is working at BEAU

whose organizational culture respects hierarchy. When his team faced a serious production

delay, he surprised his co-workers by breaking the norm of hierarchy:

At that time, we desperately needed help from top management right away. R just
took the phone and called one of the top managers and explained the situation. We
got the solution. Everyone was surprised by his behavior. It may sound easy, but if
you work in a very hierarchical organization, you’d never pick up the phone to call
top management for help even in such a situation. (French director about R, Dutch-
Belgian-American project manager)

This multicultural project manager should know which behaviors are or are not

appropriate for current settings. In the above case, until picking up phone, this multicultural

manager might experience frustrating decision making: ‘no’ on the one hand and ‘why not’ on

the other. He drew analogies and contrasts from one cultural setting to another cultural setting

and decided the best way to solve the problematic situation. Multiculturals’ brokerage work

has a repertoire of work actions that solve problems teams face, which in the example above

was considered innovative because none had dared to do as he did.

One of biggest challenges that multicultural teams at BEAU face is to facilitate effective

cross-cultural communication among members who have different levels of language

proficiency. Multilingualism, therefore, is an important competence that BEAU multicultural

project managers contribute to teams. They are able to span boundaries formed by language

barriers among members. However, multilingualism does not necessarily facilitate effective

cross-cultural communications in teams. More important is to generate novel and appropriate

ways to ensure all members understand what is going on in teams. A Mexican-German-Italian

multicultural manager used to work for an NGO in Italy where people did not speak the same

language at the same time, even among the Italians. This created a serious communication

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problem because of different levels of education. He described how he managed effective

cross-cultural communications in his current team:

I systematically organize my team meetings; set the schedule, send out agenda
before meeting and etc. And I am very aware of different level of English
proficiency among members. So in meetings, I usually ask, ‘Andrea could tell me
what Pietro has just told us?’ In this way, I minimize any miscommunication among
members. I learned this when I worked for a NGO in Italy to help homeless people
with whom I had difficulty to communicate either English (none spoke English
except me) or Italian because of my poor Italian at the time and their grammatically
wrong Italian. (Mexican-German-Italian Director, Team: Romanian, Italian,
French-Spanish)

This multicultural manager transferred the practical knowledge he had learned while

working for a NGO. He was aware of his members’ cultural backgrounds and their challenges

working in culturally complex settings. When I observed this team’s meeting, he assigned one

of the members to keep meeting notes and to send them to all after the meeting. Every

member had his or her own project, yet at the same time, some projects required the team to

cooperate. In such a highly complex working environment, it is critical for members to share

ideas and exchange feedback for their on-going projects. I was impressed by how well this

multicultural project manager managed his team where members had different cultural

backgrounds: Romanian, Italian, and French-Spanish.

In sum, I have thus far described how multiculturals acting as a cultural broker

influence new product development processes by managing knowledge processes: (1) brining

new local product and market knowledge, (2) translating cultural nuances, (3) connecting

geographically diverse knowledge and skills. BEAU’s multicultural project managers

transform culture-specific knowledge to high-quality global product knowledge.

While managing different types of knowledge and their processes for the new product

development, multicultural project managers at BEAU maintain interpersonal relationships

within teams and across organizational groups by spanning cultural boundaries. In turn, they

respond to different expectations that members of one cultural identity group have of another
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identity group. Multicultural project managers are particularly willing and able to tailor their

behaviors that members of another group find appealing. This subsequently led to another role

multiculturals played regarding team work processes when developing new products: conflict

management.

Role 2: Managing Conflicts in Teams

As shown in Figure 2 (Individual and Team Cultural Heterogeneity), new project

development existed as a kernel of an idea and a relationship among team members in HQ

and local subsidiaries, other organizational groups, and some external agencies. Albeit a

challenge, multicultural project managers at BEAU attempted to make work processes

function effectively despite high levels of demographic heterogeneity among team members

and other organizational groups. Cultural differences among members do not always create

conflict (e.g., Salk & Brannen, 2000). Yet they do increase the likelihood of conflict

(Armstrong & Cole, 1996). Next, I describe different types of conflicts as relational, process,

and task adapted based on Jehn (1997). These conflicts are related. For example, relational

conflicts cause process and task conflicts. BEAU’s multicultural project managers, as cultural

brokers, managed conflicts in teams by: (1) reducing inter-regional misunderstanding, (2)

displaying flexible behavior to do with people from diverse regions and cultures.

When multicultural project managers at BEAU perceive any discrepant views or

interpersonal incompatibilities with other members, they attempted to anticipate others’

expectations and adjust behaviors accordingly. For example:

Since I was young, I have educated, lived, and worked in different countries,
meeting culturally different others in neighborhood, at schools, and at work
places. By the conscious effort of mind I preempt the actions and their
consequences when interacting with someone with a different cultural
background. This helps me a lot working in this particularly, multicultural work
place. (Hong Kong-Canadian-British-French director)

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 The knowledge multicultural project managers at BEAU gained through their multiple

cultural experiences helps them be particularly sensitive and responsive to interpersonal and

situational specifications. As a result, multicultural project managers could ease any tension

by preempting potential conflicts. In other words, they were less likely to create cross-cultural

conflicts; rather, they were more likely to foster interpersonal relationship with others who

have different cultural backgrounds.

Reducing inter-regional misunderstanding

At BEAU, project managers on collaborative interorganizational product developments

must gain cooperation from their counterparts: project managers at HQ and local subsidiaries.

BEAU multicultural project managers mitigated the potential negative effects of group

boundaries on developing trust between HQ and local subsidiaries.

Managing cross-regional tensions. In a product development department at BEAU, a

unit team at the HQ in charge of developing a range of products (e.g., men’s skin care) for a

specific region (e.g., Southeast Asia) works closely with its local counterparts, virtually on a

daily basis. Because local members (most of them monoculturals) know what up-to-date local

market trend is and will drive product sales, their contribution is critical to develop the new

product successfully. All members at the HQ and the local subsidiary should agree on every

process in the new product development. However, both parties challenge each other. Local

members feel pushed by HQ members who want to advance the work progress as quickly as

possible without understanding the local situation. HQ members tend to think that local

members demand too much and expect too much from them because new product plans often

got rejected by local managers. At BEAU, multicultural project managers handled such

tension between local and HQ. For example, a French-Chinese project manager was assigned

to handle a highly demanding local team in Shanghai. BEAU multicultural project managers

know how to ease these tensions by interpreting cultural information that HQ members often

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misinterpret or do not understand. For example, an HQ team working with an Indian local

team had to ask local members to find special ingredients for a new product. However, the

Indian local team seemed to have a problem with the HQ team’s request. This situation could

have generated process conflict that pertained to issues of duty and delegating resources. The

Indian-American-French project manager tried to ease the tension. He noted:

If Indian local members said, ‘India might have an issue with this (a certain
ingredients for a new product), because there's no written piece of communication
where this plant can be used to please our consumers.’ Actually, what they tried to
tell me is, ‘No, I won’t do what you asked us to do and lower your expectations.’
But I didn’t make any negative comments on that. Instead I said, ‘Okay, how about I
discuss with R&D at HQ and find out the way we solve this problem?’ I didn’t want
to make an uncomfortable situation. Instead, I got respect from them, which as a
result had a positive influence on our work progress. (Indian-American-French
manager; Team members at HQ: Chinese-French, French; Local teams: India,
China, & Thailand)

This Indian-American-French project manager interpreted ‘I’ll try my best’ (Indian

local team) as ‘It’s going to be difficult, or No, I am not going to do it.’ He knew that for

Indians, it was very hard to say ‘no’ to others. Between the HQ and Indian local team, there

had not yet been sufficient time for the social structure to be stabilized such that they could

relate the two sorts of work practices. If a member understands the surface meaning of ‘I will

do my best’, they prejudged that the Indian local team did not fulfill its responsibilities, and

trust in the Indian team was lost. Furthermore, although other members have learned that the

real meaning of ‘do my best’ is ‘no’, they may not provide any negative comments

immediately, but still hold a negative impression of the Indian. This may not cause a problem

right away, but it may be a root for relational conflict that eventually harms the trust between

HQ and local teams. This Indian-American-French multicultural manager preempted potential

conflict and tried to avoid risky situations where the local team felt pushed by HQ. In this way,

he could develop interpersonal trust between these two groups.

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 Fostering cross-regional understanding. BEAU’s multicultural project managers also

engaged actively in mediating different opinions on projects. Their mediation was not

compromising per se, but was designed to make an effective decision. For example, a

Venezuelan-French-American director was in charge of product development for the Latin

America region. He was engaged to solve a task conflict in which members have different

opinions about the visual for a new product campaign. He noted:

For the visual for a new campaign of products, our Brazilian counterpart disagreed
with the HQ people. She told us, ‘Well, this visual is not going to work here because
Brazilians are more built than European women.’ But no one (at the HQ) agreed
with her. So, I finally said to my team, ‘Look, I totally agree with her (Brazilian).
When I go to Venezuela, all my friends are more built than I and they told me,
‘You’re so skinny!’ At the same time, I know you (HQ people) think that I’m normal,
not skinny at all. Remember, this commercial will be released not here but in
Brazil!’ I often face this kind of problem regarding different cultural perspectives
on beauty. I have to listen to both what locals say or what HQ people say, but,
rather than just try to compromise for each party, I try to help them make a right
decision for the best result. (Venezuelan-French-American director, current team:
French (3) and Hungarian-French, previous team: French, Russian, and Serbian)

This Venezuelan-French-American manager understood the difference in cultural views

on beauty: Brazilian versus European (e.g., France). He helped members make the right

decision for the project rather than following the premature decision by the HQ. HQ people,

who had less local knowledge, accepted his mediation of interpreting cultural information. At

the same time, the Brazilian counterpart also acknowledged that he explained his personal

experience in the region where the campaign would be targeted. The Venezulian-French-

American multicultural manager thus bridged the discrepant views of both parties, wherein

the team not only made the right decision, but also built mutual trust.

If this director had not tried to mediate conflict, more subtle forms of conflict might

occur as HQ people maintain their views and local team would be unwillingly to agree. This

could position both groups to emphasize negative characteristics. If teams encounter severe

conflict among members, the team must be recomposed in the worst case. BEAU’s

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multicultural project managers stand guard over the crucial junctures of relationships that

connect the local system to the HQ system or vice versa.

Displaying flexible behavior to deal with people from diverse regions and cultures

Adapting to deal with different cultural behaviors. Once conflicts occur in teams,

however, multicultural project managers at BEAU handled those conflicts with tolerance. In

other words, they were more accepting of different cultural values, less disturbed by them,

and accordingly better at handling conflicts due to valuing cultural differences among

members. For example, a Hong Kong-British-Canadian-French multicultural director whose

team members were Dutch-Chinese, Taiwanese-French, and Korean-British and whose boss

was French noted how members handled process conflict (e.g., time management), which was

created by different work values regarding meetings:

In terms of meeting time, we all seem to have different principles. For example, my
French boss never starts meetings on time and quite often postponed or cancelled
them. H (Dutch-Chinese) is very strict on time and deadline (meeting is time for
checking-up on each other’s work process). I and K (Taiwanese-French), were are
a bit flexible regarding meeting time. So, whenever we have meeting with my
French boss, or ourselves, we face frustrating moments. But, what is important for
us is how to handle this frustrating moment. As we are conscious about each other’s
differences, we come to compromise when such moments occur. For example, with
my French boss, I need to be really flexible with time. With my team members, if I
am behind my meeting schedule with my team members, I make sure to tell them in
advance why I am behind and ask them next availabilities. Conflicts may still exist
in my team. But we handle them much more tolerant level. (Hong Kong-British-
Canadian-French director, Team: Dutch-Chinese, Taiwanese-French, Korean-
British and French boss)

Even when the team members worked on the same project, have mutual interest in

completing it, and have similar ideas of how to complete the project, they may still experience

conflict (Jehn, 1997, p. 530). Although conflict exists, how to handle conflicts is as important

as anticipating it and preventing it. This director and her members are very well aware of each

other’s cultural backgrounds and differences (e.g., Dutch versus French) and similarities (e.g.,

French and Chinese). Once conflict occurred, they tried to rationalize the cause and effect, for

95
example, a Dutch-Chinese member said, “G (team leader, Hong-Kong-British-Canadian-

French) is late for the meeting because of her previous meeting extended. I am in French

context where being late is a kind of norm. So it can happen.” In this way, she and other

members focused more on the project and less on peripheral issues (i.e., conflicts from

cultural different perspectives).

When I observed this team (e.g., two brainstorming sessions, two meeting for checking-

up on work process, and one meeting with another functional team such as the packaging

agency), members (all multiculturals) seemed to feel ‘bonded’ to one another. They tried to

help each other by sharing information and exchanging feedback on each other’s projects.

Team leaders gave members feedback and advice in terms of not only projects, but also life in

general. This may happen in other teams. However, the similarities of their cultural

backgrounds - multiculturalism and sharing such a common culture as Chinese speaking- may

make them feel bonding one another. As a result, they agreed that they worked faster than

teams whose members were monoculturals. Below, I will describe more how multicultural

project managers build relationships with culturally different others.

At BEAU, multicultural project managers often work with members with whom they

share such a bond. For example, a new product television commercial shoot involved teams

with professionals in related industries from outside the company such as photographers, PR

agencies, and local celebrities. A Hong Kong-British-Canadian-French project manager

worked with different monocultural groups—a team whose members were Chinese and

Korean and a team whose members were French. From the beginning, she found that no

respect was extended to her. People treated her as a translator, even though she was a project

leader. She noted how she handled relational conflict based on lack of respect surrounding

interpersonal relationships between her and other members:

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 At the beginning, I was aware that I was not respected as a project leader; for them,
I was a little translator. I knew that I could not change their mindset at once. I tried
to adapt and support both teams as much as I could. It required constant emotional
effort in order not to prejudge them, but to understand their sides. Now it’s been
three times working with them. Their attitude working with me has been changed. I
have gained the respect from both teams. (Hong Kong-British-Canadian-French
manager with teams: French, Chinese, and Korean)

At BEAU, people work with people who have different cultural backgrounds on a daily

basis. This often causes conflicts that challenge members to proceed with their work.

Although multicultural project managers are known to be open to cultural difference, this

project manager felt it was challenging to work in an environment in which she was

stereotyped as a translator. However, she accepted individual differences in the level of

understanding of cross-cultural situations, controlled her negative emotions, and regulated

their behaviors for the best fit to the situation. As a result, her perception of conflicts did not

evoke negative stereotyping among members, where the opportunity to develop such attitudes

was quite obvious.

In this section, I have described three ways multiculturals manage conflicts in teams: (1)

reducing inter-regional misunderstanding, (2) displaying flexible behavior to do with people

from diverse regions and cultures. Multiculturals developed interpersonal relationships across

organizational cultural boundaries by spanning these boundaries. As a cultural broker, they

remain open to social cultural stimuli and information and are responsive to different

expectations that members of one cultural identity group have of another identity group.

Indeed, they were particularly willing and able to tailor their behaviors such that group

members find appealing.

My findings indicate how multiculturals influence teams’ knowledge processes and

handling conflicts. The data structure in Figure 4 displays all the key concepts (the five

second-order roles) that emerged from the study. Yet a grounded theory needs to show not

only the concepts but also their dynamic interrelationships. I present a theory of multiculturals’
97
cultural brokerage role, as represented in figure 5, grounded in the data emerged from the

study. Figure 2 situates the five second-order concepts I identified in a process model that

lends the requisite dynamism to the relationships among these five concepts and show how

BEAU’s multiculturals play cultural brokerage roles in global team contexts. The core of the

model is a dynamic interrelationship among roles in managing knowledge processes and

managing conflicts. Next, I discuss the theoretical and practical implications of my findings

and suggest future studies.

DISCUSSION

The present research began by questioning how multiculturals function in global teams

by demonstrating their innate competence. To date, few studies have examined multicultural

individuals in global teams, and virtually no research has tried to understand the role of

multicultural individuals in facilitating team effectiveness. This research makes a distinct

contribution in this direction by examining how multiculturals influence knowledge processes

and manage conflicts in global teams. I further identified two roles multiculturals played:

managing knowledge process and handling conflicts. In doing so, I not only build a new

theory, but also connect disparate research on multiculturalism and its impact on social,

organizational, and teamwork that other theories have offered. In turn, the present paper offers

new insights for practitioners.

Theoretical Implications

Reviewing three sets of theories that touch on multiculturals in global teams introduced

the present study. I turn now to these three sets and discuss how the present study builds or

extends these theoretical areas as they relate to multiculturals in global teams. My

ethnographic research showed how multicultural project managers effectively bridged

organizational, cultural, and regional gaps to integrate disparate knowledge and mitigate

conflicts into an innovative, coherent whole.

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 Multiculturalism. Finally, my ethnographic approach adds to the literature on

multiculturalism and its implications for team effectiveness (Hong, 2010). In some ways, the

question of whether multiculturals contribute to the critical processes of applying and

acquiring knowledge is evidenced in the literature on cosmopolitans and expatriates (Au &

Fukuda, 2002; Haas, 2006). The present research, however, sheds new light on this issue by

going beyond multiculturalism developed through lab experiments by cross-cultural

psychologists to examining what multiculturals bring to the team (e.g., bicultural competence

and knowledge transfer). Collectively, these contributions offer a deeper understanding of the

specific “multiculturals’ tactics as real socially and culturally skilled actors used to induce

cooperation” (Fligstein, 2001, p. 113, italics added) on projects that unite contributors from

various groups across organizational, cultural, and regional boundaries.

Cultural brokerage in managing knowledge process and conflicts. The current study

bridges other studies that comprise the literature on cultural brokerage. To my knowledge,

although others have started to outline the factors important to cultural brokerage, My

ethnographic approach is the first to detail how this process occurs in new product

development in a global context. That is, the present study is the first to discuss specific roles

of managing knowledge processes (e.g., integrating ideas, fostering knowledge innovation,

and introducing new work practices) and managing conflicts (e.g., anticipating conflicts,

cultivating relational contexts, and diffusing conflicts across cultural systems). Nevertheless,

important similarities emerge between this study and other treatments of cultural brokerage.

For example, I see the nexus work-brokerage requiring synthesis and integration of ideas-

between multiculturals and other organizational members (Long & O’Mahony, 2010) is

important to identify multiculturals’ cultural brokerage in the creative process of developing

new products that lead local and global markets (e.g., Fleming & Waguespack, 2007;

Hargadon & Sutton, 1997; Lingo & O’Mahony, 2010). Similarly, I see boundary spanning

99
roles (Ancona, 1990) as critical to cultural brokerage among different organizational group

members across cultural boundaries (Au & Fukuda, 2002; Geertz, 1960; Thomas, 2002).

More generally, I add to this work by turning scholars’ attention toward multiculturals

(see also Hong, 2010; Press, 1969). In doing so, I take lessons from research on “conflict

mediation” related to how multiculturals handle different kinds of conflicts to the extent that it

reflects the implications of multicultural competence in a global workplace (Brannen et al.,

2009; Earley & Ang, 2003; Earley & Mosakowski, 2004; Hong, 2010; Jehn & Mannix, 2000;

Thomas et al., 2010). And, as Geertz (1960) noted, multiculturals as a cultural broker develop

the work stage where members facilitate effective communication and cultivate relationships

beyond culturally and socially heterogeneous global teams. Building on this research, I have

argued that multiculturals play a crucial role for work processes and outcomes in global

teams.

Team heterogeneity: New meaning for diversity. The present research builds and

extends research related to team heterogeneity and diversity in two ways. First, in discussing

the correlates of team heterogeneity on nationality and effective performance, I complement

the work of Earley and Mosakowski (2000) by revealing the details of team dynamics in

terms of how the roles multiculturals play impact team work processes and outcomes. This is

perhaps not surprising given that Earley and Mosakowski focused on hybrid team culture

within transnational teams as facilitating group interaction without paying attention to team

members’ cultural backgrounds. This interplay may explain the different level of analysis as

multicultural workforce is still under-recognized by practitioners and research focusing on

their roles in organizations is an emerging area (Brannen & Thomas, 2010). By treating

multiculturals as facilitating global team interaction, however, I see that their roles are related

to the team’s performance. For example, among the five teams in study 1 (Earley &

Mosakowski, 2000, p. 32) and in high performance teams (Teams 1, 2, 4), some team

100
members must be multiculturals because they have substantial experience in Thailand. On the

contrary, in the low performance teams (Teams 3 and 4), in which members were composed

of two national parties, Thai and American, the Americans had limited experience in

Thailand. The current paper’s findings suggest that multiculturals influence knowledge

processes and handling conflicts for team performance. Perhaps multiculturals play a critical

role in creating a hybrid team culture over time in global teams.

Second, I build on Earley and Mosakowski’s research by describing team cultural

diversity that might influence how multiculturals adapt themselves in the workplace.

Nationality is suggested as a superordinate determinant of a person’s self-identity; therefore,

the term “multicultural team” refers to a team in which two or more nationalities are

represented among members (Adler, 1997). The teams that emerged from my ethnographic

field work, however, appear much more complicated in terms of individual cultural

backgrounds. That is, measuring team heterogeneity by nationality seems no longer valid

because many multicultural members have difficulty identifying themselves with a single

nationality. These individuals self-identified as multiculturals based on their multicultural

experience such as parents’ different nationalities and working/living/education abroad, for

example, Venezuelan-French-American or French-Cambodian-Irish. In the global team

settings in my field work, some teams were even composed of only multiculturals (e.g., the

team leader identified as Hong Kong-British-Canadian-French and team members identified

as Taiwanese-French, Dutch-Chinese, and Korean-British). Their interaction dynamics across

organizational and regional boundaries seemed much more culturally complicated as they

worked with other functional teams at the Paris HQ (including monocultural teams) and

various regional offices. In summary, I believe that subsequent research on team diversity

needs to focus on a wider set of factors than simply individual cultural background.

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Practical implications

The present study has practical implications for composing teams in MNCs. To perform

and compete successfully, multinational organizations must accomplish worldwide

innovation, global integration, and local differentiation simultaneously (Bartlet & Ghoshal,

1989; Nohria & Ghoshal, 1997). For example, although certain work contexts may be more or

less challenging for multiculturals depending on particular personal attributes such as

personality, skills, and cultural experiences and the nature of task, management should

consider multiculturals in the global team composing. I suggest that multinational

organizations concerned about multiculturals’ potential outcomes should look at alternative

ways to encapsulate their members in terms of matching the fit and demands of a team with

the various characteristics of multicultural employees.

Perhaps more important, my research sheds light on training multiculturals as well as

monoculturals. Researchers have emphasized the importance of specificity in training

(Mendenhall & Stahl, 2000). The present research can help MNCs customize training to the

specific needs of employees. Indeed, the lessons that MNCs learn from employing

multiculturals for particular projects should be used to train other multiculturals and

monocultural employees for similar tasks. The first step for successful training is, of course,

evaluating an employee’s level of competence and traits toward two roles this paper suggested

that contribute to team effectiveness. Using the present research as a blueprint for intervention

and for teaching the workforce, MNCs will help not only multiculturals, but more important,

they will help monoculturals improve their competence through tailor-made training. This

investment will ultimately improve business performance (Mendenhall & Stahl, 2000).

Limitations and Future Research Directions

The two roles multiculturals play in global teams give us confidence that the present

study’s observations may be generalizable. However, I focused on highly skilled, specialized

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occupations. Future research should investigate how multiculturals enact these two roles in

other industries to determine what contextual factors (organizational and team) are reproduced

in different industries. Moreover, we must also be careful about the unique nature of the

setting. I have argued that a global new product development team is particularly relevant for

multiculturals, as they demonstrate their competence in creating new products and facilitating

the development process across organizational, cultural, and regional boundaries. Although

this investigation into how multiculturals influence knowledge processes and handling

conflicts in global teams has implications for theorists and practitioners, my findings may also

apply to the broader corporate strategist and HR policymakers with issues associated with

managing this new workforce demographic.

This study only analyzed multiculturals without considering their individual differences

in the way in which people experience their multicultural identities. Future research should

develop a typology that will help us understand whether different types of multiculturals bring

different types of skill sets to global teams and the MNC. The issue of how individuals

develop a sense of national, cultural, ethnic, and racial group membership becomes

particularly meaningful in situations where cultural values clash, mix and integrate.

Multicultural individuals, by definition, internalize more than one cultural schema. An

individual’s cultural schema is comprised of a set of knowledge of values, norms, and beliefs

of each culture. In fact, more and more people find that conflicts between different groups

stem from different cultural values, attitudes, and expectations within themselves (Phinney,

1999). For individuals to know how to feel about others, they must define themselves through

a process of self-categorization (Turner, 1987), in which they classify themselves and others

according to nationality, ethnicity, race, cultural origin, organizational membership, age,

status, and religion. Categorizing people into groups, however, can lead to perceptions of “out

group” members as being less trustworthy, honest, and cooperative than members of an

103
individual’s own group (Brewer, 1979; Tajfel & Turner 1986). Furthermore, individual and

contextual factors influence how an individual makes sense of his/her multicultural

experiences. Ultimately, to unpack how individuals experience their multiculturalism, the

present research identifies the antecedents and organizational consequences. This will inform

better management and use of multicultural skills in handling conflict, coordination and

control issues, and maintaining communication richness and team cohesiveness (Joshi et al.,

2002; Marquardt & Horvath, 2001).

