Diversity's Influence on Virtual Teams in International Business - Essay Example

, and organizational boundaries through the use of technology to facilitate communication and collaboration, are the outcome of teamwork in firms and increased geographic dispersion (Lipnack & Stamps, 2000; Snow, Lipnack, & Stamps, 2001). Organizations are relying more heavily on virtual teams due to a more competitive global market, the benefits of integrating the work of specialized employees who might be geographically dispersed, and the need to save time and travel expenses (Kock, 2000; Mohrman, 1999; Townsend, DeMarie, & Hendrickson, 1998).

Virtual teams allow organizations to expand potential labor markets by continually altering and improving organizational processes to capitalize on strengths, which is especially importance in a global environment that has become increasingly competitive (Duarte & Synder, 1999). Time is a crucial corporate resource; communication technologies help organizations avoid delays and attain immediate feedback (Opper & Fersko-Weiss, 1992). Moreover, communication tools allow team members to work on projects at a much quicker pace than if they had to travel and meet face-to-face and permit organizations to use “relay race” procedures to accomplish tasks, resulting in a continuous workflow (Cascio, 1999).

For example, as Texas employees are leaving for work, team members in Hawaii are just beginning their day. These team members finish their day and transmit their work to team members in Bombay who are starting the workday. Finally, the Bombay team members contribute to the project and then send it back to Texas for further work. This “relay race” continues until the project is completed, which should require, which should require less time due to the virtual tools that allow these team members to work round the clock.

In reference to software development teams, Gorton and Motwani (1996) referred to this process as “software shift work” in which teams in different time zones work on a product in continuous