Factors influencing effective performance of multi-cultural construction project teams

As a result of globalization, one of the major issues affecting the success of a construction project would be the formation of a multi-cultural project team. As construction project leaders continue to lead global, multi-cultural projects, there is a demand for managing a workforce that is more diverse than ever. The multi-generational workforce has distinct views on work ethic, communication and incentives; finding common ground is essential. This study examines how cultural differences could impact upon multi-cultural team performance. Postal questionnaires were sent to project leaders in Kenya and UK. The results indicate that different approaches in multi-cultural performances consist of seven key impacts: communication techniques, smoothness of handover, teamwork, issue resolution, joint decision making, people selection, people selection and prioritization. The findings suggest that project leaders managing multi-cultural construction project teams need to have the attributes to building trust among team members, provide good planning and institute good communication techniques. Our results on how cultural differences impact multi-cultural construction project teams can help construction organizations identify likely areas of potential divergence on multi-cultural projects, and researchers to identify areas of future research.