Finally, future research should explore individual and contextual factors regarding what

has been termed “the dark side of multiculturals,” (author, year, p. xxx) or, more specifically,

the relationship between psychological challenges in organizational contexts. Although

involvement with two or more cultures in all likelihood facilitates acquiring cognitive and

social skills as well as wider behavioral repertoires and competencies, multicultural

individuals often face challenges related to psychological adjustment (e.g., anxiety,

loneliness) or socio-cultural difficulties (e.g., interpersonal conflicts, intercultural

miscommunication) (Padilla, 2006). Yet, we do not know how multiculturals deal with their

challenges in organizational settings. The link between individual social traits and success in

culturally diverse contexts is not driven by a special ability to deal with the potential threat of

cultural differences but rather by the social stimulation afforded by culturally diverse

situations. In other words, an organization’s social boundaries and moral order can influence

group interactions, and as cultural groups and their interactions change, the nature of the

macro-culture itself changes. Therefore, contextual factors may create challenges that

multicultural individuals must confront. In contrast to prior work, the present study analyzes

in depth the psychological challenges that multiculturals deal with in the workplace. Given

the increasingly global nature of today’s work force, this work also promises to be very

104
informative regarding how minority (i.e., multiculturals) and more important, majority

members must possess certain skills to facilitate constructive intercultural interactions.

105
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Figure 2.1 Diverse team vs. Global team

113
Figure 2.2 Individual and Team Cultural Heterogeneity

Figure 2.3 Cultural Identity(ies) Definition

114
Figure 2.4 Data Structure: roles of multiculturals as a cultural broker

Figure 2.5 Grounded theorectical model of multicultuals as a cultural

broker

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 Table 2.1 Interviewees Profile and Team Composition
Team’s
Team*’s cultural
Cultural Mono Countries have cultural composition (by composition
Multilingualism Current position
profile(s) /Multi lived (>2 years) nation) (Mono:
Multi**)

Current: French
French- USA, Belgium, Previous: British, Previous 1: 4
1 Multi French/English Director
American France Moroccan, Indian, French
- boss

2 French Multi French/English USA, France Director Mexican/French

2:1
3 French Mono French/English France Director Romanian/French
(International /Polish 2:2
Recruiting)
4 French Mono French/English France Director Chinese/Brazilian
(International /French 3:1
Recruiting)
5 Mexican- Multi Spanish/English/ Mexico, Italy, Director Italian/Romanian 2:2
Italian Italian/German France (International /French-Spanish
(German Recruiting)
immigrants
in Mexico)

6 Indian Multi English/Hindi India, Singapore, Manager Italian/French 2:2

France /Lebanese-Spanish

7 Belgian Multi Flemish/English/Fre Belgium Manager French/Russian 1:3

nch /Brazilian
8 French- Multi English/French/ USA, Belgium, Director of Latin French/Argentinean 2:3
American German/Spanish France America Zone /Columbian/English
(hair care) Brazilian

9 Canadian- Multi English/Chinese Canada, Hong Manager French/British-German 1:3

Hong Kong Kong, Singapore, /French-Vietnamese
France

10 Dutch- Multi Dutch/English Netherlands, France Manager French-Hong Kong All multis
Chinese /Chinese /Taiwanese/Korean
11 Taiwanese Multi Chinese/English Taiwan, France Manager French-Hong Kong All multis
/French /Dutch-Chinese/Korean

12 Russian- Multi Russian/Ukrainian Ukraine, Russia, Manager French/Spanish 3:1

Ukrainian /English France /Mexican

13 Polish- Multi Polish/English Poland, France Manager French/Dutch 3:2

French /French /American/
British-Indian
14 French- Multi French/English USA, Venezuela, Director French(3)/Hungarian 3:2
Venezuelan /Spanish France

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 French- Multi Mandarin/ Hong Kong, Director Taiwanese/Dutch-Chinese All multis
15 Hong Kong- Cantonin/ England, /Korean
British English/French France, China

16 British- Multi English/Spanish Spain, USA, Manager French/Italian 3:2

Spanish France /Italian-American/Spanish
/American
17 British- Multi English/German Germany, England, Director French 1:2
German /French France /Canadian-Hong Kong

18 Chinese- Multi Chinese/French China, France Manager French/ Chinese 2:2

French /English /Indian-American

19 Multi Manager 1:2

Polish- German/French Poland, Germany, French
German /Polish/English France /German-Indian

20 Multi Manager 1:2

German- German/ Germany, India, French
Indian Indian-local/English France /Polish-German

21 Indian- Multi Indian-local/ USA, India, Manager French 1:2

American English/French France /French-Chinese
22 Multi Lebanese
Lebanese- /French Lebanon, USA, Manager 4:1
French(2)/Spanish(2)
Spanish /Spanish Spain, France
/English
23 Manager
Multi (International 5:5
Belgian- English/Flemish USA, Netherlands, French(4)/Dutch/
Marketing
Dutch /Dutch/French Belgium, France German/Turkish/Italian
Strategy)

24 Director
American- Multi (International Managing various teams
English USA, France
French Marketing in HQ and subsidiaries
Strategy)
25 French Mono French/English France Manager(HR) No team G
26 France, USA
French Mono French/English Staff (HR) G No team

27 American - Regional Manage various teams in

Multi English/French USA, France
French Director HQ and subsidiaries
28 French-
English/Arabic France, Regional Manage various teams in
Moroccan- Multi
/French/German Germany Director HQ and subsidiaries
German
29 German- English/German Germany, Regional Manage various teams in
Multi
French /French France Director HQ and subsidiaries
30

France, Netherlands, Regional French/ Iranian/

French* Multi French/English
Mexico, USA Director French-Japanese

31
France, Korea,
Regional Manage various teams in
French Multi French/English Thailand,
Director HQ and subsidiaries
England

32 Regional Manage various teams in

French Mono French/English France, England
Director HQ and subsidiaries

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33 G Russian/ Brazilian/ 3:3
French Mono French/English France Director
Belgian/ French/German
34 French Mono French/English France Director
35 French Mono French/English France Director G

Indian- French/English/Hin Project

36 Multi India, France G French
French di manager

* Team members who interact most with an interviewee, for example sharing same office.
** Multiculturals: having lived more than 2 years in foreign countries

Table 2.2 Demographic Details of Interviewees (N=36)

Positions Departments

Regional 6 International 30
Director Marketing
Director 2 International 3
Recruitment
Axe- 5 Human 3
Director Resource
Project 22
manager
Staff 1
Gender Age
F 23 25-35 28
M 13 35-45 8
Total : 28 multiculturals and 8 monoculturals = 36

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 Table 2.3 Representative Quotes, Events, and Archival Entries
underlying Second-order Themes

Representative Quotes, Events, and Archival Entries Underlying Second-order Themes

Theme 1: Bringing local product and market Knowledge

People are more and more interested in Chinese oriental

Bringing new local product medicine. For example, the effect of ginseng is quite well known
and process knowledge to worldwide consumers. Our team tries to find some natural
ingredients for new hair care product. J (Hong Kong-
Canadian-Singaporean) knows all the Chinese medicine that
has no translation either in English or in French because it’s so
authentic. J does not only explain these ingredients but also
suggest some ways we (team) can use for our new products.
(French director)

The Polish-French project manager was raised in Poland until

Bringing local market age 20. She described her life under the communist regime and
knowledge after in terms of how she evaluates and appreciates make-up
products. She told us that she still loves certain products
because she used to get them on black markets. As our target
consumers are about her age, everything she shared with other
members is valuable for developing markets and products. And
for me and other members who have never lived in Poland and
other countries in the region, she is actually educating us to get
a better understanding of consumers in the region. (American-
French regional director talking about Polish-French project
manager)

“When developing new product concept, you have to

understand quickly what your target market and at the same
time other markets are doing. Markets in different parts of the
world are changing fast and reacting differently to even a same
product. I often get inspired from, for example, market trends
in Europe and use the inspiration to develop new products in
Asia. (Indian-American-French project manager)

“I think in terms of the knowledge of Chinese consumer

insights of the minds, I can have a better understanding than
monoculturals. For example, in terms of judging aesthetics, I
can pick up which camera angle Chinese women look more
beautiful on the advertising. Asian beauty is quite different

119
 from Western beauty, so those contributions I definitely do for
my team. (Hong Kong-British-Canadian-French director)

Theme 2: Translating cultural nuances

Translating cultural If we say ‘dry hair’, dry hair on this floor (HQ) doesn’t mean
nuances not word to word as same as German ‘dry hair’ means. So, it is much safer to
check with B who knows two cultures (French and German)
and translate exactly what I mean as ‘dry hair’. (B is German-
British-French director)

Theme 3: Connecting geographically diverse knowledge and skills

“The most important skill I need in order to develop and launch

Combining knowledge from this product line successfully is to exploit what I’ve got from
various geographies to create one part to other parts of the world, which brings something
new locally customized innovative in the market. I am able to do this because I have a
product kind of stock of references in different languages—English,
Hindi, and French. I read books in three different languages,
meet people from different countries, eat food from different
countries, and so on. I cannot think things in one way. That’s
not my way. (Indian-American-French project manager)

“Relating different cultural aspects on beauty helped me to

create product concept that French consumers like to buy. I am
able to do this because I had have to make my parents (father is
a Cambodian and mother is an Irish) satisfied with me since
young. For example, I found that in Asia, some tinted cream
(skin colored cream for make-up face) used ‘face lifting effect’,
in France and Europe, none of tinted creams used face lifting
effect. I developed a new tinted cream with face lifting effect for
French market. It was a big success.” (Team: French-
Cambodian-Irish project manager, a Chinese-French and two
French)

Leveraging skills from “It is important to bridge different cultural perspectives in

diverse geographies beauty business for worldwide consumers. What is more
important is that based on knowledge integrated, you develop
new products that are enough innovative to hit the market. For
an example of wrinkles, for Asian women, no wrinkles are the
best; for French, no wrinkles means so artificial; for
Americans, some wrinkles are the most appropriate. Now, the

120
challenge is how to make an innovative concept of wrinkle
cream for Asian women that no competitors can beat us.” I am
sure project managers like me or those with similar
backgrounds handle such challenges better than monoculturals.
(Venezuelan-French-American Director)

“At that time, we desperately needed help from top

management right away. R just took the phone and called one
of the top managers and explained the situation. We got the
solution. Everyone was surprised by his behavior. It may sound
easy, but if you work in a very hierarchical organization, you’d
never pick up the phone to call top management for help even
in such a situation. (French director about R, Dutch-Belgian-
American project manager)

I systematically organize my team meetings; set the schedule,

send out agenda before meeting and etc. And I am very aware
of different level of English proficiency among members. So in
meetings, I usually ask, ‘Andrea could tell me what Pietro has
just told us?’ In this way, I minimize any miscommunication
among members. I learned this when I worked for a NGO in
Italy to help homeless people with whom I had difficulty to
communicate either English (none spoke English except me) or
Italian because of my poor Italian at the time and their
grammatically wrong Italian. (Mexican-German-Italian
Director, Team: Romanian, Italian, French-Spanish)

“My team is composed of a Polish, a French-Thai, a German-

French, a French and me a American-French. I used to work
in New York, which influenced a lot my current management
style. For example, every decision is made in team meetings.
Roles are clearly defined. A regular meeting schedule is set.
We did team building exercise - a survival exercise. Here I
added some more extra team activities. As Europeans like
soccer, I suggested our team to watch world-cup together. I
asked members to bring local food whenever they go home (in
Europe, it is quite convenient to visit home country). It really
helps constructing my team. This sounds nothing special to
people in USA, but here, I am a unusual boss. But it worked
well in my team”. (American-French director)

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Theme 4: Reducing inter-regional misunderstanding

“If Indian local members said, ‘India might have an issue with
Managing cross-regional this (a certain ingredients for a new product), because there's
tensions no written piece of communication where this plant can be
used to please our consumers.’ Actually, what they tried to tell
me is, ‘No, I won’t do what you asked us to do and lower your
expectations.’ But I didn’t make any negative comments on
that. Instead I said, ‘Okay, how about I discuss with R&D at
HQ and find out the way we solve this problem?’ I didn’t want
to make an uncomfortable situation. Instead, I got respect from
them, which as a result had a positive influence on our work
progress. (Indian-American-French manager; Team members
at HQ: Chinese-French, French; Local teams: India, China, &
Thailand)

“For the visual for a new campaign of products, our Brazilian

Fostering cross-regional counterpart disagreed with the HQ people. She told us, ‘Well,
understanding this visual is not going to work here because Brazilians are
more built than European women.’ But no one (at the HQ)
agreed with her. So, I finally said to my team, ‘Look, I totally
agree with her (Brazilian). When I go to Venezuela, all my
friends are more built than I and they told me, ‘You’re so
skinny!’ At the same time, I know you (HQ people) think that
I’m normal, not skinny at all. Remember, this commercial will
be released not here but in Brazil!’ I often face this kind of
problem regarding different cultural perspectives on beauty. I
have to listen to both what locals say or what HQ people say,
but, rather than just try to compromise for each party, I try to
help them make a right decision for the best result.
(Venezuelan-French-American director, current team: French
(3) and Hungarian-French, previous team: French, Russian,
and Serbian)”

Theme 5: Displaying flexible behaviors to deal with people from diverse regions/cultures

“Since I was young, I have educated, lived, and worked in

Adapting to deal with different countries, meeting culturally different others in
different cultural behaviors neighborhood, at schools, and at work places. By the
conscious effort of mind I preempt the actions and their
consequences when interacting with someone with a different
cultural background. This helps me a lot working in this
particularly, multicultural work place.” (Hong Kong-

122
 Canadian-British-French director)

In terms of meeting time, we all seem to have different

principles. For example, my French boss never starts meetings
on time and quite often postponed or cancelled them. H
(Dutch-Chinese) is very strict on time and deadline (meeting is
time for checking-up on each other’s work process). I and K
(Taiwanese-French), were are a bit flexible regarding meeting
time. So, whenever we have meeting with my French boss, or
ourselves, we face frustrating moments. But, what is important
for us is how to handle this frustrating moment. As we are
conscious about each other’s differences, we come to
compromise when such moments occur. For example, with my
French boss, I need to be really flexible with time. With my
team members, if I am behind my meeting schedule with my
team members, I make sure to tell them in advance why I am
behind and ask them next availabilities. Conflicts may still
exist in my team. But we handle them much more tolerant level.
(Hong Kong-British-Canadian-French director, Team: Dutch-
Chinese, Taiwanese-French, Korean-British and French boss)

“When I led a TV commercial film with French PR team,

Chinese local team, Chinese PR agency, and Korean make-up
team, at the beginning, I was aware that there was no respect
to me as a project leader. However I had to make them
collaborate by bridging differences among them in terms of
beauty, work value and attitude. Although I was considered a
translator who spoke French and Chinese and English, as I
knew that I could not change their mindset at once, I tried to
adapt and support these teams as much as I could. It was not
an easy job at all as It required constant emotional effort in
order not to prejudge but to understand and respect them. Now
it’s been three times working with them. Their attitudes have
been changed enormously. I have gained the respect from these
teams. (Hong Kong-British-Canadian-French manager with
teams: French, Chinese, and Korean)
Displaying situationally
appropriate cultural
“Multiculturals have a kind of gymnastic intellectual training to
behaviors
think and behave as if they were French, American, or Chinese and
all together inside them.” (French Director: Team: Mexican-
French, British-French, French)

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 APPENDIX 2.A

The Ideal Profiles of Interviewees and Team Observation

1. Team leaders (managers) of multicultural teams that include some biculturals and
some monoculturals.
2. Biculturals:
a. Born biculturals (e.g., parents of different nationalities, born in a country
different from parental nationality).
b. Grown up or educated or worked in a foreign country for a period of time
greater than 3 years.
Please note that one of the characteristics is needed for one to be a bicultural.
3. Monoculturals (e.g., born and having been living in the same country to now)
working with biculturals in order to receive multiple impressions of biculturals’
activities in a team.
4. Similar departments
5. At least 3 years of multicultural team working experience (past or current).

APPENDIX 2.B

Question Guide to Ethnographic Interviews at BEAU

Background

Age
What is your current position? How did you get it?
What is your background?
What led you to working for this company? How did you get started?
How long have you been working for this company?
What was your prior experience?

Cultural Identity(ies)

Tell me about your background; where to born, where to grow up, your parents’ cultures?
How do you identify culturally? (I show interviewees Cultural Identity Definition,
Interviewees posit themselves in the scale in Figure 3).
Has(ve) your cultural identity(ies) changed over time?
Have you ever had cultural identity crisis?

Cultural identy(ies) and Professional Life

How do your cultural identities influence your professional life?
Have you noticed any difference between you and your colleagues in terms of the way to
perform
How do you identify culturally different others?
What is your most challenge working with people from different countries?
124
Team Experience

Describe your current team

Tell me one or two teams you have worked previously?
How are different between current team and previous team?
Can you think of challenges your team faces?
Do your team members behave differently when facing challenges?
 How do you find their differences?
 How do you behave differently from others in your team
Do you think that you make more effort to adapt to your team members (colleagues)?
 If so, why?
 If not, why not

The Roles

Describe a typical day/project/assignment?

What was your last project like?
How do you work with members?
Can you think of any examples you contribute to your team performance?
What resource do you use when working?

125
 When Do Multicultural Employees Become Cultural Brokers?:
A Comparative Ethnography Study of MNCs in Consumer Goods
versus Auditing and Business Consulting

Multicultural employees are known for their cultural competence and skills that can
contribute to organizational effectiveness, including global team effectiveness. The cultural
brokerage roles of multicultural employees and contextual features affecting their roles in
organizational contexts, however, have been underexplored. This study explores two main
issues: 1) how multiculturals influence teamwork processes as cultural brokers, and 2) the
contextual factors that exist and how these factors affect multiculturals’ propensity to enact
the role of cultural brokerage To answer these questions, this study investigates boundary
conditions through ethnographic fieldwork in firms in two distinct industries—fast-moving
consumer goods and auditing and business consulting. By comparing and contrasting the
findings of a field study in these two industries, I found multiculturals fulfill both similar
and different brokerage roles in two global workplaces and six boundary conditions that
either enable or constrain multiculturals from enacting the cultural brokerage role in global
teams. Field data shows that these boundary conditions relate to multiculturals’ identity and
competence, which extends their skills in their work settings. This study first describes the
cultural brokerage roles in two firms and identifies three organizational factors and three
team factors that affects multiculturals to enact their cultural brokerage role. Then, the
implications to understanding boundary conditions for multiculturals at multinational
organizations are discussed further.

Keywords: Boundary conditions for work performing, Multicultural employees, Cultural

Broker, Global team work processes, Comparative ethnography

Role theory concerns one of the most important characteristics of social behaviors—the

fact that human beings behave in ways that differ and are predictable depending on their

respective social identities and the situations (Biddle, 1979; Sarbin & Allen, 1968). It explains

roles based on the assumption that people are members of social positions and hold for their

own behaviors and those of other people (Biddle, 1986). Most role theories assume that

expectations are the most critical generators of roles; that expectations are learned through

experience; and that individuals are aware of the expectations they hold and that others have

of them. This premise suggests that role theory assumes persons are thoughtful, socially

aware social beings. Accordingly, role theorists are supposed to be sympathetic to such

theories that assume human awareness as cognitive and field theories in social psychology or

exchange theory and phenomenological approach in sociology. Thus, role theorists also tend

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to adopt the research methods established in these theories, in particular, methods of

observing roles and those that require research objectives to examine their own or others’

expectations. Given this basic focus, empirical research by role theorists has generally

focused on the nature of role taking and status, the dynamics of enacting a role, and the

effects of roles, contextual constraints, social positions, and expectations. This, indeed, has

not been the case. Much of role research had investigated practical questions and derived

concepts such as role conflicts, role taking, role playing, or consensus (Biddle, 1986).

Role concepts have generated significant research in some of the central arenas of

sociology and social psychology. Five such perspectives are: (1) functional role theory (Bates

& Harvey, 1975; Linton, 1936; Parsons, 1951; Parsons & Shils, 1951); (2) symbolic

interactionist role theory (Hiess, 1981; Mead, 1934; Ickes & Knowles, 1982; Stryker &

Statham, 1985; Stryker & Serpe; Zurcher, 1983); (3) structural role theory (Burt, 1976;

Mandel, 1983; Winship & Mandel, 1983); (4) cognitive role theory (Biddle, 1979; Biddle et

al, 1980a, b, 1985; Greenwood, 1983; Good 1981; Janis & Mann, 1977; McNamara &

Blumer, 1982; Moreno, 1934; Swartz 1977; Yardley 1982); (5) organizational role theory

(Allen & van de Vilert, 1984; Gross, 1958; Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek, & Rosenthal, 1964;

Fisher & Gitelson, 1983; Van Sell et al, 1981; van de Vilert, 1979, 1981). Although insightful

the work of functionalists, structuralists, and symbolic interactionists, most empirical research

in the role field has not come from organizational perspectives (Biddle, 1986). Researchers in

this field have built a version of role theory focused on social forms that are preplanned, task-

oriented, and hierarchical. Roles in such organizations are associated with identified social

positions and generated by normative expectations. Yet norms vary among individuals and

reflect both the formal demands of the organizations and the pressures of informal groups

(Feldman, 1984). Thus individuals often face role conflicts in which they must deal with

antithetical norms for their behavior. Such role conflicts cause stress and must be resolved if

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the individual is to be happy and the organization is to succeed (Biddle, 1986). Such

assumptions limit how roles evolve with contextual situations and are generated by

nonnormative expectations. In addition, according to this perspective, organizations are

rational, stable entities, and all conflicts within them are merely role conflicts. Furthermore,

participants in such organizations will certainly be happy and productive once role conflict is

resolved (Biddle, 1986). Although organizational role theorists have done much to call

attention to role conflict in organizations, the boundaryless assumption may not be helpful in

examining organizational roles played by multiculturals, a new working demographic in

multinational organizations (MNCs).

In practice, people with multicultural origins—biculturals and multicultural

individuals—are abundant in the MNCs, and they constitute a rich research resource to

integrate culturally diverse contexts (Brannen, Thomas, & Garcia, 2009). To date, however,

limited research has examined multiculturals in organizations, with even fewer studies

investigating the roles multiculturals play in MNCs (for an exception, see Yagi & Kleinberg,

2011). Further, virtually no research has sought to understand the nature, dynamics and

boundary conditions of the roles that multicultural individuals play to ensure that their teams

function effectively.

The purpose of the present study is to build and enrich theory related to the cultural

brokerage role (Geertz, 1960) that multicultural project managers play in global teams and the

contextual factors that enable or constrain enacting such roles. To accomplish this aim, I

conducted a 10-month ethnographic field study in a leading cosmetic and consumer goods

MNC and a leading auditing and business consulting MNC. I examined cultural brokerage in

the context of new product development teams and auditing and business consulting teams at

each research site. Specifically, I examined how multiculturals influence networking and

managing cultural heterogeneity, knowledge processes, and handling conflicts for global team

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performance. I define “multicultural” as an individual with more than one cultural identity

(Hong, Morris, Chiu, & Benet-Martinez, 2000), with latent skills gained through (often) life-

long cultural experiences working and living with culturally different people (Benet-Martinez,

Lee, & Leu, 2006; Brannen et al., 2009). I found that multiculturals play a critical role in

teamwork processes within global teams in which members’ cultural/national heterogeneity

seems more complicated than organizational researchers have thus far recognized (e.g.,

Argote & McGath, 1993; Elron, Shamir, & Ben-Ari, 1998; Jackson, May, & Whitney, 1995;

Jackson, et al.,1992; Lawrence, 1997; Snow, Snell, Davison, & Hambrick, 1996). In the

present study, my aim is to advance the field’s understanding of the cultural brokerage role

multicultural workers play and the boundary conditions of enacting such roles.

As such, this study also asks what contextual factors exist and how do these factors

affect multiculturals’ propensity to enact the role of cultural brokerage? To answer this

question, this study investigates boundary conditions through ethnographic fieldwork in firms

in two distinct industries—fast-moving consumer goods and auditing and business consulting.

By comparing and contrasting the findings of a field study in these two industries, I identified

six boundary conditions that either enable or constrain multiculturals from enacting the

cultural brokerage role in global teams. My field data show that these boundary conditions

relate to multiculturals’ identity and the competence that extend their skills in a work setting.

First, I identify three organizational factors and three team factors that affect multiculturals to

enact cultural brokerage role. Then, I discuss implications to understanding boundary

conditions for multiculturals at multinational organizations better.

I begin by reviewing the research on theories of role and contextual features affecting

role identity framework, person-culture fit, and international adjustment to reveal contextual

factors and how they affect the way multiculturals enact the cultural brokerage role in global

teams.

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THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF MULTICULTURALS’ CULTURAL

BROKERAGE ROLE IN ORGANIZATIONS

Person-Organizational Culture Fit Theory Perspectives

Several scholars have posited that the value in organizational culture is linked to the

process of an individual forming a social identity that provides meaning and a sense of

connection (e.g., Ashforth & Mael, 1989; Ashforth & Humphrey, 1983; Barley, Meyer, &

Gash, 1988; O’Reilly, 1989; Smircich, 1983 Nkomo & Cox, 1996) with the organization.

Drawing on their underlying values, individuals may choose congruent roles, occupations,

and even organizations (Albert & Whetten, 1985; Sampson 1978; Stryker & Serpe, 1982).

Just as individuals with similar backgrounds, attitudes, and experiences are attracted to one

another, individuals will be generally attracted to organizations with characteristics and

behaviors congruent with the individual’s values (Tsui & O’Reilly, 1989). With the notion of

“value” acting as the starting point, the processes of selecting and socializing become

complementary means to ensure person-organization fit (Chatman, 1988). Thus, congruence

between an individual’s values and an organization’s may be central to person-culture fit

(O’Reilly, Chatman, & Caldwell, 1991:110). Although Rousseau (1990) noted “Quantitative

assessment of the culture is controversial” (p. 1), many researchers attempt to measure the fit

between a person and an organization. Although this trend is more prevalent in the person-

organization fit (O’Reilly et al., 1991), the data reported in the present study are drawn from

ethnographic fieldwork in two multinational organizations.

International Human Resource Management Perspective

In the present study, I also relate three characteristics of international HRM (IHRM)

research to boundary conditions that enable or constrain multiculturals in enacting cultural

brokerage roles in two MNCs. The first characteristic is the organization structure.

