Multicultural workgroups: A differentiated view on group heterogeneity with regard to design and type of diversity

In view of the growing internationalisation of companies and organisations the effectiveness of workgroups is a major topic in scientific and practical work. Though the results obtained from studies of the influence of heterogeneity in workgroups appear to be contradictory at first sight, a systematising and differentiating approach to the empirical studies on heterogeneously composed workgroups with due consideration of cultural diversity allows a deeper understanding. It is the object of the present paper to provide an up-to-date, exact and clearly defined survey of empirical studies so that differentiated statements can be made on what results can be expected from heterogeneous workgroups with a specific kind of diversity and under specific conditions. It becomes evident that when interpreting empirical data there has to be made a clear distinction between laboratory and field studies. Furthermore, in the case of groups whose members are of one nationality but of different ethnic descent the negative effects of cultural diversity prevail, whereas in multinational workgroups the positive effects of intercultural cooperation have increasingly been proved.