Internal business structures have been radically transformed over the past few decades. Changes in areas such as communication and transportation technology and shifts towards global interdependency have resulted in companies becoming increasingly international and therefore intercultural.
In addition Buccaneers Matt Gay Jersey , the need to ?go global? and to cut outgoings is demanding that companies combine protecting international interests whilst keeping down staff numbers. The solution in most cases has been the forming of intercultural teams.
As with all businesses, success depends upon effective cooperation and communication within teams. The intercultural dimension of today's teams however brings with it new challenges. Successful team building not only involves the traditional needs to harmonise personalities but also languages, cultures, ways of thinking Buccaneers Anthony Nelson Jersey , behaviours and motivations.
Intercultural teams have an inherent disadvantage. Cultural differences can lead to communication problems, unpredictability, low team cohesion, mistrust Buccaneers Mike Edwards Jersey , stress and eventually poor results. However, intercultural teams can in fact be very positive entities. The combination of different perspectives, views and opinions can lead to an enhanced quality of analysis and decision making while team members develop new skills in global awareness and intercultural communication.
In reality this best case scenario is seldom witnessed. More often than not, intercultural teams do not fulfil their potential. The root cause for this is that when intercultural teams are formed Buccaneers Jamel Dean Jersey , people with different frameworks of understanding are brought together and expected to naturally gel. Without a common framework of understanding, for example in matters such as status, decision making, communication etiquette Buccaneers Sean Bunting Jersey , this is very difficult and thus necessitates outside help to commix the team.
Intercultural or cross cultural training is one method of helping to blend a team together. Through analysis of the cultures involved in a team, their particular approaches to communication and business and how the team interacts, intercultural team builders are able to find, suggest and use common ground to assist team members in building harmonious relationships.
Intercultural training sessions look at helping a team to realise their differences and similarities in areas such as status Buccaneers Devin White Jersey , hierarchy, decision making, conflict resolution, showing emotion and relationship building. These are then used to create mutually agreed upon structures of communication and interaction. From this basis Ali Marpet Color Rush Jersey , teams are then tutored how to recognise future communication difficulties and their cultural roots, empowering the team to become more self reliant. The end result is a more cohesive and productive team.
In conclusion, for intercultural teams to succeed, managers and HR personnel need to be attuned to the need for intercultural training to help cultivate harmonious relationships. Companies must be supportive Donovan Smith Color Rush Jersey , proactive and innovative if they wish to reap the potential benefits intercultural teams can offer. This goes beyond financing and creating technological links to bring together intercultural teams at surface level and going back to basics by fostering better interpersonal communication. If international businesses are to grow and prosper in this ever contracting world, intercultural synergy must be a priority.
Don?t Mix Kool-Aid With Futon Covers Family Articles | June 20, 2013 Buying a new futon cover is easy for some while difficult for others. However you always run the risk of bottle toting children spilling red Kool-Aid all over your futon cover. If this sounds like something that could happen to you then by all means read on as we discuss buying a new futon cover.
Purchasing a futon cover is an easy task for many. Look over a couple of fabrics, point to one and say that?s it. For others it?s the difference between a room well laid out or a sheer chaos of colors if the shade isn?t quite right. Having sold futon furniture for over 15 years there are always things that seem to be certain truths when shopping for a futon cover.
Can there be too many choices? Believe it or not there are actually quite a few manufacturers making futon covers and some of these suppliers can offer up hundreds of different designs. Picking the futon cover I?ve found always seems to be more time consuming than selecting a new futon frame or mattress. For example if the customer is presented with built in wall shelving units that have ready-made futon covers on them. The choice of cover is often selected within ten to fifteen minutes. However Noah Spence Color Rush Jersey , when presented with hundreds of swatches in fabric books customers often spend hours looking through them or make trips back to the store to try and decide on a cover. Are too many choices then a bad thing?
Let?s say you?ve owned your futon for about five years. Often times it?s not a case that your futon cover has worn out, has seams blowing out or any number of issues that could warrant a change in cover. What it comes down to is people have stared at that same pattern or color for many years and in all truth simply desire a change. In fact I had a couple one time tell me that they had owned a futon for ten years and that the covers were still in great shape. They simply became bored of the look and wanted something fresh. So it?s safe to say as a truth that most futon covers will hold up well over the years until we all become bored of looking at them. That?s kind of sad for the aging futon cover.