MGT201 Leading Cross-Cultural Virtual Team: Cross-Cultural Negotiation Challenges Assessment 2 Answer

Introduction

The 'Cross-culture' terminology clearly states the interaction, approach, and behavior of people or employees towards each other belonging to a different culture, having different customs and values. The cross-culture helps in bringing unity and better understanding between different cultures along with showing equal respect and gratitude towards the lower-class population as well (Farooq, Haoand Liu, 2019). Cross-culturalnegotiation is another form of challenge,where probabilities of miscommunication and other issues that stem from cross-culture. This is because different actions and words can be understood differently by other cultures. Therefore, in this forthcoming essay the issues in terms of cross-cultural negotiation and strategies to overcome them are discussed precisely. by considering cross-cultural negotiation technique global managers can easily seek advantage over the rivals in the market. 

Identification of cross-cultural issues

Many issues originate from cross-culture, which are the fundamental reasons that lead to cross-cultural differences; 

The method through which communication is practiced differs from people to people also from one culture to another. The pattern or style of communication is different from one another. The primary communication style is the usage of language, which differs from one individual to another because of their cultural background (PBS, 2020). In this regard, it is quite difficult to negotiate in a virtual environment where the members are belonging to different cultural background. Meeting and greeting like handshake are one of the significant aspects in business which cannot take place in the case of virtual team which oftentimes create some issues in negotiation process. 

There are various approaches to resolve disputes that, also there are different opinions and viewpoints about conflicts that differ from culture to culture; some of the cultures take conflict in a very optimistic manner while few tend to relate arguments and conflicts in a hostile and demotivating aspect. In many countries like the US, conflicts are least desirable, yet they are motivated to deal with arguments and extract the positivity out of it. This enables the people to deal with conflict along with understanding the exact motive behind it. In the Eastern Countries, conflicts are considered disrespectful and demeaning also offensive at times. Therefore, this also leads to huge arguments and fights with each other (Zhao and Pan, 2017). 

The roles that are played in terms of making decisions varies from culture to culture; in the US, the decisions are often delegated, which implies that often the official allocates specific roles and responsibilities to its subordinates, whereas in many South European and Latin American countries have a very sturdy value positioned for the people eligible and allowed to take a decision. When the decisions are made in groups, the protocols and decorum are considered by each member of the team (Zhao and Pan, 2017). In Japan, the mutual consensus is mostly appreciated. Whereas, it is imperative to remember that whenever an individual takes a decision for the whole group, the only aspect that is mainly focused on are the benefits the decision-maker derives from it. Therefore, this leads to huge issues amongst the cross- cultures. 

There are various approaches that different cultures have adopted in order to complete the work that has been assigned to them. Few people have different access to resources, which is one significant reason. The other factors that determine the completion of work from culture to culture are the different judgments related to rewards for the completion of the task. Different concepts on time or punctuality also management, and various viewpoints on how relationship development and duty-oriented work should go hand-in-hand (Schmidt, Heffernan and Ward, 2020). When the main concern is to work collectively, the main focus is given on developing relationships before collaborating; the Hispanic and Asian cultures tend to add more value to the developing bond at the primary stage of collaboration.In contrast, the Europeans and Americans tend to focus only on completing the task assigned to them rather than developing bond. 

Analysis of Cross-cultural implications

The cross-cultural implications that are essential for mitigating the alarming issues between different cultures are crucial to understand and identify at the same time. In order to overcome cross-cultural negotiation issues, the delegates need to make each employee or people understand the values and importance of different cultures (Yan, 2016). The message that is to be conveyed should have sober and appropriate words so that the impression is not arrogant and demeaning to the employees. The tone of the message that is being conveyed both verbally and non-verbally should be official and professional (Sheldon et al. 2017). The implication for handling different approaches towards conflicts should be done by making the people of different cultures identify the motive of conflict that is to make them learn the new aspects and exchange ideas regarding each other's culture. 

This also helps in building perceptions to handle conflicts in a positive manner. The implication to mitigate the issues stemming due to different approaches for decision making is by evaluating the benefits and the drawbacks that the team might experience because of varied opinions. The individual decision-maker should also evaluate not only the benefits but also the drawbacks that he/she might experience if the protocol is self-centered (Li, 2017). The last implication that should be considered for the different approaches used for the completion of tasks by the various cultures is by making them understand both the significance of team bonding and the accuracy required to complete the task. 

Linkage to theory 

In terms of cultural differences among employees, it can be argued that in this era of globalization, an organization needs to acquire global talent in order to achieve business growth and also to sustain growth in this highly competitive market. Therefore, global managers need to ensure that they treat their employees equally irrespective of their cultural background. In regards to this, Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory is of utmost crucial and relevant to recognize the aspects of cultural differences and take measures regarding the cultural issues to cope with the cultural challenges (Gallego-Álvarez and Pucheta-Martínez, 2020).

Power Distance

This element of the theory represents the potential of inequality present within an organization (Alsanoosy, Spichkova and Harland, 2019). The power of higher authorities creates a significant gap in communication as they do not allow employees to share their concerns freely. Hence, it can be asserted that global leaders should not allow the existence of inequality within the workplace for managing diverse human resource base and to gain higher productivity. 

Individualism vs. Collectivism

Individualism represents the preference of their own goal rather than the wellbeing of everyone. Different approaches in doing a specific task cannot give high productivity to global managers, whether by the help of group work can help global managers to accumulate different approaches and seeking the optimum working potential of employees. 

Uncertainty avoidance index

Regarding the cultural issues within an organization, it can be argued that global managers should manage a low UAI rate in order to create an open working culture towards innovation and change (Guo et al., 2018). 

Masculinity vs. Femininity

Due to the integration of different cultures within a single workplace, it is essential to focus on the quality of life and relationship among the team members. Therefore, global managers should focus on maintaining a low MAS score in order to cope with the challenges of cultural issues (Guo et al., 2018). 

Long- and short-term orientation

Long-term orientation is of utmost significance to prefer group work rather than focusing on own self. Global managers of an organization need to implement some rules and regulations to create long term orientation among employees by the help of which modesty can be executed within the workplace. 

Indulgence vs. restraint

High indulgence represents the prioritization of coaching, monitoring, and work-life balance. On the other hand, high restraint demonstrates the pessimistic approach of people (Guo et al., 2018). Thus, global managers should manage high indulgence rather than restraint in order to provide work-life balance and equal career growth opportunities to everyone irrespective of their culture. 

Recommendations

Concerning the issues of cultural differences, it can be argued that managers should not judge a person concerning his or her cultural background as well as global managers should not have any perceived thought regarding the same. Henceforth some crucial recommendations by the help of which global managers can cope with the cultural challenges are as follows; 

A manager needs to follow a proper model of leading people to create the harmony that can help to implement a sense of humor among people who belong to different cultural backgrounds (Dai,2018). 

It is imperative to develop a team and focus on teamwork to create equality among the workforce. This approach can help global managers to address the issues of cultural differences. 

In terms of cross-cultural negotiation global managers should not focus or consider divergent negotiation style as it is not quite effective to handle virtual teams. Henceforth, the global managers should focus  on the scenario and negotiate accordingly. 

Conclusion

The study on the cross-culture can be finally concluded after identifying and explaining the various factors that are the root cause of cross-cultural issues or differences. Through the implications, it can be comprehended the ways through which the problems can be controlled. The study has also included some effective recommendations that will help in not only mitigating issues but also developing unity amongst the various cultures. The Hofstede and contingency theory have been mentioned and explained in the study in which the cross-cultural issues have been linked.