Developing Cross-Cultural Leadership Skills and Cross-Cultural Team working

Skills through Organization Development Intervention: A Case Study of a

Multinational Enterprise (MNE) in Thailand

Papitchaya Wisankosol
C.Ht., NLP, Certified Micro Expression Practitioner

Gloria Chavez, DBA

Senior Lecturer, Graduate School of Business
Assumption University of Thailand

Abstract

In the present competitive world of business, organizations need constant improvement in

their organizational performance in order to survive in the unprecedented changes. Many
previous research studies revealed that employee performance had positive relationships
directly with organizational performance; as employees are nobody but the customers
themselves. This research study focused on the benefits of leadership management and
employee engagement in terms of working as a team. The main purpose of the action
research was to develop cross-cultural leadership skills as well as cross-cultural team
working skills at Best Water Technology (Thailand), a multinational enterprise in
Thailand. This was done through Organization Development Interventions (ODI) by
implementing Whole Brain Literacy (WBL) together with Neuro-Linguistic
Programming (NLP). The action research was conducted in three phases (pre-ODI / ODI /
and post-ODI) to determine the differences between the pre-ODI phase and the post-ODI
phase. The findings of this research disclosed that WBL and NLP concepts implemented
in OD interventions were effective and valuable not only for personal development but
also for organizational development as they developed cross-cultural leadership skills and
cross-cultural team working skills among organizational members.

Key Words: organization development, organization development intervention, cross-

cultural leadership, cross-cultural teamwork, multinational enterprise, Whole
Brain Literacy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Introduction

Change is emerging around us in ever more surprising forms (Bainbridge, 1996).

What was once the norm has changed, for instance, football clubs become quoted
companies on the stock market, making more profit on their merchandise collections,
foreign competitors steal customers and market share by sneaking in the telephone wires
or the computer screens, customers are no longer willing to accept the poor quality
products or services and they demand for the better quality products.
 With these changes happening all around us, working methods cannot be prepared
as a legacy, just as Albert Einstein once quoted that “we can’t solve problems by using
the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Management needs to prepare
for incoming pressures and opportunities and to generate the most suitable managing
techniques when facing an unprecedented number of challenges. The first step to develop
a revised mindset is to establish a better understanding of change and its aspects.
According to John P. Kotter (2012), globalization is driven by an extensive and
dominant set of forces associated with technological change, international economic
integration, maturation of markets in developed countries, and the collapse of communist
and socialist regimes. Globalization introduced multinational enterprises (MNEs) with
new business perspectives. In order for MNEs to grow powerfully, cross-cultural
collaboration or cross-cultural teamwork is a vital part for it.
In global businesses, to encourage multinational teamwork, global leadership
competencies are vital. The development of global leaders is greatly enhanced when a
global perspective has been built into the fabric of the corporate culture, when global
work infuses the domestic environment, and when people have ongoing opportunities to
interact with others from different cultural settings both at home and abroad. Assessing
and reassessing the long-term goals for training, leadership development, and human
resources management will help – particularly if global leadership competencies are
encouraged, rewarded, and routinely part of the culture. Exposing more employees to
work projects and activities with global content and global colleagues will help make the
meaning of “global” tangible to them. Hiring a culturally and linguistically diverse
workforce at home to lead key work efforts can also be an effective globalizing strategy.

The Focal System

This research was implemented at BWT or Best Water Technology (Thailand), a

multinational organization in Thailand. There are more than 150 employees; mainly Thais
but the rest are German, Chinese, Indian, Singaporean, Vietnamese, and Austrian. BWT
headquarters was established in 1990; it provides high-technology water treatment
products and services. Their Mission is to develop the environment and provide friendly
products and services worldwide. It is now a leading water technology enterprise in
Europe. It has more than 2,600 employees in more than 70 subsidiaries and associated
companies in the world. With the innovative and ecological processing technologies,
BWT offers safe and hygienic water to customers from private households to professional
industries.
The problem BWT faced was with its cross-cultural team working issue.
Communication between employees from various cultures led to ineffective teamwork
and created misunderstandings. The organization had to improve its cross-cultural
leadership skills and boosted its cross-cultural teamwork in order to enhance its
organizational performance.
The initial findings from current situation assessment of the focal organization
using SWOT and SOAR analysis showed that BWT Thailand was facing a situation with
three main issues: leadership, team work, and cultural issues.
Many previous researches on leadership (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999; James
K. Harter et al., 2002; Soponkit, 2010) supported the conclusion that leadership behaviors
had an effect on teamwork and organizational outcomes. Effective leadership improved
employee effectiveness, effective communication, effective teamwork, better relationship,
and encouraged engagement amongst employees. Besides, many researches on cultural
differences (Chen & Francesco, 2000; Hall, 1976; Hofstede, 1980; Huang & Van, 2006;
Kanungo & Mendonca, 1994; Schaufeli et al., 2006) stated that cultural differences in
workplace should be addressed particularly. These alerted BWT management to
transform their cross-cultural leadership skills into effective cross-cultural leadership
skills in order to increase their cross-cultural team performance, and transform their
cross-cultural teams into effective cross-cultural teamwork. The following research
objectives were developed:
1. To describe and analyze the current situation regarding cross-cultural
leadership skills and cross-cultural team working skills of the chosen
multinational organization
2. To design, develop and implement appropriate Organization
Development Interventions (ODIs) based on the diagnosis
3. To determine differences between pre and post ODI phases in terms of
cross-cultural leadership skills and cross-cultural team working skills

Organization and Organization Development

An organization is a social group of people, such as an institution or an

association, systematically combined together to accomplish the same goals. There is a
set of structure and management to guide the team to meet a need. Each member has
different role, activity, responsibility, and authority to carry out their own task.
Organization are open systems, they affect and are affected by their environment
(Cummings and Worley, 2009).
Organization development helps in bringing about change in organization. The
assumptions and values in organization’s behavior will be changed. It will be more
responsive to the needs of operating in highly complex and changing world. OD will also
help organizations to assess themselves and their environment and build their strategies,
structures, and processes. Both managers and staffs will perform their tasks more
effectively.

