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The effect of cross‐cultural uncertainty and complexity within multicultural construction teams

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine challenges faced by senior construction managers in managing cross-cultural complexity and uncertainty. The rationale was to identify the key strategies that are considered essential for managing cross-cultural complexity and uncertainty. Design/meth...

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Main Authors: Edward G. Ochieng, Andrew Price, Ximing Ruan, Charles O. Egbu, David Moore
Format: Default Article
Published: 2013
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2134/23411
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author Edward G. Ochieng
Andrew Price
Ximing Ruan
Charles O. Egbu
David Moore
author_facet Edward G. Ochieng
Andrew Price
Ximing Ruan
Charles O. Egbu
David Moore
author_sort Edward G. Ochieng (7175948)
collection Figshare
description Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine challenges faced by senior construction managers in managing cross-cultural complexity and uncertainty. The rationale was to identify the key strategies that are considered essential for managing cross-cultural complexity and uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach - Interviews with 20 senior construction managers, ten in Kenya and ten in the UK, were recorded, transcribed and entered into the qualitative research software NVivo. Validity and reliability were achieved by first assessing the plausibility in terms of already existing knowledge on some of the cultural issues raised by participants. The findings were presented to the participants through workshops and group discussions. Findings - The emerging key issues suggested that project leaders need to learn how to control their own characteristics and to use them selectively. An effective multicultural construction project team should focus on team output and attributes that characterise a multicultural team as a social entity. Practical implications - Findings indicate that the role of construction project managers has significantly changed over the past two decades. In order to deal with cross-cultural uncertainty, project leaders must have superior multicultural and interpersonal skills when managing global multicultural heavy engineering projects. Originality/value - The research shows that leaders of global construction project teams need a good understanding of their culture, environment and the value of their individual contributions. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
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institution Loughborough University
publishDate 2013
record_format Figshare
spelling rr-article-94601542013-01-01T00:00:00Z The effect of cross‐cultural uncertainty and complexity within multicultural construction teams Edward G. Ochieng (7175948) Andrew Price (1257918) Ximing Ruan (7176320) Charles O. Egbu (7178867) David Moore (30526) Other built environment and design not elsewhere classified Cultural complexity Cross‐cultural uncertainty Multicultural integration Cross‐cultural management Construction industry Kenya United Kingdom Built Environment and Design not elsewhere classified Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine challenges faced by senior construction managers in managing cross-cultural complexity and uncertainty. The rationale was to identify the key strategies that are considered essential for managing cross-cultural complexity and uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach - Interviews with 20 senior construction managers, ten in Kenya and ten in the UK, were recorded, transcribed and entered into the qualitative research software NVivo. Validity and reliability were achieved by first assessing the plausibility in terms of already existing knowledge on some of the cultural issues raised by participants. The findings were presented to the participants through workshops and group discussions. Findings - The emerging key issues suggested that project leaders need to learn how to control their own characteristics and to use them selectively. An effective multicultural construction project team should focus on team output and attributes that characterise a multicultural team as a social entity. Practical implications - Findings indicate that the role of construction project managers has significantly changed over the past two decades. In order to deal with cross-cultural uncertainty, project leaders must have superior multicultural and interpersonal skills when managing global multicultural heavy engineering projects. Originality/value - The research shows that leaders of global construction project teams need a good understanding of their culture, environment and the value of their individual contributions. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/23411 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/The_effect_of_cross_cultural_uncertainty_and_complexity_within_multicultural_construction_teams/9460154 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
spellingShingle Other built environment and design not elsewhere classified
Cultural complexity
Cross‐cultural uncertainty
Multicultural integration
Cross‐cultural management
Construction industry
Kenya
United Kingdom
Built Environment and Design not elsewhere classified
Edward G. Ochieng
Andrew Price
Ximing Ruan
Charles O. Egbu
David Moore
The effect of cross‐cultural uncertainty and complexity within multicultural construction teams
title The effect of cross‐cultural uncertainty and complexity within multicultural construction teams
title_full The effect of cross‐cultural uncertainty and complexity within multicultural construction teams
title_fullStr The effect of cross‐cultural uncertainty and complexity within multicultural construction teams
title_full_unstemmed The effect of cross‐cultural uncertainty and complexity within multicultural construction teams
title_short The effect of cross‐cultural uncertainty and complexity within multicultural construction teams
title_sort effect of cross‐cultural uncertainty and complexity within multicultural construction teams
topic Other built environment and design not elsewhere classified
Cultural complexity
Cross‐cultural uncertainty
Multicultural integration
Cross‐cultural management
Construction industry
Kenya
United Kingdom
Built Environment and Design not elsewhere classified
url https://hdl.handle.net/2134/23411