Organization structure refers to how responsibilities are allocated among individuals and

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departments. It designates the nature and means of formal reporting relationships and how

individuals in the organization are grouped (Child, 1977). HRM experiences major

consequences when organizations are (re)structured around teamwork (rather than individual

performers). For example, organizations with team-based designs may need to use different

methods to analyze jobs and recruit, socialize, and assess its employees (Klimoski & Jones,

1994). Relying on teams has been an important factor in generating concern about the HRM

implications of workforce diversity (Jackson et al., 1994). Thus, the impact of structure on

HRM is particularly evident in MNCs and international joint ventures (Jackson et al., 1995, p.

245). The primary challenge is how IHRM can link globally distributed teams, while also

adapting to the host country’s requirements and the societies within those countries (Laurent,

1986). The second and third factors related to HRM are external to the organization: industry

characteristics and national culture. Industry characteristics were a particularly important

factor, because I compared organizations in different industries: marketing (with a

manufacturing component) and professional services. The term “industry” refers to a distinct

group of productive or profit-making enterprises (Jackson & Schuler, 1992). Bowen and

Schneider (1988) described three characteristics that distinguish the business activities of a

services firm from a manufacturing organization: (1) a “service” is generally intangible; (2) in

services the clients and employees usually cooperate in the production-and-delivery process;

and (3) in service firms, production and consumption are often concurrent. Because clients

play a central role in services, they can be thought of in a way as employees who are subject

to HRM (Bowen, 1986; Mills & Morris, 1986). For example, service sector employers were

more likely to include clients as sources of input during the appraisal process (Jackson &

Schuler, 1992). Differences in the nature of manufacturing and service firms also have

implications for other aspects of HRM systems, including recruiting, selection, and training

employees; compensation; stress management; and developing and maintaining an

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appropriate organizational culture and identity (for detail, see Davis-Blake, & Uzzi, 1993;

Delany et al., 1989; Guthrie & Olian 1991a; Jackson & Schuler, 1992; Jackson, 1984;

Schneider et al., 1992; Terpstra & Rozell, 1993). The third contextual factor related to HRM

is national culture. Because organizational culture is embedded in host country culture,

speculation is abundant about the possible HRM implications of the variations along cultural

dimensions that Hofstede developed (1993). Empirical studies have focused, however, on

comparing HRM practices between countries rather than directly measuring both culture and

HRM (Jackson et al., 1995). Thus, it has been suggested that research may seek to examine

how global companies develop IHRM systems and strategies that are consistent with distinct

local cultures and remain internally dependable in the context of the organization (cf. Heenan

& Perlmutter, 1979; Phatak, 1992; Schwartz, 1992; Tung 1993).

The Role and Dynamics of Enacting That Role

A process that links an individual to the level of a team is called “role-making and role-

taking” (Earley & Gibson, 2002: 78). This process is a fundamental action when individuals

are exposed to a social structure (Katz & Kahn, 1978; Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Roles that

a person enacts within a team are intertwined with their self-concept (Erez & Earley, 1993;

Stryker, 1980; Tajfel & Turner, 1986). Social Identity Theory (SIT; Tajfel, 1982) or Self-

Categorization Theory (SCT; Turner, 1987) encompass the concept that identity is individual

and involves role expectations and behaviors that are both accepted and incorporated into the

self (Earley & Laubach, 2000). In Stryker’s Identity Theory (1980), separate identities are

ordered into a “salience hierarchy,” in which the most salient identities are more likely to

emerge when an individual responds to a situation. The salience of an identity is based on the

individual’s level of commitment to the social networks in which the identity plays out

(Stryker, 1980). In a work team, people respond to role-expectations using the most salient

identity for the given situation. Furthermore, employees negotiate among possible activities

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based on the identities they generate related to role expectations according to their

organizational position in the formal structure and within informal structure such as cultural

or ethnic groups. When situations when conflict among multiple identities occurs, the

individual responds with the identity that is more strongly committed to his or her position in

the conflict (Burke & Reitzes, 1991; Stryker, 1980).

Multiculturals’ Cultural Brokerage Role

For a global team to perform more effectively, it should synergistically combine

individual input to influence collective actions and outcomes. For example, one member’s

cultural competence (e.g., multilingualism and cultural knowledge) can be used to integrate

members effectively to enhance communication and resolve conflict (Kozlowski & Klein,

2000; Steiner, 1972). When a multicultural individual works within a global team, he or she

faces the challenges of cross-cultural communication and conflicts caused by the members’

cultural differences. Such employees have the potential to adopt the role of an intermediary

between two or more culturally divergent groups. That is, possessing the quality of being

multicultural can strongly indicate the roles an employee can potentially adopt in a global

team. The actual roles adopted and the relative importance of each of role is influenced by

situational demands to solve challenges in a global team (Stewart et al., 2005). For example,

multiculturals’ propensity to span boundaries promote team effectiveness (Ancona &

Caldwell, 1992a, b; Yagi & Kleinberg, 2011). Thomas (1994) argued that in the process of

spanning cultural boundaries both internally and externally, multiculturals acquire significant

role benefits; indeed, they can obtain resources, status, and information that other team

members cannot. These role benefits, in turn, increase the multiculturals’ job satisfaction,

encouraging them to engage further in boundary spanning activities (Au & Fukuda, 2002;

Thomas, 1994; Yagi & Kleinberg, 2011). As such, Hong (2010) argued that highly

biculturally competent people are more likely to play a cultural brokerage role. That is, they

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become a boundary spanner and conflict mediator to meet the team’s expectations,

particularly when the team faces challenges caused by cultural diversity. Despite the

prevalence of cultural brokerage across social and organizational contexts, theoretical

conceptions have not kept pace with this phenomenon, particular in relation to multiculturals

working in global teams, where managing cultural heterogeneity among members becomes a

ritical challenge.

Contextual Factors: Status Theory and Symbolic Interactionism Perspectives

Two concepts from the literature explicate how roles link personal and team identity in

the social and organizational context. The first is the Status Characteristics Theory (Berger,

Conner, & Fisek, 1974; Berger, Fiesk, Norma, & Selditch, 1977; Stryker, 1980); which

discusses the nature of role-taking and status. The second is Symbolic Interactionism Theory

(Mead, 1934, Stryker & Macke, 1978; Stryker & Serpe, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1985; Turner &

Shosid, 1976), which helps us understand the dynamics of enacting roles.

Several significant features influence the Role Identity Framework (Earley & Gibson,

2002). First, central to this framework are the organizational control and coordination

mechanisms that are salient to the individual’s identity (Earley & Laubach, 2000). Normative

control draws out identities whose behavioral patterns are constructed around similar interests

with the organization. For example, workers operating under normative control have high

levels of organizational commitment (Burke & Reitzes, 1991). Bureaucratic control evokes

identities whose subordinate behavioral responses are constructed around issues of

legitimation, equity, and fairness; concepts that are embedded in organizational rules (Earley

& Gibson, 2002). This form of control within an individual can compete with the identities

that are based within in the informal organization such as ethnic and cultural groups. When

organizations strike informal deals, however, the salience of competing identities is reduced

(Littler & Salaman, 1984).

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 Second, culture-related values through which role identities in a cultural context as

expressed are also important factor (Earley & Gibson, 2002, p. 80). If the ingroup is the

organization, for example, employees will respond to role expectations with the minimal

effort that characterizes normative control (Earley & Gibson, 2002). A worker from a

collective culture may be more likely to be more committed to an identity that reflects the

interests of his or her ingroup, despite the ingroup’s relationship with the organization’s

structure (Earley & Gibson, 2002). In contrast, if the workers’ ingroup is not his or her

organization, and if his or her ingroup’s interests differ from those of the organization (e.g.,

class-based interests), then control measures must present role expectations that favor a

subordinate identity over the competing ingroup identity (Earley & Gibson, 2002). In addition,

a cultural value that favors high power-distance relationships can support a worker’s

commitment to subordinate roles, facilitating the use of simple or bureaucratic control (Earley

& Gibson, 2002).

Third, status characteristics (or traits) and its hierarchies employed within various

countries affect the framework an individual uses to evoke his or her role identity (Earley &

Gibson, 2002). A status characteristic as an attribute on which individuals vary that is

concomitant with societal beliefs of esteem and worthiness (Ridgeway & Walker, 1995).

Because it is based in consensual beliefs, the status value of an attribute can change over time

and vary among countries (Earley & Gibson, 2002). Status characteristics can be either

diffuse or specific (Earley & Gibson, 2002). Diffuse characteristics have general performance

expectations that may require more than the person’s ability to perform one type of task and

are not necessarily rational. Examples include gender, age, and race. Specific status markers,

however, may be relevant only to one task or a category of tasks such as skills with, for

example, language, cultural knowledge, and a computer. It is important to emphasize that

cultural beliefs that attach status value to a characteristic also associate it with implicit role

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expectations for competence (Earley, 1997; Lau & Murnighan, 1998; Ting-Toomey & Cocroft,

1994). For example, many societies including United States, men are in general believed to

contribute more to, or to be more competent (Borgatta& Simoson, 1963; Elass & Graves,

1997; Heiss, 1962; Kenkel, 1957; Shackelford, Wood, & Worchel, 1996; Stets, 1997; Walker,

Ilardi, McMahon, & Fennel, 1996). In contrast, age is a significant status marker in many

Asian countries (Earley, 1999; Holmes, Tantongtavy, & Tomizawa, 1995). Earley (1999)

investigated the status hierarchies across various countries and suggested: (1) the effects of

such a hierarchy on group decision-making as a function of cultural frame differ; (2) the

content of these hierarchies differ across countries. Trait hierarchies reflect the

organizational/group roles a person may take on in his or her group in the organization. For

example, nationality is at the top of many people’s traits (Earley & Mosakowski, 2000).

Researchers have shown that when individuals come into contact with members of other

national or cultural groups, they define both the other and themselves primarily in terms of

national or cultural orientation (Bochner & Ohsako, 1977; Earley & Mosakowski, 2000;

Melingo & Ravlin, 1998; Thomas, Ravlin, & Wallace, 1996). As a result, an individual’s

cultural background and his/her competence gained such background may affect his/her role

identity framework.

Fourth, status theory (Berger et al., 1977) also suggests that the mixture of individual

characteristics has important implications for power differences within a team. When teams

are more egalitarian, the more the individual talents of each group member should be

encouraged to emerge. In situations in which status characteristics create mixed expectations

(e.g., a French manager with little formal education working with a team of highly educated

French engineers), the team will be more egalitarian. In situations in which status

characteristics are consistent, the team will be more hierarchical. This suggests that the more

heterogeneous a team is, the more egalitarian it will be, and the better it will achieve goals

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(Earley & Gibson, 2002; Berger & Zelditch, 1985; Webster & Foschi, 1988).

Status theory and symbolic interactionism theory have made strong contributions to our

understanding of roles that (1) evolve through social interaction, and various cognitive

concepts through which social actors understand and interpret their own and others’ conduct;

(2) a person may occupy in his or her society and their link to status characteristics including

gender, race, religion, socioeconomic status, as well as achieved roles including profession,

education, etc. However research on the relationship between various status characteristics

across cultures has been conducted largely based on characteristics relevant to western

culture. This limits to provide an ex ante framework predicting what characteristics might or

might not be important in a given culture, even more importantly, in a global team with high

level of cultural heterogeneity in an individual level (e.g., multiculturals). In addition,

symbolic interactionists often fail to examine actors’ role expectations for other persons or to

contextual factors upon role expectations and role enactments.

Prior research has examined the contextual features that affect a worker’s role identity

framework with different levels of analysis. Because people have different status

characteristics, however, contextual features that affect role-taking motivations may vary.

Given increased complexity in the workplace, individual variance in status has become more

pronounced. Diversity and demography researchers, however, have paid less attention to the

relationship among status characteristics and the salience of role identities and the impact of

roles team members might enact. For example, while exploiting their status characteristics,

the kinds of roles multicultural members play and how contextual factors influence enacting

such roles are largely unrecognized or unanswered.

Situated field studies of work practices are likely to produce the most insightful

grounded theories regarding how a multicultural team member’s cultural brokerage unfolds in

two organizations (a leading cosmetic company and an auditing and business consulting

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MNC). A practice-oriented approach focuses on work activity (Orr, 1996) and, more

important, the repertoire of actions that reflect people’s understandings of “how to play such

roles” in complex and challenging work settings (Orlikowski, 2002). By examining the kinds

of roles multiculturals play for teamwork processes and how contextual factors influence the

way they enact such roles, I develop a process model of cultural brokerage and boundary

conditions in global teams.

METHODS

Ethnography, in its most utilitarian sense, is what Spradley and McCurdy (1972)

referred to as “the task of describing a particular culture” (p. 3). Denzin (2003) added that

ethnography is a method to understand the politics and practices that shape human experience.

Research on multiculturals in organizations is an emerging area and little theory has been

developed. According to Edmondson and McManus (2007; nascent theory), research should

collect rich, detailed, and suggestive data from ethnography in order to explain the

phenomenon. Ethnographic fieldwork, therefore, particularly fits the present research

objective. To initiate a grounded theoretical conception of how and what contextual factors

affect enacting roles, I selected two multinational organizations that met these criteria. Both

settings are listed prominently in surveys of leading firms in their respective fields, and both

recruit individuals with the diverse cultural backgrounds that exemplify multiculturals.

Following a strategy of theoretical sampling (Strauss & Corbin, 1990), I compared

multiculturals in global teams in the fast moving consumer goods (FMSG) industry with

multiculturals in the auditing and business consulting industry. The FMSG field is

characterized by quickly changing tasks that allow the organization to adapt or advance

market trends, whereas auditing and consulting features stability in tasks in order to maintain

standard practices and ethics to diverse clients. I sampled on this dimension to develop theory

across two multinational firms that differed in the degree to which they recognize and use

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multiculturals in the workforce. The FMSG firm, BEAU (a pseudonym), owes its fortunes to

the new products they develop. It recruits multiculturals in order to develop new products for

worldwide markets as they bring new ideas and a deep understanding of local markets, which

complements monoculturals working at the headquarters. Thus, management in this firm

expects multiculturals to develop products that are new and creative and better and faster than

competitors. Because multiculturals in BEAU’s new product development department were

fully responsible for developing new products in a maximum of two years, their cultural

competence seemed manifest (e.g., cultural knowledge, cross-cultural communication, and

creativity).

In contrast, multiculturals in the auditing and business consulting firm, AuditCo (a

pseudonym), were not always selected for specific tasks and roles. An exception is

multiculturals working in International Finance Reporting Standards (IFRS), whose tasks

required working cross-culturally among member countries of the IASB (International

Accounting Standards Board). Although auditing practices are calculated carefully and highly

rationalized, these practices are also an emotional process as various interaction rituals

(conversation, task-oriented interactions, shop-talk, gossip, general discussions) automatically

increase or decrease the emotional energy of both the auditors and clients (Collins, 1981,

1987). No auditor works alone; instead, they work in groups. The auditing process, therefore,

revolved around strong reliance and cohesion among its members. In addition, AuditCo staff

must demonstrate a high degree of loyalty in order to be seen as truly professional and worthy

of promotion. This revealed itself as almost a machine-like work ethic to the ideals of

commitment and professionalism, both of which were highly valued in the professional

ideology. Any theory generated by studying multicultural competence was less likely to be

robust than it was at BEAU.

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Research Sites

My objective with the present study is to investigate what context factors are and how

they affect enacting cultural brokerage role by multiculturals. As such, the present study’s

design is open-ended, which allows unplanned themes to emerge from the data among firms

in different industries. In this way, I can cross-check internal consistency and reliability

(Denzin, 1978). Each firm designated one senior professional as my main contact person who

was responsible for planning meetings, interviews, and observations for my fieldwork. Before

I met this individual face-to-face, I sent my contact the selection criteria for interviewees and

discussed ideal interviewees and the firm’s ability to fulfill my requests. In a two-page

description of selection criteria (see Appendix A: “The Ideal Profiles of Interviewees and

Team Observation”), I defined multiculturals, monoculturals, and multicultural teamwork

experience and indicated how many interviewees I needed with multiculturals, monoculturals,

and mangers.

As a non-participant observer, I conducted my fieldwork from January to October 2010.

My engagement at BEAU extended for 10 months (January to October, 2010), whereas my

work with AuditCo lasted seven months (April to October 2010). The main purpose of

conducting ethnography in two different industries was to compare and contrast two

organizations in order to have more generalizability (Denzin, 1978) in my findings. I began

my ethnography fieldwork at AuditCo three months later than BEAU for two reasons. First,

my main contact person (a senior professional) was in an accident and hospitalized for three

months. Second, when I began my fieldwork at BEAU, I realized I should concentrate on one

company; indeed, it took more time and energy to familiarize myself with the field than I

planned. Thus, I decided to postpone my fieldwork at AuditCo so that I could gain a sense of

how multiculturals function at BEAU first.

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 FMCG firm: BEAU. I conducted ten months’ of ethnography research at BEAU in

their Paris location (January – October 2010). The study focused mainly on the company’s

new product development division and international recruiting division at the company’s

headquarters (HQ). The new product development division employed 160 project managers.

Overall, 40% of the project managers are multicultural. In total, I conducted 36 in situ

interviews: 27 with multiculturals and 9 with monoculturals. Table 1 displays information on

interviewee profile and team composition, and Table 2 includes demographic details of the

interviewees. Interviewees occupied a variety of hierarchical and functional positions.

Interviews typically lasted 100 minutes, ranging from 60 minutes (team leaders/managers and

HR manager) to more than two hours (most multiculturals). All interviews were audio-

recorded and were transcribed verbatim. Although I modified interview protocols at each

signal of an emerging theme (Spradley, 1979), common to each interview were a set of

protocol questions. These questions addressed: (1) how cultural identity(ies) have impacted

work performance and interacting with (culturally different) others in teams; (2) how the

company develops new products; and (3) what challenges and support the interviewee

experienced (see Appendix B for the interview protocol). Most multicultural interviewees had

lived abroad for at least two years. On average, each had lived in three different countries, and

all speak more than two languages. Most of the teams were composed of at least three

different nationalities.

Because I knew little about multiculturals in organizations when I began this study, I

started by conducting interviews with top management, six regional directors, and one HR

professional. My goal was to learn whether they were aware of the firm’s multicultural

workforce, why they think that multiculturals are important for their business, and how they

leverage the talent of multicultural workers. I elicited their views and observations regarding

multiculturals and their personal experiences in working with and managing multiculturals in

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teams. Through this initial set of interviews, I learned that firms fully recognize the benefits

of employing a multicultural workforce and have tried to use individual unique competencies

for various business purposes. For example, most agreed that it is fundamental that

organizations employ a multicultural workforce in order to develop their business globally.

I also conducted a semi-structured interview with the director and manager in the

Human Resource department. During the interview, I asked when BEAU started recruiting

multiculturals (the HR manager called such employees ‘international talent’), why BEAU

hires a multicultural workforce, and how BEAU recruits and manages these employees once

they were recruited. In addition, in terms of managing a multicultural workforce, I asked

about multiculturals’ overall performance, the challenges of managing them, the challenges a

multicultural workforce faced, and the company’s future recruitment strategy. I also had

several informal discussions with directors and managers in charge of diversity at BEAU.

During these discussions, I asked about BEAU’s current and future strategy for a diversity

policy for recruitment. Finally, I interviewed nine monocultural (French) managers to

understand their perspectives on multiculturals and their working experience with

multiculturals.

I also observed various team meetings in the new product development department,

including brainstorming sessions, bi-weekly meetings, and meetings with other functional

departments. Because I wanted to observe more team meetings in other departments, I also

attended team meetings in the international recruiting department. For this task, I selected a

team with a multicultural project manager and members with diverse cultural backgrounds.

Team observation lasted two half days. Each day, I visited their office to observe how they

worked and attended a three-hour meeting. This team had a regular meeting every two weeks,

and after the team meeting, I usually joined the employees for their coffee break. In addition, I

visited the site at least twice per week during the 10-month data collection process. With this

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approach, I observed employees in the company cafeteria and other public places (e.g.,

waiting areas and libraries). In addition, I observed employees’ activities at company-

sponsored activities, conferences, and presentations. Some of the multicultural project

managers also invited me to lunch, dinner, and parties after work, which I often attended.

Other important sources of data included written materials. Documents included curriculum

vitae (CVs) that described the details of multiculturals’ work and living experiences across

countries, project pamphlets, organizational magazines, and press and media publications.

The CVs of the multicultural project managers were a key element that helped me understand

their multicultural experience and how they formed their cultural identities. I usually asked

multicultural project managers to send me their CV before meeting with them, and I studied

these documents carefully to prepare for the interview. I also took pictures of each

interviewee, the products they developed, and their office decorations. Taken together, these

secondary sources of data provided a richer context for understanding interviewees’

responses. They also sparked new questions for interview protocols that could be addressed in

subsequent interviews with other informants.

Auditing and business consulting firm: AuditCo. I conducted seven months of

ethnographic fieldwork (April – October 2010) at AuditCo in their Paris location. The present

study focused on multicultural employees working in the company’s main functional

departments such as auditing, consulting, and financial advising. I conducted 20 in situ

interviews: 15 with multiculturals and 5 monoculturals in a variety of hierarchical and

functional positions. Interview questions and interview duration were the same as described

for BEAU. In terms of functional variance, interviewees worked in auditing (50%), business

consulting (35%), and HR and Assistantship (15%). Hierarchical levels among interviewees

were partner (1), director (1), senior manager (6), manager (9), and staff and interns (3).

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Similar to my approach at BEAU, I also gathered data through observation at AuditCo. I

observed employees’ activities in offices (a confidential area), extra activities (e.g., English-

speaking club), meeting rooms, restaurants, cafeterias, and so on. I was invited to CEO talks,

top management talks, and several of the company’s public activities (e.g., charity activities).

On average, I went to AuditCo twice a week; for specific activities or interviews, however, I

went more than twice per week.

In addition to interviews and observation, I collected written documents such as

company newsletters, annual reports, IFRS-related booklets published by AuditCo,

interviewees’ CVs, and websites. Because I could not observe team meetings due to

confidentiality issues, I read ethnography papers about auditing and business consulting firms

from accounting journals. And, to improve my knowledge of auditors, I discussed my

findings and questions from my fieldwork with one of my PhD colleagues who had worked in

several auditing companies as a certified Professional Accountant in the US and France.

Commonalities. These two settings shared three similarities that deserve comparison, as

summarized in Table 3. First, in each context, multiculturals use their multicultural

competence in the workplace for better performance and networking within and across

organizational and regional groups. At both sites, the level of heterogeneity was high (see

Figure 1). Researchers have identified multicultural competence and its impact on

organizational effectiveness as including cultural knowledge, open-mindedness,

multilingualism, and creativity (Brannen et al, 2009; Cheng, Sanchez-Burks, & Lee, 2008a;

Lafromboise, Coleman, & Gerton, 1993; Cheng et al., 2006; Hong, 2010). The multiculturals

from both settings were highly skilled individuals who developed new products for worldwide

markets and conducted audits and consultations across regions. Most of multiculturals

working at BEAU were selected from local subsidiaries with at least five years of operational

marketing experience, typically with distinct performance. Partners at AuditCo selected their

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team members with close attention to their work experience and specializations in the

auditing and consulting fields.

Second, it was noticeable that multiculturals play roles that influence teamwork

processes in both settings beyond and related to their immediate tasks. At BEAU, as a cultural

broker, multiculturals’ most important roles relate to team knowledge processes and cross-

cultural conflict resolution within and across organizational groups between HQ and local

subsidiaries. In addition to these roles, multiculturals at AuditCo act as a business broker,

playing roles that develop networks and coordinate people as they work across national,

societal, and organizational boundaries. Whereas the lower in hierarchy multiculturals posit,

the more multiculturals played enacting such roles at BEAU, the higher in the hierarchy, the

more multiculturals played such roles at AuditCo.

Finally, some multiculturals interviewed in both settings faced challenges in career

development. Although they were promoted quickly, they did not have the ambition to be a

‘partner’at AuditCo or ‘top management’at BEAU. In both organizations, they found few role

models and the most important reason they lacked the ambition was that they worked for

French organizations whose top management should be French. One of director at AuditCo

told me: “the director position is the highest I can achieve. AuditCo France is a French

company. Therefore, French should be a partner.” One of the directors at BEAU expressed the

same sentiment: “Because BEAU represents France, I know my current position is the highest

I can go. If I go to one of subsidiaries, I may be promoted to regional director.”

Differences. Although these two sites shared enough similarities for useful comparison,

they differed on three dimensions. First, teams at the two sites differed in terms of task origin

(individual or collective), team organization (permanent or temporary and unit versus

hierarchical), and work location (HQ offices or client sites). Although multiculturals at BEAU

work in teams at headquarters, they mainly worked individually because they were fully

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responsible for new product development. Their teams were permanent until they finished

developing a particular new product (at least two years) and were composed of one or two

other project managers who developed different product lines (e.g., the same brand such as a

line and hair care and coloring products for the Latin American female market), one director

(N+1 head), and one or two interns. Multiculturals worked mainly in their offices at the HQ.

They worked with local subsidiaries by phone, email, or audio-visual conferences. Directors

visited local office at least once a month. Project managers visited locals depending on

importance of new product development process. Their offices and the corridors were

decorated with images of previous products, commercial campaign posters, and examples of

newly developing products. Even at the regional director level, their attire was quite casual.

In contrast, multiculturals working at AuditCo worked collectively. Auditors and

consultants engaged in the “intensive performance of collective rituals” on a daily basis

(Pentland, 1998:608). Teams at AuditCo were composed according to a project. Chosen

members had to be available, and their skills needed to fit the project. Teams are composed of

partners, seniors, consultants, and juniors. The number of each within the hierarchy varied

depending on the project size and its importance. Teams also worked at clients’ sites, often

requiring domestic travel. Thus, they did not have their own offices or even desks until they

reached the senior director level. Their office was a large open space. Anyone could sit at any

available seat to work (usually after visiting a client’s sites). Their attire was very formal. One

of the female auditors told me that she wore quite expensive jewelry (e.g., a watch) if

necessary to impress a client In addition, they were trained to be professional with clients in

order to gain their trust. One of managers did not take off his jacket during the interview even

though I asked him to take it off because of the room temperature. Only after I took off my

jacket, did he take off his own.

