Communication, Culture, and Diversity on Virtual Team Effectiveness - Essay Example

?Impact assessment of communication, culture and diversity on virtual team effectiveness at INT Corporation EMEA. Introduction This section eluci s the protocol which will be adopted in the conduct of the study from the collection of data to the analysis and interpretation of findings. The methods and procedures are described in sufficient detail to permit replication. Included in the discussion are sampling design, measures of the constructs pertinent to the study, the data gathering procedure and the estimation method to be applied in data analysis. Sampling The level of analysis adopted in this study is the company or organizational level. Level of analysis, as defined by Louche and Baeten (2006), refers to the level which this analysis will apply. In this study, the company level of analysis of the impact assessment focuses on the organization, their processes, challenges, decision-making methods, outputs and outcomes (Wood, Logsdon, Lewellyn & Davenport, 2006). The population identified for this study consists of the employees comprising the global virtual teams of a multinational corporation. Random sampling will be used to ensure the representativeness of the sample. Random sampling is a type of probability sampling where each item or member of the population of interest has an equal chance of being included in the sample. This type of sample guarantees that the respondents are selected without bias and at the same time permits the determination of a specified statistical level of confidence in the statement of inferences (Kazmier, 2004). A Web-based random sample size calculator was used to compute for the minimum required sample, based on the following parameters: (1) margin of error, 5%; (2) confidence level, 95%; (3) population size, 60,000; and (4) response distribution, 50% (Raosoft, 2004). Based on the output generated by calculation, the minimum required sample size was 382. A screenshot of this output is exhibited as Appendix 2. However, in anticipation of contingency which may arise during data gathering, such as invalid or incompletely answered questionnaires, failure to retrieve floated questionnaires, or withdrawal of the respondent’s participation at any point in the study for whatever reason, the minimum sample size required was augmented by 10% and rounded off to the nearest tens. Hence, the sample size in this study is 420. Random sampling will be carried out by obtaining pertinent information such as names of the employees and corresponding e-mail addresses. Permission has already been requested from the HR department after purpose of the study and request for information accessed have been discussed. Approval has also been given on condition of anonymity and confidentiality of the information disclosed. The names of the employees have been inputted in Microsoft Excel (2003). Each name in one column was automatically assigned a random number and sorted from lowest to highest. The first 420 random numbers representing employee names were selected as respondents. Measures Five constructs are being measured in the current study. Three of these constructs are organizational variables included in the first research problem: communication, culture and diversity. Communication is measured in terms of level of adequacy of communication within and among the virtual teams using Part 2 of the research instrument. Respondents assess the adequacy of communication within and among the virtual teams using a five-point Likert Scale. The responses are interpreted according to the mean of the participant responses and the researcher-devised scale shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Interpretation Scale for the Adequacy of Communication within and Among Virtual Teams Meanwhile, organizational culture measured in terms of the quality of the collective norms and standards adopted within the organization using Part 3 of the research instrument. Respondents assess the quality of the organizational culture using a five-point Likert Scale. The responses are interpreted according to the mean of the participant responses and the researcher-devised scale shown in Figure 2. Figure 2. Interpretation Scale for Organizational Culture On the other hand, diversity will be measured by statistically describing the frequency distribution of the following aspects of diversity considered in this study, namely: gender, age, birth year, birthplace, languages spoken, ongoing disability if any, and nature of disability. The fourth construct, team effectiveness, is included in the second research problem. Effectiveness is measured as highly effective in the upper end of the scale and ineffective in the lower end of the scale, based on Part 1 of the research instrument. Respondents assess the effectiveness of the virtual teams using a five-point Likert Scale. The responses are interpreted according to the mean of the participant responses and researcher-devised scale shown in Figure 3. Figure 3. Interpretation Scale for Team Effectiveness The fifth construct measured in this study impact of communication, culture, and diversity on the effectiveness of the virtual teams, and is tackled in the third research question. This construct may be operationally defined as the influence of communication, culture, and diversity on the effectiveness of the virtual teams. Influence, in this regard, will be measured in terms of the strength and significance of the relationship of each of the