Virtual teams: a virtue for the conventional team

Abstract

While some modern organisations have established 'virtual work teams', which are said to be comprised of people who are geographically separated and who work across boundaries of space and time using computer driven communication technologies, it is also true that many organisations remain structured around conventional face-to-face teams. Increasingly, the conventional face-to-face team is endeavouring to increase its productivity by utilising some of the technology and characteristics of the virtual team. In fact, it may not be practical any longer to draw a distinction between conventional face-to-face teams and virtual teams due to the invasive nature of technology throughout most modern organisations.

Conceptualizing the Awareness of Collaboration: A Qualitative Study of a Global Virtual Team

“…Usually, these teams are a globally distributed group of people who work virtually to implement a shared task (Arinson and Miller, 2002). To collaborate for the shared task, team members must attend to a dual-problem space in a virtual working environment.…”

Virtual Teams and International Business Teaching and Learning: The Case of the Global Enterprise Experience (GEE)

“…Indeed, projects based on global virtual teams are one of the ways identified as driving the in-house internationalization in business schools (Chappell & Schermerhorn, 1999;Eisner & Harvey, 2008;Freeman, Knight, & Butt, 2011;Gavidia, Mogollón, & Baena, 2005;Milhauser & Rahschulte, 2010;Shea, Sherer, Quilling, & Blewett, 2011). Scholars agree on the importance of organizations having employees that are adept team players with experience accomplishing effective virtual projects that require online interaction, managing the dislocation of geographicand time-based boundaries (Arnison & Miller, 2002;Duarte & Snyder, 2006;Gibson & Cohen, 2003;Lurey & Raisinghani, 2001;Townsend, DeMarie, & Hendrickson, 1998;Shea et al, 2011).…”

Virtual Team Working: Current Issues and Directions for the Future

“…The rapid pace of ICT has transformed the traditional economy into a smart new economy (Walker, 2000;Arnison and Miller, 2002). Pressures are forcing SMEs to become more adaptive and agile in their tasks and adopt innovative approaches.…”

“…The core of research arguments on trust centers on a belief that only trust can prevent the geographical boundaries and time zones of virtual team members from becoming psychological distances (Zigurs, 2003 Research suggests that face-to-face interaction has a direct impact on team performance through building team trust and enabling team members to exchange valuable socio-cultural information (Arnison and Miller, 2002;Rezgui, 2007). Research stresses the need for initial face-to-face meeting to provide the grounds for a worthwhile ICT collaboration (Kürümlüoglu et al, 2005).…”

“…While organisations emerge and claim to have adopted the modus operandi of virtual teams, the reality is that conventional face-to-face modes of operation will remain the organisational norm for some time to come (Arnison and Miller, 2002). Yet, the rapid pace of globalisation, the increasing need for agility, and the fast development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) will force organisations to embrace virtual collaboration to enhance their competitiveness (Arnison and Miller, 2002;Rezgui, 2007;Workman, 2007).…”