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 A second difference between two sites is the human resource management (HRM)

strategy and top management recognition of the multicultural workforce. BEAU’s HRM

strategy on multiculturals was quite systemized because BEAU started its recruitment strategy

about 10 years ago. By the time I was completing my fieldwork, the HR manager told me that

they had started a new training program for newly hired multiculturals to adapt more quickly

and efficiently to the work context at the HQ. And, BEAU’s top management valued their

multicultural workforce. In contrast, AuditCo seemed to lack a particular HRM practices to

hire, train, and appraise its multicultural workforce. The HR department seemed to consider

multiculturals as “expatriates” (e.g., a mentoring system for newcomers). Thus, it was not

clear to me how much partners agreed on valuing multicultural workforce.

A third difference is how much the multicultural workers identified with the

organizational identity and culture. Multiculturals at BEAU often used the phrase “BEAU

DNA” and seemed very proud to be working at BEAU, one of leading FMCG multinationals.

To develop new products for either global or specific regional markets, they must be creative

by exploiting their multicultural competence. Thus, their cultural identities positively related

to their performance. In contrast, at AuditCo multicultural employees did not identify with the

company. Many expressed that they could work for another similar company doing the exact

same tasks. Employees at AuditCo identified more with their professional identity and less

with the organizational identity. Thus, their cultural identities neutrally related to their task

performance.

Analytic Approach

My data analysis followed an inductive, grounded theory development process (Glaser

& Strauss, 1967; Eisenhardt, 1989; Sutton, 1991). I documented my reflections within a day

after each interview and observation, open-coded transcribed interviews and my observation

journal, and created a list of emerging themes. To visualize relationships between different

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parts of the data and between the data and theoretical ideas (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 44),

I not only coded notes and interviews manually, but also used Nvivo9, a qualitative data

analysis program. This approach required an iterative process of theoretical sampling and

comparing and contrasting examples from the data to build theoretical categories that were

interrelated to form the basis for the present study. At the same time, I updated my interview

protocol and research agenda for the next day of fieldwork. As noted, I started my fieldwork

at BEAU three months earlier than AuditCo. With this “learning by doing” approach, I was

able to conduct my fieldwork at AuditCo more efficiently.

I analyzed data and adjusted categories periodically throughout the fieldwork to confirm

the test categories and further focus my study. I coded interview transcripts, observation

notes, and documents using Nvivo 9, a qualitative data analysis program that allowed me to

visualize relationships between different parts of the data and between the data and

theoretical ideas (Miles and Huberman, 1994:44). I coded data from BEAU first and then

data from AuditCo. This way helped me to compare and contrast data from two research

sites. When the fieldwork concluded, I reanalyzed field notes, memos, and interview

transcripts to determine how my understanding and the practices of multiculturals at the two

sites differed.

Now I turn to findings that emerged from this analysis, in the finding section, first, I

describe how multiculturals influence team work process by enacting cultural brokerage role.

Second, I explain what organizational conditions and team work conditions are and explore

how these conditions enable and constrain multiculturals to play cultural brokerage role at

work place.

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ROLES AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS AFFECTING THE
ENACTMENT OF CULTURAL BROKERAGE ROLE

Roles of Multiculturals in AuditCo vs. BEAU

As described, multiculturals at both sites play roles that influence team work processes

(see Table 4). Multiculturals at both sites become a member of a team based on their

functional role in the organization. They belong to particular projects, and have particular task

skills or a particular position in the organizational hierarchy. In addition to such a functional

role, membership might occur on the basis of a multicultural’s capacity to generate novel

ideas, coordinate contributions from others, encourage harmonious relationships, or ensure

decisions are implemented. In other words, they operate based on their team or organizational

role as opposed of their functional role. Multiculturals in both organizations play not only

their functional role but more importantly, they play an organizational role. Multiculturals at

both sites play similar roles such as connecting geographically diverse knowledge and skills

and people; reducing inter-regional misunderstanding; and displaying flexible behaviors to

deal with people from diverse regions and cultures.

Multiculturals at both sites, however, play different roles because their functional roles

differ. Multiculturals at AuditCo play roles generated by their functional skills and knowledge

such as managing teams’ cultural heterogeneity and developing a network with others at

similar hierarchical levels across organizational/regional boundaries (e.g., partner level). They

also network with people across industrial/societal boundaries to build business relationships.

In contrast, multiculturals at BEAU play roles generated by their organizational position such

as helping teams’ knowledge processes across cultural/regional boundaries. At BEAU,

multiculturals bring new local product and market knowledge to HQ and translate cultural

nuances as new products are developed.

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Roles Multiculturals Play at Both Sites: AuditCo and BEAU

Connecting geographically diverse knowledge, skills, and people.

Those Eric Wolf (1956) described cultural brokers as those who stand guard over the

crucial junctures of relational synapses that connect the local system to the global whole. One

of the most important candidates for such a broker role in business organizations, and thus for

effective team leadership, is the country desk partners in AuditCo. One of country desk

partners in AuditCo described his role:

The most important and valuable function that I fulfill here in France is to coordinate all
potential missions for the Spanish subsidiaries in France by connecting them to their
headquarters in Spain and to French companies. The missions are not only about auditing
but also about various financial services for their business development in France such as
tax advice and the acquisition and the financial advisory services. We [his team]also
identify the need of the local subsidiaries in France with the corporate office in Spain by
showing that there are potential business opportunities in France. And finally, for the
success of previous two missions, my role is also to work with French companies by
incorporating management and helping them invest to Spanish companies. (French-
Spanish Partner at AuditCo)

This Spanish-French partner became the main connecting link who joined the Spanish

company to the global whole and their subsidiaries in France. And, it his ability to

perform this broker function critically affects the business success of Spanish firms and

their subsidiaries in France and France companies.

The connecting roles multiculturals play at BEAU are somewhat similar, but different in

several aspects. In new product development, the challenge is how to create innovative

products that no competitors can replicate. Therefore, multicultural project managers focused

more on integrating knowledge from different cultural perspectives for innovative product

development. BEAU’s multicultural project managers have ‘intellectual flexibility’ that is

‘gymnastically trained;’ and as such, ideas synthesize from multiple sources—diverse cultural

perspectives—for creative products. A French-Cambodian-Irish project manager described

how he overcame such a challenge. He was able to operate within the community in which he
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lived, as well as the cultural/national spheres of his prior residences and his parents’ home, all

of which influenced his multiculturalism. He understood well that women in Asia pay

particular attention to reducing wrinkles on their face. He sensed the same desire in European

women and created a new cream. As a cultural broker, he developed new products for

European women as a focus for synthesizing local community-oriented ideas (e.g., a cream

for Asian women) to a global (or other region)-oriented idea (e.g., a cream for European

women).

Managing cross-cultural conflicts

Multiculturals at both sites manage cross-cultural conflicts across organizational and

regional boundaries by reducing inter-regional misunderstanding. Accordingly, they display

flexible behaviors to deal with people from diverse regions and cultures.

Reducing inter-regional misunderstanding. Multicultural managers working on

collaborative inter-organizational projects must gain cooperation from their counterparts.

AuditCo’s multicultural managers mitigated any potential negative effects of group

boundaries by developing cross-cultural understanding among counterparts who were

involved the project. A British-French manager noted:

At the moment, I’m doing a project with a big American client, and so we have a lot of
Americans coming over here to France, because the target company is French. It is quite
interesting because I need to be able to talk to the French company and be able to
understand the way they think and the way they act. At the same time, I need to deal with
the Americans, who are incredibly planned and want lots of detail. So, I need to deal with
both parties; for example, I explain to the French why things are planned and why the
Americans want certain bits of information. Now things are going well. (British-French
manager in AuditCo)

In addition to his main functional role for the project, this British-French manager

worked as a mediator between the Americans and French. He spanned the cultural

boundaries of both parties, decoded different work norms and values to each party, and

helped both parties work effectively.

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 At BEAU, multicultural project managers also engaged actively in mediating

different opinions on projects. Their mediation was not compromising per se, but was

designed to make an effective decision. For example, a Venezuelan-French-American

director was managing product development for the Latin America region. He was

engaged to solve a task conflict in which members had different opinions about the

visual for a new product campaign. The problem was a lack of understanding the local

culture by those who worked at the HQ. After listening to both parties’ different

opinions, he said, ‘Look, I totally agree with her (Brazilian). When I go to Venezuela, all

my friends are more built than I am, and they told me, ‘You’re so skinny!’ At the same

time, I know you (HQ people) think that I’m normal, not skinny at all. Remember, this

commercial will be released not here, but in Brazil!’ This Venezuelan-French-American

multicultural manager bridged the discrepant views of both parties, wherein the team not

only ended up making the right decision, but also built mutual trust. If this director had

not tried to mediate conflict, more subtle forms of conflict may have occurred as the

employees at HQ may have maintained their views, and the local team would be

unwillingly to agree. This could position both groups to emphasize the negative

characteristics of the other. If teams encounter severe conflict among members, the worst

case scenario requires the team to be recomposed.

Displaying flexible behaviors to deal with people from diverse regions/cultures.

Multiculturals at AuditCo must develop business relationships with clients. One of the

advantages of multiculturalism is that such individuals may have more clients with diverse

cultural backgrounds than do monoculturals. This is because multiculturals use their

multicultural competence to develop their business. One French-British director explained

how he developed his business with clients:

Multiculturalism gives me an advantage compared to others, because it’s an additional

skill that you can have and with which you can bring something valuable to organizations.
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 For example, it’s great to have multiculturals within the team, which makes a team much
richer, in terms of working for clients and building relationships with them. For me, one of
my clients is an British person who lives in Luxemburg, and who does M&A transactions in
Europe. He always contacts me because we get on well; he’s British and I use my English
culture. For his business in France and Luxembourg, I use my French knowledge and
speak French. It’s just a big advantage to be able to have these different cultural
dimensions (French-British Director).

At BEAU, people work with others on a daily basis that has different cultural

backgrounds. This often causes conflicts that challenge members’ ability to proceed with their

work. Once conflicts occur in teams, however, multicultural project managers in BEAU

handled such conflicts with tolerance. In other words, they accepted different cultural values,

were less disturbed by them, and accordingly performed better at handling conflicts because

they valued cultural differences among members. A Hong Kong-British-Canadian-French

project manager worked with different monocultural groups—a team whose members

consisted of Chinese and Korean workers and a team whose members were all French. From

the beginning, she found that the team members extended no respect to her. People treated her

as a translator, even though she was a project leader. She said, ‘As I knew that I could not

change their mindset at once, I tried to adapt and support these teams as much as I could. It

was not an easy job at all, as it required constant emotional effort in order not to prejudge

but to understand and respect them.’ Although multicultural project managers are known to

be open to cultural differences, this project manager felt it was challenging to work in an

environment in which she was stereotyped as a translator. Her perception of conflicts,

however, did not evoke negative stereotyping among members, where the opportunity to

develop such attitudes was quite obvious.

Roles Multiculturals Play at AuditCo

Building legitimacy for the business success within and beyond the team

Multiculturals at AuditCo build legitimacy for the business success both within and

beyond the team. They reinforce relationships among members to enhance team effectiveness
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and forge connections among unconnected actors to generate credibility for the business.

They accomplish this by managing team heterogeneity and fostering a generative network

across cultural, regional, and social boundaries.

Managing a team’s cultural heterogeneity. Team members’ cultural characteristics

influence how a shared culture emerges (also called hybrid culture; Earley & Mosakowski,

2000) in two ways. First, members’ cultural characteristics shape their cognitive processing

framework. The outcome of culturally specific cognitions creates different links among

categories, and negotiated understandings about cause-and-effect relationships form the

perceptions that allow individuals to act (Choi & Nisbett, 1998; Choi, Nisbett, & Norenzayan,

1999; Choi, Nisbett, & Smith, 1997; Morris, Nisbett, & Peng, 1995). Second, culture guides

our choices, commitments, and standards of behavior (Erez & Earley, 1993; Schneider, 1989,

1993; Schneider & Angelmar, 1993; Schneider & DeMeyer, 1991). Thus, members’ cultural

background influences their self-construal as group members and view of others within the

group (Lickel, Hamilton, Wieczorkowska, Lewis, Sherman, & Uhles, 1998; Markus &

Kitayama, 1991). Team members’ individual traits, expectations, and roles are shared within a

team, but vary depending on the level of heterogeneity (Earley & Mosakowski, 2000) and

more important, its management. If team member heterogeneity is not managed effectively,

the assets from diverse ideas, perspectives, experience, expertise, and networks do not just

emerge automatically. At AuditCo, multiculturals, especially those who are higher in the

organizational hierarchy, manage their teams’ cultural heterogeneity for business

performance. An Indian-French manager described how he came to work in his current team,

while also emphasizing his team leader’s management of team cultural heterogeneity:

The partner told me that when I came for the interview, he wanted open-minded people;
people from different countries and also within France; from different ethnicities, cities,
and social classes. He wanted diversity in his team, but at the same time wanted a balance
in human interactions. We have different backgrounds, but we also share similarities such
as educational and cultural backgrounds. Our team is called as ‘salad bowl’ at AuditCo.
As a result, we have a pretty good feeling for one another. It’s very interesting because
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 when we work, we feel like friends, and equal to equal even when we are working in a strict
hierarchical workplace. We take coffee together, and after work, we go for a drink. We also
play sports together from time to time, which is quite unusual in French society where
private and professional lives are strictly separated (Indian-French junior consultant,
working with team members: French-Korean, Tunisian-French, Cameroon-French,
Algerian-French, French-Italian, French-Vietnamese, and French)

This multicultural partner knows that the effect of team heterogeneity on members’ cultural

backgrounds affects team-related processes and outcomes such as performance,

communication, planning, team identity, and team confidence. Because he paid careful

attention to selecting members based on their cultural backgrounds, his team must have

enjoyed considerable opportunity and motivation to interact and become acquainted with one

another. The knowledge of one’s teammate’s results in higher team performance.

Fostering a generative network across cultural and regional boundaries. In AuditCo,

networking is crucial for business success. Multiculturals are better equipped to span

organizational, regional, and even social boundaries to develop networks more effectively

than monoculturals. Their multiculturalism, indeed, aids their boundary-role performance not

only at the intergroup level but more importantly beyond business-related groups and people.

A Spanish-French partner highlighted his networking ability:

As a partner, the most important ability is networking, which builds your relationships.
Although I am mainly working in France, I try hard not to lose my network in Spain. Here
in France, I have developed networks with French partners, Spanish firms in France, the
Spanish Chamber of Commerce, and even the Spanish Ambassador in France. This process
is different from developing personal contact. You develop your business with them.
(Spanish-French partner)

Roles Multiculturals Play at BEAU

Bringing new local product and market knowledge to HQ

Multiculturals at BEAU manage team knowledge processes by bringing new local product

and market knowledge to the HQ and translating cultural nuances. To create engaging

commercial success for new products, while differentiating current products in markets,

multicultural project managers at BEAU must build novelty into their developing
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products. This source of novelty was achieved by cultivating knowledge across national

and cultural boundaries. In the product development process, however, when novelty

arose (e.g., oriental medicine or opportunities in former communist countries), member

collaboration was critical to share and assess such novelty. Multicultural project

managers at BEAU were added to teams to compensate for shortfalls in deep local,

contextual knowledge that monocultural product managers may not have had. That is,

they reduced team members’ misunderstandings between HQ and local subsidiary

cultures by co-creating common ground, which transformed members’ understanding of

the local culture and market trends. It was not an easy task at BEAU to develop new

products in existing markets. More difficult yet was to develop a new market and

simultaneously develop new products for that market. For example, a Hong Kong-

Canadian-Singaporean multicultural project manager explained the use of a specific type

of Chinese oriental medicine, which had never been introduced to Western countries. A

French director complimented her contribution, “J (Hong Kong-Canadian-Singaporean)

knows all the Chinese medicine that has no translation either in English or in French

because it’s so authentic. J not only explained these ingredients but also suggested some

ways we (the team) can use our new products.” The fact that more Western consumers

appreciate products using Chinese (oriental) medicine means change, because consumer

choice and behavior are major factors in market trend changes. By bringing local

products and market knowledge, multicultural project managers act as culture-straddling

brokers, arising to innovate in new product development at BEAU.

Translating cultural nuances

Despite a common syntax or language, interpretations are often difficult; not in

processing the information, but learning about the sources that create semantic differences

that occur at cultural boundaries. The problem then shifts to who is responsible for

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interpreting and what he or she interprets. For example, a French manager once failed his lab

testing because he asked a German staff in the same laboratory to translate a product’s

specificities. He later discovered a discrepancy between what he requested and what the

German staff had translated. It was a very delicate, nuanced difference. He had to run the test

again, which was quite expensive. Since then, he has become more careful to find the right

person to translate, relying more on multicultural colleagues. In fact, his German-British-

French manager became a ‘specialist’ who was specifically concerned with decoding

semantic nuances caused by cultural differences between HQ and the local office in Germany.

Beyond decoding semantic nuances, this multicultural manager previously work in the

German office and knew work practices within the German local team. What she really tried

to do was to generate the same interests from both parties.

In sum, in this section, I have described three main cultural brokerage roles

multiculturals play at both AuditCo and BEAU. First, the common cultural brokerage roles at

both sites are connecting geographically diverse knowledge, skills, and people; managing

cross-cultural conflicts by reducing inter-regional misunderstanding; and displaying flexible

behavior to work with people from diverse regions and cultures. Second, multiculturals at

AuditCo (compared with multiculturals at BEAU) played their cultural brokerage role

distinctively to build legitimacy for business success both within and beyond the team by

managing the team’s cultural heterogeneity and fostering a generative network across cultural,

regional, and social boundaries. Finally, multiculturals at BEAU played their cultural

brokerage role in managing knowledge processes in teams by bringing new local product and

market knowledge to HQ and translating cultural nuances. The next section discusses the

contextual factors and how they influence multiculturals’ ability to enact their cultural

brokerage role.

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Boundary Conditions Affecting The Enactment Of Cultural Brokerage Role

In constructing a grounded theoretical explanation of how multicultural workers

function in various workplaces, I focused on employee roles related to global teamwork

processes. My two samples of multicultural workers, BEAU (in the FMCG industry) and

AuditCo (in the auditing and consulting industry) played these roles in distinct ways. Enacting

these roles varied along three conditions: (1) organizational conditions such as (a) the

interaction between professional identity and cultural identity, (b) H RM practice, and (c)

language diversity management; (2) work team conditions such as (a) team heterogeneity, (b)

stereotyping in global teams, and (c) value conflicting. Table 5 presents additional evidence

of what and how boundary conditions affect the enactment of cultural brokerage role played

by multiculturals.

Organizational conditions

Organizational culture and professional identity. Although multiculturals in both

organizations identified strongly with their professions, the process by which professional

identity evolves differed, and this difference affected the multicultural employees’ ability to

use their competence having a multicultural identity in the two organizations.

At AuditCo, auditors and consultants steer a transition from technical and managerial

work to client advisory services. In their interactions with clients, they must convey a credible

image long before they have internalized the underlying professional identity fully.

Professional identity refers to the relatively stable and enduring constellation of attributes,

beliefs, values, motives, and experiences in terms of how people define themselves in relation

to a professional task (Schein, 1978). Professional identity forms over time with varied

experiences and meaningful feedback that allows people to gain insight about their central

and enduring preferences, talents, and values (Schein, 1978). The higher in the hierarchy a

multicultural rises, therefore, the more he or she identified with the profession and the more

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he or she uses his or her skills in internalizing multicultural identities (i.e., bicultural

competence, Hong, 2010).

One of most valued multicultural competences by BEAU was ‘creativity’; that is,

bringing new or different ideas that challenge the way things are completed at work. By the

time I started my fieldwork at AuditCo, I had been at BEAU for three months. At BEAU, I

repeatedly heard that ‘creativity’ was one of most important qualifications in recruiting

project managers, in particular multicultural project managers. I wondered, therefore, whether

multiculturals at AuditCo shared the same view despite the different professions. I posed this

question to a Tunisian-French intern who was about to be promoted to junior consultant. He

said, “No, I don’t think I used any of my competence from being multicultural. My work is so

structured. You just work as your senior asks.” Later, I interviewed more senior people, and

one of senior auditors emphasized,

Auditing is a very dynamic activity. We, as Certified Professional Accounts (CPA), audit
the numbers, but the job is based on communication. Communication skill is the number
one quality. Because you've got your clients, you’ve got your team, you’ve got partner, and
you’ve got a team that is on the site, and you represent the company. What is important to
understand in this business is that because it’s very hierarchical, it means that everybody
has been through the same path as a partner who’s 60. So, I am not still very comfortable
using my multiculturalism, and I don’t feel good about the company using my
multiculturalism in the business either. (British-French senior consultant)

This senior consultant emphasized an aspect of her profession, a CPA. Although she

acknowledged her multicultural competence, she seemed uncomfortable using her skills due

to the hierarchical structure of the auditing ritual. This was quite different from the director

and partner levels. A British-French director made an important point about how he used his

multicultural identities:

I need to be creative in order to satisfy or exceed my clients’ satisfaction. For example,

writing a report to clients is a very important mission. I use my multiculturalism when
writing my report. For French clients, I use some of my British attributes. To British
clients, I use some of my French attributes.

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The phenomenon of using their cultural identities appears even more pronounced for those at

the partner level to enact their roles for team work process. A Spanish-French partner noted:

The most important and valuable function that I make here is to coordinate all potential
missions, all the potential work for Spanish subsidiaries in France. In order to complete my
roles, I coordinate work and communicate with various stakeholders such as Spanish
corporates and their subsidiaries in France, AuditCo Spain, and partners in AuditCo
France. I would consider myself not an auditor, but a cultural broker or business developer,
as I connect people across cultural, functional, and regional boundaries by networking and
coordinating.

The partner emphasized that what he did was beyond auditing service to his clients. Rather,

he identified himself as a business and cultural broker. As his professional identity reached a

partner level, he was able to use his cultural identities and competence at a maximum level.

At AuditCo, multiculturals in higher positions had stronger professional identities and used

more of their skills and competences internalizing multicultural identities.

Multiculturals at BEAU also strongly identified with their professions. They were called

‘stars’ or ‘crème de la crème’. They were proud that they had been selected to create new

products. A Polish-French project manager noted:

Locals [subsidiaries management] don’t promote you and send you to the HQ right away.
When they believe you have the ability to prove your competence and they really want to
feel that you are the person that they want to promote and to invest. Sending one of the best
operational managers to the HQ is a high investment. And also for the country reputation,
they want to send the best. They want to say, ‘Okay, we have really the best operational
manager and we are sending you the best.’ This is a kind of behind-the-scenes story how I
came to the HQ.

Organizational idenfication, however, influenced the process by which professional identity

evolved. Organizational identification refers to “the process by which the goals of the

organization and those of the individual become increasingly integrated and congruent” (Hall

et al., 1970:176-77) or “involvement based on a desire for affiliation (Kelman et al., 1961:

493).

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 When multiculturals at BEAU were recruited, as new comers they were unsure of their

roles and apprehensive about their status. Consequently, to understand the HQ operation

(most came from local subsidiaries or competitor companies) and act within it, they had to

learn its policies and logistics, general role expectations and behavioral norms, power and

status structures, and so on (Ashforth, 1985). Multiculturals, however, are often concerned

with building and maintaining their cultural self-definition (Ashforth & Mael, 1989). Many

researchers have documented that developing a sense of who one is complements a sense of

where one is and what is expected (Ashforth & Mael, 1989, Fisher, 1986; Mortimer &

Simmons, 1978; Van Maanen, 1976). At BEAU, multiculturals’ identities are likely to

represent a significant component of their organizationally situated self-definitions such as

professional identity. Thus, the emergence of professional identity and cultural identities are

intertwined. This emergence at BEAU differs from the experience of multiculturals at

AuditCo because their professional identity was less organizationally situated and more

professionally required and expected. Contrary to practices at AuditCo, therefore, the lower in

the hierarchy a multicultural is (i.e., the project manager is the next level above intern), the

more identified he or she is with the organization, and the more he or she uses his or her skills

internalizing multicultural identities.

Multicultural project managers at BEAU gradually learned to ascribe their cultural

identities to their professional identity, which was constructed organizationally. A Spanish-

Lebanese-French project manager described the relationship between his job as a new product

developer and his multicultural identities:

My job is development. My future product has to be new; one that no one has yet, and it has to
be better than anything existing. My multiculturalism develops my creativity. I think creativity
has a lot to do with the knowledge you have, just as the more books you read, the more words
you know. The more banks of images and knowledge you have, the more ideas you can generate.
The more things you’ve seen might trigger more ideas. So, I’m guessing the more you see, the
more places you live, the more languages you read, then the more creative you’re going to be.
In addition, you could be faster processing and connecting things because you have a lot of
images and knowledge.
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In addition, one of directors having worked with multicultural project managers emphasized

the passion he perceived among project managers in the new product department, as well as

the two most important criteria they brought to his team: creativity and cultural knowledge:

On this floor, in the new project development department, every project manager works like
crazy and with passion. If you don’t like this job, you should not be here. I don’t mean just
‘hard work’. Creating new products is all about passion for the job, so-called, ‘BEAU
DNA’. I think multiculturals fuel creativity. They bring a different approach based on their
creativity and knowledge. Last time we were in a meeting and we were doing a new
shampoo for China, we were thinking about a new ingredient. We decided to use a Chinese
medicine. But we faced a big problem. There was no English translation of the Chinese
medicine, not even a translation in the European world. I immediately contacted A (Hong
Kong-Canadian-Singaporean). Although A was working in another product development,
she is always willing to help people anything related the Chinese ingredients. If you want to
sell a shampoo in China, you need someone like her. Fortunately, we have A. So, it’s really
important for BEAU to have multiculturals. They are a great resource for the company.
(French Director)

I heard about the concept of ‘BEAU DNA’—the passion—frequently when I completed my

fieldwork at BEAU. The idea represents BEAU’s organizational identity. Over time,

multicultural project managers adopted this aspect of the organization’s identity to

accommodate the demands of their roles and modified role definitions to preserve and enact

valued aspects of their cultural identities. At the same time, just as “A” (Hong Kong-

Canadian-Singaporean) helped the project development team even not her main project

concern, multiculturals improved their understanding of their new role and refined their

emerging notions of who they wanted to be in their roles (Bandura, 1977; Weick, 1979). Their

cultural identities and professional identity, therefore, “evolve interactively such that a new

synthesis is achieved that is more than a compromise of state role demands and static self-

demands” (Ashforth & Saks, 1995:173).

