Impact of Communication, Culture and Diversity on Virtual Team Effectiveness - Case Study Example

Running Head: WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF COMMUNICATION, CULTURE AND DIVERSITY ON VIRTUAL TEAM EFFECTIVENESS AT INT CORPORATION EMEA? CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.0. Overview From business perspective, virtual teams refer to groups of individuals collaborating in the execution of a specific project while located at numerous individual sites separated geographically, culturally or linguistically (Stamps & Lipnack, 1997). Virtual teams are occasioned by the need for organisations to get projects done effectively and efficiently by exploiting the pool of skills they’ve amassed. It is therefore the temerity of managers to find ways of motivating and building cohesive teams virtually against the wheels of distance, culture and probably language (Wegryn & Garton, 2006). More than once, communication, culture and diversity have been observed to impact significantly on the effectiveness of virtual teams across the globe. The following proposal will specifically attempt to address the impact of the aforementioned factors on the effectiveness of virtual team at INT Corporation EMEA. 1.1. Background With the advent in communication and transport, study findings have variously indicated that the world has constantly been shrinking to become a ‘global village’ where individuals can reach all corners in no time. This development has similarly necessitated organisations separated by time, distance, culture and language to come up with virtual teams for doing business internationally. The effectiveness of these teams is entirely vested upon the astuteness of managers to narrow gaps created by time, distance, language and diverse cultures (Stamps & Lipnack, 1997). Thomas (2008) suggests that organisations must strike a balance between their need for a united global culture and acceptable strategic plans that have both local and global relevance to all employees. Research indicates that organisations operating in a global economy must attract experienced leaders who can give them some competitive advantage (Deal & Prince, 2004). For the foregoing reason, the demand for talented employees with expatriate experience has more than tripled. Consequently, more and more talented and successful workers are finding themselves securing placements outside their countries of birth (Deal & Prince, 2004). This has greatly necessitated the need for a more progressive use of partnerships and alliances across functions, organisations and customers to build more collaborative and innovative ways to compete and win market share as noted by Potter & Hinds (2002). In addition to this, the use of IT has really made distances shorter and broken physical walls to facilitate e-business and other innovative activities world (Burlea, 2007). Such activities include recruitment and development which is increasingly considered as an essential process of building a formidable workforce-supply for organisations (Anderson, 2008). In my views therefore, the structure of work has become extremely adaptive with less emphasis on formal structures and static design solutions (Brake, 2008). Brake further note that the HR professionals are proficient in finding and retaining talent and workers both locally and internationally. Observations by Evaristo (2003) indicate that the current technological progress and the evolution of virtual networks have helped increase workplace flexibility. This is associated with the use of formal networks such as twitter or facebook that allow people to chat online and present their views. 1.2. Problem statement In virtual teams, workers bring with them diverse cultures laced with different language orientations. According to Cooper et al (2007), communication forms an essential component within effective teams in achieving organisational objectives. With different nationalities, cultures and geographical extend, effective communication in virtual teams is a big challenge. In view of this, the following proposal will explore and mitigate the impacts of the said factors on the effectiveness of virtual teams located in geographically dispersed regions. 1.3. Objectives of the study The main aim of this proposal will be to investigate the impacts of communications and cultural diversity on the effectiveness of Global Virtual Teams. It further aims to: explore how leadership operate in the virtual teams that use social networks as a tool in teamwork, and investigate whether time is an important factor for creating trust between team members 1.4. Significance of the study Since Virtual Teams have become a common practice in modern day businesses, the results of this proposal if approved are deemed fundamental in suggesting ways of mitigating the impacts of communication and cultural diversities as well as geographical separation. Recommendations from the expected research will effectively improve the effectiveness of virtual teams that rely upon communication to bridge distance with members working across different time zones in different nations (Stamps & Lipnack,1997). 