In an era of globalization most people work in an environment of cultural diversity. Increasingly, companies rely on teamwork, arguing that diverse teams make better decisions than do homogeneous teams; however, better performance does not come automatically. Culturally diverse teams face many challenges.

As you have learned, people from different cultures have different approaches to making decisions, solving problems, and negotiating deals. They view the world differently. Westerners tend to have a linear view of the world with an either-or approach, whereas Asians have a more holistic world view that is inclusive of contradictions. Al-though the top executives at both Daimler and Chrysler tended to be either German or American, the employees and managers had a variety of backgrounds. Daimler employs many Turks and people from Eastern Europe. Chrysler in many ways reflects the cultural diversity of the American population at large. You can see similar situations in almost all major corporations around the world. For example, in one Swiss multinational company all work teams are culturally links london diverse. In a team of 10 people it is not uncommon to have four or five nationalities represented. Even if the majority of the team members are Swiss, the cultural diversity still can be a major issue. The Swiss Germans, Swiss French, and Swiss Italians all come from different orientations and speak different languages. The cultural and communication dynamics in such groups are complex and at times confusing.