www.ccsenet.org/ibr International Business Research Vol. 5, No. 6; June 2012 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 73 Interpersonal Cooperation in Multicultural Working Context Helena Karjalainen Professor of Intercultural Management, Ecole de Management de Normandie/Normandy Business School 9 rue Claude Bloch, 14052 CAEN Cedex, France Tel: 33-2-3146-7878 E-mail: h.karjalainen@em-normandie.fr Richard Soparnot Professor of Strategy and Management, Loire Valley University/CRESCEM/ESCEM - VALLOREM EA 6296 Groupe ESCEM, 1 Rue Léo Delibes, BP 0535, 37205 Tours Cedex 3, France Tel: 33-2-477-7168 E-mail: rsoparnot@escem.fr Received: September 9, 2011 Accepted: April 16, 2012 Published: June 1, 2012 doi:10.5539/ibr.v5n6p73 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ibr.v5n6p73 Abstract The cooperation process has hardly been studied in multicultural organisations. Empirical and theoretical studies have identified its functioning process by its nature or by its stimulating factors; however there is a lack of research concerning the interpersonal cooperation process in intercultural organisations. This research paper proposes an interpersonal cooperation model elaborated firstly in a mono-cultural working environment, which is then applied to an intercultural organisation in order to elaborate a cross-cultural model for cooperation. The model suggests that interpersonal cooperation is a dual process and based on a political dimension (a calculation process of individuals which can prevent cooperation) and identification dimension. Based on an empirical research method, the paper presents the application of the model through an inter-site case study including 30 interviews in an international company amongst 10 different nationalities. Moreover, the case study stresses that the political dimension of the model is not relevant in an intercultural context because the identification dimension prevails. The identification process reflects a strong organisational culture of the company Prometheus which has a human resource management focus on a common understanding of others where the national cultural differences become secondary (based on an anthropological conception of human beings). Finally, the theoretical implications of the study argue that interpersonal cooperation process is not the same in mono-cultural and intercultural organisations. It can also be concluded that managers should build a strong organisational culture in intercultural organisations and multiply common interpersonal projects in order to create a strong feeling of belonging to a work group and to a company. Keywords: Interpersonal cooperation, Multicultural organisation, Social identification, Organisational culture 1. Introduction Cooperation in organisations is at the heart of managerial and academic reflections. Understanding collective action in organisations challenges managers who try to coordinate team work in companies, but also academic researchers who wish to understand the nature, foundations and effects of interpersonal cooperation. If some recent empirical and theoretical studies contribute with new responses to this understanding (Bernoux, 1995; Zarifian, 1995; Dameron, 2003-2004), they nevertheless remain limited to mono-cultural work groups in organisations. Yet, the complexity of multicultural organisations and the difficulty to get employees representing different cultures to work together makes it necessary to complete more studies on the understanding of interpersonal cooperation in a multicultural working environment (Adler, 1986; Chevrier, 2000). According to Cox (1991) multicultural organisations refer to the degree to which an organisation values cultural diversity and is willing to utilise and encourage it. Organisations can diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality. The theoretical field of intercultural management is indeed characterised by the absence of empirical work allowing the comprehension of interpersonal cooperation in a multicultural working environment. Intercultural studies are mainly focused on the increasing diversity of the workforce and on the rising importance of teams and teamwork in the organisation and operation of organisations (O’Reilly, Williams & Barsade, 1999). However previous studies still hang on the question of different mechanisms of interpersonal cooperation between cultures. The primary