A Videotaped Interaction Analysis of Member Contribution in Multicultural Groups

Abstract

The growing cultural diversity of the global workforce and its implications for organizational functioning have received considerable attention both in the popular business press and scholarly publications. At the same time, little empirical research has been conducted concerning the dynamics of multicultural workgroups. Our study contributes to the existing body of literature by using videotaped interactions to analyze team dynamics in groups of different multicultural composition. Our study compares the interactions of heterogeneous teams composed of native speakers of English and native speakers of East Asian languages. We analyze number of turns taken, amount of time spent speaking, and frequency of conversational overlaps, interruptions, and backchannels to determine contribution levels and conversational style. The results show significant differences between conversational styles when native English speakers use features characteristic of high-involvement style and native speakers of East Asian languages use high considerateness style. These findings have implications for managers, trainers, and teachers who work with heterogeneous teams composed of members from the U.S. and East Asian countries.