Group Members•Maimoona Azhar 2013-ag-4848•Zunaira Ijaz 2013-ag-4846•Khadeeja 2013-ag-4861•Azka Riaz 2013-ag-4878•Iqra Tasleem 2013-ag-4829

Leading Team In Cultural Diversity

What is Cultural Diversity ?

• Diversity is nothing more than a difference from the majority.

• Culture is a set of norms that set standards for a society of what is acceptable behavior.

• Cultural diversity (also known as multiculturalism) is a group of diverse individuals from different cultures or societies. Usually, cultural diversity takes into account language, religion, race, gender, age and ethnicity.

Importance of Cultural Diversity

•Cognitive Flexibility & Problem Solving

•Roles and Motivation•Productive Conflict•Increased Productivity

Challenges to Lead Cultural Diverse Team

1. Understanding why people behave differently than expected:- Developing the understanding is the most challenging task leaders of cultural diverse teams are facing. Our behavior is always an expression of our values, so when you are leading people from a different culture you have to understand their norms and values in order to understand their behavior.

2. Avoid getting frustrated and angry:-

We always compare other people’s behavior with our own norms and values. If the behavior makes sense we accept it but if it doesn’t, we reject it. Sometimes that rejection leads to frustration and hostility. As a manager you should of course avoid showing frustration or hostility towards your employees behavior. It is however a challenging task.

Cont….

3. Motivating a cultural diverse team:- What we regard as motivation is closely related to culture and it is often the

case that what serves as a motivation factor in one culture is de-motivating people from another culture or other people might feel de-motivated by factor that you find extremely motivating.

4. Achieve the desired level of efficiency:- It is difficult to reach the desired level of efficiency in the multicultural team

because too much time is spent on sorting out misunderstandings, setting expectations and make everyone on the team pursue the same goals.

Cont….

5. Lack of proper training on leading a cultural diverse team:-

Finally the cross-cultural managers feel that they need the right tools to manage and lead a culturally diverse team. 

How to Lead Cultural Diverse Teams to High Performance

• Dr. Martha Maznevski introduced MBI Model that consist of 3 stages.

• She is a professor and MBA Program Director at IMD Business School in Switzerland as well as an author of numerous articles and books on the subject of organizational behavior, specializing in leadership, teams, and diversity.

• She states that there are three important stages that leaders must know and implement in order to build high performing cultural diverse teams.

3 Stages of MBI Model

MappingUnderstand the Similarities & Differences

BridgingCommunicate

and Take Differences into

Account

Integrating

Work Togather in New ways

Cont...1. Mapping :- Dr. Martha Maznevski claims that in order to lead diverse teams to high performance,

mapping is required as the first step in achieving such a goal. Mapping means identifying each member’s differences and similarities, such as personality, gender, culture, profession, work experience, skill abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.

2. Bridging :- Bridging includes communicating effectively through active listening, speaking, and

understanding with consideration for the member’s differences.

3. Integrating :- The final step to building a high performing diverse team is integrating. At this stage leader

have to direct the beahvior of team members to achieve the common Team Goals. Integrating consists of building team participation, resolving conflict, and creating innovation.

Cont….

• These three stages that Dr. Martha Maznevski outlines are sequential. If a team does not complete the mapping stage, then the team is never able to move on to the bridging stage. Likewise, if a team does not complete the bridging stage, then the team is never able to move on to the integrating stage.

Examples1. IBM :-

• Virginia M. Rometty (Chairman, President and CEO )

• Lindsay-Rae McIntyre (Chief Diversity Officer )

• IBM describes itself as “a company united by its values and the strength of character of every person that is an IBMer.”

• One way the company portrays this belief is through its diversity councils.These groups, which are headed by senior-level executives, meet monthly.

Cont...

2. Toyota Motors North America :-

• Jim Lentz ( CEO )• Latondra Newton ( Chief Diversity

Officer )• Toyota Motor North America believes

that in order to best serve its customers and keep communities strong, Toyota’s workforce, dealers and suppliers should reflect the diverse world in which we all live.

Cont….

3. General Motors :-

• Mary T. Barra ( Chairman and CEO )• Ken Barret ( Global Chief Diversity

Officer )• For General Motors, a commitment to

diversity starts at the top with Chairman and CEO Mary Barra, who chairs the company’s global diversity council. The council meets once a month.

References •http://www.ethnoconnect.com/articles/1-what-is-cultural-

diversity•https://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/

BUS208-4.3.1-Leading-Diverse-Teams-FINAL.pdf•http://classroom.synonym.com/advantages-diversity-team

s-7494.html•http://www.diversityinc.com

THANK YOU ! Any Questions ?