The Effects of Team Composition on Multicultural Group Performance.

Los Angeles and Southern California have become the hub of the United State's economic, political, and cultural connection to the Pacific Rim. This region comprises large numbers of individuals, businesses, and cultural institutions with international linkages to China, South Korea and Japan. As a result, multicultural work teams of Asian and American origin are increasingly becoming a norm rather than an exception in the modern business climate of Southern California. Our study examines such multicultural teams and compares the interactions of four types of teams: homogenous teams composed of U.S.-born students; homogenous teams composed of Asian-born students; heterogeneous teams composed of a majority of U.S.-born students and a minority of Asian-born students; and heterogeneous teams composed of a majority of Asian-born students and a minority of U.S.-born students. Other studies have shown that personal variables and value diversity predict greater satisfaction and contribution levels than minority status alone. Our research further explores these concepts by looking at the effect of group composition on group performance and examines six non-verbal communication elements that are important for the functioning of multicultural groups. These are number of turns taken, number of words spoken, turn length, number of cooperative overlaps, number of backchannels, and latching per team member. We hope to contribute to the existing body of research in two ways: our study will add to our understanding of the influence of culture on decision making in cross-cultural teams composed of U.S.-born and Asian-born members and will have pedagogical implications regarding the way group work is taught to diverse student bodies and business professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]