Cross-Cultural Competencies and Diversity in International Teams: A Comprehensive Exploration

Abstract

This thesis comprises three essays that investigate cross-cultural competencies in a diverse international team context. The first essay conducts a systematic review of 158 seminal CQ, GM, and CC publications. Utilising advanced bibliometric methodologies, key journals, influential publications, and ground-breaking researchers in this domain are identified. Further co-citations are examined through factor and cluster analyses, deciphering the complex knowledge structure in this research spectrum. Five predominant research streams emerge, bridging the overlap between CQ, GM, and CC constructs. Burst analyses further spotlight the prevailing trends and rapidly growing research avenues, laying a foundation for impending scholarly endeavours. The second essay addresses the multifaceted nature of 'diversity' - a term that remains largely enigmatic despite its widespread use in International Business literature. The context in this paper is on Global Virtual Teams (GVTs), which are inherently infused with diversity. This paper presents the conceptual framework of personal diversity, which clarifies three salient diversity types - the variety of demographic attributes, disparity in functional attributes, and separation along covert attributes. Using a sample of 345 GVTs, the implications of these diversity types on intermediary team processes, barriers to collaboration, and psychological and task outcomes are empirically tested employing PLS-SEM modelling. Key findings reveal that demographic variety augments collaboration and enhances psychological outcome. Additionally, disparity, especially concerning English proficiency and technical skills, can increase barriers to collaboration and adversely impact psychological outcome. The third essay pioneers a nuanced conceptual framework tailored to assess the configurations of team cultural intelligence. The framework originates from the multiple intelligence theory and is enhanced by foundational theories specific to each CQ dimension. Simultaneously, it integrates three diversity theories: information processing, (in)justice perspective, and categorisation paradigms. The delineation elucidates how diverse CQ configurations, characterised by CQ ranges, dimension disparities, and separations, associate with different team outcomes. An illustrative example of global virtual teams tests the theoretical framework empirically to present further theoretical and practical implications.