TY - JOUR
T1 - Metaphors and meaning
T2 - An intercultural analysis of the concept of teamwork
AU - Gibson, Cristina B.
AU - Zellmer-Bruhn, Mary E.
PY - 2001/6
Y1 - 2001/6
N2 - This paper develops a conceptual framework to explain different understandings of the concept of teamwork across national and organizational cultures. Five different metaphors for teamwork (military, sports, community, family, and associates) were derived from the language team members used during interviews in four different geographic locations of six multinational corporations. Results indicated that use of the teamwork metaphors varies across countries and organizations, after controlling for gender, team function, and total words in an interview. Analyses of specific relationships between national cultural values and categories of metaphor use and between dimensions of organizational culture and categories of metaphor use revealed patterns of expectations about team roles, scope, membership, and objectives that arise in different cultural contexts. We discuss the implications of this variance for future research on teams and the management of teams in multinational organizations.
AB - This paper develops a conceptual framework to explain different understandings of the concept of teamwork across national and organizational cultures. Five different metaphors for teamwork (military, sports, community, family, and associates) were derived from the language team members used during interviews in four different geographic locations of six multinational corporations. Results indicated that use of the teamwork metaphors varies across countries and organizations, after controlling for gender, team function, and total words in an interview. Analyses of specific relationships between national cultural values and categories of metaphor use and between dimensions of organizational culture and categories of metaphor use revealed patterns of expectations about team roles, scope, membership, and objectives that arise in different cultural contexts. We discuss the implications of this variance for future research on teams and the management of teams in multinational organizations.
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U2 - 10.2307/2667088
DO - 10.2307/2667088
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0035539604
SN - 0001-8392
VL - 46
SP - 274
EP - 303
JO - Administrative science quarterly
JF - Administrative science quarterly
IS - 2
ER -