Name: Jane Graduate
Research question: In a global environment, what is the relationship between
understanding cultural differences and promoting quality management and collaborative
teamwork?
Appelbaum, S.H., Shapiro, B., & Elbaz, D. (1998). The management of multicultural group conflict. Team P
Management, 4(5), 211. Retrieved October 19, 2005, from ABI/Inform database.
This article examines the role of conflict within teams and especially within multicultural
teams. It presents recommendations for managing this conflict constructively in order to
increase creativity and productivity and take advantage of the strengths of multicultural
team members to be more competitive in a global economy. Stephen Applebaum has
published many articles on management and communication with the majority published
in scholarly journals. Barbara Shapiro has also published quite a few articles, most in
conjunction with Appelbaum; many were published in scholarly journals. The authors'
recommendations are supported by literature in the field and seems unbiased. Although
the article is a little old, it presents ideas about using the strengths of a diverse group to
increase team productivity and demonstrates the idea that understanding cultural
differences is important to collaborative teamwork.
Lindsay, J., Turcotte, D., & Hopmeyer, E. (Eds.). (2003). Crossing boundaries and developing alliances thro
work.
New York: Haworth Press.
Matveev, A.V., & Milter, R. G. (2004). The value of intercultural competence for performance of multicultur
Performance
Management, 10(5), 104-111. Retrieved November 9, 2005, from Emerald Fulltext database.
Von Glinow, M.A., Shapiro, D., & Brett, J. (2004). Can we talk, and should we? Managing emotional conflic
Academy of Management Review, 29(4), 578-595. Retrieved October 19, 2005, from Business Sou
This article examines the difficulty of oral communication in multicultural teams where
there is emotional conflict, and oral conventions in different cultures might increase the
conflict. It discusses the problems involved in using discussion to resolve the conflicts in
those situations and presents alternatives to speech. All three authors have published
many articles, and several of their articles have been cited in other works. Van Glinow
and Shapiro have both published other articles on cultural values, multiculturalism in the
workplace, and cultural values. Brett's work has mainly been in workplace conflict and
negotiation. This article is a review and analysis of existing literature and not a research
study. The authors present different aspects of the problems and suggest different
solutions without any apparent bias. There is a lengthy reference list of scholarly articles
to support the authors' conclusions. The article presents an interesting perspective on the
effect of different linguistic conventions that may hinder collaborative teamwork. It will
be useful in my paper because it demonstrates a significant problem in managing a
multicultural workplace and promoting effective teamwork.
Yavas, B. F., & Rezayat, F. (2003). The impact of culture on managerial perceptions of quality. International
Cultural Management: CCM, 3(2), 213-235. Retrieved August 2, 2005, from ABI/Inform databas
This article summarizes the results of a survey aimed at determining the relationship
between culture and middle managers' perception of quality in 38 companies in several
different locations: United States, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. One of the authors,
Burhan F. Yavas, a professor in the department of finance and quantitative methods at
California State University, has authored or coauthored articles on quality management,
including several studying the significance of culture. The article is in a scholarly journal
and has an extensive reference list of mainly scholarly articles. The authors' analysis of
the data and shortcomings of the methodology is objective; it presents both sides of the
issue and is supported by evidence and facts from the survey. The literature review and
survey data illustrate my research premise that it is important to understand and take into
consideration cultural differences when attempting to establish quality management and
teamwork in a multicultural work environm ent. I can use the data and conclusions to
illustrate the points I will make in my paper.