impact of human resources
Employing team members from around the world for a single, collective effort may allow organizations to achieve cost savings and maximize the impact of human resources. This implies that a manager’s ability and skill to create and manage multinational teams is a significant factor in enabling an organization to realize its goals and visions.
Discussion Question: What evidence is there to suggest that cultural diversity in a company can be a source of competitive advantage? How can this potential be realized in practice and what are the main difficulties involved? Finally, how do you interpret the concepts of e-ethical leadership and practice in light of what you know about cross-cultural management, and how can these concepts by effectively applied to cross-cultural teams?
A typical answer should have about 500 words, but it is the quality of the answer that matters, not the number of words. Satisfactory answers will demonstrate clear understanding of the topics and issues related to the DQ. Good answers will be able to explain the reasons in more depth. Excellent answers will be able to raise appropriate critical questions. Weak answers will demonstrate only a partial grasp of what is important in the context of the DQ.
Reading materials:
1. Symons, J. & Stenzel, C. (2007) ‘Virtually borderless: an examination of culture in virtual teaming’, Journal of General Management, 32 (3), pp.1-17, Business Source Premier [Attached as “reading material 1”]
2. Lee, M.R. (2009) ‘E-ethical leadership for virtual project teams’, International Journal of Project Management, 27 (5), pp.456-463. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2008.05.012 [Attached as “reading material 2”]
3. Brett, J., Behfar, K. & Kern, M. (2006) ‘Managing multicultural teams’, Harvard Business Review, 84 (11), pp.84-91, Business Source Premier [Attached as “reading material 4”]