Multiculturals at both organizations highly identified their professionals: CPA or

consultant or new product developer. Their cultural identity helped their professional

identification even stronger. Given this similarity, I would expect that the more multiculturals
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identify professionally, the more they use cultural competence and skills embedded in their

cultural identity.

Facilitating HRM practices for multiculturals. AuditCo did not have a structured

Human Resource Management (HRM) policy designated for its multicultural work force.

Because AuditCo was a partnership, some partners select their team members themselves. For

example, Korean-French junior consultant told me, “I was recommended by one of my

seniors at school who is working here as a senior consultant. Partner interviewed me first.

This is the way I was recruited” In this case, the HR department coordinated the

administrative paperwork. Partners selected their members depending on the needs of the task

and specialization. The selection process was quite individual and was accomplished through

networking rather than an official job announcement. For example, there was one team called

either the ‘salad bowl’ or the ‘melting pot’ at AuditCo. The partner created this business

consulting team and selected his members whose cultural backgrounds were as diverse as

possible. Members shared the common ground that they had quite similar educational

backgrounds. The IFRS team may be the only team for which a partner considered the team

members’ cultural backgrounds, because their tasks tended to cross national and cultural

boundaries. For example, whenever an auditing issue arised, all nine of the IFRS member

countries discussed options to arrive at one conclusion. Most of multiculturals on both teams,

however, were selected such that they had no specific motivation to using their multicultural

competence; instead, they need related working experience for IFRS tasks. Thus, I would

expect that it would be better to have a specific HRM policy for multiculturals that could

motivate them to use their multicultural competence to enhance not only their performance

but also roles for team work processes

In contrast, BEAU started recruiting multiculturals specifically for new product

development 10 years ago, after realizing the limitations within its monocultural workforce to

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advance global market trends. Its HRM department for multiculturals (which the company

called ‘international talent,’ with 40% working in the New Product Development (NPD)

department developed to coordinate tasks such as recruitment, selection criteria, and the

appraisal system.

BEAU, therefore, had a designated HR team for multiculturals. The manager of this

team was quite aware of the challenges most multiculturals face. By the time I was doing my

fieldwork (2010), BEAU HRM had started a new program called ‘FIT’ that helps

multiculturals integrate the BEAU culture more quickly and efficiently. Multiculturals who

did not benefit from this new HR program, were complimentary of the program:

In a nutshell, the FIT program makes sure that newcomer multiculturals in the new product
department meet all of the different parties such as R&D people, factory people, marketing,
and so on. It is very important to be familiar with them in order to do our job. For me, at
the time I was hired, I was never introduced properly to these people. I just told them that I
worked for my boss, whom they knew. I think this program helps multiculturals integrate
better. They feel more welcome. And, each multicultural has a mentor who is outside of the
department and marketing with which we work very closely. A mentor could be a HR
person or an account member. So, if she doesn’t feel comfortable talking to her boss
directly or to any of her close colleagues, she can talk with her mentor. I think it’s a quite
good program. (Hong Kong-British-Canada-French director: team members: Dutch-
Chinese, Taiwanese-French and Korean-British)

The real challenge in multicultural HRM practice at BEAU, however, was not only from the

multiculturals’ viewpoints, but more importantly from the monocultural managers who

supervised the multicultural project managers. Although 40% of the project managers were

multiculturals, their supervision was managed mostly by monoculturals. Thus, some

multiculturals felt it was difficult to adapt to the French confrontational way of working and

their monocultural supervisors’ approach to feedback, which was rare, more negative than

positive, and mixed with personal judgment. The HR manager noted:

If we really want our multicultural project managers to bring values to BEAU, our
monocultural managers also have to change their way of thinking and managing
multicultural project managers. Although we, the HR function, should train monocultural
managers for better management, it is not easy to facilitate a training program for them.

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 Monocultural managers are aware of the value of multicultural project managers. So, their
expectations are very high. But, they felt it was difficult to manage multiculturals because it
took more time and energy.

Managing multicultural workforce took more time and energy because most of them were

newcomers and some of them did not speak the dominant language. Many multicultural

project managers felt it was unfair that they had to adapt, but their monocultural supervisors

were not. An American-French regional director who used to work at BEAU-New York

described how much she was in shock when she began working at BEAU-Paris: “My shock

was not from France versus USA, rather BEAU-Paris versus BEAU-New York.” Because

most of the multiculturals were selected from subsidiaries whose organizational cultures were

quite different from HQ culture, they faced more difficulties in adjusting (Black, Mendenhall

& Oddou, 1991). Multiculturals may thus need social support from coworkers and superiors.

Unfortunately, however this did not happen often at BEAU.

In addition to the role HRM facilitators played to train both multicultural employees and

monocultural superiors, their understanding of multiculturals should be improved. One

example of their lack of understanding of multiculturals was the period of time needed to

adjust. One of HRM manager said, “When they are going to produce, six months is enough,

isn’t it?” This shows a lack of understanding multiculturals in work teams.. Six months may

(or may not) be enough time even for multiculturals who speak the host country language

fluently. According to the expatriate management literature, cultural novelty (or cultural

distance or toughness, Mendenhall & Oddou, 1985) has its highest impact on expatriates

during the first two years of their assignments; thereafter, the impact of cultural novelty

diminishes somewhat (Torbiorn, 1982). In other words, even for multiculturals who may face

less cultural novelty than monoculturals, six months is not enough for them to adjust and

perform effectively as monocultural management expected.

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 BEAU may still benefit by developing better HRM tools and policies for multiculturals.

In comparing the two companies, it seemed still better to have structured HRM policy for

multiculturals than no HRM. However, when management’s expectations were too high

because they lack an understanding of multiculturals, it created counter effects such as high

turnover. In addition, it added too much pressure to the multicultural workforce and left the

impression that the organization demanded one-way adaptation (only from the multiculturals’

side). I would predict that if BEAU’s HRM strategy was balanced for both monoculturals and

multiculturals and combined with a deep understanding of multiculturals’ adjustment process,

then the multicultural project managers would bring more value to new product development.

Language diversity management. Language is the first and foremost means and

through which different organizational groups connect (Tietze, 2008). Language, as both an

artifact of culture and the vehicle by which strategic ideas are articulated and discussed, plays

an essential role in the functioning of global teams. Both organizations used French as their

official language. French proficiency was therefore associated with employees’ performance,

motivation, and retention (e.g., high turnover rate in the NPD department). Although both

organizations valued diversity and the multicultural work force, there was no management of

language diversity. At BEAU, 40% of project managers were multiculturals, but most of them

did not speak French fluently. Thus, host country language proficiency affected

multiculturals’ ability to enact cultural brokerage role within teams at the HQ than across

regional boundaries.

A Hong-Kong-Canadian-British-French director at BEAU who speaks Mandarin,

Cantonese, English, and French explained why language could be a barrier in developing

interpersonal relationships:

I think language is definitely a barrier to most multiculturals here in the new product
development area. I was lucky in that by the time I came here, I had been in France for two
years, but still it was difficult. There are even times today that I don’t understand

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 everything. Especially when they talk about some jokes, I am lost. You do feel a bit left out.
You do feel foreign, and those are moments that you feel you are not integrated, you know,
you’re out of the circle.

A Spanish-British project manager who joined BEAU about six months prior to my interview

with him confirmed the director’s sentiments: “A language barrier becomes a communication

barrier. This is what stresses me most.” Because people spoke only French or started in

English and then switched to French, those who did not speak the language suffered in regular

team meetings with top management at BEAU. In addition, other departments working

closely with the NPD department were mainly French. For example, 100% of the R&D

employees were French monoculturals. At HQ, multiculturals who had a high level of French

proficiency were more likely to enact cultural brokerage role for teamwork processes than

multiculturals who had a low level of French proficiency. Most multiculturals had fewer

problems working with local subsidiaries than working at the HQ. This was likely the case

because most multiculturals spoke English fluently as well as local languages. Thus,

multiculturals were more likely to enact the cultural brokerage role than monoculturals across

regional boundaries.

In contrast, at AuditCo, most of the multiculturals spoke fluent French and English.

Although the company’s official language is French, all accounting programs were set in

English. Thus, French monoculturals tried to improve their English proficiency. In fact, an

English instructor helped monoculturals learn and improve their English (by lecturing and

organizing a regular English speaking club), and a language lab with a bilingual (English-

French) assistant was available. A Portuguese-French junior consultant explained the situation

at work: “Seventy percent of work is done in English. Although I work with French

colleagues, I don’t have problem with them in communication. I speak English better than

most of my colleagues.”

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 Organization’s language diversity management seemed important factor among

multiculturals as they work both within teams and organizational groups across regional

boundaries. Thus, I would expect that multiculturals will be less likely to face language

challenges in an auditing and business consulting MNC than fast-moving consumer goods

MNC. Given this contrast, I also would anticipate that multiculturals who are fluent in

speaking host country language in addition to local language are more likely to play cultural

brokerage role than those who are not fluent in speaking host country language even they

speak local language. The three most important organizational conditions that shaped a

multicultural’s enactment of roles for team work processes were the interaction between

professional identity and cultural identity, HRM practice, and language diversity

management.

Work team conditions

Team Heterogeneity and leadership. Teams in the NPD department at BEAU were

highly heterogeneous at both the team- and individual levels). Members’ backgrounds were

diverse in terms of culture, education, social status, and the ways they integrate into French

society. Their common background was their professional work experience. Most of them had

work experience at one of BEAU’s subsidiaries, the HQ, or other competitor companies in

different regions or in France. At BEAU, multiculturals were categorized as ‘international

talent’ or ‘internationals’. This categorization accentuates the perceived similarity among

multiculturals to the relevant in-group prototype (that is, a cognitive representation of a

feature that describes and prescribes an attributes of a group; Hogg & Terry, 2000: 123).

Because prototypes are relatively consensual, they provide moral support and validate one’s

self-concept and associated cognition and behaviors (Hogg & Terry, 2000). Such prototypes

will be attractive to multiculturals who are living and working in situations characterized by

significant subjective uncertainty and produce a cohesive social group with which members

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strongly identify. In other words, multiculturals tend to favor working with other

multiculturals in teams. Among multiculturals at BEAU, there seemed to be a feeling of

bonding. A Taiwanese-French project manager noted:

There is strong ‘bonding’ among multiculturals. We try to help each other by sharing
information and exchanging feedback. Seniors also give juniors feedback and advice. We
often work faster than teams where the majority is from one or two specific cultures.

Multiculturals were much more tolerant in handling cross-cultural conflicts. In other words,

they are more accepting of different cultural values, less disturbed by differences, and,

accordingly, handled such situations better. They rely on their multiculturalism at the

individual level, and they are able to reach compromise at the group level. Thus, they

concentrate more on work than peripheral issues such as conflicts that may arise due to

national cultural differences.

Whereas monoculturals may see cultural difference as ‘foreignness’, multiculturals see

it as ‘familiarity’. A Belgian-French multicultural project manager, who was planning a year-

long world tour after finishing his current project, described the difference between

multiculturals and monoculturals using a metaphor of a good dancer and a bad dancer:

The exposure to multiple cultures gives you the ability to handle differences (cultural) and
cross-cultural interaction with some flexibility; it’s a bit like a supple tissue. It keeps you
from becoming rigid. For example, consider a good dancer and a bad dancer. The good
dancer dances smoothly because he practices a lot. If you’ve been exposed to different
cultures a lot, it gives you this smoothness of interaction, which makes it possible to meet
interesting (culturally different) people and to create a new network. Whereas, if you are
not exposed, you tend to get a little bit rigid, and a little bit more into stereotypes because
of the narrow view you develop from working with people with the same routine, same
hobbies, and the same tennis club. They cannot even go and ask girls (i.e., culturally
different others) to dance.

When multiculturals define their self-concept as multiculturals rather than mono- or bi-

culturals, diverse cultural experiences come to the fore, because they emphasized their

multicultural experience in their personal, educational, and professional qualities. This might
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include their family cultural background such as where they were born and their parents’

nationalities; their educational and professional experiences, such as how many countries in

which they’ve lived, where they studied (different kinds of international schools); what kind

of friends they’ve met (they point out their friends’ diverse cultural backgrounds); and finally

the value system by which they live. Such experience is likely to influence multiculturals to

improve their openness to culturally different others and self-monitoring in cross-cultural

interactions. Among multiculturals, expressions including ‘openness/being open/open-

minded’, and ‘respect others/cultural difference’ are used frequently.

Teams at AuditCo were less diverse than teams at BEAU, in terms of their individual

level of heterogeneity and their less complicated cultural qualities of in their multicultural

identities. Still, multiculturals at AuditCo showed the same preferences and behaviors as their

BEAU counterparts. A Korean-French consultant noted:

When I came for an interview, my partner told me that he wanted open-minded people. His
open-minded point of view meant that people were from any kind of origin or geography,
the country or a city, and had attended different universities. He wanted diversity and at the
same time, a certain balance in human interactions so that you have a pretty good feeling
between people. We are in a very good mood, which I like a lot about this team. It’s very
interesting because we feel like friends, or equal to equal, and you don’t have many
problems with interactions. We share coffee together, we go outside, and we take a beer
together.

The partner this Korean-French consultant mentioned was a French-Moroccan

multicultural who must understand French rituals. To make his team more cohesive, he

may select his multicultural members. For example, I was a bit surprised to hear that this

employee socialized with other team members outside work. In France, the French

usually do not go out after work. They prefer to separate their private and professional

lives. An Indian-French consultant in this team confirmed my doubt, saying, “Yeah, we

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try to. Next Thursday we are going out together after work. I think this make us a pretty

good team. We have good interactions.”

Because multiculturals in both organizations were not bothered by or concerned

about working with other multiculturals, they also preferred working with leaders who

were multiculturals or those who had extensive multicultural experience. This trend

seemed more important at AuditCo. Because the leadership of the partner was the most

important factor that influenced team work processes. A South-African-French-

Argentinian senior auditor noted:

A multicultural boss is better for multiculturals. Our boss here is French but worked in the
States for three years and in the U.K. for four years. For me, she keeps her French identity
for example, she cuts other people off in mid-sentence, but with a very good dose – she's
very open so that she can absorb the way things are done outside. Most importantly, she
understands how it's done outside, and she doesn't devalue it. She doesn’t think that others’
ways are silly or rubbish, which is quite different from my monocultural French colleagues.
Such attitudes strongly influence our team work, which mainly consists of comparing nine
different auditing practices in order to device one principle that applies to all nine
practices.

Lippett and White (1943) noted that it is not who you are that is important to leadership

success, but it is important how you behave. Groups usually have norms in regulating

behavior. Everyone is influenced by these norms—in domains most central to the

group—with the leaders being more so than the followers. The partner this senior auditor

described is a good example in a global team in which members’ perspectives on a

certain issue vary depending on their background. Such leadership may foster group

cohesion, even in a team with high demographic diversity. As such, multiculturals feel

more accepted in their team.

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Another way for the multicultural team leader to ensure his team included more multicultural

members was to promote interpersonal attraction among members with different cultural

national backgrounds. A Canadian-Hong Kong-British-French director in the NPD in BEAU

explained:

Because multiculturals value diversity (cultural), and they used to play cross-cultural
mediating roles among different cultural groups, they try not to give negative evaluations of
those who are culturally different. For example, sometime later a new member joined, one
member of my team came to me a few times to discuss another member, saying, ‘She is very
rude.’ Then, as a director I told them, ‘Let’s wait and see. Give her some more time to
adjust. Maybe it's not her being rude; it may be from her culture, the way she expresses
herself. You all know that we all have different backgrounds. Also as we are in a same boat,
why don’t you also try to adapt to her.’ Then, they started discussing more things
discovered that the new member was not being rude, but just the way she expressed herself
was quite direct without bad intention, yet she was just being honest. Now things are
getting much better than before within my team. (Hong-Kong-British-French director)

In a different scenario, if this director had not tried to mediate this conflict, more

subtle forms of conflict might occur. For example, in-group (e.g., members with longer

team tenure) affirmation and out-group (e.g., newer members) derogation might occur in

the form of strategically positioning both groups to emphasize negative characteristics

(Van Dijk, 1986, 1989). This could produce negative evaluations of different others that

may be framed as category-free evaluations (e.g., “I don’t care if she/he is from A or B

country, she/he doesn’t seem to get the work done properly.” If the team experiences this

type of conflict among its members, the team must be recomposed.

Overall, I predict that because multiculturals are more likely to work in teams with a

high level of heterogeneity and under multicultural leadership, team heterogeneity positively

relates to multiculturals enacting their roles for team work processes.

Stereotyping in global teams. Stereotyping is attributing common characteristics to

members of an entire group. It arises directly from the categorization process, particularly

assimilating within-group differences, and serves to guide and justify people’s behavior in

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intergroup settings (Brown, 2000). Team members’ cultural differences evoke perceptions

and behaviors in global teams. Multicultural and monocultural members hold strikingly

divergent perceptions of others’ cultural differences and in interpreting such differences.

Multiculturals were less likely to use categorization (versus specification) in cognitive

process than are monoculturals. According to Larkey (1991), the cognitive process of

categorization operates by placing persons into broad categories such as gender or race

without detecting the individuating characteristics of the perceived person. A critical feature

of categorization is that it maximizes similarities within and differences between groups and

thus defines groups as distinct entities (Hogg & Terry, 2000:124). In contrast, specification is

used when a person takes in information about another person one piece at a time and

composes a profile of the individual based on a unique set of observed characteristics.

Through this cognitive process, individuals may have a positive effect on the impressions they

form of culturally different members. Thus, consequences of specification include

appreciating cultural differences and identifying individuating characteristics, which is a

desirable condition for multiculturals in the workplace. What I found in both organizations,

however, seemed neither desirable nor ideal for multiculturals who were minority groups.

By using the categorization process, monoculturals are more likely to place culturally

different others into broad categories. My data showed two different cognitive consequences

of categorization: prejudging culturally different others and ignoring individuating

characteristics.

After initial categorization takes place, it serves to streamline judgments (e.g., prejudice

and stereotyping or out-group perceptions). Monoculturals’ prejudging may cause

misunderstanding and exaggerating the reality of culturally different others. Thus, prejudging

culturally different others negatively influences a team at both the individual and team levels.

Once prejudice is implemented, it is difficult for monoculturals to change their perceptions,

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even if they work together for a long period. A regional director at BEAU explained

prejudging Thai colleagues was impossible to change even though he had worked with them

for more than a year:

I thought that Thai people were very secretive and never expressed their true feelings. At
the farewell party (after 1.5 years), I was surprised to see that my Thai colleagues were all
amazingly emotional. At last, I realized that I developed a deep relationship with them. If I
knew this before, I could have worked much better with them.

His prejudice was so strong that he could not change his attitude and behavior toward his Thai

colleagues, even while working with them. This regional director’s prejudging prevented him

from developing interpersonal relationship, which, in turn, resulted in less contact and

communication between him and his Thai colleagues.

Because monoculturals have less cross-cultural experience than multiculturals, they are

less likely to identify the individuating cultural characteristics of multiculturals. Ignoring

individual characteristics commonly leads to stereotype-based judgmental outcomes. For

example, when a Mexican-German-Italian multicultural solved a critical problem in one of his

team’s global projects that involved cultural aspects from 23 countries, his monocultural

colleagues called him, “Mexican Superman!”

They told me that I am a superman, but a Mexican superman! They were surprised at the
fact that I, a guy from Mexico, a developing country, solved such a complicated problem,
instead of how efficient I was. It seemed they did not go beyond stereotyping me instead of
noticing my other capabilities.

In global teams where differences may be threatening or produce anxiety, especially, to

monocultural members, such reactions may cause team members to suspend processing

information about culturally different others. Thus, monocultural members are more likely to

ignore individuating characteristics. As noted, management at BEAU expected a lot from its

multicultural workforce. The categorization cognitive process prevalent among monocultural

managers, however, may hinder using multiculturals’ competence and recognizing their roles,

which, in turn, demotivate multiculturals.

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 AuditCo had a less diverse work environment than BEAU. In addition, the nature of

work was very systemized and standardized; even the multiculturals at the client sites tended

to be French. The categorization cognitive process occurred, therefore, not only among

monoculturals but surprisingly, even to multiculturals. Although multiculturals were less

likely to use the categorization cognitive process than monoculturals, they could not escape

this human cognition. A Korean-French consultant at AuditCo described a failed salary

negotiation with her multicultural boss:

After the salary negotiation meeting with my boss, I was very, very disappointed. I felt that
they exploited me. I deplored to myself, ‘Oh my god, they think that because I’m very
obedient and quiet. I’m just a little Asian girl!’

The main reason she was very disappointed was unfair treatment. One of her male colleagues

who had a lower evaluation received a salary increase. It seemed not only cultural

categorization had occurred, but also gender discrimination. Some of female multiculturals

mentioned, “Gender is a bigger issue than being a foreigner in AuditCo.” For multiculturals,

especially female multiculturals, working conditions were even more difficult because they

were dealing with group stereotyping.

Cognitive processes in perceptions of cultural differences greatly influence cross-

cultural interactions in teams. Stereotypes may cause relational conflicts among culturally

different members, demotivate multiculturals, and reduce opportunities for a team to

maximize the value of diversity for creative task performance. I would expect that

multiculturals are more likely to face challenge to play cultural brokerage role as well as

perform their task when group stereotyping serves not only ethnicity but also its related

attributes such as gender. Note that stereotyping can also demotivate monoculturals as well.

The stereotyping described here was particularly occurred when encountering culturally

different others in global teams.

175
 Value conflicting. Multiculturals conceive cultural meaning systems as s set of tools

they can use in different situations according to dynamic of their identity and the relevance of

the situation (i.e., cultural frame switching, Hong, Morris, Chiu, & Benet-Martinez, 2000).

This perspective creates a more dynamic view of how one’s culture and one’s mind are

constituted mutually across and within national cultural boundaries (Benet-Martinez &

Haritos, 2005). In real life, there are moments that multiculturals feel conflicted about cultural

values, face difficulties accepting them, and behave culturally appropriately. In the past,

multiculturals would switch their behaviors and language in response to cultural situational

cues (Fromboise et al., Hong et al., 2000, Benet-Martinez et al., 2005), when they perceived

that their values conflicted. In such situations, multiculturals can become frustrated (i.e.,

experience cognitive dissonance, Festinger, 1957) if they do not behave as expected and as

they are “supposed” to behave. Such situations cost multiculturals emotionally and

demotivate them in the workplace. At both study sites, two most of the situations in which

multiculturals faced deep value conflicts were the French confrontational way of debating in

team meetings and supervision styles.

Both multiculturals who speak and do not speak French fluently perceived the French

style of confrontation as an example of a value conflict. Team meetings occurred both

regularly and irregularly, and participating in team discussions was one of most important

work activities. Multiculturals often faced difficulties, however, engaging in lively team

discussions. For example, a Canadian-French senior auditor who spoke French fluently

described her team meeting and what she thought of it:

Discussions go everywhere and at the end of meeting, there is no concrete conclusion. In

addition, it is difficult to get a chance to talk. Very few times, did I get a chance to talk?
Someone would immediately cut me off in mid-sentence. Because I never (can) cut someone
off, I feel very frustrated and value conflicted.

176
Other senior auditor experienced the same situation in her team meeting. Although she felt

quite uncomfortable behaving as others did, she had to do so:

I shout! I don't get the respect of anyone if I never say anything. I don't have any option as
they do, because it is not my way of doing things. They have their way, and that's how they
will do it. If I want to make my voice heard, I must do as they do, but it is frustrating and
tiring.

When sharing this quite discontent story, she indeed showed that she experienced the pressure

of an aversive motivation state (cognitive dissonance). Although shouting to others was not

obviously her value, she had to shout to show her commitment to her team discussion. At

AuditCo, most of multiculturals spoke a high level of French, which was not the case at

BEAU. Those who did not speak French fluently could not even shout. They perceived

confrontation as harsh to others and had no desire to adapt it.

Another value conflict situation that made it difficult for multiculturals to function and

enact their roles was supervision style. Because multiculturals face great uncertainty in

foreign surroundings, feedback is one of most important ways to motivate them. When they

received feedback, both positive and negative, they could use this information to reduce the

uncertainty of what was expected of them and how they were doing. They could then correct

their behavior to correspond better to expectations (Black et al., 1991). This process, in turn,

would facilitate a degree of integration.

In my fieldwork, I found that what mattered to multiculturals was not the frequency of

giving feedback but the way the feedback was given. One Polish-French project manager

explained her situation after she asked her boss to change the way of working with her:

I felt very disrespected whenever my superior gave me feedback and ordered me to do

something. After one big crisis happened, I asked her to respect me as I respect her. I was
very disappointed with her reaction. She understood my frustration but reinforced that
‘This is how it works here.’ Although I felt really bad, I just cannot be aggressive to her.
That is not my thing.

177
The way of giving feedback varies among countries. For example, in school situations,

Americans value more positive and encouraging feedback. The French, in contrast, are

accustomed to giving negative feedback, which they believe is the way to motivate students.

When multiculturals worked with French monocultural superiors, they believe they received

value-conflicting signals with what was expected in a new work setting: being aggressive to

demand what they wanted to get or not. Thus, I might expect that multiculturals would be

more able to integrate and enact their roles for team work processes with a less

confrontational style of debate in team meetings and more respectful way of giving feedback.

