Creating synergy for cross-cultural teams in international R&D projects

Abstract

Cross-cultural management is often regarded as one of the disciplines in international management
focusing on cultural encounters between what are perceived as well- defined and homogeneous
entities: the organization and the nation-state and offering tools to handle cultural differences seen as
sources of conflict or miscommunication. Hence, there is a pressing need to understand the cultural
diversity and exercise proper measures to manage it. This paper explores the factors affecting crosscultural management in R&D projects using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Using the method of
PCA, this paper explores the factors affecting international R&D project management under a
combination of Chinese and Western cultures. Eight principal components are extracted and labeled,
and the top two include: (1) behavioral characteristics; and (2) social environment. In behavioral
characteristics, it is found that Chinese prefer to work in a stable environment and they may find
difficulties in adapting to an unfamiliar environment comparing to the West. They would strongly react
to losing face events such as being criticized by managers publicly, or being evaluated by an unfamiliar
performance evaluation method, etc. Under the social environment, the Chinese government, as an
indispensable mediator in the social environment of projects, plays an important role in approving
projects, allocating resources, and arranging finance. For multinational corporations in China, the skills
of managing corporate-government relations and communications are essential. From the above study,
it is hoped that some recommendations can be generated on how people with different cultural and
valuing background can create synergy for effective management of R&D projects in multinational
firms