Building Transcultural Teams: Using Personal Stories to Build Professional Relationships

As the global economy continues expanding, managers and organizations will be faced with issues that may have gone unaddressed in the past. While opportunities for synergy and creative emergence have increased, so has the potential for conflict. The Interpretive Storytelling Method (ITSM) was birthed from an observation of the growing multicultural climate and the predominantly quantitative nature of multicultural management literature. The purpose of this Doctor of Philosophy dissertation is to develop a model utilizing hermeneutic methodology and narrative storytelling as a protocol for team-building in multicultural settings. The project begins with an overview of the global cultural climate and multicultural literature. Hermeneutics and narrative storytelling then provide a backdrop from which the ITSM unfolds. In working with multicultural teams from several organizations, the case studies provide insight into the contributions the Interpretive Transcultural Storytelling Method can make.