Culture standards and their impact on teamwork - An empirical analysis of Austrian, German, Hungarian and Spanish culture differences

Abstract

This article examines the impact of different cultural standards on the processes and performances of Austrian, Spanish, German and Hungarian task groups. We therefore analyzed 201 qualitative interviews with Austrians, Spaniards, Germans and Hungarians, which were conducted from 1996 to 2001. This paper uses the cultural standard framework as its theoretical background as well as the concepts of team development. The emphasis of our research is on those culture standards that have been identified as relevant for the cooperation within teams. Critical Incidents that can be explained by the above-mentioned culture standards have been categorized referring to the Five-Phase-Model of team development by Tuckman and Jensen.