Bridging the gap: discovering mental models in globally collaborative contexts

Authors:
Pablo-Alejandro Quinones;Susan R. Fussell;Lucio Soibelman;Burcu Akinci
Affiliations:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA;Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA;Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA;Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsubrgh, PA, USA
Venue:
Proceedings of the 2009 international workshop on Intercultural collaboration
Year:
2009

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Abstract

The engineering and construction sectors have experienced a large surge in global projects. A common complaint is that American engineers are not ready to work globally because of their insensitivity to cultural differences. In this paper, we report two case studies of undergraduate engineering students in the U.S. collaborating with fellow students in Brazil, Israel or Turkey. We used survey, interview and observational methods to understand how cultural differences affected the quality of team interaction. We focus specifically on how culturally based differences in mental models of the work process (e.g., team structure, task processes, social conventions, knowledge/expertise) can account for problems that arise during engineering collaborations. The results can be used to design training software and materials to better prepare engineering students to work in a global context.