Case Study Question A Diversified and Global Team:

. He had worked well with a culturally diverse team on the penetrations into USA and Europe. He recalled how he became closer with the Euboean and Indian nationals on his team than with his fellow Caymanians by making a concerted effort to reach out to them. It required him to reject long-standing stereotypes that many Caymanians held toward one another as a result of longstanding border disputes and religious tension. Yet Wilde was able to find common ground by sharing that his father was born in India. As part of the Global Competence Development cohort, Wilde visited sales teams often, getting out and mixing around. In country after country, he had gained insight into the region specific challenges faced by his colleagues in different markets. As he thought about his experiences, Wilde became more confident in his abilities. Still, the job remained a huge risk. If he took the job, it would be do or die: succeed, and his star would continue to rise even faster, but fail, and years of hard work and careful planning would be negated.

Working across Boundaries Language

The entire team was about to meet in Dubai. It was the perfect chance for Wilde to sit in on the session, and then meet with human resources and the teams senior leadership the following day. When he arrived, he was shocked by how many languages were being spoken before the meeting started. As he walked around the room, he heard English in one corner, French in another, and Spanish in yet another. It quickly became apparent to Wilde that the team, given free rein to sit wherever they wanted, had divided itself based on their native language, even though everyone in the group spoke English. As the days sessions progressed, Wilde noticed that the language based cliques also had religions and cultural traditions in common. As they bonded, these clusters drifted further apart from the larger group. Wilde began to see why people segregated into language groups. He noticed that team members did not all have the same level of fluency or comfort in English, which further exacerbated the language barriers among them. Native and highly-fluent English speakers spoke too quickly which caused less fluent colleagues to hesitate with their questions. During one break, Wilde overheard one of the quieter team members ask his colleagues, What did he contribute today? What does he bring to the table? Wilde began to ask himself whether the shyer members of the team were legitimately concerned with their more fluent teammates. Perhaps, they were simply disguising their weaker skills by questioning the usefulness of speakers they didnt understand. Wilde learned that team members working in Central America had it especially tough. They were already operating in two languages, since English was widely used by business contacts. Wilde thought back to his work in business development, where he first led a linguistically and culturally diverse team. In order to increase levels of communication across his business teams, Wilde felt that they should operate in a common language. He implemented the use of English as a lingua franca to bring team members onto an even footing. Though it showed early successes, not everyone embraced the idea. He wondered if he would fare any better with an even larger and more diverse team.

Time Zones

The group was also diverse in terms of time zones, work week, and holidays. Workers in the United States, had their weekends on Saturday and Sunday, while workers from some parts of Central America did not work on Thursday or Friday. This meant that the groups common workweek consisted only of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On top of this, the groups core operations spanned four different time zones. Plus, different countries had different holidays, and didnt always communicate these holidays to the others. When one team member in Jamaica tried to contact another employee in the Central America, he became frustrated when no one answered his calls, not realizing the office was closed for a national observance. National Culture and Age In addition to the confusion surrounding holidays and schedules, team members also did not fully understand how diverse they were. When asked how many nationalities were represented in their group, team members regularly guessed between 10 and 15. Some people did not even know from which country their teammates came, incorporating them into broad categories like European. Later that day, the human resources officer responsible for the region gave Wilde profiles of the team. His team members which represented different countries and ranged in age from 22 to 61 years. Among them, they spoke 18 different languages including dialects. Shocked by the makeup of his unit, Wilde again wondered if he was in over his head. He thought it would be intriguing to be a part of such a diverse team with so many talents and interesting stories. But he wondered if the group was just too diverse to function. Its recent failures were still foremost in his mind.

In the Field

Over the next week, Wilde, Brown, Lars, and Greene embarked on a whirlwind tour of the groups other offices to better assess the situation on the ground. These site visits introduced Wilde to the markets and some of the key customers, but the primary focus was on the other team members spread over the region. As they met the team members in small groups, Wilde and the leadership team asked everyone for their opinions on the groups performance. Their meeting with Farah, a Jamaican customer service associate, was emblematic of the visits they had elsewhere. Why do you think market share has declined by 5% over the past two years? Wilde asked. The look on Farahs face told Wilde all he needed to knowthat this was news to him. I had no idea the group was doing poorly. I thought we were fine, Farah responded. But didnt you know Kingston wasnt meeting its targets? Wilde pressed. I suppose, but I thought we were doing better than that. Plus, targets only come up for us a few times a year. I think theyre more on the minds of salespeople. Theyre more focused on making the sale. But what does more sales mean for me in customer service? Farah reasoned. Wilde recalled a training that taught him how to discern the most important values for individuals and how to leverage those personal motivators to drive team performance. He started with a new line of questions. What motivates you, then, Farah? Why do you come to work each day? What inspires you? After a pause, Farah responded, I want my work to be valued and important. Wilde nudged Farah for more, Okay, but what really makes you get out of bed every morning? After another pause, Farah finally responded. I suppose money motivates me. I need to be able to provide for my family. I like advancing within the company since it also shows I am doing a good job and management trusts me. Still not satisfied, but sensing he was getting closer, Wilde tried one more time. Is there anything that pushes you to do well here? What would make you try above and beyond what is simply required?

Maybe I feel like I need to believe in something. I think I perform best when I am passionate about even just one aspect of the job. Wilde was starting to get a better sense of where the team members stood and he began to think that he could actually turn this team around, something he desperately wanted to do. He was eager to see what other insights the group might have to offer. Maybe he would soon have enough information to know whether or not to head up this team.

Cultural Insensitivity at the Top

As Wilde travelled with Lars and the rest of the senior leadership, he saw problems that stretched all the way to the highest levels. While in St. Lucia, Lars, Wilde, and two salespeople went out to dinner with some clients to finish plans for a new deal. After working out the details, the clients wanted to celebrate with vodka. It was a strong local tradition, essentially necessary to closing the deal. When Mohamed, a member of the team, politely declined to drink for religious reasons, Lars told him to just do it and then Guyanese loudly said that he didnt know when the Guyanese would enter the 21st century. Wilde had previously heard rumours about Lars being insensitive towards his immediate teams social and cultural practices. He heard that Lars sometimes mocked local practices publicly while on business travel and derided colleagues poor English skills. Wilde knew if he accepted the position, dealing with Lars would be one of the first major challenges.

A Closing Window

A few days after his meeting in Kingston, Wilde had finally made it home, drained, his head spinning with questions. Surely, the team members were as talented as he had expected. And yet, their interpersonal dynamics loomed large. He had managed to create a cohesive, high-performing team before, but could he do it again with an even more diverse group in only two years? Wilde had to decide by tomorrow whether or not to take the job. He had the training and experience necessary to motivate people, and he relished challenges, but perhaps he was in over his head. Deans unflinching advice to turn down the offer, especially in light of the roadblocks he would face in trying to turn around the teams performance, weighed heavily on Wildes mind. The diversity of the team was, on the one hand, exhilarating in its potential, but also the biggest obstacle to their success. Wilde still couldnt be certain how great a role the market played in the groups poor performance, even though to some team members, the market was paramount. As Wilde drifted off to sleep, he wondered whether this job was a great opportunity or too much of a risk. His position on the high potentials list would be in jeopardy if he could not turn the team around, thereby sacrificing years of hard work and his trajectory within the firm.

Questions 1. Should Wild take this job? Why or why not? Be clear and specific when providing your response(s). Reasons must be supported and backed up by strong evidence