The Concepts of Virtual Team in Organizations - Assignment Example

?Proposal Table of Contents Table of Contents Introduction 2 Critical Issues 3 Solutions of the Problems 5 Real World Examples 6 Ethical Implication of the Issues 7 Conclusion 9 Reference 11 Introduction When a company management wants to start a new project then they have to take many factors in account. History shows that the projects which have got success are very much lesser than the projects which have failure. There are many factors which are associated with the project. If a project gets success then it can generate some big amount of revenue but if it gets failed then the cost of the project would go in vain. The project only gets success if that manager of the firm has done a proper planning. At first the manager has to make sure that the project is financially viable that is by using the financial tools he has to make sure that the project would generate profit for the firm. Then the firm has to fix the location for the project and also the labour who will execute the planning into reality. Then there is the marketing and sales and distribution of the project about which also the managers should make a plan. The workers are a major part of the project. In the era of globalization persons of different cultures, different religions can be associated with the project. The project can also be a multinational project where the top management has to control the employees who are of different nationality. This report is an attempt to identify the issues faced by the managers while they set a project where the associated persons of the project are from different culture, as well as the researcher has provided some solutions of the problems, also some example from real world is given here. Critical Issues When a team of people based in different locations and they work in the same project then the team is known as the virtual team. The members of the virtual teams don’t meet but they work on the same project communicating by video conference, phone or e-mail on a regular basis. The virtual team concept has started since 1973 (Mihhailova and Piiriste, n.d., p.9). In a company where the project is done in the face to face team then there is fixed team membership, the team members are located in one place, they are 100% dedicated as they have to work in one project and the team has only one manager. But in the virtual team there is much difference from the face to face team. There are many advantages and disadvantages associated in the virtual team process. Modern communication process has open a new window of collaborative work where the knowledge can be shared by the members of the organization who are in different places and this would be ultimately effective for the organization as a whole (Kimball, 1997, p.1). Despite of its advantages virtual teams becomes more complex day by day as there are many challenges when the persons work in a virtual team. The virtual team has to face the language difficulties as the virtual team members are from different locations of the world; there is problem of time zone, absence of face to face contact, reporting to different part of the organization. Also there are problems of conflict management; problem of making decision above all there is the problem of cultural barriers. There are some issues regarding culture of the workers as it can be different. Some workers of the team may be aggressive and some other may be of not that type. So there can be a misunderstanding arising between the team and so mistrust. When the Americans like a fast response and they use a sparse and targeted prose when they used to communicate by an e-mail; the Japanese are not of that type. They are in the side of a careful and proper response, the idea of the sparse prose where is problem of grammar is measured as an incomplete message. So working in this cross cultural situations where people from different cultures are there the culturally based problems usually arise, so the company has to solve the problem consciously for effectively manage the situation. When there is mistrust between the team members there would be lack of communication. A team always perform better when there is chance of enough knowledge sharing between the team members. In Japan the workers believe in teamwork mainly and the people not expecting their mind is being directed and pushed by some other where in America the people believe in individualism, they expect monitoring of the other people and expect direction from the upper level management. It is the responsibility of the management to ensure that all the members of the virtual team are participating and getting benefit from the interaction between the team members. The other main challenges in front of the virtual teams are the members’ different attitude towards the hierarchy and authority of the organization, the tolerance of different members towards uncertainty, the orientation of different societies. The dimensions were proposed by Geert Hofstede and some works also have done by the researchers based on the research paper of Hofstede. The researcher has stated five cultural dimensions which are applied by the companies extensively for measuring the different cultural dimensions in the world. The dimensions are power distance index (PDI), individualism (IDV), Masculinity (MAS), Lone term orientation (LTO) and Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) (Boyd, n.d., p.2). The power distance index means that the different orientation of the people of different countries towards the hierarchy of the organization, the distance of power. For example in America the PDI is 40 and the PDI in India is 77 (ITIM, 2011). It means the Power distance in India is more than U.S.A. The company management should take these factors in consideration so that the virtual team become more effective. Solutions of the Problems Based on some researches some steps have been advised by the researchers that can be followed by the managers for solving the problem regarding the multicultural issues in the virtual team. In the forming stage the team members should develop understanding between them and there should be strong sense about the team identity. In the storming stage some face to face sessions should be organized which is helpful for know each other better and then the work flow will be easier in the future. The manager should ensure that the team members should be of compromising nature. In the norming stage the company should assign a team coach who has the ability to manage the virtual team that is who has specialized in this matter. In the performing stage of the project the company should ensure that the company culture supports the virtual team work which is very important for the virtual team process. If the company culture or more specifically the departmental culture supports the virtual