Relationship between Theory and Application or Practice - Research Paper Example

Relationship between Theory and Application or Practice Conventionally, one of the challenging tasks related to the association between theory and research practice has been the chief accountability of the research scholar. In the present times, the evolution of numerous intermediaries between the research knowledge and its application has been apparent. Such intermediaries have altered the views of the society about the research scholars who emphasized upon translating the scholarly knowledge (Martin, 2004). It can be mentioned that the concepts related to the association between theory and practice has been the main focus among the psychologists and psychotherapists among others because it assists them to attain their respective research objectives. Although, the term theory is not used much in the context of any researches but the principles guide the theories in order to enhance its applicability in various fields (Fook, 2002). A theory is considered to be a representation or a collection of assumptions about a specific reality. Theories can either be explanatory or analytical. People tend to make use of the theories in order to anticipate the results of its actions and to make efficient decisions. Conversely, practice is considered to be an academic research which enhances any research methodology output. It can be affirmed that different theories have a tendency to guide or inform practice by offering direction for action as well as scope for decision making. In the context of psychotherapy, it is considered to be significant to be capable of intervening in the decision making process. In this similar context, it can be revealed that practice can also guide as well inform theory. The observant can gauge the action of others and hence offer feedback. Hence, it can be stated that there exists mutual association between theory and practice owing to the fact that an individual regularly tends to evaluate his/her own hypothesis and generates new meaning from previous experiences. Hence, on the basis of the above discussion, it can be stated that there needs to be a consistency between theory as well as practice. It is well identified that when the action of a person is aligned with his/her intention, the consistency is generally known as ‘walking your talk’. A person acting in a manner being consistent with his/ her intentions can be viewed as possessing integrity, while failure to do so is generally viewed as hypocrisy (Granick, 2005). A theory is similar to the lens that assists a person in viewing experiences. The lens further tends to possess its focal strength along with the areas of misrepresentation. Identification of the relative strengths as well as shortcomings related to different theories has provoked the movement towards collective psychotherapies that summarizes multi-theoretical views. However, none of the theoretical views claim that theories as well as practices shall be aligned (Granick, 2005). One of the interesting facts related to theory and practice has been that they are at once both autonomous and inter-dependent. It can be observed that though the interests as well as the goals of the academics help in increasing the effectiveness, there lies genuine gap between theory and practice. It is argued that the communities tend to gain advantage from cross-fertilization of the people, work and ideas. It has been further identified that the gap arising between theoretical as well as practical views in the context of management learning has not been paid due attention from long period of time (Granick, 2005). Issues Involved in Translating Theory into Practice Owing to the factors of increased globalization in businesses and the developments in technology, it has been viewed that there has been a major alteration in the social as well as in the economic environment which in turn forced the organizations all over the globe to make significant changes in their organizational purpose as well as structure. In the context of current literatures, it has been viewed that there are distinct theoretical tools as well as methodologies are accessible for the researchers in order to attain their research objectives. In order to translate theory into practice, there would lay the requirement of adequate knowledge regarding specific subject matter related to any researches. It can be mentioned that the difficult issue related to the translation of the theory into practice has been associated with language. It has been apparently observed that a few of the postcolonial theories is generally printed in academic languages. As the theories are printed in academic languages, the teachers or the students possessing their own specific language might not be capable of accessing the postcolonial theories (Andreotti & Souza, 2008). The other major concern related to the translation of the theory into practice has been related to the divergent views related to the usage of the binaries as well as dichotomies in various resources. In relation this aspect, the initial viewpoint has been focused upon the power relations and hence claimed that any project has the moral compulsion to regress the binaries. The second viewpoint focused upon the identification of the complexity related to translating theory into practice. It further claimed that any project needs to avoid binaries in order to attain heterogeneity as well as to minimize individual differences (Andreotti & Souza, 2008). A theory of current interest In the present day context, organizations have executed media technologies that permit the organization to opt for utilization of the virtual teams. There are global virtual teams who act as technology mediated groups working in various parts of the world in a cohesive way to attain common goals. The main reasons behind the adoption of the virtual teams are to respond to de-centralization as well as globalization and meet the increasing challenges related to market competition as well as turbulence. Virtual teams generally comprise two or more than two persons who work in a cohesive manner to accomplish common objectives. However, one among them tends to work in different location, organization and time zone so that the communication as well as coordination amid the organization and the team is enhanced with the use of electronic communication media. It is to be noted that the worldwide virtual teams passes through numerous challenges which the traditional face-to-face team is deterred from. The main challenges take place by means of dislocation of the team members, utilization of the interaction media for the purpose of forming communication, distinction in time and disparities related to culture (Dekker, 2008). The increasing demand for virtual teams working in a group generally follows discussions that made by conventional authors for maximization of the resources by working in a collaborative manner across the globe. It can be argued that the trend relating to virtual team has increased the interest of different organizations in various concerns such as structural, operational as well as human assets management. Virtual teams generally utilize innovative technologies that enable them to attain their predetermined organizational objectives. It is further argued that the spatial distance among the virtual team requires dependence upon technology for the purpose of building effective communication as well as team development. There are numerous other issues related to virtual teams such as requirement creep, irregularity in business procedures, imprecise roles and responsibilities of business leader, over-communication and training of the virtual teams. It can be argued that for large scale projects, the virtual team is required to possess management capability, eagerness for self-management and interpersonal awareness (Lee-Kelley & Sankey, 2007). Virtual teams which are generally featured by nationwide, cultural as well as language heterogeneity are increasingly becoming a conventional form of organizing the work in multinational organizations. There are three themes related to virtual team leaderships. The first theme is leaders acting as boundary spanners, bridge makers and blenders. The second theme