| An international joint venture merges the resources of two culturally diverse companies into a separate common company with shared goals. This study examines the impacts of cross-cultural differences on teams in an international joint venture environment, where a team approach is essential to expedite global market penetration and to enhance the potential for company longevity in a highly competitive business climate. A global telecommunications company was examined, via a case study, to evaluate national and organizational cultural differences, their impact on team roles and team effectiveness.;The exploratory research questions to be answered included whether, within the international joint venture, national differences could be identified as reflected in Hofstede's 1980 research, whether differing organizational types could be identified for the parent companies based on the Cameron/Freeman Organizational Typology, whether an association could be found between cultural background and team roles based on Belbin's research on team participation styles, and whether there were relationships between national and/or organizational cultural differences and team effectiveness.;Research was conducted in three phases--personal interviews, electronic surveys, and team workshops. The findings indicated strong impacts of cross-cultural differences, both national and organizational. It reflected Hofstede's research results in all areas but one and highlighted the importance of conflict management as a cultural dimension, identified major differences in organizational types, identified several team roles with ties to organizational culture, and confirmed the impacts on team effectiveness.;This exploratory research provides a deeper understanding of the basic concepts that are deemed central to the interworkings of the international joint venture, its success, and its longevity. It identifies cross-cultural impacts on teams in the IJV environment, and provides a workshop lesson-plan for identifying impacts and initiating organizational learning and mitigating actions. |