Leadership Management

Leadership is about pointing out the right destination for the team to go to be
successful in a smooth and efficient way. It is a process of social influence, which
maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal. Different types of
leadership styles exist in work circumstances. Each leadership style has different
advantages and disadvantages; determining the best style depends upon organizational
culture and organizational goals. Some organizations prefer several leadership styles
depending on the necessary tasks and organizational needs.
In today’s businesses, transformational leadership is highly recommended and
widely used as it motivates and inspires people for success. Many previous studies on
transformational leadership showed that there is a positive relationship between this
leadership style and employee engagement – employee commitment – employee
motivation – and employee performance (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999; Harter et al.,
2002; Judge & Piccolo, 2004)

Cross-Cultural Leadership Skills

Many of leaders in today’s business world have to work in both international and
cross-cultural circumstances. One of the most important abilities cross-cultural leaders
need today is a capability to manage and leverage cultural diversities, it is known as an
ability of culture quotient (CQ) or cultural intelligence (Rockstuhl et al., 2011).
 Essential leadership skills that cross-cultural leaders should have are
communicating, coaching, motivating, supporting, directing, and delegating. These
competencies and skills are compiled from many types of effective leadership style
especially from Transformational Leadership Style where leaders are inspiring and
motivating their followers to achieve successful goals and create effectiveness for their
team.

Whole Brain Literacy (WBL)

Whole Brain Literacy (WBL) is a thinking system with connectivity concept to

function the whole potential of Dudley Lynch’s four brain quadrants together (Tayko &
Reyes-Talmo, 2010). It is a useful thinking tool for everyone who wants process thinking
or whole brain thinking to manage his or her thoughts. Using whole brain thinking will
create a competitive advantage (Herrmann-Nehdi, 2010). Leaders or managers who have
whole-brain thinking will be more effective and enable to see the big picture as a whole
rather than small view. Researcher determines leadership skills for effective
transformational leaders and other core leadership skills for BWT leaders. To make the
use of WBL, it starts with “core purpose” anchoring, then move to I-Control, I-Explore, I-
Pursue, and I-Preserve consecutively. Effective leaders will connect each skill together
And Use Them As A Whole.

Teamwork

Recently, teamwork is being studied more and more according to the

consideration on the importance of cooperation and collaboration. It has been discussed
and studied in many articles by various researchers. Each researcher defined teamwork
from their particular points of view but the common concept and definition of a team is a
group of individuals who gather together to perform specific tasks and achieve the
common goals. Each member in a team may have various skills, abilities, and information
in order to improve productivity and quality in line with the expectations (Eylem, 2003;
Thompson, 2004).
Cross-cultural teamwork refers to a group of individuals from different cultural
and ethnic backgrounds that gather together to perform specific tasks and achieve the
common goals. Since cultural issue is so sensitive, cross-cultural teamwork is more
complicated than any other form of team. Cross-cultural teamwork may bring both
advantages and difficulties, from simple issues like communication to more complex
work culture issues. However, the organization that is able to deal with these issues will
gain more benefits than having an ordinary teamwork.
Cross-cultural teamwork benefits from each member’s experience. People from
different backgrounds have various perspectives and this brings a greater creativity.
Research showed that heterogeneous teams are more creative than homogeneous teams
(Hills, 2001). Heterogeneous teams generate a broader range of ideas as they have a
wider range of perspectives. Working as a team tends to have continuous improvement as
members often question each other for new opportunities for improvement.

Cross-Cultural Dimensions

According to Hill (2009), a multinational enterprise (MNE) is any businesses that

have its facilities and settle in more than one country that is not its home-based country.
MNEs have branches in different countries in the world, typically have its headquarters in
home-based country and manage globally from here. Multinational corporations create
jobs, wealth, and new technology in countries they invest in. Most of the major
multinational corporations are Japanese, American, or Western European; on the other
hand, it can create job losses in own home countries. Morley and Collings (2006)
suggested that multinational corporations should focus on their human resource
management because there are more challenges on HR functions and procedures when
operating the international contexts. A study from Moy and Lee (2002) showed that most
employees prefer to work in a multinational corporation for their career development and
extrinsic rewards; however, there are many more factors to be considered to motivate all
employees who work in multinational corporations. Due to diversities and differences
amongst employees in multinational corporations, researchers in international business
suggested that cultural factors have a significant influence on the management styles and
performances (Lu, 2006). Cultural dimensions can create obstacles such as differences in
supervision style, role stress, conflict resolution strategies, and decision-making habits
(Hofstede, 1991).
According to Geert Hofstede (1991), a famous Dutch organization theorist,
culture is an important factor to make groups so powerful to organizations. He originally
identified four cultural dimensions that strongly influence in the multi-national
organizations: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism vs. collectivism, and
masculinity vs. femininity.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. It is a study on the fundamental

dynamics between our mind (neuro) AND our verbal and non-verbal communication
(linguistic) AND how they interact and work together to affect our behavior and action
(programming). It involves practical tools and strategic thinking to produce improved
outcomes in work, life, and relationships in any forms (Bandler & Grinder, 2005).
John Grinder and Richard Bandler founded NLP in 1975 (Bandler & Grinder,
2005). They modeled it from the studies of four successful professors in the area of
communication: Frits Perls, Virginia Satir, Milton Erickson, and Gregory Bateson. From
their initial models, John and Richard developed NLP in two corresponding directions;
one, as a procedure to excellence and success in any subjects, and another one as a
method to imitate behavioral patterns and thinking mindsets of successful people.
NLP is an empowering tool, which can be used with all matters in our lives
personally and professionally. “Neuro” in NLP explains our five senses that have an
influence in our behaviors as body and mind are integrated as a whole. Thus NLP is
instructing how to productively communicate with our own unconscious minds and also
how to communicate with others (both verbally and non-verbally) since non-verbal
communication accounts for 93% affecting our daily communication.
In NLP point of view, organizations are the places where there are interrelations
of various units. According to Gregory Bateson from systematic point of view, each unit
relies upon others and there are interactions between them all the times (Psaila, 2005).
Effective leaders employed NLP concepts to develop their organizations by putting it in
their visions as well as into their employees’ mindsets.

