EFFECT OF CULTURAL DIMENSIONS ON COHESIVENESSOF MULTI-NATIONAL PROJECT TEAMS IN RWANDA.A CASE OF BRALIRWA’S PET PROJECT
Journal Title: European Journal of Business and Social Sciences - Year 2016, Vol 5, Issue 6
Abstract
In the last 10 years, a number of Rwandan firms have been acquired by larger multinational firms at a higher rate, this brings a new reality: working in multi-cultural settings, this in turn brings another challenge, managing diverse project teams to work cohesively. This study aims to show the relationships between the cultural dimensions as proposed by Hofstede (2011) and cohesiveness of multi-national project teams in Rwanda. This was done by studying Bralirwa’s PET project with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of how the cohesiveness or operational unity of a team with individuals from different cultures can be affected. The study bases cultural diversity on Hofstede’s indicators of cultural diversity. The study adopted the concept and dimensions proposed by Hofstede (2003) that allow comparisons between the cultural dimensions of various individuals working together on the same project (PET project). The objectives of the study were to analyze the effect of power distance, individualism, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity on a project team’s cohesiveness. This study adopted a descriptive research design that made use of the questionnaires that were distributed to the respondents by the researcher and via electronic mail; the objective of gathering this information was to establish a correlation between cultural diversity in a project team and the team’s cohesiveness. After which, data analysis was done with the help of SPSS version 21 and presented graphically and interpreted by use of statistical techniques, Slovin’s formula to determine the sample size and Person’s productmoment correlation coefficient to interpret the findings of the study. Regression analysis was also done. Results were presented in tables pie charts and bar graphs. The study findings indicated that that individualism significantly affect project team’s cohesiveness (r= 0.505, P- value < 0.01). Also, PET project team members were more individualistic than collectivist. This was evidenced by the majority of respondents who agreed to the statement regarding the team members were more individualistic than collectivist. The study also concluded that collectivism significantly affected project team’s interactions. PET project team was more collectivist than individualistic. Analysis of the statement that team efforts should be rewarded more than individual efforts was also done. Tasks within the PET project were being approached collectively. The study concluded that uncertainty avoidance and project team’s cohesiveness has a significant relationship. This was arrived at following the correlation analysis that showed a positive and significant correlation between the study variables (r= 0.581, Pvalue < 0.01). Also, the study concluded that the PET project operated in structured situations. Following the study findings, it is evident that the variables under study significantly affect project team cohesiveness. In this regard the study recommend that project managers should effectively address issues that pertains to power distances, individualism, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance and issues of femininity and masculinity within the project team.
Authors and Affiliations
Wilson Musafiri| Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kigali, Rwanda, Noor Ismael Shale (PhD)| Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kigali, Rwanda, Julius Warren Kule (PhD)| Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kigali, Rwanda
Keywords
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