Effects of culture on teamwork

Employees play a major role in the success and growth of a business.  Other than being the direct link between the company and it's customers,  they also ensure that gials and objectives are met and this greatly facilitates growth.  In the case of companies operating in international markets, communication is an inyegral part of a business success especially because different regions have different modes of communication.  Often times,  lack of proper communication channels and lack of understanding roles assigned to employees greatly challenges the success of a business.  As VP of the service department,  the goal will therefore be to establish proper channels of communication and train employees on how to adapt to advancement in technology as a way of creating a good work environment and promote teamwork. 

To make teams more cohesive,  the management should focus on improving the communication within the organization especially in relation to the differences in opinions among the employees.  To achieve this,  the company should establish a uniform style of communication within all it's organization.  Using one language for instant when addressing employees will ensure that everyone gets the same message and nothing is lost in interpretation (McKenney & Roebuck, 2005).  Secondly,  the company should focus on solidifying it's corporate culture.  While businesses need to adapt to the culture of the people in the region it operates in,  businesses must use their corporate culture as a tool to ensure that employees have similar opinions and beliefs when it comes to fulfilling duties.  Employees will no longer disagree on what is right or wrong but rather follow the corporate culture to determine what is acceptable and what is not.

To create a high performing team,  the company must place corporate culture as a priority as it will help settle the differences that exist amongst employees.  At present,  employees mostly rely on their personal cultures and beliefs when making decisions.  Since the company is global,  employees have different cultural beliefs and therefore tend to differ in opinion (Cameron &Queen, 2006).  To remedy the problem,  management should have one corporate culture that governs employee decisions and conduct. Instead of basing decisions on personal beliefs,  employees will be expected to observe the corporate culture and engage in conduct outlined in the corporate culture.  Doing so will ensure that employees are on the same page and that decisions are aimed at meeting the company objectives and not influenced by personal bias.

The business internal environment will greatly affect the success of the teams.  In relation to culture,  challenges will occur in relation to things like time keeping,  respecting authority and attitude towards work. Some regions may have a culture of taking time when performing tasks while others prefer things to be done with urgency (Cameron & Queen, 2006).  In relation to language,  different languages will cause communication barriers and information may be misunderstood or misinterpreted and this will greatly affect the success of teams.  While there are international languages to use,  they may not be understood by everyone and there is also the likelihood that team members will communicate in local languages as this is what they are used to in their regions. 

The internal environment is also influenced by the political nature of the region the business is located in.  Since different regions have different political views,  laws are also likely to be different and some things may be acceptable in one region but not in others.  Such differences are likely to disruo the effectiveness of teams and this could create problems for the business (Storti, 2017).  Lastly is the level of technology in the regions.  Some countries are more developed than others and therefore have better technology.  Communication could be hindered especially when one region cannot access or fully utilize the technology used to communicate with other teams.  It is therefore crucial that the company focus on creating an ideal internal business environment that will resolve all issues related to culture,  language,  politics and technology within the regions it operates in.

To overcome the communication barriers and other challenges related to culture,  the company should solidify it's corporate culture such that employees follow a uniform code of conduct regardless of the region they work from.  This will ensure that all employees are on the same page,  have similar objectives and are working towards the same goals. Going forward,  the company should focus on training employees on how to operate modern forms of technology. It should also ensure that all it's business premises have similar technology regardless of what region.  Lastly,  the company should create a platform where employees can meet and interact to facilitate better relationships.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Storti, C. (2017). The art of doing business across cultures: 10 countries, 50 mistakes, and 5 steps to cultural competence

Roebuck, D. B., & McKenney, M. A. (2005). Improving business communication skills. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall

Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (2006). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: Based on the competing values framework. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass