Research on multicultural groups has typically extended monocultural group research rather than building on prior cross-cultural research. This article brings together the literature on cross-cultural and multicultural groups to look at the experience of Russian-American collaboration. In this exploratory study, American (n = 17) and Russian (n = 18) informants described their experiences in on-going, business-related small groups. Qualitative and descriptive analysis suggested that cultural differences did impede collaboration, although mutual benefits to heterogeneous groups were also identified. The strongest cultural factor appeared to be the influence of external stakeholders on the group. These findings suggest that future research on multicultural groups needs to use a more complex approach to combine the findings of several bodies of literature.
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