1.5. Research question What is the impact of communication, culture and diversity on virtual team effectiveness at INT Corporation EMEA? 1.6. Limitations and Delimitations of the study The most notable limitation to the proposed research will be in the existence of method bias where a single questionnaire will be used for collecting the data. This may result in the respondents showing some reluctance to participate in study due to a loss of interest as illustrated by Davies (2007). Secondly, time and cost constrains will also play a major role in the study. These limitations will be minimised by explaining to the respondents the importance of the study through a letter of introduction. 1.7. Chapter Summary The chapter introduced the primary themes prevalent in the research proposal and dealt with all the major issues in the context of the problem under study. It outlined the background information, problem, significance and research question found in study. It also identified the limitations and delimitations that the proposal will have to contend with. A vast body of literature on themes related to the current problem is reviewed in the second Chapter. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0. Introduction This chapter examines the available literature that is related to the effectiveness of virtual teams at the global level with an aim of bringing out a deeper understanding of the existing views. This review aims to compare, contrast and establish any missing gaps in the literature. This literature scrutiny is intended to provide further rationale for laying the basis of this proposal. Various studies have been undertaken to uncover the underlying problems associated with the functioning of global virtual teams and other contingent issues found in study. The chapter will utilise the existing research and literature surrounding the area under investigation. 2.1. Virtual teamwork As earlier indicated, development in Information Technology has greatly aided modern organisations operating in a global economy to effectively manage their virtual teams. A study by Neuliep (2006) indicates that issues and challenges typical of IT development and support become enormous when operations “go global”. The need for organisations to train IT personnel equipped with skills to address the problems of managing HR data in virtual teams is cited as one of the major underlying challenges in the said study. Similarly, identification of an international business language that can penetrate the walls created by different cultures and nationalities is another challenge of today’s e-business world (Burlea, 2007). From the outset, experts have defined organizational teams as “a set of individuals who perceive themselves as constituting an identifiable social aggregate within the organization” (Gibson & Gohen, 2003). Similarly, teamwork is considered to be an important component upon which an organisation is founded. Advances in information and communications technology have enabled teams to work together in a virtual environment on tasks that at one time demanded face-to-face meetings according to study findings by (Warkentin et al, 1997). Research has further indicated that organisations are currently viewing virtual teams as a means of increasing their flexibility and responsiveness while reducing costs (Burlea, 2007; Page, 2007 and Snyder & Duarte, 2006). One of the defining characteristics of a virtual team according to Powell et al (2004) resides in its ability to computerise all its communications. It is also characterised by the fact that its team members are spread across time, geography or both. Moreover, virtual teams depend on information and communications technology for their coordination and collaboration as stipulated by Pauleen (2004). Shachaf (2008) has further indicated that a rapid growing trend in the era of information technology is the increased prevalence of virtual teams in which members work collaboratively in geographically dispersed locations because of the advancement in IT that facilitate communication and the sharing of information amongst members. The degree of virtuality in these teams is dependent on the nature of communicating techniques employed. Another aspect that has been reported to be critical in enabling virtual teams to function is the sharing of knowledge as regards an individual’s relevant experiences and information in work performance (Konrad, 2006). As illustrated by Hecht & Guerrero (2007), this aspect is found fundamental when teammates collaborate with one another, reducing wastage of organisational time and resources in ‘try and error’ instances. This form of collaboration and knowledge sharing has been lauded for fostering an atmosphere of partnership and trust building within the virtual team environment (Hale, 2006), allowing efficiency and effectiveness to prevail. It is therefore prudent to say that knowledge sharing across team members can be both competitive and cooperative in nature as observed by Granered (2005) and Hale (2006). The competitive nature on one hand often happens since knowledge can generate private gains for individuals to outperform their counterparts (Gudykunst, 2005) while cooperative attitude on the other hand involves the recognition that individual team members may benefit from complementing one another (Moran & Harris, 2007). Apart from the foregoing argument, research has underscored the importance of fostering trust between virtual team members for efficiency and effectiveness in accomplishing their mandate (Snyder & Duarte, 2006).This is illustrated by Simons et al (2004) who claim that team members who possess trust on their peers are perceived to be under obligation not to undermine their team collaboration, indicating the positive relationship between perceived trust and cooperative attitude. Lastly but not least, the leadership function of monitoring in virtual teamwork is key in keeping a team on track and fulfilling its potential as noted by Wegryn & Garton (2006). This function extends to monitoring the environment in addition to the aforementioned (Burlea, 2007; Page, 2007 and Shachaf, 2008), which provides critical information to team members that influence the impact of subsequent leadership functions. 