The goal of this dissertation was to determine how American and Russian managers with experience on multicultural teams perceive intercultural communication competence. Effective functioning in an international business environment depends on the ability of employees to adapt to the complexity of other cultures. The blend of cultural backgrounds and professional experiences has become a reality in the global business world. To work effectively with diverse people, managers need to know not only about the culture of the person with whom they are interacting, but also information about his/her personality, behavior patterns in conflict situations, demographics, and life experiences. Obtaining this information from a business partner requires a high level of intercultural communication competence. This critical skill improves the decision-making and problem-solving abilities of those who manage in the global marketplace.
The researcher employed a survey method to solicit information about intercultural communication competence and multicultural team performance from 124 American and Russian managers. The Intercultural Communication Competence Questionnaire and the High Performance Team Questionnaire served as the primary research instruments. Qualitative interviews of 40 American and Russian managers enriched the data collected by using questionnaires. A number of statistical tests yielded generalizations about the influence of different demographic and individual characteristics on the level of intercultural communication competence, differences in the perception of American and Russian managers of intercultural communication competence, and a relationship between the level of intercultural communication competence of individual team members and the performance of multicultural teams.
This study yielded a number of conclusions about the importance of intercultural communication competence in the performance of multicultural teams. While the Russian and the American respondents did not differ significantly in their mean scores for intercultural communication competence, the researcher found significant difference between the Russian and the American managers on the interpersonal skills and the team effectiveness dimensions of intercultural communication competence. The study determined a moderate relationship between the level of intercultural communication competence of an individual team member and the overall performance of a multicultural team. The results of this research are useful for empirical researchers, business practitioners, and intercultural communication scholars.