With these qualities multiculturals would, in turn, perceive less value conflicts. The three

most important work team conditions that shaped a multicultural’s enactment of cultural

brokerage role were team heterogeneity and its management, stereotyping in global teams,

and value conflicting. Figure 2 shows overall framework of boundary conditions for

multiculturals’ cultural brokerage role in organizations.

Boundary conditions for multiculturals to enact cultural brokerage roles in global

teams. As the model in Figure 3 shows, cultural brokerage within and across global teams in

the HQ and local subsidiaries was the primary way in which multiculturals transformed their

multicultural competence into global team effectiveness. Because global teams have an

influential structural characteristic—high heterogeneity at both the individual and team

levels—multiculturals are equipped more effectively to facilitate cross-cultural interactions

among members. Consequently, a multicultural’s cultural brokerage role influences team

work processes, which results in global team effectiveness.

Such roles facilitated these transitions such as bringing knowledge of local product and

market, translating cultural nuances, connecting geographically diverse knowledge and skills,

reducing inter-regional misunderstanding, and displaying flexible behaviors to deal with

people from diverse regions or cultures. Although these five brokerage activities highlight
178
how multiculturals actively shape their roles in global teams, attributes of the organizations,

the character of the teams in which they work, and individual conditions can either enable or

constrain such activities. Organizational HRM strategies for employing multiculturals,

stereotyping in global teams, and cultural value conflicts reduce a multicultural’s willingness

and ability to play the cultural brokerage role. In contrast, organizational culture impacts

interaction between cultural and professional identity, team heterogeneity, and language

diversity management . These qualities emboldened multiculturals to play the cultural

brokerage role, particularly enabling them to play cultural brokerage role more effectively. As

the model in Figure 2 shows, boundary conditions are active on three levels: within the

organizational, the team, and the individual. Each condition interrelates to one another within

the same level and at other levels. For example, HRM strategy is embedded in organizational

culture and impacts team heterogeneity. Likewise, stereotyping in global teams may cause

cultural value conflicts.

DISCUSSION

I began this research by questioning how multicultural influence team work processes

and what influences multicultural employees to enact the cultural brokerage role in

organizational contexts. Few theoretical attempts have been made to explain organizational

guidance and support for the multicultural workforce; thus, this comparative research makes a

distinct contribution in this direction by examining the contextual factors that affect

multiculturals in team knowledge processes and cross-cultural conflict management in global

teams. The present study thus contributes by 1) developing the framework of a multicultural’s

cultural brokerage role and 2) identifying contextual features affecting role identity

framework and enactment in a global work place; 3) international adjustment and

international human resource management strategy in MNCs.

179
Cultural Brokerage Role

The current comparative ethnographic study extends previous studies that comprise the

literature on cultural brokerage. Important similarities emerge between this study and other

treatments of cultural brokerage. For example, I see the nexus work-brokerage requiring

synthesis and integration of ideas- between multiculturals and other organizational members

(Long & O’Mahony, 2010) is important to identify multiculturals’ cultural brokerage in the

creative process of developing new products that lead local and global markets (e.g., Fleming

& Waguespack, 2007; Hargadon & Sutton, 1997; Lingo & O’Mahony, 2010). Similarly, I see

boundary spanning roles (Ancona, 1990) as critical to cultural brokerage among different

organizational group members across cultural boundaries (Au & Fukuda, 2002; Geertz, 1960;

Thomas, 2002).

More generally, I add to this work by turning scholars’ attention toward multiculturals

(see also Hong, 2010; Press, 1969). In doing so, I take lessons from research on “conflict

mediation” related to how multiculturals handle different kinds of conflicts to the extent that it

reflects the implications of multicultural competence in a global workplace (Brannen et al.,

2009; Earley & Ang, 2003; Earley & Mosakowski, 2004; Hong, 2010; Jehn & Mannix, 2000;

Thomas et al., 2010). And, as Geertz (1960) noted, multiculturals as a cultural broker develop

the work stage where members facilitate effective communication and cultivate relationships

beyond culturally and socially heterogeneous global teams. I identify the most important roles

played among multiculturals in AuditingCo are to managing team cultural heterogeneity and

fostering network across organizational regional and social boundaries. Building on this

research, I have argued that multiculturals play a crucial role for work processes and

outcomes in global teams.

180
Contextual Conditions Affecting the Cultural Brokerage Role Framework

The comparative ethnographic study reported in the present paper contributes to role

theory. While focusing on cultural brokerage role by multiculturals in global teams, this paper

explores the nature of role taking, status characteristics (e.g., cultural background) and the

dynamics of enacting a role. And more importantly, it establishes the framework of boundary

conditions that enable or constrain multiculturals to enact the cultural brokerage role in global

teams.

Through my experiences in the field, I learned that not all multiculturals play the

cultural brokerage role for teamwork processes in every potential instance. The idea that

multiculturals have competence and latent skills that lead to organizational effectiveness,

therefore, reflects an aspiration more than a reality. As one South Afrikaans-French senior

auditor at AuditCo noted wistfully:

I can dream of an ideal world where a multicultural person brings things into
organizations with which they become more competitive, visible, and acceptable in the
outside world. But one thing that rarely happens is that they look at you as a multicultural
person, and they find the way you do things is interesting, which makes them change their
ways. So, most of the time, I have one option and that is to follow their ways.

My findings show, however, that several contextual factors support multiculturals

to exploit their cultural competence and skills for teamwork processes. By focusing on

how multiculturals worked to resolve human resource management ambiguities, I found

that the more the work contexts required and allowed multiculturals’ cultural identity and

competence to emerge, the more multiculturals were motivated to enact the cultural

brokerage role.

Little research has been conducted on the contextual factors that affect

multiculturals and how they structure their careers in MNCs. My contribution to this

emerging literature has been to specify more precisely how organizations and team

conditions structures either appropriately or inappropriately construct multiculturals’

181
effectiveness in MNCs. The present investigation focused on organizational and team

boundary conditions of multiculturals enacting the cultural brokerage role in two MNCs:

a fast moving consumer goods firm and an auditing and business consulting firm. My

findings may also apply to organizations in other industries in different regions other

than France

Research on International Adjustment

The present paper also contributes to research on the international adjustment

literature by showing that multiculturals as a working demographic should be

distinguished from expatriates in general and the international adjustment of

multiculturals from expatriate international adjustment in particular. Expatriate

international adjustment has received increased scholarly attention and has investigated

the phenomenon both empirically and theoretically (e.g., Aycan, 1997; Black, 1990;

Caligiuri, 1997; Geunter & Miller, 2002). There may be less focus on individual

differences among expatriate. In other words, most expatriate researchers may ignore

multiculturals among the expatriate population. As the present study’s findings show,

there are significant differences in the contextual factors that affect expatriate

international adjustment from the experience of multiculturals. Future research may

compare the international adjustment processes between the two workforce

demographics.

Another interesting avenue for future research is to compare the adjustment

conditions between developing and developed countries. Because more expatriates and

multiculturals are in top management positions in developing countries than in

developed countries (e.g., top managers were monoculturals at my two fieldwork sites),

the boundary conditions for successful—and unsuccessful—international adjustment

may vary.

182
 Finally, another interesting avenue is to research how non-work related factors

affect multicultural international adjustment. Because most of the present study’s

participants were not married and were fairly young (age variation: 25-40; only two were

beyond this age range), my investigation lacked important factors such as family

obligations.

Research on International HRM (IHRM)

The present paper contributes to international human resource management by

illuminating how firms recruit their multicultural workforce (e.g., the transition between

subsidiaries and the HQ) and maintain the workforce (e.g., training programs). More

importantly, the present study’s findings suggest that if firms are to develop a human

resource management strategy for multiculturals, the firm needs to pay attention to top

management support that facilitates HRM practices and how multiculturals react to this

support. As mentioned, through fieldwork, I learned that although the recruitment

process was quite strategic from selection to training, most of the multiculturals confront

unrealistically high expectations and receive little support from management (including

HR). Future research should investigate how top management perceives the needs of the

multicultural workforce and what constrains facilitating such needs within an HRM

strategy.

Another future investigation might examine of how the fit and flexibility between

HRM and its cross-cultural/national environment would enhance theories of IHRM.

Future exploration might address questions such as how far must multinational

organizations advance their IHRM strategy as it relates to the multicultural workforce?

What are the similarities and differences between IHRM for the multicultural workforce

among various firms and industries? How does the development stage of an organization

relate to developing IHRM strategies for multiculturals?

183
Practical Implications

Despite an increasingly multicultural workforce in MNCs and their importance in

organizations, little research has examined organizational contextual factors and how

they affect multiculturals enacting the cultural brokerage role in global teams. The goal

of the current research was to build and enrich theory in this area. The present study’s

comparative ethnographic approach offers useful new constructs and new contextual

variables to scholars in international management. Perhaps the framework of boundary

conditions developed here can serve as a guideline to HR managers in multinational

firms.

184
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Figure 3.1 Team Composition and its work within and across units at
BEAU

203
Figure 3.2 Team composition and its work within and across units at
AuditCo

204
Figure 3.3Framework of Boundary Conditions for Multiculturals’Cultural
Brokerate Role

205
Figure 3.4 Cultural Brokerage Role and Boundary Conditions for Global
Team Work Processes

206
 Table 3.1 Interviewee Profile and Team Composition at BEAU
Team*’s
Countries have
Cultural Mono Current cultural composition
Multilingualism lived
profile(s) /Multi position (by nation)
(>2 years)

Current: French
French- USA, Belgium, Previous: British,
1 Multi French/English Director
American France Moroccan, Indian,
French - boss

2 French Multi French/English USA, France Director Mexican/French

3 French Mono French/English France Director Romanian/French

(International /Polish
Recruiting)
4 French Mono French/English France Director Chinese/Brazilian
(International /French
Recruiting)
5 Mexican-Italian Multi Spanish/English/ Mexico, Italy, Director Italian/Romanian
(German Italian/German France (International /French-Spanish
immigrants in Recruiting)
Mexico)

6 Indian Multi English/Hindi India, Singapore, Manager Italian/French

France /Lebanese-Spanish

7 Belgian Multi Flemish/English/F Belgium Manager French/Russian

rench /Brazilian
8 French- Multi English/French/ USA, Belgium, Director of Latin French/Argentinean
American German/Spanish France America Zone /Columbian/English
(hair care) Brazilian

9 Canadian-Hong Multi English/Chinese Canada, Hong Manager French/British-German

Kong Kong, Singapore, /French-Vietnamese
France

10 Dutch-Chinese Multi Dutch/English Netherlands, Manager French-Hong Kong

/Chinese France /Taiwanese/Korean
11 Taiwanese Multi Chinese/English Taiwan, France Manager French-Hong Kong
/French /Dutch-Chinese/Korean

12 Russian- Multi Russian/Ukrainian Ukrania, Russia, Manager French/Spanish

Ukrainian /English France /Mexican

13 Polish-French Multi Polish/English Poland, France Manager French/Dutch

/French /American/
British-Indian

207
14 French- Multi French/English USA, Venezuela, Director French(3)/Hungarian
Venezuelan /Spanish France

French-Hong Multi Mandarin/ Hong Kong, Director Taiwanese/Dutch-

15 Kong-British Cantonin/ England, Chinese
English/French France, China /Korean

16 British-Spanish Multi English/Spanish Spain, USA, Manager French/Italian

France /Italian-
American/Spanish
/American
17 British-German Multi English/German Germany, Director French
/French England, /Canadian-Hong Kong
France
18 Chinese-French Multi Chinese/French China, France Manager French/ Chinese
/English /Indian-American

19 Multi Manager
German/French Poland, Germany, French
Polish-German
/Polish/English France /German-Indian

20 Multi German/ Manager

Germany, India, French
German-Indian Indian-
France /Polish-German
local/English
21 Indian- Multi Indian-local/ USA, India, Manager French
American English/French France /French-Chinese
22 Multi Lebanese
Lebanese- /French Lebanon, USA, Manager
French(2)/Spanish(2)
Spanish /Spanish Spain, France
/English
23 Manager
Multi USA, (International
English/Flemish French(4)/Dutch/
Belgian-Dutch Netherlands, Marketing
/Dutch/French German/Turkish/Italian
Belgium, France Strategy)

24 Director
Managing various
American- Multi (International
English USA, France teams in HQ and
French Marketing
subsidiaries
Strategy)
25 French Mono French/English France Manager(HR) No team
26 France, USA
French Mono French/English Staff (HR) No team

27 American - Regional Manage various teams

Multi English/French USA, France
French Director in HQ and subsidiaries
28 French-
English/Arabic France, Regional Manage various teams
Moroccan- Multi
/French/German Germany Director in HQ and subsidiaries
German
29 English/German Germany, Regional Manage various teams
German-French Multi
/French France Director in HQ and subsidiaries
30
France,
Regional French/ Iranian/
French* Multi French/English Netherlands,
Director French-Japanese
Mexico, USA

208
31
France, Korea,
Regional Manage various teams
French Multi French/English Thailand,
Director in HQ and subsidiaries
England

32 Regional Manage various teams

French Mono French/English France, England
Director in HQ and subsidiaries
33 Russian/ Brazilian/
French Mono French/English France Director Belgian/
French/German
34 French Mono French/English France Director
35 French Mono French/English France Director

Spanish/English Germany, Spain, Project

36 Spanish-German Multi
/German France manager

Table 3.2 Interviewee Profile and Team Composition at AuditCo

Team*’s
Foreign
Cultural Mono Current cultural composition
Multilingualism Countries have
profile(s) /Multi position (by nation)
lived (>2 years)

French, French-
None (been in Senior AERS
Canadian, South
1 Japanese Mono Japanese-English Paris for 4-month Direction
Amrican-French-
at interview) Qualité
Mexico(Latin),

2 American- Multi – English-French France, Guinee- Responsible for Working with French
Bissau language or French
multiculturals who
want to improve
English
3 British-French - Multi English-French England, France Senior manager French
AERS MM 1

4 South African- Multi English-French- France, Italy Senior manager Multicultural teams in
French Italian AERS Direction and out-all countries
Qualité using IFRS system
5 Canadian- Multi English-French France Senior manager Multicultural teams in
French AERS Direction and out-all countries
Qualité using IFRS system

6 British-French Mono English-French France Manager AERS Multicultural team:

Actuariat French-British-???
Pensions
7 French-Korean Multi French-English- Korea Audit IT Multicultural team: ??
Korean Financial
Services
8 French – Indian Multi French-English- India, Argentina Junior Audit IT Multicultural team:??
Hindi Financial
Services

209
9 Portuguese – Multi Portuguese- France Chargé Mainly French
French English d'affaires Senior
FAS Valuation
10 Vietnamese- Multi French- France Consultant Multicultural team
French Vietnamese- AERS Actuarial (British/French/Lebane
English Pensions s/Vietnam/Russian/Ro
manian/Lebanese/Italia
n/Protuguese)
11 Serbien-Dutch- Multi Serbe-French- Netherlands, Consultant FSI Multicultural team?
French Dutch-English Canada IT Risk
(Montreal),
France
12 Spanish – Multi Spanish-French- France Associate French-Spanish
French English (Spanish desk)

13 Tunisian-French Multi Arabic-French- France Junior Audit IT Multicultural team

English Financial
Services
14 Russian-French Multi – Russian-French- France, Serbia Assistant Assisting expas for
American (2yrs) IFRS (e.g., Susumu) :
working in
multicultural
environments
French – multi Vietnamese- Vietnam, France Assistant French-British &
15 Cambodian French-English American (virturally)

16 British-French Multi English-French France Director FAS French – British

M&A
Transaction
Services
17 Cameroon- Multi French-English- France Junior Multicultural team
French Cameroon Consultant FSI
IT Risk
18 French Mono French Consultant
AERS Actuariat Multicultural team
Pensions
19 British Mono Consultant
English AERS Actuariat Multicultural team
Pensions
20 General assistant
French Mono English-French Thailand

210
Table 3.3 Demographic Details of Interviewees at BEAU

Positions Departments
Regional 6 International 30
Director Marketing
Director 2 International 3
Recruitment
Axe- 5 Human 3
Director Resource
Project 22
manager
Staff 1
Gender Age
F 23 25-35 28
M 13 35-45 8

Table 3.4 Demographic Details of Interviewees at AuditCo (Total: 15

multiculturals and 5 monoculturals = 20)

Position Department
Partner 1 Auditing 10
(50%)
Director 1 Business 7
consulting
Senior 6 HR & Other 3
manager
Consultant 9
Staff & other 3
Gender Age
F 10 25-35 13
M 10 >35 7

211
 Table 3.5 Comparisons of the Two Multiculturals Work Settings

Field Setting Dimensions AuditCo BEAU

Commonalities

Using multicultural competence to Highly skilled with diverse cultural Highly skilled with diverse
play roles in addition to performing experiences cultural experience in living
tasks. and working circumstances.

Business broker: Developing network Cultural broker: Knowledge

Visibility of playing roles and coordinating work and people across process and managing conflict
national, societal, and organizational (The lower in hierarchy)
boundaries (The higher in hierarchy)

Career development challenge No ambition to be a partner No ambition to be a top

management

Differences

Task origin; team nature; work Collective; temporary team; working at client Individual; permanent team;
location; dress code sites; business dress code working at offices; casual dress
code

HRM practice strategy and No recruitment strategy Systemized HRM practice

recognition

Identification with organization Less identified with organization, more More identified with the
identified with profession organization, less identified
with their profession.

212
 TABLE 3.6 Multiculturals’ Cultural Brokerage Role in AuditCo. & BEAU

Representative Quotes, Events, and Archival Entries Underlying Second-order Themes

Roles AuditCo. AuditCo. & BEAU BEAU

“The partner told me that
Managing a when I came for the
team’s cultural interview, he wanted open-
heterogeneity minded people; people
from different countries
and also within France;
from different ethnicities,
cities, and social classes.
He wanted diversity in his
team, but at the same time
wanted a balance in human
interactions. We have
different backgrounds, but
we also share similarities
such as educational and
cultural backgrounds. Our
team is called as ‘salad
bowl’ at AuditCo. As a
result, we have a pretty
good feeling for one
another. It’s very
interesting because when
we work, we feel like
friends, and equal to equal
even when we are working
in a strict hierarchical
workplace. We take coffee
together, and after work,
we go for a drink. We also
play sports together from
time to time, which is quite
unusual in French society
where private and
professional lives are
strictly separated.”
(Indian-French junior
consultant, working with
team members: French-
Korean, Tunisian-French,
Cameroon-French,
Algerian-French, French-
Italian, French-
Vietnamese, and French) 213
Fostering a “As a partner, the most
generative important ability is
network across networking, which builds
cultural, your relationships.
regional, and Although I am mainly
social working in France, I try
boundaries hard not to lose my
network in Spain. Here in
France, I have developed
networks with French
partners, Spanish firms in
France, the Spanish
Chamber of Commerce,
and even the Spanish
Ambassador in France.
This process is different
from developing personal
contact. You develop your
business with them.”
(Spanish-French partner)

“The most important and

Connecting valuable function that I fulfill
geographically here in France is to coordinate
diverse all potential missions for the
knowledge and Spanish subsidiaries in France
skills and by connecting them to their
people headquarters in Spain and to
French companies. The
missions are not only about
auditing but also about various
financial services for their
business development in France
such as tax advice and the
acquisition and the financial
advisory services. We [his
team] also identify the need of
the local subsidiaries in France
with the corporate office in
Spain by showing that there are
potential business opportunities
in France. And finally, for the
success of previous two
missions, my role is also to
work with French companies by
incorporating management and
helping them invest to Spanish
companies.” (French-Spanish
Partner at AuditCo)

214
 “While researching Asian
skin-care products, I found
that in Asia, some tinted
cream (skin colored cream
for make-up face) used
‘face lifting effect’, in
France and Europe, none of
tinted creams used face
lifting effect. I developed a
new tinted cream with face
lifting effect for French
market. It was a big
success!” (Team: French-
Cambodian-Irish project
manager, a Chinese-French
and two French)

“At the moment, I’m doing a

project with a big American
Reducing inter- client, and so we have a lot of
regional Americans coming over here to
misunderstandin France, because the target
g company is French. It is quite
interesting because I need to be
able to talk to the French
company and be able to
understand the way they think
and the way they act. At the
same time, I need to deal with
the Americans, who are
incredibly planned and want
lots of detail. So, I need to deal
with both parties; for example,
I explain to the French why
things are planned and why the
Americans want certain bits of
information. Now things are
going well.” (British-French
manager in AuditCo)

“For the visual for a new

campaign of products, our
Brazilian counterpart disagreed
with the HQ people. She told
us, ‘Well, this visual is not
going to work here because
Brazilians are more built than
European women.’ But no one
215
 (at the HQ) agreed with her.
So, I finally said to my team,
‘Look, I totally agree with her
(Brazilian). When I go to
Venezuela, all my friends are
more built than I and they told
me, ‘You’re so skinny!’ At the
same time, I know you (HQ
people) think that I’m normal,
not skinny at all. Remember,
this commercial will be
released not here but in Brazil!’
I often face this kind of problem
regarding different cultural
perspectives on beauty. I have
to listen to both what locals say
or what HQ people say, but,
rather than just try to
compromise for each party, I
try to help them make a right
decision for the best result.”
(Venezuelan-French-American
director in BEAU. current
team: French (3) and
Hungarian-French, previous
team: French, Russian, and
Serbian)”

“Multiculturalism gives me an
advantage compared to others,
Displaying because it’s an additional skill
flexible that you can have and with
behaviors which you can bring something
to deal valuable to organizations. For
with example, it’s great to have
people multiculturals within the team,
from which makes a team much
diverse richer, in terms of working for
regions/ clients and building
cultures relationships with them. For
me, one of my clients is an
British person who lives in
Luxemburg, and who does
M&A transactions in Europe.
He always contacts me because
we get on well; he’s British and
I use my English culture. For
his business in France and
Luxembourg, I use my French
knowledge and speak French.
216
 It’s just a big advantage to be
able to have these different
cultural dimensions.” (French-
British Director).