Theoretical Framework

The researcher reviewed key theories from previous related research literatures
(Huang & Van, 2006; Judge & Piccolo, 2004; Lowe, 1996; Okoro, 2012). In one
organizational unit, one of the most powerful and important factors to run the
organizational structure is human resources or human capital. According to Bruce
Kaufman (2008), human resources are a set of individuals who gather together to operate
an organization or one business sector. There are both leaders and followers working
together in one team in order to focus on their own duties. Thus improving skills for the
human capital is needed for all organizations. Also shown in previous studies on
organizational system, one significant factor is on the relationship between leadership
skills and competencies and team working skills in many perspectives (Luthans &
Peterson, 2002; MacKenzie et al., 2001). Researchers also found that leadership
management skills play a significant role on teamwork performance; having effective
leaders could increase employee satisfaction and loyalty as well as improve team
performance (Shore & Cross, 2005; Ulrich & Smallwood, 2012; Takahashi et al., 2012;
Story & Barbuto, 2011).
In some organizations especially in MNEs, cultural context is one of the most
important factors. This explains the situation within BWT very well since there was
cultural diversity issue in the organization. Thus, the organizational system of BWT had
two major concerns: cross-cultural leadership skills and cross-cultural teamworking
skills. Cross-cultural leadership skills are a set of skills for effective cross-cultural
leaders. They need to understand diversities amongst people and have a capability to lead
their cross-cultural teams to the common goals. On the other hand, cross-cultural team
working skills are a set of skills that everyone in cross-cultural team need to understand
and practice in order to have an effective cross-cultural teamwork and stay with the team
comprehensively.
The organization needs the positive ODI approach to evolve effective leadership
skills for leaders and strong team working skills for all members in their diverse culture.
In this case, Whole Brain Literacy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming were introduced to
the ODI process, as both of them would help changing from the initial primary of their
brains through potential thinking process and system. The summary of theoretical
framework for this study is exhibited in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Theoretical Framework

Conceptual Framework

Figure 2. Conceptual Framework

There are three main variables in this study: organization development

interventions, cross-cultural leadership skills, and cross-cultural team working skills. The
organization development interventions are represented as independent variables to test
the effect on two dependent variables: cross-cultural leadership skills and cross-cultural
team working skills.
 Action Research Framework

Figure 3. Action Research Framework

Pre-ODI phase

In this phase, the researcher assessed the focal company through various methods
both qualitative and quantitative, starting from an observation to data analysis. The results
taking from the whole assessment process reveals the current situation of the focal
company. Leaders without appropriate leadership skills, skill usability, and cultural
awareness may result in low performance.
According to GLOBE study (Center for Creative Leadership, 2014), the study on
Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness, leaderships in various
cultures are different. GLOBE’s findings showed that different cultures conceptualize
different outstanding leaders. Somehow, cross-cultural leaders who had cross-cultural
team under them are required to have a set of skills culturally. The cultural findings from
Hofstede (1980), Schwartz (1994), Smith (1995), Inglehart (1997), and other famous
researchers verified that cross-cultural leaders are required to have specific skills and
practices for their cross-cultural team. The most significant skills for cross-cultural
leaders are coaching, communicating, directing, delegating, supporting, and motivating.
As well as cross-cultural team, all members in the team are required specific set of skills
for their cross-cultural environments. Samples of cross-cultural skills are communication,
patience, respect, sensitivity, open-mindedness, flexibility, culture awareness, positive
approach towards the problems and willingness to learn (Hingst, 2004; Hills, 2001).

OD Intervention Phase

This phase is the transformation phase. According to Cummings and Worley

(2009), OD interventions include actions, plans, and activities that help the focal
organization move to the desired point. Interventions were designed specifically for both
leader group and employee group and all were created in accordance with cultural and
diversity awareness.
All interventions were designed based on Whole Brain Literacy concept together
with Neuro-Linguistic Programming concept. Each workshop and training functioned the
whole potential of four brain quadrants to make audiences manage his or her thoughts
systematically.
Leadership/management development program and NLP were designed for leader
group. It included ‘leadership essentials’ workshop, WBL workshop, and ‘NLP business
diploma’ training. While workforce diversity program designed for employee group
included team building, effective communication training, and ‘creating perfect
relationship’ workshop.
The purpose of this phase was to improve cross-cultural leadership skills and
cross-cultural team working skills of employees of the focal company.

Post-ODI Phase

This phase is an evaluation phase. After ODI, the results taking from same
assessment process used in pre-ODI phase was expected to show an improvement. Whole
brain literacy view, six-core leadership skills were expected to be re-arranged
systematically for effective leadership management. Suitable interventions designed for
both leaders and team members were expected to increase communication skill as
mentioned by GLOBE study (2014) that effective communications can create effective
cross-cultural leaders and make credibility to leaders as well as increase commitment and
loyalty from employees to leaders and the organization (House et al., 2004). Moreover,
all interventions for leaders were expected to systematize leadership skills in whole brain
concept culturally as supported by Frost and Walker (2007) that global leaders with
systematic set of cultural skills could motivate their employees and retain the best
employees. At the same time, all interventions designed for teamwork were expected to
transform the team to become an effective team and everyone in the team had effective
cross-cultural team working skills.
In this phase, cross-cultural leaders were expected to use each skill appropriately
to the situation and became more effective. Meanwhile, employees were happy working
in the focal company and satisfied to work as a team here as long as possible. The
objective of this phase was to see skill development of both leaders and team members
getting from the designed interventions. And also to see the improvement of the level of
employee engagement after leader group became more effective.

Research Methodology

This study was conducted in the form of an action research consisting of three
phases; Pre-ODI, ODI, and Post-ODI. The respondents for the survey of this study were
from leader group and employee group for a total number of 152 respondents (19
respondents from leader group and 133 respondents from employee group).
Researcher sought evidence from multiple sources to help analyze the current
situation and developed understanding of the events from multiple perspectives. Collected
data was used to characterize the performance and led to an intervention phase in which
the researcher formulated new plans for organization action. Both quantitative and
qualitative approaches were used as a methodology to analyze cross-cultural leadership
skills and cross-cultural team working skills during pre-ODI and post-ODI phases.

