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MoodianMichaelA_2008_17SolvingProblemsAndR_ContemporaryLeade
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17SOLVING PROBLEMS AND RESOLVING
CONFLICT USING THE INTERCULTURAL
All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable
CONFLICT STYLE MODEL AND INVENTORY
Mitchell R. Hammer
A Conflict Brewing
It’s 7:00 p.m. on a Friday night—and you’re still at the office. 1 It’s been a tough day, you think, as
you plant your tired feet on the edge of your well-worn, mahogany desk. As manager for project
development for an international aid organization, it is your responsibility to oversee a half-dozen
international projects that range from basic infrastructure development (e.g., roads, purification of
water supplies) to community development efforts (e.g., family planning programs, literacy
development).
Two weeks ago, you selected four key employees in your organization to begin to plan and
develop a more effective emergency-response effort when natural disasters (e.g., typhoons) occur in
remote areas in India and Indonesia. The team is culturally diverse, with two European American
members from the United States (Jim and Mary), one member from India (Geetha), and one member
from Indonesia (Slamet). Once assembled, you reminded everyone that “time is of the essence,” and
you need an identified set of goals, responsibilities, and a task time-line in 1 week. It is now the end
of the second week of the project, and the team has not submitted any plan at all! Further, there is
increasing tension—even conflict—emerging among the team. You are very concerned. This is an
important project, and the staff to complete the effort is not getting along. You are surprised at their
inability to effectively establish the core goals and identify key tasks needed to be undertaken.
Further, you have heard confusing reports in one-on-one discussions with each of the project
Copyright @ 2008. SAGE Publications, Inc.
members.
The two Americans comment that neither Geetha nor Slamet are truly interested in moving
forward on this project. They complain that Geetha and Slamet seem unprepared and rarely contribute
during a number of brainstorming meetings. Further, they feel Geetha and Slamet are deceptive and
feel that it is much too early to formulate goals and tasks.
However, you have heard a very different story from Geetha and Slamet. From their perspective,
the Americans are becoming too “pushy” in meetings and are unwilling to really listen. After all, they
commented, we are from these countries—the Americans need to respect our experience!
Interestingly, the two Americans and Slamet also commented that Geetha is trying to dominate the
meeting and has shown her frustration and anger with the group in inappropriate ways. One situation
recently occurred where Geetha “yelled” at the other team members about their lack of commitment
—yet she did not propose any solutions!
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Dynamics Within Organizations 1
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, You know you need to do something—but you are not sure what actions you can take to
deescalate the growing tensions and problems among the team members. You know you selected very
competent people for this particular project. They all have a strong background in delivering
humanitarian aid and services in conflict zones as well as during times of emergencies. Further,
Geetha is from India, Slamet from Indonesia, Mary has lived 3 years in India, and Jim has lived 2
years in Indonesia. It seems the problems among the team members have already compromised the
development of their plan. What should you do? What insights might you bring to the group to help
them work more effectively in solving problems and dealing with an increasing conflict situation?
Introduction
All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable
The purpose of this chapter is to outline a powerful model and assessment tool that can be used in
these types of situations to help individuals and groups solve problems and resolve conflicts. In this
chapter, I describe the Intercultural Conflict Style (ICS) model and ICS Inventory. I conclude the
chapter by showing how the ICS model and Inventory can be used to help this multicultural project
team meet its important mission in India and Indonesia.
NASA and Cultural Conflicts
I had the opportunity to consult with two important organizations in the United States: the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). With
NASA, I worked with the Behavior and Performance Laboratory to address the question, “Do cultural
differences affect mission success and astronaut and ground crew relations?” We designed a critical
incident protocol and interviewed selected astronauts and ground crew members from different
cultures who flew on multicultural space flights (including early space station MIR deployments).
What we discovered is that the extensive technical training astronauts and ground crews received over
many years was effective in preparing these space explorers to achieve mission objectives in a variety
of space flight scenarios. This was especially true concerning routine, less complex flight tasks and
responsibilities. In these situations, the space and ground crews were able to work effectively with
one another across cultural boundaries. In these more mundane, less demanding activities, cultural
differences did not emerge as particularly troublesome or problematic.
However, we found that in situations where uncertainty increased, conflicts erupted, emergencies
arose, and interpersonal relations were stressed—cultural differences did arise and powerfully
affected the ability of the space and ground crews to accomplish mission goals. In short, under
conditions of stress and conflict, people reverted to their cultural programming rather than relying on
the training protocols developed over years of effort (NASA Behavior and Performance Laboratory,
1989).
This was a surprising finding for NASA in view of the fact that the organization maintained some
pride in its ability to properly prepare these crews to effectively relate and work with one another. I
Copyright @ 2008. SAGE Publications, Inc.
continued to work with the Behavior and Performance Laboratory in developing protocols for
offering intercultural training, with an important element focusing on conflict and culture, for all
astronauts and ground crews involved in multinational space endeavors. This training is continuing
with the multicultural crews assigned to the construction and manning of the International Space
Station.
SCIENTIFIC CONFLICT
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) undertook over a
4-year period in the mid-1990s Phase II clinical trials of A10 and AS2–1 (antineoplastons) infusion
therapy developed by Dr. Stanislow Burzynski in patients with primary malignant brain tumors. At
the end of the 4 years, the research was terminated before it was determined whether the
EBSCO : eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 8/20/2019 3:50 PM via UNIV OF MINNESOTA - TWIN CITIES LIBRARIES
AN: 562277 ; Moodian, Michael A..; Contemporary Leadership and Intercultural Competence : Exploring the Cross-Cultural
Dynamics Within Organizations 2
Account: s5240361.main.ehost
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