team work then it would be easier for the virtual team members to work. The four stages of product development was stated by Tuckman (1965) (Furst et al, 2004, p.7-15). For overcome the challenges arising for managing the multicultural team some strategies were advised to the company management by the researchers. These are changing the composition of the team, so make the composition like that is adaptable to all the members, adapting the cultural barriers in the organization and start to resolve the issues, intervention of the top management and retrench a member if needed (Makilouko, n.d., p.2-4). For making the virtual teams more successful it is required to increase the face to face meeting between the team members. It would develop the relationship between the team members and also increase the understanding between each other. It is the advantage that the company would get positives of the virtual project process by working in different locations, thus make efficient the knowledge management process and the cost of the company; but for improving the efficiency and decrease the number of faults it is also necessary to meet the team members periodically. It is necessary as they can sort out the problems arising in the period when they are working in different locations. Also this is efficient when there is some situation of decision making. The video conferencing method can also be implemented which improve the communication between the team members. When the members communicate though e-mail or audio conversation then sometimes they are unable to express their opinion, which certainly would be better in case of video conferencing, ultimately it would improve the interaction between the team members and thus the efficiency of the employees. The probability of getting success would be higher in this case. In some cases there is certain confusion in the employees about their responsibility and their shared objectives. This should be making clear by the top management. From the research conducted it has been found that the virtual team members that there is lack of communication, cooperation between the team members and there is also lack of meeting the etiquettes (Virtual Team Survey Report, 2010, p.28). It is the responsibility of the company management to ensure the cooperation and collaboration between the employees. They have to choose the employees who would be a part of the virtual team more consciously. In case of face to face team members it is easier to continue the project, as there attachment is more with that particular project but in case of the virtual project it is tough for the team management to maintain and direct the team members. Their aim should be to increase the attachment of the team members with the project and for doing this the management should taken care of the different cultures as it is most necessary one as the members are born and brought up in that culture. So the companies should have the effective tools so that the employees have clarity about the project objective, their responsibilities and they are able to communicate with other offshore team members easily and they are free to express their opinions. Real World Examples Here the researcher uses the example of BakBone software for stating the problem of multicultural problems in a virtual team. The software company based in San Diego has a virtual team where the members are from Israel and U.S. There are some cultural and time zone differences which caused problem for the company. The Israeli members of the team don’t work in Friday for the religious issues and therefore the company face the problems as the U.S. team members use in that day. The time difference of Israel and U.S. is 7 hour. For solving these problems the company has used a share web server, videoconferencing which was able to bridge the gap between the members. The company also found a problem when they have included people from Japan in their virtual tem. The Japanese who used to speak flawless English think the English speak by them is not understandable to the other people and they used to stay quiet when there is an important issue like take an important issue regarding the company (Vinaja, n.d. p.342-343). Boeing- Rocketdyne undertook a project to design a new rocket engine which would be much cheaper than the regular rocket engines and also faster. The project was inter organizational also virtual. The members of the virtual team were also the part of the projects of their respective organizations. The virtual team was comprised of 8 members who are of different organizations and has never worked before together. Moreover their work discipline were different, they also work on different design processes. For the project they have worked for 10 months and there were not much face to face interactions. In spite of the obstacles the project got success, it has achieved the 9 sigma quality level. 9 sigma means there was tentatively no fault at all. The project achieved less than 1 failure out of 10 billion which implicates the huge success of the project. It should be keep in mind that the project team members are from different cultures, different countries, working in different type of projects but they have got success. This project got success because of a robust strategy, the use of technology, restructuring of the work process. The project success was the result of a proper planning. The level of participation was specified by the project coordinator. The intellectual property rights were maintained properly. The technology used in this project made it easy for the project coordinator as the technology assure that there is transparency in the project, the information needed to the team members were readily available (Polane, n.d., p.7). Ethical Implication of the Issues Some ethical theories were stated by the researchers which are related to the virtual project team management. These are Participative Management: The company should maintain the equality principle in the organization, the employees should be participating in the decision making process. The team should produce benefit for all the team members as well as the society. Kantian Ethics: The employees of the team should be treated with deserved respect, their dignity should not be exploited, the manager should motivate the team members always and there should be trust between the team members and there should be culture of helping the other member which is based on the Kantian ethics. Egalitarianism: No individual should be emphasized more; rather the team should be emphasized. All the virtual team members should be treated equally and the cohesiveness in the team should be increased. In a virtual team the team leaders might face some the ethical issues. There may be the unethical behaviours of the members, as they are virtual team members and their reporting team members