“When in Rome do as the Romans do” – this hundreds years old proverb is still very actual today. Even more, nowadays you don’t even have to go to Rome to feel cultural differences. The communication technology have changed the world economy, thousands of people work now for multinational companies, interacting daily not just with a culture, but possibly with as much as 5 or 6 different ones. Some teams even work in different geographical locations communicating exclusively by electronic means. Today’s managers just have to deal with culture whether they like it or not, but the whole employee-manager relationship may be turned upside down on another side of the globe. So what should we do and what do we do about it? Ho do we manage effectively? These are the questions that this study aims to answer at. The main research objects of this study are rather small software engineering teams and companies that are working in cross-cultural environment, but do have little or no special company policies and other formal ways to manage cultural differences. Yet we found out that managers develop there own understanding of cultural issues and are practicing different methods to deal with them. / mkitsul@yahoo.com; seza@km.ru

We provide a framework for understanding managerial implications of multinational teams. In addition to context, four major categories of variables have a determining influence on multinational team performance: universal values, norms of behavior, perceptions of others and self, and personality traits. Size of teams, kind of task, learning opportunities, power and interests change the effects of these variables. Of particular importance is the team implementation process, which can neutralize adverse effects of wrong perceptions, helps to establish team norms and, thus, contributes to success of multinational teams. (author's abstract) / Series: EI Working Papers / Europainstitut

Problem: While the multinational teams consisting of members from different nationalities,backgrounds and cultures have advantages of diversity in the workplace, the differencesbetween team members can also pose the challenges. Our study focuses on InformationTechnology (IT) project teams in organizations located in Sweden. The rapid growth oftechnology and IT sector, increasing demand in IT professionals, and the knowledge ofwriting universal code allow people to work internationally regardless of citizenship.Therefore, the workforce in the IT sector is rapidly growing and diversifying — it ischaracterized by teams consisting of different nationalities. However, these differences incultures, languages and nationalities can complicate the communication processes betweenthe team members. Therefore, efficient cross-cultural communication within a team isessential for team collaboration and performance. Purpose: The study aims to find the significant issues in the process of adaptation to the newculturally diverse environment faced by immigrant professionals in IT project teams. Thestudy mainly focuses on an individual level, consequently expanding it to a collective level,as the related challenges refer to collaboration among the team members. Method: The study was conducted by interviewing immigrant professionals who have beenworking in IT project teams in the companies, located in Sweden. The participants belong tosix different nationalities and have worked in Sweden for approximately 2-8 years. They areall male aged between 30-33 years old. After the interviews, we can present findings, whichdemonstrate the points of similarity and difference. Conclusion: Technology, which is a significant factor in IT projects, constantly changes, andtherefore, IT project teams that work with innovation require high adaptability to explore newopportunities. That makes effective coordination and communication essential. In theculturally diverse team, managers should manage global mindset and cultural intelligence forindividuals to help team members in adaptation process. Cross-cultural training should beprovided to the migrant professionals in the team to avoid miscommunication based oncultural differences, hence overcoming challenges.

The purpose of this thesis was to analyze culture’s influence on emotional intelligence between Mexican and Swedish leaders among multinational teams. The theoretical chapter has presented relevant theories relating to the field of research. Starting with globalization and internationalization, continuing with leadership and management. Thereafter, emotional intelligence and culture were defined. Followed by crosscultural management and multinational teams. A conceptual framework was illustrated to understand the logic behind the concepts. To gain a deeper understanding a qualitative method was applied. Further the thesis has pursued a deductive research approach. Purposive sampling was done to ensure the quality of the thesis. Furthermore, the empirical chapter presents the cases, followed by the operationalization, to establish a coherent order. In the analysis, the empirical material is linked to the theoretical framework. Lastly, the final chapter includes conclusions, implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed. The outcome of this study has provided an understanding of the high importance of emotional intelligence amongst international business leaders. Furthermore, the findings in this thesis indicate that there are more similarities than differences regarding emotional intelligence between Mexican and Swedish leaders among multinational teams. Moreover, the thesis material emphasizes that nationality has a minor influence on emotional intelligence. It is rather other cultural aspects that have a greater impact.

The topic of the tesis is advantages and disadvantages of work in russian-czech multicultural teams. The research then analyzes the efficiency of such teams primarily from the side of partners and clients of such projects.