Why Don't They Fight Each Other? Cultural Diversity and Operational Unity in Multinational Forces

Abstract

This article poses the question of how multinational forces can achieve a working level of cooperation and coordination despite their high cultural diversity? It first illustrates the range of cultural diversity in multinational forces. Then, relying on the literature on diversity in organizations and cross-cultural differences in value priorities, and on an analysis of the circumstances under which such forces operate, the possible implications of high diversity for their operations are discussed. On the basis of further theoretical analysis, as well as existing literature and documents, a number of possible integrating conditions and integrating mechanisms are described that enable the forces to function as integrated units. Finally, the article suggests a number of research questions derived from our theoretical analysis.

Strategic alliance team diversity, coordination, and effectiveness

“…We believe that when nationality diversity is high, high coordination will strengthen the negative relationship between nationality diversity and alliance team effectiveness for a number of reasons. First, individual differences are accentuated by national culture (Elron, Shamir and Ben-Ari 1999). People with different cultural values often have different preferences with regard to work tasks and processes.…”

Sexual Harassment and its Impact for Women Officers and Cadets in the Swedish Armed Forces

“…Finally, the Armed Forces of both countries share a common organizational culture-the military culture (Dunivin, 1994;Elron, Shamir, & Ben Ari, 1999), which is characterized by the organized use of legitimate violence (Janowitz, 1971); bureaucratic control (Elron et al, 1999); task-oriented missions (Dunivin, 1994); a professional ethos that places high regard on discipline, obedience, courage, trust, and self-sacrifice and emphasizes the primacy of the group over the individual (Collins, 1998;Hillen, 1999;Townshend, 1993); and a masculine-warrior image that identifies and extols military service in terms of masculine norms (Dunivin, 1994). Thus, based on the aforementioned cultural, legal, and organizational literatures, we posit that the incidence, nature, and impact of sexual harassment of women in the Swedish Armed Forces will be similar to that reported in studies of U.S. military personnel.…”

Creating Hybrid Team Cultures: An Empirical Test of Transnational Team Functioning.

“…For example, effective groups often display shared conceptions of their expectations and rules (Bettenhausen, 1991;Hackman, 1987). A team mental model (Klimoski & Mohammed, 1994) is a shared psychological representation of a team's environment constructed to permit "sense-making" and guide appropriate group action (Elron et al, 1998). When team members perceive shared understandings with other members, the positive affect and propensity to trust generated by such a discovery fuels performance improvement (Klimoski & Mohammed, 1994) and bolsters group efficacy (Bandura, 1997).…”

“…This multicultural and multinational members (e.g., Aremergent culture offers a common sense of identity gote & McGrath, 1993;Elron, Shamir, & Ben-Ari, that becomes group-specific, provides a basis for 1998; Jackson, May, & Whitney, 1995; team-member self-valuation, and facilitates team Salas, & associates, 1992; Lawrence, 1997; interaction and performance (Casmir, 1992; KliSnell, Davison, & Hambrick, 1996). But what does moski & Mohammed, 1994).…”