is people-oriented leadership and the third theme is leveraging multiplicity. It is significant for the global virtual teams to follow the leaders in order to attain the predetermined objectives of an organization (Zander, Mockaitis & Butler, 2012). Nearly 150 information technologies (IT) related practitioners have contributed in a study of distinction in communication risks taking place between the traditional project teams as well as the ones operating in a virtual environment. It has been identified that the degree of risk from improper communication is not much greater, in case the team members are not grouped in one particular location. It has also been evident with reference to the fact that although the virtual team members tend to rely upon technology for the purpose of communicating with each other, there has been no such confirmation related to the emergence of project risks in case of failure of technology. However, it has been noted that the virtual team members demonstrate greater risks in case of lack in knowledge transfer. Hence, it is imperative to pay utmost attention towards possibility related to lack of knowledge transfer in virtual project risk management plans. Moreover, greater consideration needs to be paid in order to minimize the risks generating from the lack in knowledge transfer (Reed & Knight, 2010). In order to determine the characteristics of team interaction along with the function of temporal coordination in communicating the virtual teams, a study has been taken into concern. By utilizing performance, time and interaction theory, the study tends to consider how and why virtual team behavior is temporally structured in a difficult manner. Moreover, with the implementation of content as well as cluster analysis, distinct patterns related to interaction have been determined. The analysis further assists in recognizing the ways in which the structures related to interaction are linked with distinct degrees of global virtual project team’s performance. It can be mentioned that the successful application of the temporal coordination methods is generally linked with greater performance of virtual project teams. It was further observed that temporal coordination by itself is not the key drivers of performance. Instead, it is the impact of coordination on interaction behaviors which also impose significant impact upon the performance of the virtual teams (Ebrahim, Ahmed & Taha, 2009). Application of the theory identified With regard to the application of virtual team theory, it has been identified that there pertain significant advantages of virtual project management in comparison with other conventional project management related practices. In order to evaluate the appropriateness of the uses to which the theory of virtual team has been applied, a study conducted by Virtual Team Report Survey 2010 has been taken into consideration. In this study it has been viewed that the researcher has implemented the quantitative research method. The dependent variable for the study was related to the factor of project success and failure. Conversely, the business and the practical aspects are considered to be the two independent variables for the study. It was fundamentally observed that virtual projects were more capable of attaining successful outcomes in comparison to the conventional projects in terms of budget, time and quality. The study demonstrated the influential factors that were viewed as significant to deter the failure of virtual project other than conventional projects. It can be argued that the theory related to the virtual project teams has been successfully been applied in the businesses in order to attain desired organizational objectives. The applications have been grounded on the basis of adequate comprehension of the theory and its scope (Virtual Team Report Survey 2010, 2010). The case of Scandinavian Airlines can be considered in order to comprehend the application of virtual project team theory. It was in the year 1987, when the company decided to redesign its operational division. The main purpose of company to redesign its main division was to stimulate informal connections among the virtual team members. Despite the thoughtfulness as well as good intentions informing the new design, it was found that nearly two-third of interactions were still restricted to a confined place. There has been increasing enthusiasm for replacing private offices with open floor plans for the purpose of encouraging community collaboration. There are few evidences demonstrating that removal of physical barriers and bringing people closer to one another tends to promote casual interactions among the virtual team (Curseu, Schalk & Wessel, 2007). Comprehension of proximity, privacy and permission, which is also represented as 3Ps, is essentially needed for informal interaction within the members of the virtual teams. It is important to consider the fact that over or under emphasis upon any of the three Ps might lead to inefficiency in the communication procedure. By initiating flexibility in the organizational structures, companies can introduce and maintain effective communication with the different members of the virtual teams by a substantial extent (Schachter, 2012). Another case study related to coffee shop can be considered in order to determine how the theory related to virtual teams can actually be brought into practice in different organizations. In relation to the case study it was noted that coffee rooms were generally considered as conversation-driving spaces in comparison to true interaction spaces. Proximity has not been the concern and the rooms were observed to be well located. The employees of the coffee shop used to initiate their conversation in coffee rooms. They further moved to a private space so that they could continue with their conversation. However, it was noted that conversations that occurred within them were disturbed. The two major factors such as perceived requirement for locating a private space along with the moment of transition made the conversation of the employees quite fragile. Hence, it can be stated that with the effective implementation of the virtual teams it would be possible for the companies to minimize such disturbances in the conversation (Siebdrat, Hoegl & Ernst, 2009). In order to minimize the gaps related to virtual teams in the organization, certain valuable conditions need to be considered. One of them is high awareness of the performance of team members in the virtual workplace. The other condition is the need for involving the members of the organization in virtual projects voluntarily and the third condition is creation of rule for participation. In comparison to the virtual workplace, employees of physical workplace tend to possess greater awareness of performance of one another. It is also significant to implement the same concept in virtual workplaces. By implementing various electronic mediated devices, the companies can increase the degree of interactions among the members. It is further to be noted that creation of the proximity in relation to informal interaction tends to be challenging in case, the virtual team members are dispersed over wider geographical area. It is the implementation of the interactive media such as video links and whiteboards among others that might lead to proximity among the detached team members. Hence, in Part 2 it has been noted that spatial gaps is challenging task for a virtual project team. Therefore, interactive media practices can be implemented in order to assist in resolving the problem (Weeks, 2011). Hence, it has been apparent form the above discussions that the theory related to virtual teams can be successfully brought into practice in distinct organizations for improving the communication among the members of the organization by a considerable level. References Andreotti, V. & Souza, L. M. (2008). Translating theory into practice and walking minefields: lessons from the project ‘Through Other Eyes’. International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning 1(1), pp. 23-36. Argyris, C. & Schon, D. A. (1974). Theory in practice: increasing professional effectiveness. United States: Jossey-Bass. 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