Framework for managing multi-cultural project teams

The theory and practice of team integration has changed fundamentally over the last five years, driven by the growing demands of multicultural team working and greater understanding of cultural issues and diversity in the internationalised construction environment. According to the literature, the challenge to the construction industry in both developed and developing countries is to address its poor performance on people management by focusing on multicultural team working. Different reports published by governing bodies in developed countries such as the UK continue to highlight that clients need to improve their understanding of how construction can best meet their business needs and help lead the process of creating integrated teams. Consequently, there have been a number of empirical studies on project teams, particularly focussing on measures of team success. However, the consequences of transition from monoculture to multicultural project teams remain largely unexplored in construction management research. The few studies that have been carried out have focussed either on team integration in generic terms, or on the experiences of individual construction organisations within the context of developed countries. It is the contention of this research that given the increased global trend towards internationalisation of business operations, there is a need for a greater understanding of the cultural complexity of team integration within both developed and developing countries. This thesis explored the efficacy of multi-cultural team working in heavy construction engineering in Kenya and the UK. The research employed both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to capture all the relevant experiences of senior managers. The findings revealed a number of multidimensional factors that either facilitated or limited the effectiveness of multicultural team working. These were synthesised into a framework capturing eight key dimensions that must be taken into account in multi-cultural team working. These factors included leadership style; team selection and composition process; team development process; cultural communication; cultural collectivism; cultural trust; cultural management and cultural uncertainty. These findings are particularly significant because the existing body of research into poor performance and people management, within heavy construction engineering does not take into account the germane challenges faced by multicultural project teams. From the findings, the research proposed a framework for managing multicultural project teams on heavy construction engineering projects. Framework validation was by follow-up deliberations, which were conducted with managers in selected organisations in Kenya and the UK. Reflecting on their experiences in managing cross-cultural project teams, the participants confirmed that the proposed integration framework and its eight key factors was central to the effectiveness of multi-cultural team working. However, they also pointed out that the use of the proposed framework cannot be expected instantly to transform multi-cultural project teams into high performing units, factors such as political stability or instability can affect the effectiveness of the framework. This thesis concludes by reiterating the importance of recognising the intricate connection between international construction projects and the prevailing utilisation of multi-cultural project teams. The participants in the study unanimously agreed that the eight dimensions identified in the research were important areas for understanding and exploring how contemporary multicultural project teams are constructed and managed. It is recommended that future research on multi-cultural construction project teams should take account of comprehensive contextual factors, which include socio-economic variation of heavy construction engineering projects in tandem with multicultural team working.