Phase I: Diagnosis (PRE-ODI Phase)

SWOT analysis, SOAR analysis, and organizational assessment were

implemented for an initial assessment. The initial observation helped the researcher
identify organizational problems. A survey questionnaire and interviews were conducted
to assess the actual organizational problems. Survey questionnaires were administered
into two sets; one for leaders only (19) and another for 130 employees to review their
own skills in cross-cultural context. All 130 employees and staffs in the organization
were requested to complete a questionnaire designed for assessment of their skills and
they would need to self-assess again in phase III or post-ODI. Another set of
questionnaire was requested to complete merely by leaders to see how they reviewed and
assessed their own actions and performances related to leadership skills. This set of
questionnaire was implemented to assess whether the perception of leaders about
themselves is the same as the perception and feelings of employees about them.
Moreover, forty random employees were engaged in one-on-one interviews.

According to the issues identified in the assessment, there were three dimensions
which needed to be addressed:
 Leadership Skills
 team working Skills
 Cultural Diversity

Phase II: Development Change (ODI Phase)

After the diagnosis phase, researcher analyzed the results and designed
appropriate ODI activities to improve those identified areas of the organization.
Interventions were designed to improve cross-cultural leadership skills and cross-cultural
teamworking skills of employees in the organization. The ODI activities took 4 months to
be completed. The principal objectives of selected ODI activities were:

1. To enhance leadership skills and competency (for example, in

coaching, communicating, motivating, supporting, directing, and
delegating)
2. To increase team working skills in the focal company
3. To develop, apply, and utilize WBL (Whole Brain Literacy) and NLP
(Neuro-Linguistic Programming) as a part of ODI process
4. To diminish gaps among the cross-cultural workforce

Phase III: Evaluation (Post-ODI Phase)

Data was collected once again from the same participants using same
questionnaires to compare significant changes between pre-ODI phase and post-ODI
phase. Forty random employees (same group in Phase I) were engaged in one-on-one
interview once again to measure the transformations. This stage evaluated whether cross-
cultural leadership skills and cross-cultural team working skills were improved.

Analysis

Qualitative Analysis
Instrument 1: Interview Guideline
An interview with open-ended questions was used to gather respondents’
opinions, feedbacks, and recommendations since they had freedom to answer the
questions. Interview guideline was designed for BWT employees to give responses
during pre-ODI and post-ODI stages. It was prepared to measure their satisfaction and
pleasure on their cross-cultural team. There were mainly three (3) questions designed
based on satisfaction and happiness to work life. Researcher used NLP techniques with
this interview such as SCORE model to let them speak their real opinions and feelings out
loud and at least to know what they really wanted from their jobs.
Instrument 2: Observation Guideline
An observation was designed for the researcher to detect the reflection
from all respondents during whole process (pre-ODI, ODI, and post-ODI stages). The
analysis was focused on participant’s behaviors and reflection from the process.
Instrument 3: Participant Logbook
Participant logbook was utilized to keep records and reflections of all
partakers after each activity and intervention.

Quantitative Analysis
Instrument 4: Leadership Self-Assessment
Leadership Self-Assessment was designed for BWT leaders and managers
to assess themselves in their leadership skills and competencies in cross-cultural context.
All questions were applied from a book “Introduction to Leadership Concepts and
Practice” (Northouse, 2011). BWT leaders were inquired to rate each sentence
implementing five-point Likert Scale from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5).
There were eighteen (18) items in total; questions were prepared related to core skills for
transformational leadership style (delegating, coaching, communicating, motivating,
supporting, and directing). The assessment was operated twice, in pre-ODI stage and
post-ODI stage, in order to compare the differences after OD interventions were taken.
 Instrument 5: Cross-Cultural Team Working Questionnaire Survey
Cross-Cultural Team Working Questionnaire was designed to measure
BWT team working skills before and after OD interventions. Frequency, Percentage,
Means, and Standard Deviation (SD) of descriptive statistics as well as Paired Samples T-
Test were applied to compare the differences between those two phases.
Questions for an assessment on cross-cultural team working skills composed of
seventeen (17) questions inquiring for the opinion of each respondent on their cross-
cultural team working. Questions were generated and adapted from many previous
researches on team working and cross-cultural perspectives (Albrecht, 2010; Moosmuller
et al., 2001; Salas et al., 2005), also from Hofstede’s Values Survey Module 2008 (VSM
08) and Hofstede’s IBM Attitude Survey (2001). Five-point Likert Scale was utilized to
measure the level of an agreement on their current cross-cultural team working situations
starting from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5).

Design/Development Of Od Interventions

Interventions on OD process were designed based on the Whole Brain Literacy

(Tayko & Reyes-Talmo, 2010). Researcher grouped all essential activities and
interventions into the whole brain concept and displayed in the following figure.

Figure 4. OD Interventions Designed into the Whole Brain Concept

Interventions for Leader Group

Table 1
Interventions for Leader Group

Intervention Objectives/Benefits For Whom? Duration

- Psychology of Leadership and Confidence
- 10 Core Leadership Competencies
- Advanced Communication Techniques
- Techniques for Preventing and Resolving
Conflict
‘Leadership
Essentials’ Workshop
- Learn to Deliver Feedback Leaders 1 day
- Team Work and Motivation Techniques
- Time Management Skills
- Prioritizing and Planning Processes
- Decision Making and Delegation
Techniques
- Improve All Areas of Life
- Become an Outstanding Leader
‘NLP Business - Communication Mastery Senior
- Confidence and Passion 3 days
Diploma’ Training Leaders
- Master Motivation
- Internationally Recognized NLP Diploma
- Introduce Whole Brain Concept and
Thinking Preference
- Tap into Positive Energy to Achieve Better
Employee Engagement
- Engage a Whole Team to Find an Effective
WBL Workshop Solution Leaders 1 day
- Experience the Benefit of Reframing
Problems into Opportunities
- Understand Strengths and Weaknesses of
Individuals and Implement Whole Brain
Process to Function

