Discussion Overview
I DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO READING, SO READ AND LOOK AT THE EXAMPLES
This week we discussed cultural integration (Ch 10), which is a beneficial leadership approach when you need to create an entirely new set of norms. This approach is often time-consuming because it involves compromising and agreeing on norms and values that are acceptable to all team members. In addition, we discussed some foundational readings on “shared value creation”, which is concerned with integrating economic and social values to come up with entirely new business models in the social/sustainability domain.
Questions & Instructions
- Can you share an example from your own experience where cultural integration within a diverse team led to successful (or unsuccessful) outcomes? What strategies were employed to ensure effective integration?
- Cultural integration requires the creation of entirely new sets of norms. What challenges do you think arise when attempting to establish new norms, and how can these challenges be addressed?
BONUS/OPTIONAL: Michael Porter suggests in his article “Creating Shared Value” that firms/teams may benefit from integrating social and economic values to generate greater innovation and more sustainable competitive advantages. You may also approach the questions above from this perspective, meaning how teams may integrate economic and social values to generate innovative norms and high-performing global teams.
EXAMPLES
- Can you share an example from your own experience where cultural integration within a diverse team led to successful (or unsuccessful) outcomes? What strategies were employed to ensure effective integration?
On one of my previous teams we had to move our roles to a brand new team in Argentina. Although this team would be replacing the American team (and the Americans would be assigned new roles on different teams), there was a handover period of about 6 months where both the American and Argentinian teams were treated as one global team with quite a bit of work to accomplish. As I reflect, I think the collaboration and handover amongst the two teams would have been more successful if stronger cultural integration took place. Although we needed to be one team, Americans still only saw their fellow Americans as their team members and the same with the Argentinians. As the book mentions, fostering a strong team identity is one of the key ways cultural integration can form. I also think both groups did not do a good job of focusing on behaviors and instead “negatively evaluated” different values. This was exacerbated, too, by the teams only connecting virtually and never in person. This was in the early days of virtual workplaces so truly fostering relationships with others strictly over video call was difficult and seemed disingenuous
In this example, these were interdependent teams where cultural integration would have really made a difference. Clearer communication (especially with the non-native-English speakers), relationship building, and creating a sense of community and team identity all would have made the team transition more effective and even enjoyable for the teams involved.
2. Cultural integration requires the creation of entirely new sets of norms. What challenges do you think arise when attempting to establish new norms, and how can these challenges be addressed?
I believe the biggest challenge that can arise is causing team members from different cultures to potentially feel like their own cultural values are being replaced in favor of the new norms. In a case like this, it is important to directly share with the overall team the shared purpose and “merging” of cultures to create and environment of inclusivity to foster success. Those who have this perspective may need additional support from leadership and their colleagues to help define their sense of purpose and understand the value they bring even if the team approach is slightly different from the home culture they are most familiar with. This is where open communication amongst a team with a strong sense of community is vital. It may take time to get there and make others uncomfortable at first, but candid conversations will help everyone understand intent, goals, and the importance of team collaboration and integration.
As mentioned in the textbook, this communication must take place effectively (slow down, ask questions), potentially remotely, and even in written form. Each of these approaches must be taken with care, especially as cultural integration is in its early stages
EXAMPLE 2
1. Can you share an example from your own experience where cultural integration within a diverse team led to successful (or unsuccessful) outcomes? What strategies were employed to ensure effective integration?
An experience where cultural integration made a diverse team successful was when I was part of a group case study in my senior year of college for one of my supply chain classes. I had been assigned a random group, and the project was due at the end of the semester, so it gave us a big amount of time to work on it. As more of the technical parts of the work were being assigned, some of my team members seemed to have pushed off the project until they absolutely needed to work on it, while others preferred to have it done as soon as possible. This causes misalignment and frustrations around the expectations of the team. To fix this, we had an important group meeting that was only about establishing clear roles, making a group chat with phone numbers, setting shared deadlines, and weekly check-ins. This caused our team to be more cohesive, and we were able to present our project and received praise from the professor. In conclusion, cultural integration requires creating shared norms, and effective communication ensures this.
2. Cultural integration requires the creation of entirely new sets of norms. What challenges do you think arise when attempting to establish new norms, and how can these challenges be addressed?
A big problem that might arise from establishing a new norm would be resistance to change. Once people are used to working a certain way, it is hard for them to get out of that way of thinking and try something new because it might lead to lower performance and confusion. This can become even worse if leadership guidance is not clear, which will cause conflict and misalignment. A way to address this is to openly communicate with the employees and explain the reasoning behind the change in norms, and answer any concerns that might be confusing. It is also necessary to deal with the problem early so that there is not such a drastic change and help everyone get adjusted to it.
EXAMPLE 3
- Can you share an example from your own experience where cultural integration within a diverse team led to successful (or unsuccessful) outcomes? What strategies were employed to ensure effective integration?
Something that my team just deployed was a platform that vends Azure and AWS accounts automatically to all of our OpCos and business units. To give a little perspective, all of our OpCos have their own IT orgs and their own cultures within those orgs. We had to come together and build this platform and make sure it fit everyone’s needs from a corporate perspective. How we ended up becoming successful was putting together a center of excellence that had members from many OpCo IT organizations and they were able to give their insight, input, and recommendations to help us be successful. This allowed us to make a flexible platform that fit the needs of all of our OpCos and the many different standards they have throughout their organizations. Although this issue wasn’t specific to culture across nationalities, it was working with different workplace cultures and making sure the product we produces was a best fit for everyone. - Cultural integration requires the creation of entirely new sets of norms. What challenges do you think arise when attempting to establish new norms, and how can these challenges be addressed?
I think the challenges faced are ones like losing identity, lack of immediate value, or even over standardization. These are all valid concerns from an organizations perspective, but they can be handled by having the right intent and communication when making these new sets of norms. For example, you can involve stakeholders or companies in initial planning, deliver small wins post change, and define what areas are non-negotiable and which areas have more flexibility. You as leadership have to realize the shift this change is going to make and plan to operate under the lens of the people you are impacting
