7.3 Case Study 3: Building a Multicultural Teamls it Worth it? Kalia works in a large business, managing a diverse team of eight individuals. No of her employees are in their early 205, two in their 305, three in their late 405, and one in her late 50s. Four members of her team are Caucasian and the other four are Hispanic, African American, Asian, and African. Her younger employees are fairly new, having been there for less than two years. Most of her team members have worked with the organization for 5 to 10 years, and her most senior staff has been there for 25 years, 14:} years longer than Kalia has been in her leadership position. Generally, team members are cordial to one another on the surface, but Kalia knows that there are tensions among some of the staffthat have an impact on the success and productive ne ss of the team. She is aware that one ofthe younger employees, Robert, is frequently frustrated that his Hispanic coworker, Ana, defers authority and decision making to others in the team. In conversations with him, she discovers that the younger employee feels Ana should express her opinions more often. Robert's frustration results from his beliefs that everyone on the team should be able to contribute in a shared, democratic process. He feels that when Ana defers her decision making to others, she is not being accountable as a team member. Margaret, a senior member ofthe team has picked up on Robert's comments and feels that he is disrespectful of Ana's working style. She has mentioned to him that it could be a \"cultural thing" and that he should learn to adapt his behavior and working style to better meet her needs. In response, Robert mutters, \"Whatever. You don't know anything about us." Responses like this have led Margaret to believe that he is dis respectful of her knowledge and tenure in the organization. Frankly, Kalia is tired of managing people's personalities. She feels that people sho uld just learn to adapt to each other's working styles. Even tho ugh she believes this, she also believes that a good leader has to unite the team, no matter their differences and working styles. This year, she has made it a goal of hers, and of the team, to resolve these intercultural issues. But given her previous attempts, she does not have high hopes for a successful outcome. The last time she tried to resolve intercultural team issues, she felt like a complete failure. She is concerned about the employees' responses to this next attempt. In fact, every time she thinks about that meeting, she flinches. Shejust did not have the skill sets to facilitate the conversation in their last meeting. She wonders ifthis next try will progress her team in any way or whether it will just be another failure