Leadership Essentials Workshop: Starting with “core purpose” anchoring, and

then moving to each quadrant I-Control, I-Explore, I-Pursue, and I-Preserve
consecutively. This workshop was designed to make leaders become effective leaders and
they would be able to connect each skill together and use them as a whole.
WBL Workshop: Whole Brain Concept and thinking process were introduced.
Leaders have positive energy to engage all employees and colleagues. They were had
positive thoughts from NLP to reframe problems into opportunities. They were engaged a
whole team to find an effective solution. As well as understand strengths and weaknesses
of individuals and implement whole brain process to function.
NLP Business Diploma Training: This workshop is designed to improve all areas
of life. Leaders become outstanding leaders. They had confidence and passion. Also they
have to motivate and communicate mastery with their colleagues using NLP techniques.
Interventions for Employee Group

Table 2
Interventions for Employee Group

Team Building: To align the team to their shared purpose, goals, and targets.
There were better relationships between all members and get the team to set its own
goals. There are two activities; Fire Walking and Phuket Outing
Effective Communication Training: To improve both verbal and non-verbal
communication. They became active listeners and communicate more effectively,
improved in English proficiency. NLP techniques helped audiences learn it with passion
and enjoyment.
Creating Perfect Relationship Workshop: NLP brought core principles and laws
that govern having perfect relationships. They celebrate and relationships within the
professional environment and with every human being on the planet. They learned how to
coach someone to have perfect relationships.
 Data Analysis

For both cross-cultural leadership assessment and cross-cultural team working

questionnaire, researcher used ‘Agreement Scores’ applied from GNWT Employee
Engagement and Satisfaction Survey to identify areas of strength, opportunities for
improvement, and priority areas for improvement by grouping results getting from the
survey into these categories. The researcher provided the best ODI activities to prioritize
‘Area for Improvement’ and increased cross-cultural team working skills across the
BWT. Agreement scores were based on the 5-point Liker scale of survey respondents;
they were identified into three groups.

 Priority Area for Improvement (with agreement score less than

3): To get a better outcome, this group needed an improvement
as early as possible.
 Area for Improvement (with agreement score above or equal to
3 but less than 4): This group needed an improvement.
 Strengths (with agreement score above or equal to 4): This
group was the ideal result researcher expected to see especially
after the ODI stage. First and second groups were expected to
move here from the post-ODI stage afterwards.

The Findings, Analysis, and Interpretation of Data

The researcher observed and examined the situation of the Company in pre-ODI
phase and then designed a set of suitable interventions for ODI period. After OD
interventions were implemented; researcher observed and examined the situation again to
check whether the Company got the desired outcomes and changes or not.
Interventions were proposed and designed for two groups: one for leader group
and another for the whole company. Interventions for leader group were to increase cross-
cultural leadership skills and interventions for all employees were to increase their cross-
cultural team working skills.

Pre-ODI Phase
Cross-cultural leadership skills
According to ‘Agreement Scores,’ there were areas of strength, opportunities for
improvement, and priority areas for improvement. The agreement score less than 3 were
considered as “priority areas for improvement.” In this phase, the results showed that I
make time to learn what subordinates need from me, I always make sure that
subordinates feel equitably treated and I know how to create an environment to make my
subordinates feel free to present their own ideas were in “priority areas for
improvement.” While the agreement score above or equal to 3 but less than 4 was
considered as “opportunities for improvement.” There were I have global thinking, I
enjoy planning for the future, When circumstances change, I can struggle to know what to
do, I am good at helping my subordinates develop achievable action plans, I always help
people understand the underlying concepts behind the point I am discussing, I reward
success immediately, I consider cultural barriers when planning my communications,
When communicating, I pay attention to body language and I try to understand what
motivates each individual culturally in this “opportunities for improvement” group.

Cross-cultural team working skills

In this phase, it seemed that their ‘communication’ was putting in ‘priority areas
for improvement’ as shown by the mean score at 2.75 of There is good communication
among the team. This score showed that most of the team members disagreed with it and
thought that they were not having good communication among their team. This statement
was also supported by the qualitative results getting from observation and interview
conducted by the researcher. Here are some excerpts:

“I’m not good at English, I don’t understand what they are saying.”
“Indian accent is very hard to understand.”
“I don’t know why he is disappointed, I think he got me wrong.”

Second lowest score was with Members verbally verify information that they
receive from one another at 3.05. The score showed that they needed an improvement on
their two-way communication since they did not verify information verbally after they
received from one another. Verbally verification or repeating what one another was
saying helped confirm the understandings and what they needed.
 Third lowest score was with Team leaders create an environment where all
members feel comfortable at 3.28. Most employees felt uncomfortable with the
environment in the organization. They needed their leaders to create a better one for
them.

Another support on cross-cultural ineffectiveness was showing in Cross-cultural

awareness opportunities are promoted for all members with the mean score at 3.42. The
mean score showed that cross-cultural awareness opportunities were not fully promoted
for all members in BWT.

Summary of Pre-ODI Phase

In this phase, researcher conducted two surveys, Leadership Self Assessment and
team working Survey together with the observation, informal interview, formal interview,
and other analysis such as SWOT and SOAR. The data analysis revealed that most of
BWT leaders at this stage had moderate skills on multicultural skills clustered into six
important groups for cross-cultural leaders: coaching, communicating, supporting,
motivating, delegating, and directing (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. Cross-Cultural Leadership Skills in Clusters (Pre-ODI)

 The data analysis taking from the cross-cultural team working survey also
revealed that communication was the most important skill they were concerned about. As
shown in both questionnaires, There was good communication among the team (from
team working survey) / I consider cultural barriers when planning my communications
(from leadership assessment) / and When communicating, I pay attention to body
language (from leadership assessment) had low mean scores at 2.75, 3.16, and 3.16
respectively. They were all in the areas for improvement. Additionally from the result
mentioned earlier, researcher also designed Team Building activities and a workshop for
Creating Perfect Relationship for the BWT team.

OD Intervention phase

Interventions on OD process were designed based on the results getting from the
Pre-ODI phase. They were comprised of workshops and trainings sets running over four
months.