“When I led a TV commercial film

with French PR team, Chinese
local team, Chinese PR agency,
and Korean make-up team, at the
beginning, I was aware that there
was no respect to me as a project
leader. However I had to make
them collaborate by bridging
differences among them in terms of
beauty, work value and attitude.
Although I was considered a
translator who spoke French and
Chinese and English, as I knew
that I could not change their
mindset at once, I tried to adapt
and support these teams as much
as I could. It was not an easy job at
all as It required constant
emotional effort in order not to
prejudge but to understand and
respect them. Now it’s been three
times working with them. Their
attitudes have been changed
enormously. I have gained the
respect from these teams.” (Hong
Kong-British-Canadian-French
manager with teams: French,
Chinese, and Korean)

Bringing new "People are more and more

local product interested in Chinese
and market oriental medicine. For
knowledge to example, the effect of
ginseng is quite well known
HQ
to worldwide consumers.
Our team tries to find some
natural ingredients for new
hair care product. J (Hong
Kong-Canadian-
Singaporean) knows all the
Chinese medicine that has
no translation either in
English or in French
because it’s so authentic. J
does not only explain these
ingredients but also suggest
some ways we (team) can
use for our new products.”
(French director)
217
Translating “If we say ‘dry hair’, dry hair
cultural nuances on this floor (HQ) doesn’t
mean as same as German
‘dry hair’ means. So, it is
much safer to check with B
who knows two cultures
(French and German) and
translate exactly what I mean
as ‘dry hair’.” (B is German-
British-French director)

218
 Table 3-7 Boundary Conditions for Cultural Brokerage Role

Representative Quotes, Events, and Archival Entries Underlying Second-order Themes

AuditCo BEAU
Organizational conditions

(1) Organizational “Auditing is a very dynamic activity. We, as “Locals [subsidiaries management] don’t
culture and Certified Professional Accounts (CPA), audit promote you and send you to the HQ right
professional the numbers, but the job is based on away. When they believe you have the ability
identity communication. Communication skill is the to prove your competence and they really
number one quality. Because you've got your want to feel that you are the person that they
clients, you’ve got your team, you’ve got want to promote and to invest. Sending one of
partner, and you’ve got a team that is on the the best operational managers to the HQ is a
site, and you represent the company. What is high investment. And also for the country
important to understand in this business is reputation, they want to send the best. They
that because it’s very hierarchical, it means want to say, ‘Okay, we have really the best
that everybody has been through the same operational manager and we are sending you
path as a partner who’s 60. So, I am not still the best.’ This is a kind of behind-the-scenes
very comfortable using my multiculturalism, story how I came to the HQ.” (Polish-French
and I don’t feel good about the company using project manager)
my multiculturalism in the business either.”
(British-French senior consultant) “My job is development. My future product has to
be new; one that no one has yet, and it has to be
“I need to be creative in order to satisfy or better than anything existing. My multiculturalism
exceed my clients’ satisfaction. For example, develops my creativity. I think creativity has a lot
writing a report to clients is a very important to do with the knowledge you have, just as the more
mission. I use my multiculturalism when books you read, the more words you know. The
writing my report. For French clients, I use more banks of images and knowledge you have, the
some of my British attributes. To British more ideas you can generate. The more things
clients, I use some of my French attributes.” you’ve seen might trigger more ideas. So, I’m
(British-French director) guessing the more you see, the more places you
live, the more languages you read, then the more
“The most important and valuable function creative you’re going to be. In addition, you could
that I make here is to coordinate all potential be faster processing and connecting things because
missions, all the potential work for Spanish you have a lot of images and knowledge.”
subsidiaries in France. In order to complete (Lebanese-Spanish-French project manager)
my roles, I coordinate work and communicate
with various stakeholders such as Spanish “In this floor, in the new project development
corporates and their subsidiaries in France, department, every project manager works like
AuditCo Spain, and partners in AuditCo crazy and with passion. If you don’t like this job,
France. I would consider myself not an you should not be here. I don’t mean just ‘hard
auditor, but a cultural broker or business work’. Creating new products is all about passion
developer, as I connect people across cultural, for the job, so-called, ‘BEAU DNA’. 219I think
functional, and regional boundaries by multiculturals fuel creativity. They bring a
 networking and coordinating.” (Spanish- different approach based on their creativity and
French Partner) knowledge. Last time we were in a meeting and we
were doing a new shampoo for China, we were
thinking about a new ingredient. We decided to
use a Chinese medicine. But we faced a big
problem. There was no English translation of the
Chinese medicine, not even a translation in the
European world. I immediately contacted A (Hong
Kong-Canadian-Singaporean). Although A was
working in another product development, she is
always willing to help people anything related the
Chinese ingredients. If you want to sell a shampoo
in China, you need someone like her. Fortunately,
we have A. So, it’s really important for BEAU to
have multiculturals. They are a great resource for
the company.” (French Director)

“In a nutshell, the FIT program makes sure

(2) HRM practices “I was recommended by one of my seniors at that newcomer multiculturals in the new
school who is working here as a senior product department meet all of the different
consultant. Partner interviewed me first. This parties such as R&D people, factory people,
is the way I was recruited.” (Korean-French marketing, and so on. It is very important to
junior consultant) be familiar with them in order to do our job.
For me, at the time I was hired, I was never
introduced properly to these people. I just
told them that I worked for my boss, whom
they knew. I think this program helps
multiculturals integrate better. They feel more
welcome. And, each multicultural has a
mentor who is outside of the department and
marketing with which we work very closely. A
mentor could be a HR person or an account
member. So, if she doesn’t feel comfortable
talking to her boss directly or to any of her
close colleagues, she can talk with her
mentor. I think it’s a quite good program.”
(Hong Kong-British-Canada-French
director: team members: Dutch-Chinese,
Taiwanese-French and Korean-British)

“If we really want our multicultural project

managers to bring values to BEAU, our
monocultural managers also have to change
their way of thinking and managing
multicultural project managers. Although we,
the HR function, should train monocultural
managers for better management, it is not

220
 easy to facilitate a training program for them.
Monocultural managers are aware of the
value of multicultural project managers. So,
their expectations are very high. But, they felt
it was difficult to manage multiculturals
because it took more time and energy.” (HR
Manager)

“I think language is definitely a barrier to

(3) Language “Most multiculturals here speak French and most multiculturals here in the new product
diversity English fluently. Otherwise you probably were development area. I was lucky in that by the
management not recruited.” (Indian-French junior time I came here, I had been in France for
consultant) two years, but still it was difficult. There are
even times today that I don’t understand
“Seventy percent of work is done in English. everything. Especially when they talk about
Although I work with French colleagues, I some jokes, I am lost. You do feel a bit left
don’t have problem with them in out. You do feel foreign, and those are
communication. I speak English better than moments that you feel you are not integrated,
most of my colleagues.” (Portuguese-French you know, you’re out of the circle.” (Hong-
consultant) Kong-British-French director)

Work Team Conditions

(1) Team “When I came for an interview, my partner “There is strong ‘bonding’ among
Heterogeneity told me that he wanted open-minded people. multiculturals. We try to help each other by
and its His open-minded point of view meant that sharing information and exchanging
management people were from any kind of origin or feedback. Seniors also give juniors feedback
geography, the country or a city, and had and advice. We often work faster than teams
attended different universities. He wanted where the majority is from one or two specific
diversity and at the same time, a certain cultures.” (Taiwanese-French project
balance in human interactions so that you manager)
have a pretty good feeling between people. We
are in a very good mood, which I like a lot
about this team. It’s very interesting because “The exposure to multiple cultures gives you
we feel like friends, or equal to equal, and you the ability to handle differences (cultural) and
don’t have many problems with interactions. cross-cultural interaction with some
We share coffee together, we go outside, and flexibility; it’s a bit like a supple tissue. It
we take a beer together.” (Korean-French keeps you from becoming rigid. For example,
junior consultant) consider a good dancer and a bad dancer.
The good dancer dances smoothly because he
practices a lot. If you’ve been exposed to
“A multicultural boss is better for different cultures a lot, it gives you this
multiculturals. Our boss here is French but smoothness of interaction, which makes it
worked in the States for three years and in the possible to meet interesting (culturally

221
 U.K. for four years. For me, she keeps her different) people and to create a new network.
French identity for example, she cuts other Whereas, if you are not exposed, you tend to
people off in mid-sentence, but with a very get a little bit rigid, and a little bit more into
good dose – she's very open so that she can stereotypes because of the narrow view you
absorb the way things are done outside. Most develop from working with people with the
importantly, she understands how it's done same routine, same hobbies, and the same
outside, and she doesn't devalue it. She tennis club. They cannot even go and ask girls
doesn’t think that others’ ways are silly or (i.e., culturally different others) to dance.
rubbish, which is quite different from my “(Belgium-French project manager)
monocultural French colleagues. Such
attitudes strongly influence our team work, “Because multiculturals value diversity
which mainly consists of comparing nine (cultural), and they used to play cross-
different auditing practices in order to device cultural mediating roles among different
one principle that applies to all nine cultural groups, they try not to give negative
practices.” (South-African-French- evaluations of those who are culturally
Argentinian senior consultant) different. For example, sometime later a new
member joined, one member of my team came
to me a few times to discuss another member,
saying, ‘She is very rude.’ Then, as a director
I told them, ‘Let’s wait and see. Give her
some more time to adjust. Maybe it's not her
being rude; it may be from her culture, the
way she expresses herself. You all know that
we all have different backgrounds. Also as we
are in a same boat, why don’t you also try to
adapt to her.’ Then, they started discussing
more things discovered that the new member
was not being rude, but just the way she
expressed herself was quite direct without
bad intention, yet she was just being honest.
Now things are getting much better than
before within my team. (Hong-Kong-British-
French director)

(2) Stereotyping in “After the salary negotiation meeting with my “I thought that Thai people were very
Global Teams boss, I was very, very disappointed. I felt that secretive and never expressed their true
they exploited me. I deplored to myself, ‘Oh feelings. At the farewell party (after 1.5
my god, they think that because I’m very years), I was surprised to see that my Thai
obedient and quiet. I’m just a little Asian colleagues were all amazingly emotional. At
girl!’ (Korean-French junior consultant) last, I realized that I developed a deep
relationship with them. If I knew this before, I
could have worked much better with them.”
(French regional director)

“They told me that I am a superman, but a

Mexican superman! They were surprised at
222
 the fact that I, a guy from Mexico, a
developing country, solved such a
complicated problem, instead of how efficient
I was. It seemed they did not go beyond
stereotyping me instead of noticing my other
capabilities.” (Mexican-German-Italian
director)

(3) Value “Discussions go everywhere and at the end of “I felt very disrespected whenever my
Conflicting meeting, there is no concrete conclusion. In superior gave me feedback and ordered me to
addition, it is difficult to get a chance to talk. do something. After one big crisis happened, I
Very few times, did I get a chance to talk? asked her to respect me as I respect her. I was
Someone would immediately cut me off in very disappointed with her reaction. She
mid-sentence. Because I never (can) cut understood my frustration but reinforced that
someone off, I feel very frustrated and value ‘This is how it works here.’ Although I felt
conflicted.” (Canadian-French senior really bad, I just cannot be aggressive to her.
auditor) That is not my thing.”(Polish-French project
manager)
“I shout! I don't get the respect of anyone if I
never say anything. I don't have any option as
they do, because it is not my way of doing
things. They have their way, and that's how
they will do it. If I want to make my voice
heard, I must do as they do, but it is
frustrating and tiring.” (South-African-French
senior consultant)

223
224
 APPENDIX A

The Ideal Profiles of Interviewees and Team Observation

6. Team leaders (managers) of multicultural teams that include some biculturals and
some monoculturals.
7. Biculturals:
a. Born biculturals (e.g., parents of different nationalities, born in a country
different from parental nationality).
b. Grown up or educated or worked in a foreign country for a period of time
greater than 3 years.
Please note that one of the characteristics is needed for one to be a bicultural.
8. Monoculturals (e.g., born and having been living in the same country to now)
working with biculturals in order to receive multiple impressions of biculturals’
activities in a team.
9. Similar departments
10. At least 3 years of multicultural team working experience (past or current).

APPENDIX B

Question Guide to Ethnographic Interviews at BEAU

Background
Age
What is your current position? How did you get it?
What is your background?
What led you to working for this company? How did you get started?
How long have you been working for this company?
What was your prior experience?

Cultural Identity(ies)
Tell me about your background; where to born, where to grow up, your parents’ cultures?
How do you identify culturally? (I show interviewees Cultural Identity Definition,
Interviewees posit themselves in the scale in Figure 3).
Has(ve) your cultural identity(ies) changed over time?
Have you ever had cultural identity crisis?

Cultural identy(ies) and Professional Life

How do your cultural identities influence your professional life?
Have you noticed any difference between you and your colleagues in terms of the way to
perform
How do you identify culturally different others?
What is your most challenge working with people from different countries?

Team Experience
Describe your current team
Tell me one or two teams you have worked previously?
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How are different between current team and previous team?
Can you think of challenges your team faces?
Do your team members behave differently when facing challenges?
 How do you find their differences?
 How do you behave differently from others in your team
Do you think that you make more effort to adapt to your team members (colleagues)?
 If so, why?
 If not, why not

Work Experience
Describe a typical day/project/assignment?
What was your last project like?
How do you work with members?
Can you think of any examples you contribute to your team performance?
What resource do you use when working?
Can you tell me what your challenges and how you handle them?

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 Concluding thought

Contributions to the Field of International Business

This thesis is a first step toward a better understanding of multiculturals in

organizations. Beyond current conceptualizations of multiculturalism and demographic

diversity, it aimed to identify the roles multiculturals play for global team work processes,

as well as contextual factors that influence multiculturals in their work places. More

specifically, this thesis identifies that multiculturals’ rich abilities may constitute a specific

type of cultural competence that could make them key members of global teams. The

construct of bicultural competence does not apply existing competence constructs to a new

domain. Rather, it proposes that the competence is a unique construction of multiculturals’

cultural intelligence to benefit from effective cross-cultural interactions that result in global

team effectiveness. Systematically analyzing the performance of biculturals’ competence in

cross-cultural interactions in organizations (such as multicultural teams) has received less

attention. This thesis contributes to this research stream by introducing the concept of

bicultural competence; providing a conceptual model of the construct; and describing its

impact on multicultural team effectiveness.

Second, this thesis contributes to research on cultural brokerage in global team work

processes. To my knowledge, my study is the first to detail through the use of ethnography

how multiculturals influence this process occurred in new product development in a global

context. That is, the present study is the first to discuss specific roles played by multiculturals

in managing knowledge processes and handling cross-cultural conflicts in global teams. As

Geertz (1960) noted, multiculturals as a cultural broker develop the work stage where

members facilitate effective communication and cultivate relationships beyond culturally and

socially heterogeneous global teams. Building on this research, I have argued that

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multiculturals play a crucial role for work processes and outcomes in global teams. In

addition, little research has been conducted on the contextual factors that affect multiculturals

and how they structure their careers in MNCs. My contribution to this emerging literature has

been to specify more precisely how organizations and team conditions structures either

appropriately or inappropriately construct multiculturals’ effectiveness in MNCs.

Third, subsequent research on team diversity needs to focus on a wider set of factors

than simply individual nationality. This dissertation suggests that measuring team

heterogeneity by nationality seems no longer valid because many multicultural members have

difficulty identifying themselves with a single nationality. These individuals self-identified as

multiculturals based on their multicultural experience such as parents’ different nationalities

and working/living/education abroad, for example, Venezuelan-French-American or French-

Cambodian-Irish.

The present research sheds new light on the contribution of multiculturals by going beyond

bi/multiculturalism developed through lab experiments by cross-cultural psychologists to

examining what multiculturals bring to global team effectiveness. Collectively, these

contributions offer a deeper understanding of the specific “multiculturals’ tactics as real

socially and culturally skilled actors used to induce cooperation” (Fligstein, 2001, p. 113,

italics added) on projects that unite contributors from various groups across organizational,

cultural, and regional boundaries in the field of international business.

Practical implications

Finally, my research also informs better management and utilization of multicultural

workforce for practitioners in three ways. First, it has practical implications for composing

global teams in MNCs. Second, my thesis also highlights training multiculturals and

monoculturals. Last, despite an increasingly multicultural workforce in MNCs and their

importance in organizations, little research has examined organizational contextual factors

228
and how they affect multiculturals’ ability to enact the cultural brokerage role in global teams.

The goal of the dissertation was to build and enrich theory in this area. The framework of

contextual variables developed in this thesis can serve as a guideline to Human Resource

managers in MNCs.

Avenues for Further Research

To a greater or lesser extent, most global companies face four challenges (or dualities):

global integration versus local adaptation; dispersed complex knowledge that must be

integrated; the national image of the home base versus global reach and global learning; and

rapid innovation in products versus continuity in brands and channels worldwide. The

dissertation shows that multiculturals allow global firms to transcend these challenges in how

it effectively integrates their business success.

The dissertation has been a first step toward understanding multiculturals in

organizations better. It aimed to advance beyond current conceptualizations of

multiculturalism and demographic diversity and identify the roles multiculturals play in

global teams, as well as contextual factors that influence multiculturals in their work places.

Throughout, the dissertation reinforces the importance of multiculturalism in international

management. In demonstrating so, the dissertation also points to further research, namely:

multiculturals as a new knowledge transfer approach at a distance (virtual contexts); typology

of multiculturalism, that is, different multiculturals may bring different skills; cultural identity

negotiation and its impact on work performance: darkside of multiculturalism as minority

group in organizations.

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 Les rôles d’individus multiculturels dans les organisations

Hae-Jung Hong

Résumé

Cette thèse explore le rôle de multiculturels dans les multinationales. Les

multiculturels sont connus pour leur compétence et leur potentiel culturels
susceptibles de contribuer à l’efficacité d’une organisation. Peu d’études à ce jour
ont examiné les multiculturels dans les multinationales et pratiquement aucune
recherche n’a essayé de comprendre le rôle des multiculturels dans la facilitation
d’un processus de travail d’équipe efficace. En vue d’étudier un phénomène qui n’a
pas été suffisamment scruté, cette dissertation a mobilisé un travail de terrain
ethnographique dans deux multinationales importantes sur une période de 10 mois.
Elle étudie les rôles de multiculturels dans des équipes mondiales en se référant à
trois contextes : (1) la compétence multiculturelle et son impact sur l’efficacité de
l’équipe ; (2) comment les multiculturels influencent les processus de travail
d’équipe ; (3) en quoi et comment des facteurs liés au contexte affectent l’aptitude
des multiculturels à jouer des rôles.

La globalisation économique a eu pour résultat le besoin d’intégration culturelle et

sociale face aux déséquilibres démographiques. Alors qu’auparavant l’essentiel de

l’immigration se déroulait sur un axe est-ouest, elle s’est déplacée du sud au nord, avec une

croissance démographique élevée dans le sud et des populations vieillissantes et allant en

diminuant dans le nord. Ce changement dans les données démographiques et les défis

concomitants liés à l’immigration créent un risque social significatif d’instabilité,

accompagné d’explosions d’hostilité et de menaces croissantes de terrorisme. Les

conséquences les plus bénignes d’un tel changement pourraient être le risque d’un

communautarisme fragmenté et l’échec d’une intégration sociale et culturelle. Dans les cas les

plus extrêmes, les démocraties peuvent échouer et d’autres issues tragiques sont à redouter

dans le nord-ouest de l’Europe comme des émeutes, des insurrections et la violence

interethnique.

Dans quels contextes pouvons-nous procéder à l’examen de ce problème? Les

multinationales (EMN) sont devenues le lieu de rencontre global où des personnes aux
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cultures dès différentes doivent travailler ensemble efficacement. Ceci se vérifie en particulier

dans les industries mondiales, où sont particulièrement marquées les forces d’adaptation et de

compréhension locales d’une part et les forces d’intégration mondiale de l’autre. La diversité

dans l’encadrement et les postes d’influence est un défi significatif auquel les multinationales

ont à faire face, du fait que les sources d’apprentissage se sont dispersées davantage d’un

point de vue géographique et organisationnel et que les données démographiques concernant

la population active font écho à la complexité multiculturelle croissante de la société dans son

ensemble. Les multinationales luttent donc pour maîtriser les complexités qu’entraîne la

gestion d’activités multiples sur des sites multiples avec des partenaires multiples, dans le

monde entier. Dans les industries mondiales d’aujourd’hui à forte intensité de connaissances,

les dirigeants doivent exceller dans l’utilisation des talents de leurs collaborateurs pour

faciliter le ‘co-learning’ et le partage du savoir à travers des contextes différenciés. Cruciale

pour la mise en œuvre opérationnelle de ces nouveaux mandats est la capacité à négocier des

relations de travail fortes, efficaces et synergiques, à l’intérieur de contextes organisationnels

et culturels divers et entre eux. Comme telle, à la suite de la globalisation, l’entreprise

multinationale en tant que lieu de rencontre mondial est un laboratoire naturel − un

microcosme délimité − à partir duquel une théorie est à construire sur les meilleures pratiques

pour la résolution de conflits transculturels et l’intégration multiculturelle. Les entreprises

multinationales sont devenues un contexte idéal pour étudier l’intégration transculturelle en

vue d’informer les responsables politiques sur la façon de réaliser efficacement l’intégration

entre communautés.

En pratique, la panoplie de compétences transculturelles que requièrent l’intégration

et la collaboration multiculturelles se donne à observer de la façon la plus vivante dans les

équipes mondiales à l’intérieur des multinationales. D’éminents spécialistes ont suggéré que

le défi le plus critique et le plus pratique auquel sont confrontés les équipes multiculturelles

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est la gestion de conflits de part et d’autre des délimitations culturelles nationales (Joshi et

autres, 2002 ; Mateev & Nelson, 2004). Pour que les équipes mondiales soient efficaces, leurs

membres doivent apprendre à relever les défis découlant de leur nationalité et de leurs racines

culturelles. Les multiculturels sont définis comme des individus ayant plus d’une identité

culturelle (Hong et autres, 2000), dotés de ressources latentes acquises grâce à des

expériences culturelles (souvent) de toute une vie passée à travailler et à vivre avec des

personnes culturellement différentes. Il existe, toutefois, à ce jour une recherche limitée

concernant de telles équipes, avec encore moins d’études sur des individus multiculturels dans

des environnements d’entreprise multinationale. En outre, pratiquement aucune recherche ne

nous aide à comprendre le rôle d’individus multiculturels dans la facilitation du

fonctionnement efficace de ces équipes. Comme les personnes ayant des origines

multiculturelles −individus bi/multiculturels− augmentent en nombre dans les multinationales,

ils constituent une ressource de grande valeur pour la recherche, en vue de comprendre le

processus permettant de surmonter les disparités et d’intégrer des communautés

culturellement différentes (Brannen et autres, 2009).

En recherchant l’ampleur et la nature du mode de contribution que les multiculturels

apportent au fonctionnement d’équipes mondiales, cette thèse éclaire les conditions qui

permettent une collaboration transculturelle efficace et favorisent l’intégration sociale.

Comme telle, la thèse recherche un système représentatif de problèmes en jeu dans le contexte

plus large de la société et peut donc influencer des décisions et des pratiques au niveau

politique.

L’exposé que voici présente un aperçu d’un travail de thèse plus ample. La section 1

introduit le phénomène des multiculturels comme nouvelle donnée démographique

concernant le travail dans les multinationales. La section 2 élabore le cadre de référence

théorique. La section 3 détaille les méthodes de recherche utilisées. La section 4 décrit les

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conclusions principales et, finalement, les sections 5 et 6 attirent l’attention sur des

implications pratiques et une recherche ultérieure.

1. Les multiculturels, Courtiers Culturels dans des Equipes mondiales

1.1 La compétence des multiculturels et son impact sur l’efficacité d’équipe

Dans le cadre de l’entreprise contemporaine, les équipes à composante mondiale

effectuent une part significative du travail d’organisation. Ces équipes sont constituées parce

qu’une recherche antérieure a montré qu’elles améliorent l’efficacité organisationnelle dans

un environnement commercial mondial (Cox, 1993 ; Galbraith, 2000 ; Kirkman & Shapiro,

2001 ; Tung, 1993). Comme telles, les équipes de type mondiales offrent un énorme potentiel

aux organisations. Cependant, ironiquement, la diversité culturelle empêche souvent un tel

potentiel de s’actualiser. Comme on l’a décrit plus haut, la gestion des conflits suscités par le

découpage national et culturel des membres constitue le défi majeur auquel les équipes

mondiales ont à faire face.

Les chercheurs n’ont pas reconnu encore que des salariés multiculturels sont une

main-d’œuvre croissante mais inexploitée, dotée de capacités latentes qui pourraient jouer un

rôle en relevant des défis à l’intérieur des équipes mondiales. Les individus multiculturels

sont-ils un atout souvent ignoré qui permettrait de dépasser le paradoxe décrit ci-dessus ? Se

peut-il qu’ils soient des membres importants capables de promouvoir l’efficacité d’une équipe

mondiale ? La recherche récente a mis en évidence que certains individus multiculturels ont

des réponses souples aux signaux culturels et situationnels (que l’on appelle commutation de

cadre culturel ; Hong et autres, 2000). On a trouvé aussi que les multiculturels disposent de

représentations culturelles plus complexes d’un point de vue cognitif (Benet-Martinez &

Haritatos, 2005) et sont plus capables d’adapter leur comportement dans un cadre

transculturel que ne le sont les personnes mono-culturelles (Padilla, 2006). LaFromboise,

Coleman et Gerton (1993) ont suggéré que les multiculturels possèdent des aptitudes

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spécifiques telles que la dextérité dans la communication croisée, la connaissance de

croyances et de valeurs culturelles et les répertoires de double rôle culturel. En outre, Brannen

et ses collègues (2009) ont trouvé que beaucoup de multiculturels ont des niveaux plus élevés

de métacognition culturelle que les mono-culturels. La métacognition culturelle est définie

comme l’aptitude à surveiller et à réguler ses processus de connaissance et de ses états

cognitifs et affectifs en relation avec un objectif. Elle englobe aussi la capacité d’abstraire

d’une expérience spécifique des principes plus larges en vue d’interactions transculturelles

futures (Thomas et autres, 2008).

La richesse de leurs aptitudes peut constituer pour les multiculturels un type

spécifique de compétence qui en ferait des membres essentiels d’équipes mondiales. De plus,

la construction d’une compétence multiculturelle ne consiste pas seulement à appliquer des

éléments de compétence existants à un nouveau domaine. C’est plutôt la proposition que la

compétence est une construction unique de l’intelligence culturelle de multiculturels au

bénéfice d’interactions transculturelles efficaces qui aboutissent à l’efficacité d’une équipe

mondiale.

Pour qu’une équipe mondiale fonctionne plus efficacement, il faudrait qu’elle

combine sur un mode synergétique les apports individuels pour influencer les actions et les

résultats collectifs. Par exemple, la propension des multiculturels à franchir des frontières

culturelles devrait promouvoir une communication transculturelle parmi les membres et

arbitrer les conflits transculturels (Ancona & Caldwell, 1992). Ceci aboutit à un transfert de

savoir efficace entre des membres culturellement différents. Comme telle, une compétence

multiculturelle peut fournir une indication forte pour les rôles qu’un membre multiculturel

peut choisir de remplir dans une équipe mondiale. Les rôles choisis et l’importance relative de

chaque rôle sont influencés par les demandes situationnelles de solution des défis auxquels les

équipes mondiales sont confrontées (Stewart et autres, 2005).

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1.2. Dirigeants multiculturels comme courtiers culturels au sein d’équipes mondiales

Les multiculturels jouent un rôle crucial dans le déroulement du travail d’équipe au sein

d’équipes mondiales là où l’hétérogénéité nationale semble plus compliquée que les

chercheurs organisationnels ne l’ont reconnu jusqu’à présent (voir figure 1 Équipe diverse vs

équipe mondiale, par ex. Elron et autres, 1998 ; Lawrence, 1997 ; Snow et autres, 1996). Les

directeurs d’un projet multiculturel dans les multinationales, par exemple, jouent souvent le

rôle de courtiers culturels (Geertz, 1960). Dans le texte intégral de ma thèse, j’ai examiné le

courtage culturel dans le contexte des équipes du développement d’un nouveau produit : la

façon dont les multiculturels influencent les processus de connaissance et gèrent les conflits

dans des équipes mondiales. Mon but est de faire progresser notre compréhension des

personnels multiculturels en explorant comment ils interagissent et ce qui leur permet de

réussir plus ou moins dans l’intégration de membres qui peuvent ne pas partager des traits,

des normes, des valeurs culturelles ou des façons similaires d’appréhender les tâches.

En pratique, les personnes d’origine multiculturelle − individus bi/multiculturels −

augmentent dans les multinationales et elles constituent une abondante ressource de recherche

pour intégrer culturellement des contextes divers (Brannen et autres, 2009). À ce jour,

toutefois, une recherche limitée a examiné les multiculturels dans les organisations ; des

études encore moins nombreuses ont scruté les rôles que les multiculturels jouent dans les

multinationales (pour une exception, voir Yagi et Kleinberg, 2011). En outre, pratiquement

aucune étude n’a cherché à comprendre la nature, la dynamique et les conditions de

délimitation des rôles que des individus multiculturels assument pour garantir que leurs

équipes fonctionnent efficacement.

À la lumière de la complexité des organisations d’aujourd’hui, ce travail aspire à

comprendre les rôles des multiculturels dans des équipes mondiales. J’étudie les

multiculturels dans les organisations dans trois contextes en particulier:

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 1) Comment les multiculturels accèdent à une compétence culturelle ;

2) Comment ils influencent les processus mondiaux de main-d’œuvre ;

3) Quels facteurs contextuels influent sur leur aptitude à remplir des rôles et

comment.

