Cultural Diversity in Entrepreneurial Teams: Findings of New Ventures in Germany

This paper explores how entrepreneurs from different national cultures deal with cultural diversity of their entrepreneurial teams. The explorative research looks at six case studies in different stages of the venture process. The paper delivers insights from early to later phases of start‐ups. From the case‐study research and theoretic considerations the paper develops different propositions. Core findings are: first, in cross‐cultural teams monochronic/low‐context/high‐space entrepreneurs strongly structure tasks. Second, polychronic/high‐context/low‐space founders tend to supply external contacts to the diverse team. Third, polychronic/high‐context/low‐space founders have a propensity to stimulate communication procedures. Fourth, enhanced communication in cross‐cultural teams seems to be related to creativity. At last, monochronic/low‐context/high‐space founders tend to deny positive effects from cultural diversity.