independent variables communication, culture, and diversity with the dependent variable team effectiveness. This objective is accomplished by testing the null hypothesis that “there is no significant association between communication, culture and diversity, and the effectiveness of the virtual teams”. Significance of association is measured in terms of the hypothesized level of significance (? = 0.05) and the actual level of significance computed from an appropriate inferential statistical measure. Strength of association is measured using the following interpretation guide from De Vaus (2002, p. 259): Figure 3. Interpretation Guide for Strength of Association (De Vaus, 2002, p. 259) Data Collection The following procedure will be followed in the collection of data: 1. Request for access to employee names and their corresponding email addressed was discussed with HR of the multi-national company together with the request for pilot testing and administration of questionnaires. 2. After negotiating permissions, pilot testing will be carried out among 30 respondents by random sampling as discussion under the sampling sub-section. These respondents will not anymore be included in the randomization for the floating of the actual questionnaire. Data will be subjected to reliability analysis using SPSS Statistics Version 17 for the calculation of Cronbach alpha. Face validity will be evaluated from the opinions of two or more experts. A Cronbach alpha of greater than 0.70 is needed, and the face validity assessment must be positive so that the survey can be floated. 3. The research instrument will be floated among the 420 respondents through self administered internet-mediated questionnaires. Informed consent forms will be sent together with the questionnaire and respondents who are willing to participate will be requested to print the informed consent forms, sign and mail the form to a designated address. Ample time will be given to the respondents to mail back the answered questionnaire. After this period, follow up emails will be sent. Three follow-ups will be made. After which the researcher will assume that the respondent(s) is / are not willing to participate. To enhance response rate and reach the minimum allowable response rate of 91%, endorsement will be solicited from top management for support of this undertaking. 4. After retrieval of the completed questionnaires, data will be encoded and processed in MS Excel (2003) using a coding guide for the preparation of a data matrix. The data matrix will be copy pasted in SPSS Statistics (2008) for data analysis. Estimation Method / Data analysis The independent variables communication and culture, and the dependent variable team effectiveness will be described using a measure of central tendency (mean) and a measure of dispersion (standard deviation) and will be textually interpreted using Figures 1, 2 and 3 under the sub-section Measures. Meanwhile, diversity will be described using frequency and percentage distributions. Hypothesis testing will be carried out using non-directional or two-tailed analysis and a 0.05 level of significance (? = 0.05). Association between communication and team effectiveness, as well as the association between culture and team effectiveness will be evaluated using correlation analysis. Correlation analysis is the best choice since relationship is being examined and this statistical procedure is applicable when working with non-categorical or quantitative variables. The relationship between diversity characteristics and team effectiveness will be investigated using independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), multiple comparisons test, and supplemented by Levene’s test. Independent samples t-test will be used to verify the relationship between gender and team effectiveness, as well as between ongoing disability and team effectiveness. Independent samples t-test is applicable for comparison between the means of two groups. Both gender and ongoing disability are dichotomous variables. One way ANOVA will be used to examine the relationship between the dependent variable team effectiveness and the following diversity variables: age, birth year, birthplace, languages spoken, and nature of disability. Since the diversity variables consists of three or more groups, ANOVA is deemed most appropriate since it is the best statistical measure to use if the objective is to detect differences in the means of three or more groups. Levene’s test will be applied to verify whether or not the data are normally distributed. Multiple comparisons test or post hoc analysis determines which among pairs of data significantly differ. References Cohen, L., .Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education. (6th ed.). Oxon, GBR: Routledge. De Vaus, D. (2002). Surveys in social research. 5th ed. Oxon, GBR: Routledge. Kazmier, L. J. (2004). Schaum’s outlines: Business statistics (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies. Louche, C. & Baeten, X. (2006). A stepwise approach to stakeholder management. In J. Jonker & M. de Witte (Eds.), Management models for corporate social responsibility (pp. 171-179). Berlin, DEU: Springer. Raosoft (2004). Sample size calculator. Retrieved April 14, 2011 from, http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html Wood, D. J., Logsdon, J. M., Lewellyn, P. G. & Davenport, K. (2006). Global business citizenship: A transformative framework for ethics and sustainable capitalism. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. Read More