Facilitating Learning in Multicultural Teams

Abstract

The problem and the solution. Leading, working, and facilitating learning in multicultural teams represents one of the main challenges faced by today's organizations. The advantages associated with multicultural teams (e.g., the symbiosis of different wealth of knowledge, ideas, and approaches to life and work) prove to be the major challenges in working in and leading these teams (e.g., differences in beliefs, attitudes, behavior patterns, paradigms, and thus different approaches to learning). Recognizing the importance of team learning and its facilitation in meeting the aforementioned challenges, this chapter presents the effect of cultural values on multicultural team learning as described in the literature. Theoretical implications as well as implications for human resource development practitioners are presented. © 2003, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.