can be more than one, so it is tough to maintain this issue. A person of the virtual community may be isolated socially which is also unethical, which should be strongly deal by the top management. There is no general agreement of ethical questions but a societal norms exist there which should be maintained by the team in the given circumstances. Every individual of the team is responsible to maintain the code o ethics whether he or she is conducting the research. There are four principles of ethical standards there. These are as follows Voluntary Participation: No individual can be forced to participate in the research process. In a virtual team there is difference of the hierarchy between the project groups. No disciplinary relationship also exists directly. So voluntary participation is necessary for continue the process of virtual team. Informed consent: All the members of the virtual team should be informed about the process and the risks involved in the process. An informed consent is send by the company management to the team members and then the members send back the signed document if they agreed. Confidentiality: The privacy of the research participants are protected by the team management. The anonymity of the team members and their organization are maintained throughout the process. Avoidance of Harm: It means that researchers have not put the participation in a situation where the participants get harmed physically (Behrend, 2005, p.154-156). In a virtual team the members are from different countries; and in inter organizational projects they are from different organizations. So the team management should ensure that the privacy of the members and their concerned organization are maintained as well as the rights. The team leader should provide prior information to the members about the steps of the project and the risks associated about the project. It is totally upon the member whether he or she would participate in the project or not. Conclusion In the era of globalization the corporations have started to use their intangible assets more efficiently. The knowledge of the employees is an important intangible asset for the organizations. For using the knowledge efficiently and use it more for the purpose of the organization the concepts of virtual team have started. In a virtual team the members are from different parts of the world. They would work in a same project but they don’t meet face to face. They use various medium of communication like the email, audio conversation and recently the video conferencing technique. It is certainly a positive point for the company as the professionals work on a project when they don’t have to meet, as a result the cost of the company decreased. But when the different members are working in the same project then some problems can be there. Many researchers have researched about the matter and the output of the research support the facts that the virtual teams are not as efficient as the traditional team process. The members of the team may work on different project, so their attachment to the particular project may be not to the highest level. The members of the team also are not sure about the responsibilities clearly and there is some confusion about the hierarchy of the organization. There is also problem of the time zone as the time of one place is different from the others and most commonly the language problem. Mr. Geert Hofstede, the most well known researcher about the topic has stated some parameters like the different attitude towards the hierarchy and authority of the organization, the tolerance of different members towards uncertainty, the orientation of different societies (long term or short term), and the individualism of the members. All these issues should be properly addressed by the company management. They should make it sure that the team members are clear about the roles and responsibilities. The culture of the team members should be addressed properly. The communication between the team members should be increased by increasing the face to face meetings and by using the video conferencing process. The team management should inform the team members about the process of the work and the risk associated with the job before starting the project. The real world examples show that the virtual team process has been used by the organizations from the 1990s. It has been seen that some projects has got success but maximum project has failed. The main reason of failure is the cultural differences. But some of the projects also got success. So the organizations should follow the footsteps of the successful projects and use the diverse talent of their employees so that they can manage their pool of employees efficiently. Reference Kimball, L. (1997). Managing Virtual Teams. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.groupjazz.com/pdf/vteams-toronto.pdf. [Accessed on: January 2, 2012]. Vinaja, R. (No Date). Major Challenges in Multi-Cultural Virtual Teams. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/research/swdsi/2003/papers/068.pdf. [Accessed on: January 2, 2011]. Furst, S. et al. (2004). Managing the Life Cycle of Virtual Teams. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.imamu.edu.sa/topics/IT/IT%206/Managing%20the%20life%20cycle%20of%20virtual%20teams.pdf. [Accessed on: January 3, 2012]. Virtual Team Survey Report. (2010). The Challenges of Working in Virtual Teams. [Pdf]. Available at: http://rw-3.com/VTSReportv7.pdf. [Accessed on: January 3, 2012]. Polane, M. (No Date). Cross Cultural Management in a virtual Project Team Setting. [Online]. Available at: http://liverpool.academia.edu/MarkPolane/Papers/524652/Cross_Cultural_Management_in_a_Virtual_Project_Team_Setting. [Accessed on: January 3, 2012]. Behrend, F. (2005). The Socio-Cultural Challenge of Effective Knowledge Management in Virtual Project Environments. [Pdf]. Available at: http://eprints.usq.edu.au/672/2/Behrend_dissertation.pdf. [Accessed on: January 4, 2012]. Boyd, H. (No Date). Hofstede’s Cultural Attitudes Research – Cultural Dimension. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.boydassociates.net/Stonehill/Global/hofstede-plus.pdf. [Accessed on: January 4, 2012]. ITIM. (2011). Geert Hofstede- Countries-Comparison of India and U.S.A. [Online]. Available at: http://geert-hofstede.com/india.html. [Accessed on: January 4, 2012]. Mihhailova, G. and Piiriste, G. (No Date). Management and Leadership Challenges Due to Using Virtual Work in Multi-Cultural Organizations: Cases of Two Service Sector Companies. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.sotsioloogia.ee/esso4/40201.pdf. [Accessed on: January 4, 2012]. Makilouko, M. (No Date). Multicultural Project Management. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.zulanas.lt/images/adm_source/docs/3Marko_Maekilouko_paperENG.pdf. [Accessed on: January 4, 2012]. Read More