2. Cadre de Référence Théorique

La thèse vise à faire progresser la compréhension actuelle des conséquences de la

présence d’employés multiculturels dans des équipes mondiales. On a fait le choix de ne pas

fournir un cadre de référence théorique holistique, il se concentre plutôt sur les questions

théoriques suivantes:

- Comment des membres multiculturels influencent les processus de travail

d’équipe dans les équipes mondiales

· Qu’est-ce qui construit la compétence et les savoir-faire de multiculturels

· Comment les multiculturels influencent les processus de travail d’équipe

· Quels facteurs contextuels affectent les multiculturels

À cette fin, la thèse puise largement dans la littérature sur le bi/multiculturalisme. À

certains égards, la question si les multiculturels contribuent aux processus cruciaux de la mise

en application et de l’acquisition de savoirs apparaît dans la littérature sur les cosmopolites et

les expatriés (Au & Fukuda, 2002; Haas, 2006). La présente recherche, toutefois, jette une

lumière nouvelle sur ce problème, en allant au-delà d’un bi/multiculturalisme élaboré grâce à

des expériences de laboratoire par des psychologues transculturels pour examiner ce que les

multiculturels apportent à l’efficacité d’une équipe mondiale. Collectivement, ces

contributions offrent une compréhension plus profonde des “tactiques spécifiques de

multiculturels comme d’authentiques acteurs dotés d’un savoir-faire social et culturel ayant

l’habitude d’inciter à la coopération” (Fligstein, 2001, p. 113, italiques ajoutés) pour des

projets qui réunissent des collaborateurs provenant de différents groupes recouvrant un

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découpage organisationnel, culturel et régional. La thèse contribue en outre à des domaines

d’enquête majeurs :

− La recherche sur la diversité

− Les processus de travail d’équipe mondial

· Gestion des connaissances

· Gestion des conflits

Recherche sur la diversité

La thèse élabore et étend la recherche liée à la diversité et à l’hétérogénéité d’ une

équipe, de deux manières. D’abord, en discutant les corrélations de l’hétérogénéité de l’équipe

du point de vue de la nationalité et la performance effective, je complète le travail d’Earley et

de Mosakowski (2000) en révélant les détails de la dynamique d’équipe portant sur la manière

dont les rôles joués par les multiculturels ont un impact sur les processus de travail d’équipe.

Peut-être, ceci n’est-il pas surprenant, étant donné qu’Earley et Mosakowski se sont

concentrés sur la culture d’équipe hybride à l’intérieur d’équipes transnationales en tant

qu’elle facilite l’interaction de groupe sans faire attention aux racines culturelles des membres

de l’équipe. Cette interaction peut expliquer le niveau différent de l’analyse du fait que les

populations actives multiculturelles ne font pas encore l’objet d’une vraie reconnaissance de

la part des praticiens et que la recherche qui se concentre sur leur rôle dans les organisations

est un domaine naissant (Brannen et autres, 2009). Toutefois, en traitant les multiculturels

comme des agents de facilitation de l’interaction de l’équipe mondiale, je vois que leurs rôles

sont liés à la performance de l’équipe.

D’autre part, je m’appuie sur la recherche d’Earley et Mosakowski en décrivant la

diversité culturelle qui pourrait influencer la façon dont les multiculturels s’adaptent au lieu

de travail. La nationalité est suggérée comme un déterminant de l’identité propre d’une

personne ; pour cette raison, le terme “équipe multiculturelle” se réfère à une équipe dans

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laquelle deux ou plus de nationalités sont représentées parmi les membres (Adler, 1997). Les

équipes qui ont émergé de mon travail de terrain ethnographique semblent, pourtant, bien plus

compliquées en termes de racines culturelles individuelles (Voir Fig. 1 Équipe diverse vs

équipe mondiale).

C’est-à-dire, mesurer l’hétérogénéité d’une équipe par la nationalité ne semble plus

valable parce que beaucoup de membres multiculturels ont de la peine à s’identifier avec une

seule nationalité. Ces individus se sont identifiés eux-mêmes comme multiculturels en se

basant sur leur expérience multiculturelle telle que les nationalités différentes des parents et le

fait de travailler/vivre/se former à l’étranger, par exemple, un Vénézuélien-Français-

Américain ou un Français-Cambodgien-Irlandais. Dans les constitutions d’équipes mondiales

figurant dans mon travail de terrain, certaines équipes étaient même composées uniquement

de multiculturels (par ex. le chef d’équipe identifié comme habitant de Hong Kong-

Britannique-Canadien-Français et des membres de l’équipe identifiés comme Taiwanais-

Français, Hollandais-Chinois et Coréen-Britannique). Leur dynamique d’interaction à travers

des frontières organisationnelles et régionales semblait beaucoup plus compliquée

culturellement du fait qu’ils travaillaient avec d’autres équipes fonctionnelles au siège de

Paris (y compris des équipes mono-culturelles) et dans différents bureaux régionaux. En

résumé, je crois que la recherche subséquente sur la diversité d’équipe doit se concentrer sur

un ensemble de facteurs ne se limitant pas à la simple nationalité individuelle.

Processus de travail de l’équipe mondiale: Courtage dans le transfert de connaissances et

la gestion de conflit

La recherche sur l’hétérogénéité d’une équipe suggère qu’un niveau modéré

d’hétérogénéité peut équilibrer le rendement d’une équipe homogène (Amabile, 1988). À la

différence des recherches antérieures, alors que la thèse intègre de la littérature sur le

multiculturalisme et sur le courtage culturel, elle accorde aussi une attention particulière aux

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racines culturelles individuelles (c.-à-d., le multiculturalisme) en analysant des processus de

travail d’équipe transculturels. La thèse identifie les rôles de courtage culturel de

multiculturels dans les processus de travail de l’équipe mondiale. À ma connaissance, bien

que d’autres aient commencé à exposer dans leurs grandes lignes les facteurs importants pour

le courtage culturel, mon approche ethnographique est la première à détailler comment ce

processus se présente dans le développement d’un nouveau produit dans un contexte mondial.

C’est-à-dire, la présente étude est la première à discuter les rôles spécifiques de la gestion des

processus de connaissance et de la gestion de conflits transculturels. D’importantes

similitudes apparaissent néanmoins entre cette étude et d’autres traitements du courtage

culturel. Par exemple, je vois que le lien travail-courtage requérant la synthèse et l’intégration

d’idées entre multiculturels et autres membres organisationnels (Lingo & O’Mahony, 2010)

est important pour identifier le courtage culturel de multiculturels dans le processus créatif de

développement de nouveaux produits qui sont leaders sur les marchés locaux et mondiaux

(par ex., Fleming & Waguespack, 2007 ; Hargadon & Sutton, 1997). De façon similaire, à

mes yeux, les rôles de transfrontaliers (Ancona et Caldwelle, 1992) ont une importance

cruciale pour le courtage culturel entre les différents membres du groupe organisationnel de

part et d’autre des frontières culturelles (Au & Fukuda, 2002).

De façon plus générale, j’ajoute à ce travail en attirant l’attention des spécialistes sur les

multiculturels (voir aussi Hong, 2010; Press, 1969). En agissant de la sorte, je tire des leçons

de la recherche sur “la médiation de conflits” en rapport avec la façon dont les multiculturels

traitent différents genres de conflits, dans la mesure où elle reflète les implications de la

compétence multiculturelle dans le lieu de travail d’une équipe mondiale (Earley & Ang,

2003 ; Jehn & Mannix, 2000 ; Thomas et autres, 2008). Et, comme Geertz (1960) le notait, les

multiculturels en guise de courtiers culturels développent la phase de travail là où les

membres, en facilitant la communication et en cultivant les relations, dépassent les équipes

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mondiales culturellement et socialement hétérogènes. En m’appuyant sur cette recherche, j’ai

fait valoir que les multiculturels ont un rôle crucial pour les processus de travail et les

résultats dans les équipes mondiales.

Conformément au but de cette thèse d’explorer le multiculturalisme et le courtage

culturel dans la pratique, un effort constant a été fait pour se concentrer sur les pratiques de

travail de multiculturels dans les équipes mondiales, une fois qu’on en vient à l’élaboration de

théories. En vue de mettre en place une conception théorique fondée, la thèse utilise le ‘travail

de terrain ethnographique’ en guise de méthodologie de recherche. Ceci permet à l’approche

épistémologique du travail d’être cohérente avec ses objectifs et contenus théoriques. De plus

amples détails sur les méthodes de recherche sont donnés dans la section suivante.

3. Méthodes de Recherche

La thèse cherche à comprendre comment les multiculturels influencent les processus du

travail d’équipe mondial et quels facteurs contextuels affectent la tenue de pareils rôles.

Comme on l’a décrit, la recherche sur les multiculturels dans les organisations est un domaine

naissant et l’élaboration théorique est encore mince. Selon Edmondson et McManus (2007;

nascent theory : théorie naissante), une telle recherche devrait recueillir à partir de

l’ethnographie des données riches, détaillées et suggestives pour expliquer le phénomène.

L’ethnographie, dans son sens le plus utilitaire, est ce à quoi Spradley et McCurdy (1972)

faisaient référence comme “la tâche de décrire une culture particulière d’activités humaines”

(p.3). Denzin (2003) ajouta que l’ethnographie est une méthode pour comprendre la politique

et les pratiques qui façonnent l’expérience humaine. Le travail de terrain ethnographique est

par conséquent particulièrement approprié pour l’objectif de la thèse. En vue d’ouvrir des

perspectives originales, fondées théoriquement (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), j’ai mené un travail

de terrain ethnographique dans deux multinationales pendant une période de 10 mois. Les

industries des firmes couvraient les cosmétiques et les activités d’audit et les services de

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conseil aux entreprises. Les deux établissements figurent à une place honorable dans les

relevés de firmes leader dans leurs domaines respectifs et tous les deux recrutent des individus

dotés des diverses références culturelles qui exemplifient les multiculturels.

En suivant une stratégie d’échantillonnage théorique (Strauss & Corbin, 1990), j’ai

comparé les multiculturels dans des équipes mondiales dans l’industrie de biens de

consommation en mouvement constant (FMSG) avec des multiculturels dans l’industrie

d’audit et de services de conseil aux entreprises. Le domaine des FMSG est caractérisé par

des tâches changeant rapidement qui permettent à l’organisation de s’adapter ou de devancer

les tendances du marché. En revanche, l’audit et le conseil mettent en évidence la stabilité de

la tâche afin de maintenir des pratiques normées et une éthique en se mettant au service de

clients divers. J’ai choisi cette dimension pour effectuer le sondage en vue de développer la

théorie à travers deux multinationales qui différaient dans le degré auquel elles admettent et

utilisent des multiculturels dans le personnel. La firme FMSG, BEAU (un pseudonyme), doit

ses bonnes fortunes aux nouveaux produits qu’elle développe. Elle recrute des multiculturels

pour développer de nouveaux produits destinés à des marchés mondiaux parce qu’ils

apportent de nouvelles idées et une compréhension des marchés locaux, ce qui complète les

mono-culturels qui travaillent au siège. Ainsi, la direction dans cette firme attend des

multiculturels qu’ils développent des produits nouveaux et créatifs et meilleurs et présents

plus rapidement sur le marché que ceux des concurrents. Parce que les multiculturels dans le

service de développement d’un nouveau produit de BEAU étaient pleinement responsables du

développement de nouveaux produits dans un maximum de deux ans, leur compétence

culturelle semblait manifeste (par ex., savoir culturel, communication transculturelle et

créativité).

En revanche, les multiculturels dans la firme d’audit et de conseil de gestion,

AuditCo (un pseudonyme), ne furent pas toujours sélectionnés pour des tâches et des rôles

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spécifiques. Les multiculturels qui travaillent pour International Finance Reporting Standards

(IFRS) (= Normes internationales d’information financière) constituent une exception : leurs

tâches requéraient de travailler de manière transculturelle parmi des pays membres de l’IASB

(International Accounting Standards Board : le Bureau international de normes comptables).

Bien que les pratiques d’audit fassent l’objet de calculs rigoureux et d’une rationalisation

élevée, ces pratiques sont aussi un processus émotionnel du fait que des rituels d’interaction

divers (par ex., les conversations, les interactions orientés à la tâche, le ‘parler-boutique’, les

commérages, les discussions générales) augmentent ou diminuent automatiquement l’énergie

émotionnelle à la fois des auditeurs et des clients (Collins, 1981, 1987). Aucun auditeur ne

travaille seul ; au contraire, ils travaillent en groupes. Le processus d’audit tournait pour cette

raison autour d’une confiance forte et d’une cohésion entre ses membres. En outre, le

personnel d’AuditCo doit faire preuve d’un degré élevé de loyauté afin d’être perçu comme

vraiment professionnel et digne de promotion. Ceci s’est révélé comme une éthique de travail

obéissant quasi à l’instar d’une machine aux idéaux d’engagement et de professionnalisme,

qui tous deux étaient tenus en haute estime dans l’idéologie professionnelle. Toute théorie

créée en étudiant la compétence multiculturelle à AuditCo avait moins de chances d’être

solide qu’elle n’en avait dans le cas de BEAU.

J’ai analysé les données et ajusté périodiquement les catégories tout au long du travail

de terrain aux fins de confirmer les catégories de test et de mettre au point davantage mon

étude. J’ai codé les transcriptions d’interviews, les notes d’observation et les documents en

utilisant Nvivo9, un programme d’analyse qualitative de données, qui m’a permis de

visualiser les relations entre les différentes parties des données et entre les données et les

idées théoriques (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 44). J’ai codé d’abord les données de BEAU,

suivies par les données d’AuditCo. Cette façon de faire m’a aidé à comparer et à contraster les

données provenant des deux sites de recherche. Quand le travail de terrain fut achevé, j’ai

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analysé une nouvelle fois les notes de terrain, les mémos et les transcriptions d’interviews

pour déterminer en quoi ma compréhension et les pratiques des multiculturels sur ces deux

sites ne s’accordaient pas.

Dans la section suivante, je me tourne vers les conclusions qui se sont dégagées de

cette analyse. Je décris d’abord comment les multiculturels influencent le processus de travail

d’équipe en assumant le rôle du courtage culturel. J’explique ensuite les conditions de

l’organisation et les conditions du travail d’équipe et explore comment des situations

différentes permettent aux multiculturels et les empêchent de jouer un rôle de courtage

culturel sur le lieu de travail.

4. Les Conclusions de La Recherche

La thèse fournit des réponses différentes aux trois questions ci-dessus qui ont orienté la

recherche. D’abord, elle définit la construction d’une compétence multiculturelle, développe

un modèle conceptuel de la construction et décrit son impact sur l’efficacité d’une équipe

multiculturelle. En se basant sur la littérature antérieure et compte tenu de l’environnement

transculturel du commerce international, voici la définition de la compétence multiculturelle

qui est proposée pour le domaine du management international:

La compétence multiculturelle est l’aptitude d’un multiculturel à

s’appuyer sur un savoir culturel et des aptitudes transculturelles (telles que

l’adaptation du comportement et de la communication à travers les cultures) pour

intervertir efficacement des cadres culturels et appliquer la métacognition

culturelle à des contextes culturels disparates dans le but de travailler avec des

personnes d’horizons culturels différents pour un résultat organisationnel désiré.

Cette définition est large, mais simple. La compétence multiculturelle résulte d’une

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flexibilité comportementale acquise à partir d’expériences culturelles multiples que ces

individus utilisent ensuite pour interagir efficacement avec des personnes de différentes

cultures dans des contextes transculturels.

Deuxièmement, la thèse examine en profondeur les rôles que les multiculturels jouent

dans une multinationale qui produit des cosmétiques. Elle se concentre sur la façon dont les

multiculturels, tels des courtiers culturels, influencent les processus de travail d’équipe dans le

développement d’un nouveau produit. Je m’appuie sur un ensemble unique de données que

j’ai développées à partir d’un travail de terrain comme je l’ai décrit ci-dessus. Ma recherche

ethnographique a montré comment des chefs de projet multiculturels comblaient efficacement

les vides organisationnels, culturels et régionaux pour intégrer des savoirs disparates et

atténuer des conflits en vue d’un ensemble innovant, cohérent. Le courtage culturel de

multiculturels dans des équipes mondiales fut identifié du fait qu’ils remplissent un rôle

unique en (1) gérant la connaissance par : (a) l’apport d’une connaissance nouvelle du produit

et du marché locaux, (b) la traduction de nuances culturelles, et (c) en mettant en relation

géographiquement des connaissances et capacités diverses ; et 2) en gérant les conflits par : (a)

la réduction des malentendus interculturels et (b) la manifestation d’un comportement flexible

avec des personnes de cultures diverses. Cette recherche construit non seulement une nouvelle

théorie mais encore elle met en communication une recherche disparate sur le

multiculturalisme et son impact sur la gestion de la diversité et les processus de travail d’une

équipe mondiale que d’autres théories ont offerts.

Troisièmement, la thèse explore les facteurs contextuels qui ont un impact sur les

rôles multiculturels que remplissent des équipes de travail mondiales, en comparant des

individus multiculturels dans deux types d’organisations très différentes. Cette comparaison

complète les conclusions des rôles de courtage culturel joués par les multiculturels. Bien que

les cinq activités de courtage notées ci-dessus soulignent comment des multiculturels

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façonnent activement leurs rôles dans des équipes mondiales, les attributs de leur organisation,

le caractère des équipes dans lesquelles ils travaillent et comment des conditions individuelles

peuvent soit promouvoir soit empêcher de telles activités. Les stratégies organisationnelles de

GRH, un stéréotype dans les équipes mondiales, et les conflits de valeur culturelle réduisent la

bonne volonté d’un multiculturel et son aptitude à jour un rôle de courtage culturel. En

revanche, la culture organisationnelle, l’hétérogénéité de l’équipe et la gestion de la différence

de langue ont enhardi les multiculturels à jouer le rôle de courtiers culturels, particulièrement

en leur permettant de remplir ce rôle plus efficacement. De telles conditions de découpage

sont actives à trois niveaux : à l’intérieur de l’organisation, de l’équipe et de l’individu.

Chaque condition est en corrélation au même niveau et à d’autres niveaux. Par exemple, la

stratégie GRM est ancrée dans la culture organisationnelle et influe sur l’hétérogénéité de

l’équipe. De même, les stéréotypes dans les équipes mondiales peuvent être à l’origine de

conflits de valeurs culturels. Cette étude comparative identifie par conséquent un ensemble de

facteurs affectant les rôles que remplissent les membres d’une équipe multiculturelle. L’étude

montre aussi comment ces facteurs constituent à la fois des défis et des opportunités pour les

salariés multiculturels dans ces deux organisations. La figure 2 expose le modèle conceptuel

des conclusions d’ensemble. Elle décrit le courtage culturel à l’intérieur et à travers des

équipes mondiales au siège et dans les filiales locales comme le premier mode de

transformation par les multiculturels de leur compétence multiculturelle en processus de

travail d’équipe mondiale, elle montre en quoi et comment les facteurs contextuels permettent

aux multiculturels ou les empêchent de pareils rôles.

5. Implications Pratiques

La thèse suscite un vif intérêt de la part des praticiens confrontés à la tâche de gérer des

salariés aux identités culturelles d’une complexité croissante. D’abord, elle a des implications

pratiques pour la composition d’équipes mondiales dans les multinationales. Pour être

245
performantes et rivaliser avec succès, les organisations multinationales doivent innover à un

niveau mondial, effectuer simultanément une intégration planétaire et une différenciation

locale (Bartlet &Goshal, 1989 ; Nohria & Ghoshal, 1997). Par exemple, bien que certains

contextes de travail représentent un challenge plus ou moins grand pour les multiculturels

selon leurs attributs personnels tels que la personnalité, les talents, les expériences culturelles

et la nature de la tâche, la direction devrait tenir compte des multiculturels en composant les

équipes mondiales. Je suggère que les organisations multinationales préoccupées par les

résultats potentiels de multiculturels devraient se pencher sur des manières alternatives

d’’encapsuler’ leurs membres, au sens où il s’agit de faire correspondre la convenance et les

demandes d’une équipe avec les caractéristiques diverses de ses salariés multiculturels.

Deuxièmement, ma recherche éclaire la formation de multiculturels et de mono-

culturels. Les chercheurs ont souligné l’importance de la spécificité dans la formation

(Mendenhall & Stahl, 2000). La recherche de la dissertation peut aider les multinationales à

‘customiser’ une formation selon les besoins spécifiques des salariés. En effet, les leçons que

les multinationales retirent du fait d’employer des multiculturels pour des projets particuliers

devraient être mises à profit pour former d’autres salariés multiculturels et mono-culturels

pour des tâches similaires. La première étape pour une formation réussie est, bien sûr,

d’évaluer le niveau de compétence et les caractéristiques d’un employé à l’égard des deux

rôles dont la thèse suggérait qu’ils contribuent à l’efficacité de l’équipe. En utilisant la

présente recherche comme un ‘blueprint’ pour l’intervention et la formation du personnel, les

multinationales n’aideront pas seulement les multiculturels, mais plus important, elles

aideront les mono-culturels à améliorer leur compétence à travers une formation sur mesures.

En fin de compte, cet investissement améliorera la performance commerciale (Mendenhall &

Stahl, 2000).

Finalement, en dépit d’un personnel de plus en plus multiculturel dans les

246
multinationales, une recherche peu abondante a examiné les facteurs contextuels liés à

l’organisation et la manière dont ils affectent les aptitudes des multiculturels à remplir leur

rôle de courtage dans les équipes mondiales. Peut-être le cadre de variables contextuelles qui

a été élaboré peut-il servir d’indication pour les directeurs de ressources humaines dans les

multinationales.

6. Perspectives Pour Une Recherche Ultérieure

Dans une mesure plus ou moins grande, la plupart des sociétés mondiales doivent faire

face à quatre défis (ou dualités) : mondial vs local ; connaissances complexes dispersées qui

doivent être intégrées ; l’image nationale de l’entreprise basée dans le pays vs portée

mondiale et apprentissage mondial ; et innovation rapide dans les produits vs continuité dans

les marques et canaux partout dans le monde. La thèse montre que les multiculturels

permettent aux firmesmondiales de dépasser ces défis dans la mesure où elles intègrent

efficacement leur succès commercial.

La thèse a été une première étape vers une meilleure compréhension des

multiculturels dans les organisations. Elle visait à progresser au-delà des conceptualisations

actuelles de multiculturalisme et de diversité démographique et d’identifier les rôles que les

multiculturels jouent dans des équipes mondiales, ainsi que les facteurs contextuels qui

influencent les multiculturels sur leurs lieux de travail. Partout, la thèse renforce l’importance

du multiculturalisme dans le management international. En procédant à cette démonstration,

la thèse pointe aussi vers une recherche ultérieure, à savoir : les multiculturels comme

nouvelle approche du transfert de connaissance à distance (contextes virtuels) ; typologie du

multiculturalisme, c’est-à-dire des multiculturels différents peuvent apporter des compétences

différentes ; négociation de l’identité culturelle et son impact sur la performance de travail : le

côte sombre du multiculturalisme comme groupe minoritaire dans les organisations.

247
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Abstract

This dissertation explores multiculturals in global corporations. To date, limited research helps us
understand the role of multicultural individuals in facilitating the effective functioning of global
teams. To investigate this under-examined phenomenon, this dissertation presents the first empirical
study of the roles of multiculturals in organizations by facilitating 10-month ethnographic field work
in two MNCs: a leading cosmetic MNC and an auditing and consulting MNC. This dissertation
comprises three papers. The first paper develops the theoretical model of bicultural competence and
its impact on multicultural team effectiveness. I define bicultural competence, determine its
antecedents, and identify two roles that bi/multiculturals might play in promoting multicultural team
effectiveness: boundary spanner and conflict mediator. The second paper examines multiculturals’
cultural brokerage role for team work processes in global new product development teams: how
multiculturals influence teams’ knowledge processes and handle cross-cultural conflicts (not only
collocated but also virtual between corporate headquarters and local subsidiaries). Multiculturals play
a critical role that influence knowledge processes and cross-cultural conflict management within
global teams where cultural and national heterogeneity seems more complicated than organizational
researchers have recognized to date. The third paper investigates boundary conditions and how they
impact multiculturals to enact their roles. I compare and contrast multiculturals in two MNCs in
different industries. In particular, I identify boundary conditions that have impact on multiculturals in
three levels of analysis: organizational; team; individual. Furthermore, I propose what factors
challenge or enable multiculturals and accordingly, how multiculturals overcome challenges and use
given opportunities in order to perform effectively or yield such challenges in organizations.

Key words:

Multiculturalism ; Cultural Brokerage; Bicultural competence ; Boundary spanner ; Conflict

mediation ;Global Team Effectiveness ; Boundary conditions for work performing ; Comparative
ethnography

Résumé

Cette thèse explore le rôle de multiculturels dans les multinationales. Les multiculturels sont connus
pour leur compétence et leur potentiel culturels susceptibles de contribuer à l’efficacité d’une
organisation. Peu d’études à ce jour ont examiné les multiculturels dans les multinationales et
pratiquement aucune recherche n’a essayé de comprendre le rôle des multiculturels dans la facilitation
d’un processus de travail d’équipe efficace. En vue d’étudier un phénomène qui n’a pas été
suffisamment scruté, cette dissertation a mobilisé un travail de terrain ethnographique dans deux
multinationales importantes sur une période de 10 mois. Elle étudie les rôles de multiculturels dans
des équipes mondiales en se référant à trois contextes : (1) la compétence multiculturelle et son
impact sur l’efficacité de l’équipe ; (2) comment les multiculturels influencent les processus de travail
d’équipe ; (3) en quoi et comment des facteurs liés au contexte affectent l’aptitude des multiculturels à
jouer des rôles.

Mot-clefs:

Multiculturalism ; Cultural Brokerage; Bicultural competence ; Boundary spanner ; Conflict

mediation ; Global Team Effectiveness ; Boundary conditions ; Comparative ethnography