Table 3
Intervention Summary

Date Interventions Participant

28 May 2015 ‘Leadership Essentials’ Workshop Leaders
27 June 2015 Effective Communication Training Employees
28 June 2015 Team Building All
14 July 2015 ‘Whole Brain Literacy’ Workshop Leaders
25 July 2015 ‘Creating Perfect Relationship’ Workshop Employees
14-16 August 2015 ‘NLP Business Diploma’ Training Senior Leaders
4-6 September Team Building All
 2015

Post-ODI Phase
Cross-Cultural Leadership Skills

Table 4
Quantitative data analysis for cross-cultural leadership skills (pre/post comparison)
(Pre-ODI) (Post-ODI)
Mean SD Mean SD

Q1 I have global thinking. 3.00 0.94 4.47 0.61

Q2 I enjoy planning for the future. 3.79 0.92 4.32 0.67

Q3 When circumstances change, I

3.47 0.90 4.32 0.67
can struggle to know what to do.

Q4 I make time to learn what

2.53 1.07 3.79 0.92
subordinates need from me.

Q5 I clearly define scope of duties

4.05 0.71 4.63 0.50
to my subordinates.

Q6 I always make sure that

2.89 1.05 4.79 0.42
subordinates feel equitably treated.
Q7 I am good at helping my
subordinates develop achievable 3.63 0.76 4.32 0.58
action plans.

Q8 I have a talent to put right

4.11 0.74 4.53 0.51
person on the right job.

Q9 I grant an authority by
4.16 0.76 4.53 0.61
subordinate's past performance.

Q10 I always help people

understand the underlying concepts 3.32 0.67 4.42 0.61
behind the point I am discussing.
 Q11 I reward success immediately. 3.63 1.01 4.53 0.70

Q12 I know how to create an

environment to make my
2.58 0.96 4.16 0.60
subordinates feel free to present
their own ideas.
Q13 I consider cultural barriers
3.16 0.83 4.68 0.48
when planning my communications.
Q14 My actions show subordinates
4.26 0.65 4.58 0.51
what I want from them.
Q15 When assigning tasks, I
consider individual's skills and 4.00 0.82 4.53 0.51
interests.
Q16 When communicating, I pay
3.16 0.83 4.84 0.37
attention to body language.

Q17 I try to understand what

3.00 1.11 4.42 0.84
motivates each individual culturally.

Q18 My coaching is always effective

in helping my subordinates reach 4.00 0.75 4.42 0.61
their goals.

Table 4 showed the mean score comparison of each question in cross-cultural

leadership survey. The results showed that I make time to learn what subordinates need
from me (3.79), I always make sure that subordinates feel equitably treated (4.79) and I
know how to create an environment to make my subordinates feel free to present their
own ideas (4.16) which were in “priority areas for improvement” in the Pre-ODI phase
got incredibly increased even though I make time to learn what subordinates need from
me (3.79) was still in “opportunities areas for improvement.” While I have global
thinking (4.47), I enjoy planning for the future (4.32), When circumstances change, I can
struggle to know what to do (4.32), I am good at helping my subordinates develop
achievable action plans (4.32), I always help people understand the underlying concepts
behind the point I am discussing (4.42), I reward success immediately (4.53), I consider
cultural barriers when planning my communications (4.68), When communicating, I pay
attention to body language (4.84) and I try to understand what motivates each individual
culturally (4.42) which were considered in “opportunities for improvement” area in the
Pre-ODI phase effectively moved to “areas of strength.”
After the ODI phase most of BWT leaders concerned more about having global
thinking. They were now enjoying planning for the future, paid more attention on their
employees’ needs, intensely concerned about equality in the workplace, and considered
cultural barriers when planning communications. They were trained to pay attention to
both verbal and non-verbal languages in the ODI phase. They were all now becoming
more effective communicators.

Cross-Cultural team working skills

Table 5
Quantitative data analysis for team working skills (pre/post comparison)

(Pre-ODI) (Post-ODI)
Mean SD Mean SD
Q1 BWT team is organized and
structured suitably for the tasks it 4.02 0.76 4.64 0.51
has to perform.
Q2 Team problem-solving processes
and methods are appropriate and 4.10 0.63 4.69 0.46
effective.
Q3 Team decision-making processes
and methods are appropriate and 4.00 0.65 4.48 0.57
effective.
Q4 BWT team encourages everyone
3.68 0.80 4.45 0.59
to share ideas.
Q5 Team members express their
opinions honestly and openly to 3.51 0.83 4.72 0.45
each other.
 Q6 Most of members who work in
3.85 0.62 4.38 0.52
the team seem to enjoy their work.
Q7 Members in the team understand
3.43 0.81 4.42 0.57
each other's cultural backgrounds.
Q8 Cross-cultural awareness
opportunities are promoted for all 3.42 0.95 4.17 0.62
members.

Q9 I believe that cross-cultural team

3.97 0.75 4.52 0.53
provides more effective outcomes.

Q10 There is good communication

2.75 0.83 4.65 0.48
among the team.
Q11 Members verbally verify
information that they receive from 3.05 0.92 4.32 0.57
one another.
Q12 I have positive relationships
4.12 0.72 4.29 0.62
with colleagues.
Q13 Members understand their own
4.34 0.64 4.52 0.57
roles and responsibilities.
Q14 Members are treated equally. 3.86 0.89 4.51 0.57
Q15 Conflict between or among
team members is handled promptly 4.10 0.76 4.30 0.64
and effectively.
Q16 Significant information flows
4.02 0.68 4.72 0.45
effectively from leaders to followers.
Q17 Team leaders create an
environment where all members feel 3.28 0.73 4.17 0.69
comfortable.

According to the results from Table 5, There is good communication among the
team which was in the lowest mean score comparing to other statements in the Pre-ODI
phase (at 2.75) increasingly moved to the mean score at 4.65 in the Post-ODI phase. The
team had better communication as concluding from observation and some excerpts from
an interview in the Post-ODI phase:

“We have better communication amongst the team.”

“Even though I’m still not good at English but I have more confidence to speak.”

Second lowest score from the Pre-ODI phase with Members verbally verify
information that they receive from one another (3.05) was climbing to 4.32. Their two-
way communications got highly improved. They now verified information verbally after
they received from one another. Verbally verification or repeating what one another was
saying helped confirm the understandings and what they truly needed.