2.2. Literature Review Conclusion In summary, this chapter has delved into an examination of an extensive and diverse body of literature. The researcher has attempted to investigate the impact of information technology on the working of virtual teams. It has emerged that these teams must coordinate and collaborate in sharing of information to increase their effectiveness and efficiency in line with study results by Snyder & Duarte (2006) and Thomas (2008). Similarly, the importance of trust and monitoring in virtual teams has been underlined in deeper details. 2.3. Theory and Hypotheses This proposal is founded on the hypothesis that the prevalence of ideal communication channels is critical in improving the effectiveness of global virtual teams in spite of observed cultural and geographical separation. Additionally, the following proposal predicts that communication has more positive effects on the effectiveness of virtual teams as supported by findings found in related studies (Hoppe & Prince, 2004). On the one hand, the researcher suggests that communication has positive effects on virtual teams as discoursed in earlier paragraphs of this proposal. Firstly, good communication and interaction adds to the depth and richness of mutual understanding between the members of virtual teams. To keep abreast, management must keep on upgrading IT facilities and tools that help communication and interaction so that shared vision, perceived trust, and perceived benefit can be enhanced to the anticipated extent (Anderson, 2008). It should be born in mind that there is no ‘‘one size fits all” solution for enhanced perceived job effectiveness and as such management must encourage cooperative attitude and discard competitive conflict (Brake, 2008). Research has also shown that virtual teams count heavily on modern tools of communication to accomplish their teamwork. Brake further advocate the use of effective communication in virtual teams through cooperative attitude for excellent job effectiveness. It is critical to understand that today’s electronic communication capabilities make it easier and common for virtual team members to work effectively and efficiently within their diverse ways. Secondly, interaction styles have been shown to have a great effect on conventional team’s ability to achieve solution quality and solution acceptance on collaborative decision tasks according to studies by Harris & Orbe (2008). Group interaction styles affect communication and hence team performance by facilitating the exchange of information among group members. Study findings further show that the interaction styles of virtual teams affect both performance and process outcomes in ways that are consistent with those exhibited by conventional face-to-face teams (Warkentin et al, 1997). In conclusion therefore, communication has been found to be critical in virtual team effectiveness. It positively helps these teams collaborate to make effective decisions and achieve organisational objectives as noted by Shachaf (2008). But behind this strong influence, technology is seen to have a significant impact upon the communication methods available to virtual teams. These are found in the increased use of email communications and social networking observed in today’s management of virtual teams with some notable negative effects found in study (Shachaf, 2008). Hypothesis two similarly presupposes that cultural diversity has more negative effects on the effectiveness of virtual teams. Studies by Anderson (2008) observe that virtual teams employ workers of different nationalities and widely spaced cultural backgrounds that impact negatively on virtual teamwork. More observations from study findings by Bennett & Frow (2008) show that virtual teams present companies with numerous opportunities to combine the various skills, talents and perspectives from the members to create a pool of potentialities capable of achieving the corporate goals. This claim tends to deviate from my second hypothesis as is more positive than negative. Studies by Granered (2005) argue that the birth of global economy has made multinational teams become a reality. The composition of these teams as explained by Konrad (2006) comprises members drawn from “different nationalities possessing diverse cultures, speaking different languages and were probably raised in different countries that may have different value systems”. This in the views Moran & Harris (2007) and Deal & Prince (2004) presents a negative impact on the effectiveness virtual teams in prediction of my hypothesis. Secondly, much of the published research work in this area has been focused on the technological aspects of virtual team