Impact of national cultural diversity on knowledge sharing in Indian multicultural teams: an emic study

The tremendous increase in outsourcing of business globally has subsequently sharpened the thrust on knowledge sharing within and between organisations. Organisations are continually devising strategies in order to effectively share knowledge among relevant stakeholders and networks. One such strategy is the use of multicultural teams (MCTs). But establishing an efficient process of knowledge sharing in these teams is often difficult given the cultural diversity they experience. This article studies the impact of national cultural diversity among team members specifically on the process of knowledge sharing in MCTs from the experiences of Indian professionals who have worked in such teams. Empirical data was collected from 59 Indian team members of an Indian product software company that operated globally and semiotics was utilised as an interpretive tool to gain an emic perspective on this data. The results of this semiotic analysis bear implications for literature describing the impact of national cultural diversity on team performance in MCTs with specific reference to India. In addition, it provides practical insights in one of the most attractive global business contexts-India, about pertinent national cultural issues in teams about team-client relations.