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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In today's market, global virtual teams are not the exception but the rule as companies expand into the global market. Executives are constantly pressured to get their products and services to worldwide markets and to help they are turning to the best people regardless of their location, culture, or language and bringing them together as virtual teams. It is important for managers to realize that while virtual teams can be highly successful, however, they are not the answer for every organization or project. Stakeholders should be aware of the elements of success, the barriers to success, the advantages, and the disadvantages of this tool.
Keywords: Virtual Teams, Teams, Multi-culture Teams
INTRODUCTION
Many experts agree that teams are the primary unit of performance in any organization. In the 90's a new kind of team emerged, virtual teams or virtual teaming (Furst et al., 2004). Over the past decade the concept of virtual teaming has taken shape, and many companies have embraced its underlying principles to enable them to become more agile, and compete more robustly in the world arena (Jungalwalla, 2000). Virtual teaming is probably something no one really planned, it just happened and it happened because the technology was there. But are these teams really different from traditional teams? What are some of the benefits of the virtual team? What are some of the problems with virtual teams?
In today's economy, the organization that is able to rapidly create teams of talented people to respond to customer needs is the one that will be the most successful. However, geography, culture, language, and time act as barriers to assembling such talented teams, unless virtual teaming is utilized. In our current global market with high speed Internet access, virtual teaming is becoming an important tool. Virtual teams include a team of people working at different geographic locations, utilizing telecommunication technology. Many of the elements used in successful face-to-face teams are also necessary for successful virtual teams. These elements of success include trust, communication, leadership, and technology. Virtual teams are also faced with certain barriers that can hinder their performance. These barriers to success include multiple time zones, communication barriers, and conflict resolution issues. It is important for organizations to be aware of the advantages...