environments (Neuliep, 2006). Moreover, research work into the behavioural aspects of virtual teams as well as the issue of cultural diversity in particular is greatly lacking. Observations made by Deal & Prince (2004) have indicated that behavioural adaptation is a crucial element in effectively dealing with cultural diversity. But as already demonstrated in earlier paragraphs, a lot of information is desired to show how team members should adapt their behaviour in order to facilitate better team interactions among diverse cultures (Pauleen, 2004). Research has categorically shown that cultural diversity should be acknowledged to avoid significant challenges arising for the team. Deal & Prince (2004) advise that team members should adapt their behaviour in both spoken and written communication as well as allowing for religious beliefs and time zone differences to have intact cross-cultural virtual teams. CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS 3.0. Introduction This research proposal will use the qualitative approach to realize the aims and objectives set originally. It will take the form of a case study approach which is deemed desirable to facilitate the exploration of the research question through empirical means. This approach of inquiry will therefore allow the researcher to collect reliable data that will be ideal in addressing the impacts of the said variables. 3.1. Research design The case study approach will be used as the most appropriate method to study INT Corporation EMEA since emphasis is laid on an intensive examination of the settings (Bryman, 2007). The case study approach is usually associated with qualitative research which promotes an intensive, detailed examination of the case (Davies, 2007). As a research method, it is used in many situations to increase knowledge of individual, group, organizational, social, political, and related phenomena. 3.2. Target population Purposeful sampling will be used as the most appropriate method of identifying the respondents who will be individuals with direct relevance to the research question. The focus group will thus be drawn from various nations of the world including five members in UK HQ and other ten in Vietnam, Costa-Rica, France, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Morocco and Egypt respectively. 3.3. Instrumentation The research instrument employed in this proposal will be a simple questionnaire constructed based on the key issues outlined in the statement of the research problem. The questionnaire will be administered to the focus group by the researcher to complete and eventually returned for analysis. 3.4. Data collection The data will be collected using the survey instrument distributed to the respondents who will complete and return for analysis. The data will be coded for easier analysis using recommended qualitative and quantitative techniques (Davies, 2007). 3.5. Data analysis All categorical items on the survey will be completed using a 5-point scale format ranging from the minimum value (strongly disagree) to the maximum value (strongly agree). Items that will not receive a response will be coded as missing values. The relationship between the various variables was measured through the Pearson product moment correlation coefficients suggested by Davies (2007). The p value of 0.05 will be used to judge if there are significant differences. 3.6. Reliability and validity The reliability of the survey instrument will be assessed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficients and those values above 0.7 will be considered to have acceptable reliability (Davies, 2007). Reliability of the survey design used in this study might be lacking when checked against other such instruments used in research. This is because the questionnaire constructed by the researcher is not standardized (Bryman, 2007). Validity is found to be low just as is the case with most field researches. 3.7. Ethical consideration The issue of confidentially will be exhaustively addressed when carrying out this proposed survey. It will be addressed in the introductory letter by stating that information obtained will not be divulged in any unauthorised manner. The questionnaire will also ensure the issue of anonymity to the respondents by signing the distributed consent forms 3.8. Chapter summary In this chapter, the rationale for the research approach has been succinctly provided giving a vivid clarification of how the descriptive statistics will be applied to achieve the desired proposal goals of investigating all nuances of global virtual teams. The proposal has attempted to address all aspects of research methods applicable to a typical research paper. List of References Anderson, J. (2008). Driving Change Through Diversity and Globalization: Transformative Leadership in the Academy. Sterling, VA: Stylus. Bennett, T & Frow, J. (2008). The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Analysis. London, UK: Sage. Brake, T. (2008). Where in the world is my Team? Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Bryman, A. (2007). Barriers to Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research. 1 (1), pp. 8-22. Burlea, A, S. (2007) The Communication Process in Virtual Teams. University of Craiova. 1 (41). Cooper, P. J., Simonds, C. J & Calloway-Thomas. (2007). 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