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Emergent Patterns of Switching Behaviors and Intercultural Communication Styles of Global Virtual Teams During Distributed Decision Making

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  • Zakaria, Norhayati

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explain the distinctive patterns of intercultural communication styles exhibited during the distributed decision making process in global virtual teams (GVTs). The study applied Hall's (1976) high context vs. low context theoretical lens to a corpus of archival online messages (n=1600 emails) generated by the United Nation World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Civil Society. By using email as a primary medium for global collaboration, the GVT comprising of Civil Society participants was engaged in decision-making processes among different teams. The goal is to bring multi-stakeholders together in developing policy on the roles and utility of information communication technology for development of the Information Society. Our findings show that culture and the cultural values to which team members subscribe do influence the way decisions are made and communicated in three distinct phases—problem identification, proposal making and solutions. In addition, the results found evidence of an interesting behavioral pattern we call “switching,” in which an individual's communication style changes depending on purpose, roles, situation, and people—another form of context-based mode of online communicative behavior. This evidence of switching behavior is crucial because it shows that intercultural communication styles are fluid rather than fixed.

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  • Zakaria, Norhayati, 2017. "Emergent Patterns of Switching Behaviors and Intercultural Communication Styles of Global Virtual Teams During Distributed Decision Making," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 350-366.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intman:v:23:y:2017:i:4:p:350-366
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intman.2016.09.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Azusa Ebisuya & Tomoki Sekiguchi & Gayan Prasad Hettiarachchi, 2023. "Narrowing the communication gap in internationally distributed teams: the case of software-development teams in Sri Lanka and Japan," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(1), pages 354-378, February.
    2. Jimenez, Alfredo & Boehe, Dirk M. & Taras, Vasyl & Caprar, Dan V., 2017. "Working Across Boundaries: Current and Future Perspectives on Global Virtual Teams," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 341-349.
    3. Vuchkovski, Davor & Zalaznik, Maja & Mitręga, Maciej & Pfajfar, Gregor, 2023. "A look at the future of work: The digital transformation of teams from conventional to virtual," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    4. Taras, Vas & Baack, Daniel & Caprar, Dan & Dow, Douglas & Froese, Fabian & Jimenez, Alfredo & Magnusson, Peter, 2019. "Diverse effects of diversity: Disaggregating effects of diversity in global virtual teams," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(4).
    5. Zakaria, Norhayati & Mohd Yusof, Shafiz Affendi, 2020. "Crossing Cultural Boundaries Using the Internet: Toward Building a Model of Swift Trust Formation in Global Virtual Teams," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(1).
    6. Günter K Stahl & Martha L Maznevski, 2021. "Unraveling the effects of cultural diversity in teams: A retrospective of research on multicultural work groups and an agenda for future research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(1), pages 4-22, February.
    7. Vida Davidaviciene & Khaled Al Majzoub, 2022. "The Effect of Cultural Intelligence, Conflict, and Transformational Leadership on Decision-Making Processes in Virtual Teams," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-16, February.
    8. Szkudlarek, Betina & Osland, Joyce S. & Nardon, Luciara & Zander, Lena, 2020. "Communication and culture in international business – Moving the field forward," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(6).

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