隨著當今勞工市場的轉型，新生代人群將在不久的未來成為勞動力的重要組成部分。組織需要高效率的員工隊伍，他們越來越依賴團隊合作來實現公司目標。團隊的成功離不開團隊內的有效溝通。然而，團隊沖突對團隊合作會產生極大的影響。由於團隊內不同的溝通偏好，團隊沖突常常在所避免。
文化在人們交流中起著至關重要的作用。本篇論文將以定性的角度分析並將兩種不同的文化進行比較。確切的說，本文將會探討奧地利和台灣新生代人群在溝通方面的偏好。本文將從四個類別進行分析：關切與冷漠、專業與個人、直接與間接以及面對面與非面對面交流。並將進一步探討以上的溝通偏好如何影響他們的團隊沖突。
經過調查，奧地利和台灣受訪者之間的不同溝通偏好，主要源於他們不同的文化背景。因此，團隊沖突不僅是由不同出生年代的差異造成的，也可能是因為不同文化的特性而產生的。此外，調查發現某些特定的溝通偏好更易導致同事間的衝突。

As today’s workforce is in transition, Generation Y will become a significant component of the workforce in the immediate future. Organizations demand a productive workforce, meaning they increasingly rely on teamwork in order to achieve company goals. The need to communicate effectively in teams is shown to be the key ability necessary for any team success. However, teamwork and conflicts have a great influence on each other. Due to divergent communication preferences, team conflicts are the norm.
Culture plays an essential role with regard how people communicate. For this reason, a qualitative study helped to analyze and compare two different cultures. To be more precise, the communication preferences of Generation Y in Austria and Taiwan are explored. This exploration was based on four dimensions: attached vs. detached, professional vs. personal, direct vs. indirect and in-person vs. non-in-person communication. It was further examined how the identified communication preferences affected their experiences with team conflicts.
It turned out that Austrian and Taiwanese respondents have some differing communication preferences which can be primarily attributed to their divergent cultural backgrounds. It follows that team conflicts are caused not only by generational differences, but also cultural characteristics can constitute obstacles for effective team communication. Moreover, it was found that certain communication preferences tend to cause personal conflicts more easily.

Thesis Validation Letter i
摘要 ii
Abstract English iii
1 Introduction 1
2 Literature Review 4
2.1 Characteristics of Generation Y 4
2.2 Dimensionalizing Cultures 8
2.2.1 Individualism vs. Collectivism 9
2.2.2 Low Context vs. High Context 11
2.3 Communication 13
2.3.1 Attached vs. Detached Communication 15
2.3.2 Professional vs. Personal Communication 16
2.3.3 Direct vs. Indirect Communication 17
2.3.4 In-Person vs. non-in-Person Communication 18
2.4 Sources of Conflict 19
2.5 Relationship between Communication and Conflicts 21
2.6 Communication Preferences and Relationship Conflicts 23
3 Methodology 24
3.1 Research Design 24
3.1.1 Interview Sample 25
3.2 Data Collection and Analysis Methods 27
4 Results 28
4.1 Communication Preferences of Generation Y 28
4.1.1 Attached vs. Detached Communication Preferences 30
4.1.2 Professional vs. Personal Communication 32
4.1.3 Direct vs. Indirect Communication 33
4.1.4 In-Person vs. Non-in-Person Communication 35
4.2 How Generation Y’s Communication Preferences affect their experiences with conflicts in teams? 36
4.2.1 Austria 36
4.2.2 Taiwan 39
5 Discussion and Comparison 41
5.1 Analysis of the Relationship between Communication and Relationship Conflicts 45
6 Conclusions 46
6.1.1 Limitations and Further Research 48
7 References 50
8 Appendix 58
8.1 Interview Guide 58

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