- What do you think about their method of using Hofstede's national level characteristics to understand individual group members?

I believe that it points out characteristics that can help us better understand different cultures but it might also lead to stereotyping because after all we are all individuals and in the globalized world of today (that we all seem to be a part of) I guess stereotyping becomes rather a threat than a mean as it becomes almost impossible to fit any individual into the characteristics on a national level as we get as much global influence as local. However I believe Hofstede’s national level characteristics is probably a good start and can’t be ignored for a model of management of cross-cultural projects. However I feel the model is far from complete. I can’t really put the finger on what is missing but I am questioning how useful the model is. I also struggle a bit with how to define culture and I think it could make another interesting discussion in this forum :-) I found particularly important in any group work the level of individualism/collectivism also I liked the idea of defining trust as risk taking and the more willingness to risk/trust the higher probability of cooperative behavior.

- We are kind of in the "transition process" with this research group. How have you felt about the degree of ambiguity regarding what exactly we will be doing? Would you prefer this group to be either more flexible (defining your own role) or prefer a structure that is more pre-determined with someone telling you exactly what is happening and what your role is?

I do not mind flexibility but I also believe that personally I perform better when more pre-determined and structured.

- In your opinion, how much does culture really matter in distributed teams? In what way?
I believe culture does matter as we might behave differently and often understanding the cultural differences it also helps understanding differences or maybe even to us “strange” behaviors. What I believe matters even more though is the common goal and realizing that the cross-cultural collaboration is needed to reach the goal.

hi,

I try to answer some of the questions regrading to the article. The first question is not clear to me but I will try to answer as I understand it. Hofstede developed a cultural model that helps to describe the cultural diversity among nations. I think a nation means the totally of indidividuals. What is true for the nation may apply for the individual group members. His model could taken as a starting point to understand the cross cultural reasearch teams.

Regarding to the second question, prior knowledge and experience is important for our future activities. I personally new to our project, except few readings on culture. I need to read more and practical engagement to decide my own role. Therefore I prefere more pre-determined with someone telling me what I am going to do in this phase of the project.

In my opinion, culture affects the work of distributed team performance. When you are working in a team, if you are from the same culture, you can easily understand with each other. Your previous experience help for quick and smooth flow of ideas. You can easily understand the meaning of the word without too much explanation. But in multicultural teams, there are many gaps to understand with each other. Sometime I may be relectant to express my feeling to some other person. Becuase I don't know how the other person interpretes it. In our society culture, what ever you say, people say you - that is nice, that is good but they will not tell you their real feelings becuase of the fear that thier word my spoil their future relationship.

In addition to culture, there are also other factors that affect the virtual team- what is the environment in which we are operating. That affects the individual team performance. The problem in Ethiopia may not be a problem in Finland. If I raise it as a problem, the others may not even understand how it is a problem because they may not heard it or experienced it before.

Temtim, Ethiopia

• What do you think about their method of using Hofstede's national level characteristics to understand individual group members?

This article proposed a model of management of cross-cultural distributed projects (page 4). I used Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in my studies of online learning. I do like his model. It provides a few constructs for exploring cultural differences in online learning. However, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are better for describing group than individual characteristics. Because Hofstede looks at cultural differences from the national rather than individual level. Sometimes, his model can be too generalized even for groups. During my study, I came across several groups that do not conform to their national characteristics.

• We are kind of in the "transition process" with this research group. How have you felt about the degree of ambiguity regarding what exactly we will be doing? Would you prefer this group to be either more flexible (defining your own role) or prefer a structure that is more pre-determined with someone telling you exactly what is happening and what your role is?

Transition process as described in the model in this article: the level of task structure is lowest. Task formalization is related to two of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, uncertainty avoidance and individualism. Now I am ready to answer this question from a metacognitive perspective. Yes our task formalization at this point is low, and I am unclear about what is laid out for the next few weeks. But I am not anxious to make it clear either. I like to be in flexible but semi-structured groups, where we have tasks to complete but also flexibility to explore.

• In your opinion, how much does culture really matter in distributed teams? In what way?

Culture matters a great deal! I echo what is said in this article. Trust is crucial in distributed teams; and Cultural differences could affect trust-building. Cultural differences can also affect how we communicate with each other, tone, politeness, honesty, collaboration. But culture is not going to be the only affecting factor. Acquaintance matters too. For instance, I know Sabine and Clint. They are both fun and energetic. I will stay in this group just to socialize with and to learn from for them!