Abstract-Global virtual teams provide numerous benefits both for corporations employing virtual organizational forms and for individual teams and team members.However, virtual collaboration also presents some well-recognized challenges. A growing body of research has examined the process of virtual teaming and the challenges inherent in that process. This study seeks to address some of the gaps in the existing literature. Specifically, it examines leadership roles, socio-emotional Development to undergraduate and postgraduate students. She has given presentations at international conferences and workshops and her current research interests include the community of inquiry framework, online collaboration for on-campus and distance learning students, and the analysis of financial documents using computational techniques. 3Over the past decade a great deal of research has been conducted on virtual teams.Much of the research has compared the functioning of face-to-face teams with virtual teams. However, in the modern workplace nearly all teams rely on some virtual communication to accomplish their goals. Therefore, instead of comparing face-toface and virtual teams, we need to recognize that all teams are virtual to some degree.In order to understand the functioning of virtual teams, we should focus on the "extent of virtualness" of teams.Martins et al. define virtual teams as "teams whose members use technology to varying degrees in working across locational, temporal, and relational boundaries to accomplish an interdependent task" [1, p. 808]. They point out the fact that recent definitions emphasize virtual teams as teams first and treat virtualness as one team characteristic. In addition to examining the extent of virtualness, there are many other aspects of team functioning that require further investigation.This paper presents a qualitative study of three key aspects of virtual teaming: leadership roles, socio-emotional communication strategies, and technology use.Although many studies of virtual teams have already focused on student participants, leadership roles and socio-emotional communication strategies are issues that have not yet been fully examined. Therefore, the findings of this qualitative study have implications for virtual teams addressing challenges related to leadership and media selection in the workplace. LITERATURE REVIEWA significant portion of the research to date has focused on understanding the process of virtual teaming and on addressing the challenges inherent in the process.Kayworth and Leidner suggest that the challenges faced by global virtual teams can be divided into four major areas: project management, communication, culture, and technology [2]. These areas may interact with one another; for example, communication challenges may be related to cultural differences or to the use of computer-mediated communication technologies. In the sections that follow, we discuss each of these areas; however, we discuss communication and culture together, as they are very closely related. time t...

English is typically considered not only the language of business, but also the language of the Internet. This brief communication explores the cultural implications of the power position of English as the language of the Internet and discusses the likelihood of its continued dominance.

As part of Phase 4 of the NASA/DoD Aerospace culture. organization, and communications at the national and Knowledge Diffusion Research Project, two studies were con-international levels, this article presents results of the project's ducted that investigated the technical communication practices most recent undertaking. a study of the views of aerospace of Russian and U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists. Both studies had the same five objectives: first, to solicit the opinions engineers and scientists at three similar research organizations of aerospace engineers and scientists regarding the importance in Russia and the United States (U.S.). of technical communication to their professions: second, to de-Phase 1 of the larger project investigates the informationtermine the use and production of technical communication by seeking behavior of U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists, aerospace engineers and scientists; third, to seek their views about with particular emphasis on their use of federally funded the appropriate content of the undergraduate course in technical communication; fourth, to determine aerospace engineers' and aerospace research and development and of U.S. government scientists' use of libraries, technical information centers, and technical reports. Phase 2 examines the industry-government on-line databases; and fifth, to determine the use and impor-interface and emphasizes the role of information intermeditance of computer and information technology to them. A self-aries in the aerospace knowledge diffusion process. Phase administered questionnaire was distributed to Russian aerospace 3 concerns the academic-government interface and focuses engineers and scientists at the Central Aero-Hydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) and to their U.S. counterparts at the NASA Ames on the relationships between and among the information Research Center and the NASA Langley Research Center. The intermediary, faculty, and students. Phase 4. of which the completion rates for the Russian and U.S. surveys were 64 and current study is a part, explores patterns of technical commu-61%, respectively. Responses of the Russian and U.S. participants nication among non-U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists to selected questions are presented in this paper. in selected countries. Thus far we have completed studies of technical communication practices among aerospace engineers INTRODUCTION and scientists in Israel [2], Japan [3], and selected western Emerging patterns of multinational cooperation and collabo-European countries [4]. The Russian/U.S. study reported on ration in various industries, growing recognition of the impor-here included the following objectives: tance of global economic factors, and revolutionary changes 1) To solicit t' ! opinions of aerospace engineers and sciin computer and communications technology are combining entists regarding the importance of technical communito influence and transform the international communication cation to their profession, of scientific and technical information (STI). N...

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