Intercultural Communication Challenges in Culturally Diverse Teams: A Conceptual Framework of Knowledge Sharing, Cultural Intelligence, and Team Effectiveness

Abstract

Intercultural communication challenges remain a significant concern in culturally diverse teams because differences in language, cultural norms, pragmatic conventions, stereotypes, and contextual expectations can disrupt mutual understanding and collaboration. This conceptual paper develops an integrated framework explaining how such challenges influence team effectiveness through knowledge sharing and how cultural intelligence shapes this process. Drawing on Social Information Processing Theory, the paper argues that intercultural communication difficulties can impede the interpretation, transfer, and integration of knowledge across cultural boundaries, thereby reducing the effectiveness of collective action. Knowledge sharing is positioned as the mediating mechanism through which communication challenges affect team outcomes, while cultural intelligence is proposed as a moderating capability that weakens the negative relationship between intercultural communication challenges and knowledge sharing. The framework therefore advances a moderated mediation perspective linking communication barriers, intercultural capability, knowledge processes, and team effectiveness. The paper contributes to intercultural communication research by moving beyond the identification of communication barriers toward explaining how and under what conditions these barriers influence culturally diverse teams. The proposed framework also provides a foundation for future empirical research in multicultural, virtual, and technology-mediated organizational settings.