The study explores the subjects of organizational change and management of intercultural teams. The goal of the study is to spread knowledge about how an intercultural team should be managed in order to assure the best possible success of an organizational change initiative. It has long been recognized that organizations constantly need to change in order to stay competitive. At the same time it has also been recognized that organizations today operate on the global arena with operations spread to many different parts of the world. It is thus important to understand how an intercultural team should be managed in order to assure the success of an organizational change initiative.The aim of this study has been to provide information and guidelines that may be used by academia as well as professionals to better understand how to manage an intercultural team that conducts an organizational change. A total of six different guidelines have been presented in this research - each one important in assuring an effective teamwork and a successful organizational change.The study has been conducted using a qualitative research approach and the method used for gathering data has been interviews as well as literature studies. / Program: Magisterutbildning i informatik

The World is becoming global and also the companies. They are expanding their business outside the current location. This trend brings new challenges to the top management and to line managers to be able lead not just people with same culture, but also lead and cooperate with reportees from different cultures. Leaders need to be able to lead teams consisted from people of various gender, religion, age, sexual orientation or color. Managers need to be aware of those specifics in order to use full potential of whole team. The aim of this diploma thesis is to analyze those specifics of leading of intercultural IT company based on semi-structured interviews with expats, free associations, analysis of company documents and guided discussion and design methods and recommendations to be able to lead intercultural teams more effectively, mainly in IT field.

Bakgrund: Vad en ledare är stämmer överens människor och kulturer emellan, men däremot vad som förväntas av en ledare och hur en ledare anses ska bete sig skiljer sig åt. När ledare från en kultur ska integreras med ett interkulturellt team är det inte en självklarhet att det går ihop. I Sverige lever människor i ett demokratiskt samhälle, vilket inte är en självklarhet i andra länder. Svenska organisationer bedrivs mer decentraliserade och medarbetare får ett större utrymme att föra en kommunikation med ledare och chefer. När svenska ledare ska arbeta med interkulturella team dyker både utmaningar och möjligheter upp. Syfte: Det övergripande syftet i studien är att undersöka vilka utmaningar en svensk ledare som är verksam inom eller över ett internationellt team kan stöta på och hur dessa uppkommer. Det är utifrån det svenska perspektivet samt ledarskapsperspektivet vi undersöker vad för slags inverkan varierande kulturer kan ha på relationer och samarbete i interkulturella team. Metod: Det har använts en kvalitativ forskningsmetod för studien. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med sex stycken respondenter där fem av dem kommer från Sverige och en från Sri Lanka där alla har en form av ledarposition. Empiri & slutsats: Studien visar att interkulturella team skiljer sig åt mellan Sverige och icke-nordiska länder, det är tydligt att det skiljer sig åt mellan ledarskap och chefskap. Där chefskapet är mer dominerande i andra länder, vilket även Kotter påtalar. Även kulturella distanser i form av maktdistans och maskulint förhållningssätt är de som skiljer de olika kulturerna åt allra mest. Vad som är avgörande för framgång som ledare över ett interkulturellt team är att vara medveten om alla de olika kulturerna inom ett arbetslag och veta hur distanserna hanteras och kommuniceras. / Background: What a leader is consistent across people and cultures, but what is expected of a leader and how a leader is perceived to behave differ. When leaders from one culture are to be integrated with an intercultural team, it is not obvious that it will go together. In Sweden, people live in a democratic society, which is not a matter of course in other countries. Swedish organizations are run in a more decentralized way and employees have more space to communicate with leaders and managers. When Swedish leaders have to work with intercultural teams, both challenges and opportunities appear. Purpose: The overall aim of the study is to investigate which challenges a Swedish leader who works within or across an international team may encounter and how these arise. It is from the Swedish perspective and the leadership perspective that we investigate what kind of impact varying cultures can have on relationships and cooperation in intercultural teams. Method: A qualitative research method has been used for the study. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with six respondents, five of whom come from Sweden and one from Sri Lanka, where all have some form of leadership position. Empirical & conclusion: The study shows that intercultural teams differ between Sweden and non-Nordic countries, it is clear that there is a difference between leadership and management. Where management is more dominant in other countries, which Kotter also points out. Cultural distances in the form of power distance and masculine attitudes are also what separate the different cultures the most. What is crucial to success as a leader of an intercultural team is to be aware of all the different cultures within a work team and know how the distances are managed and communicated.