Next lowest score on Team leaders create an environment where all members feel
comfortable was increasing to 4.17. Most employees felt more comfortable with the
environment in the organization. Some of them mentioned that:

“We feel that our supervisors are closer to us and that makes us so comfortable than
before.”
“I feel that our subordinates are more comfortable to come and talk to us.”

Another cross-cultural issue in Cross-cultural awareness opportunities are

promoted for all members was also focused and developed in the ODI phase. With the
previous mean score at 3.42, now increased to 4.17. It showed that cross-cultural
awareness opportunities were now fully promoted for all members in BWT.
Moreover, the comparison also showed that all of the rest got increased more after
the ODI phase.

Summary of Post-ODI Phase

The data analysis revealed that most of BWT leaders at this stage had higher
leadership skills on multicultural context.
Figure 6. Cross-Cultural Leadership Skills in Clusters (Post-ODI)

Figure 6 show that most of BWT leaders at the Post-ODI stage became more
effective as they were mainly in the areas of strength. Leader’s communication skill
apparently had a major improvement as majority shifted to ‘strongly agree’ rather that
‘neutral’ from the Pre-ODI stage. As well as motivation skill, the results were quite
scattered in the Pre-ODI phase, but positively shifted to higher position in the Post-ODI
phase. All six skills clustered together in the areas of strength.
Data analysis from cross-cultural team working survey in this phase also revealed
that communication skill / cultural awareness / respect / and open-mindedness in
teamwork had positive changes as well.

Hypotheses testing

Table 6
Paired samples t-test for cross-cultural leadership skills

Paired Sig. (2-

Differences tailed)
Std.
Deviati
Mean on
Pair 1 I have global - 1.0733 .000
 thinking. 1.4737 3
Pair 2 I enjoy planning for
-.5263 .69669 .004
the future.
Pair 3 When circumstances
change, I can 1.1186
-.8421 .004
struggle to know 9
what to do.
Pair 4 I make time to learn
- 1.6614
what subordinates .004
1.2632 0
need from me.
Pair 5 I clearly define scope
of duties to my -.5789 .83771 .007
subordinates.
Pair 6 I always make sure
- 1.1002
that subordinates feel .000
1.8947 4
equitably treated.
Pair 7 I am good at helping
my subordinates
-.6842 .47757 .000
develop achievable
action plans.
Pair 8 I have a talent to put
right person on the -.4211 .50726 .002
right job.
Pair 9 I grant an authority
by subordinate's past -.3684 .59726 .015
performance.
Pair 10 I always help people
understand the
-
underlying concepts .65784 .000
1.1053
behind the point I am
discussing.
 Pair 11 I reward success 1.1496
-.8947 .003
immediately. 2
Pair 12 I know how to create
an environment to
make my - 1.1213
.000
subordinates feel free 1.5789 0
to present their own
ideas.
Pair 13 I consider cultural
barriers when -
.77233 .000
planning my 1.5263
communications.
Pair 14 My actions show
subordinates what I -.3158 .58239 .030
want from them.
Pair 15 When assigning tasks,
I consider individual's -.5263 .61178 .001
skills and interests.
Pair 16 When communicating,
-
I pay attention to .74927 .000
1.6842
body language.
Pair 17 I try to understand
- 1.3464
what motivates each .000
1.4211 3
individual culturally.
Pair 18 My coaching is always
effective in helping
-.4211 .50726 .002
my subordinates
reach their goals.

Hypothesis 1
Ho1: There is no significant difference between PRE and POST ODI activities on
cross-cultural leadership skills.
 Ha1: There is a significant difference between PRE and POST ODI activities on
cross-cultural leadership skills.
As shown in Table 6, the p-value of all variables of cross-cultural leadership skills
were less than 0.05 (< .05). Therefore, the Hypothesis 1 (Ho1) is rejected. There is a
significant difference between PRE and POST ODI activities on cross-cultural leadership
skills with 95% significance level.

Table 7
Paired samples t-test for cross-cultural team working skills

Sig.
(2-
Paired tailed
Differences )
Std.
Deviati
Mean on
Pair 1 BWT team is
organized and
-
structured suitably for .72887 .000
.6231
the tasks it has to
perform.
Pair 2 Team problem-solving
processes and
-
methods are .72279 .000
.5923
appropriate and
effective.
Pair 3 Team decision-
making processes and
-
methods are .64957 .000
.4769
appropriate and
effective.
Pair 4 BWT team
-
encourages everyone .91954 .000
.7692
to share ideas.
Pair 5 Team members
-
express their opinions
1.207 .92925 .000
honestly and openly
7
to each other.
Pair 6 Most of members who
work in the team -
.74904 .000
seem to enjoy their .5308
work.
Pair 7 Members in the team
understand each -
.95232 .000
other's cultural .9923
backgrounds.
Pair 8 Cross-cultural
awareness
-
opportunities are .94878 .000
.7538
promoted for all
members.
Pair 9 I believe that cross-
cultural team provides -
.78860 .000
more effective .5462
outcomes.
Pair 10 There is good -
communication 1.900 .98713 .000
among the team. 0
Pair 11 Members verbally
-
verify information that
1.261 .96089 .000
they receive from one
5
another.
 Pair 12 I have positive
-
relationships with .39647 .000
.1692
colleagues.
Pair 13 Members understand
-
their own roles and .38308 .000
.1769
responsibilities.
Pair 14 Members are treated -
.81518 .000
equally. .6462
Pair 15 Conflict between or
among team
-
members is handled .96770 .020
.2000
promptly and
effectively.
Pair 16 Significant
information flows -
.84128 .000
effectively from .7000
leaders to followers.
Pair 17 Team leaders create
an environment -
.88262 .000
where all members .8923
feel comfortable.

