Collaboration with foreigners in international employee teams from the perspective of the young generation

Abstract

Purpose: The young generation will soon decide about the development of international and global business, replacing the previously employed staff. One of the prerequisites of this development is effective collaboration with foreigners. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper presents results of the research that aimed to investigate preferences and fears of young people that pertain to collaboration with foreigners in employee teams. The research has been conducted on a sample of 773 young people aged 19-24. Findings: The research has proved that only 18.2% of the young generation representatives are in favour of working in one team with foreigners. Even fewer young people (16.7%) are keen to lead a team consisting of foreigners. The majority of the research participants (88.3%) prefers teams that include up to 5 foreigners. The research demonstrates that 52.6% of young people have a fairly positive attitude to foreigners. A prospect of collaboration with foreigners is not a cause of anxiety for 63.0% of the respondents, and 62.1% believe that a risk of collaborating with foreigners does not occur or is low. Practical Implementation: More anxiety concerns the issue of foreigners fulfilling their commitments. Persons who believe that foreigners will fulfil their obligations constitute 44.5% of the investigated population. Originality value: The research has demonstrated a need to take measures aimed at preparing the young generation better to future work with foreigners in international and global enterprises, with a particular stress on cultural differences.