Hypothesis 2
Ho2: There is no significant difference between PRE and POST ODI activities on
cross-cultural team working skills.
Ha2: There is a significant difference between PRE and POST ODI activities on
cross-cultural team working skills.
As shown in Table 7, the p-value of all variables of cross-cultural teamworking
skills are less than 0.05 (< .05). Therefore, the Hypothesis 2 (Ho2) is rejected. There is a
significant difference between PRE and POST ODI activities on cross-cultural team
working skills with 95% significance level.
 Summary of the Findings

Research findings indicated that WBL and NLP techniques on the ODI process
had a significant impact and improved cross-cultural leadership skills and cross-cultural
team working skills.
Starting from the Pre-ODI stage, the researcher observed and did both SWOT and
SOAR analysis to figure out the major problem the focal company was facing with. The
initial conclusion was pointed to a matter of cultural differences. The researcher and the
management team then realized that all members should need a set of cross-cultural
mindset and skills. Thus, questionnaire surveys and interview guidelines were designed
and distributed to test if the results aligned with the initial analyses and observation. The
findings from questionnaires and interview found that language and cultural differences
strongly needed an improvement. Researcher determined ‘Agreement Scores’ to identify
areas of improvement. If the agreement score was above or equal to 4, it was not truly
focused. But if the agreement score was above or equal to 3 but less than 4, it was
considered in an area for improvement. In the worst case, if the agreement score was less
than 3, it was considered in a priority area for improvement. The findings showed that
cultural awareness, language, and communication were really a significant factors putting
in a priority area for improvement.
The researcher designed six OD interventions according to NLP techniques and
whole-brain thinking concept. The proposed OD interventions were ‘Leadership
Essentials’ workshop, training for effective communication, team building activities,
‘Whole Brain Literacy’ workshop, ‘Creating Perfect Relationship’ workshop, and ‘NLP
Business Diploma’ training. Researcher discovered key findings from these interventions
that NLP and WBL were about brain changing and thinking concept and both were based
on physiological and neurological functioning of the brain. The process shifted and
improved participants’ brain concept positively.
The findings from the questionnaires and interview in the Post-ODI phase
indicated that the ODI process contributed to an improvement and development of cross-
cultural leadership skills and cross-cultural team working skills. There were statistically
significant differences between the Pre-ODI and the Post-ODI phase on these two major
variables. The mean scores of all variables in the Post-ODI phase had increased from the
Pre-ODI phase. Participants understood more about cultural diversities and that made
stronger relationships amongst the team. Leader group realized that becoming an
effective leader needs to have various skills depending upon the situations and
circumstances; having whole-brain thinking concept helped them facilitate those positive
perspectives and skills to strengthen their followers’ capabilities. Furthermore, in the
Post-ODI phase, subordinates became more creative, more collaborative, more
participated, and more commitment to the work since they changed their mindset. All
participants were more involved and focused on the goals set by the management team.
Most importantly, there was an improvement on their communication skill. There
was no longer one-way communication. Two-way communication was developed and
could finally improve the cross-cultural communication amongst their team. This brought
a positive impact on organizational effectiveness and working atmosphere to the
workplace. In addition, the empirical results also revealed and confirmed that effective
skills of the human resource had positive impacts on employee engagement, employee
motivation, employee commitment, employee satisfaction, and organizational
performance as well as supported by many previous research studies (Buckingham &
Coffman, 1999; Harter et al., 2002; Judge & Piccolo, 2004; Lowe, 1996).

Conclusions

Developing cross-cultural leadership skills and cross-cultural team working skills

through the organization development intervention and NLP introduction caused a
positive impact on BWT Thailand, a multinational enterprise in Thailand. The findings
indicated that implementing OD process together with WBL and NLP techniques could
result in an improvement of cross-cultural leadership skills and cross-cultural team
working skills as WBL and NLP involved in the development of human potential. All six
interventions were assumed as very effective and successful activities as shown in the
findings after the four-month intervention period. After the ODI, there was a statistically
significant improvement comparing by the results between the Pre-ODI phase and the
Post-ODI phase. The mean scores of variables in the Pre-ODI phase was quite scattered,
some were very low, some were very high, while some were in the middle. This chaos
was also supported by an interview and the observation; some participants looked happy
and enjoy their works while some looked demotivated by the job. After the ODI, an
interview and the observation disclosed that all participants seemed to enjoy their team
much better, their relationships with the team looked closer and more opened. And this
finding was also supported statistically by distributing same set of questionnaires, the
results displayed that all the mean scores were increased and now became clustered
together. This was a good sign of having a team with one unique organizational culture.
As the consequence, there was a positive impact on organizational performance as
shown by its rates of absenteeism, employee turnover, and customer complaints. Before
the OD process began, there was a high employee turnover rate especially for sales team.
Surprisingly, there were no resignations from the job during the OD process and the
staffseemed to convince their friends to become a part of BWT team. There were many
researches and literature reviews that supported the impact of employee engagement,
employee motivation, employee commitment, and employee satisfaction on the
organizational performance (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999; Harter et al., 2002; Judge &
Piccolo, 2004; Lowe, 1996; Hingst, 2004; Hills, 2001). This research study would be
another source to support those ideas; what is different and unique was this research was
done in a cross-cultural context. It worked with the majority Thais in the focal company
and some of non-Thais from various parts of the world.

Implications

The results from this research study revealed that coaching and training were
important for the organizational development and success. In this research, the researcher
strongly focused on communication skill since the analysis showed that many members in
this focal company had insufficient communicating skill. Communication is the basis of
all relationships (Lauring, 2011). Multinational organizations usually have this problem
as their members are from various cultures and circumstances (Everett et al., 2002). In
order to have a harmony in one organizational unit, the organization needs to create
special activities, coaching, and trainings on communication for their members. During
four months of OD intervention period, communication workshops were designed to
improve cross-cultural leadership skills and cross-cultural team working skills of the focal
company. The results were satisfied and proved to effectively enhance those cross-
cultural skills.
 Neuro-Linguistic Programming or NLP was implemented in this research to
design the interventions. It helped construct the interventions especially the
communication ones as it instructed how to productively communicate with our own
unconscious minds and how to verbally and non-verbally communicate with others
(Bandler & Grinder, 2005). The interview results after the OD intervention period
demonstrated that NLP improved all participants in better way not only in the
professional lives but also in their personal lives.
Lastly, the findings also concluded an influence of leadership skills on team
working. The change of leadership effectiveness affected team working performance of
all members. Since the results from both assessments pointed the harmony of the
questionnaires and harmoniously conformed one another by the mean scores (pre and
post) as well as the results from the interviews, the researcher concluded that effective
leadership skills were significantly related to BWT effective teamwork.

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