Adoption of Information and Communication Technologies in Textile Virtual Collaboration

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Siyan Fang ◽  
Chester K.M. To ◽  
Zhiming Zhang ◽  
Jimmy M.T. Chang
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Remote Collaboration ◽  
Virtual Collaboration ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Apparel Companies

Modern organizations face more and more challenges in today's globalizing markets. Many textile firms operate collaboratively as a globally-networked virtual team to sustain their competitiveness. How to select and utilize a diversity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to facilitate collaboration among these textile virtual teams is a critical issue to these enterprises. This paper explores the criteria of ICT adoption in collaboration processes from both theoretical and practical perspectives. First, ICTs theories of telecommunications are reviewed to conclude background knowledge and examine contextual requirements for ICTs. We find that the conveyance of social cues, the ability of fostering member involvement and coordinating interruptions, and the user-friendly interface of communication technology are crucial to the remote collaboration among textile firms. Second, empirical in-depth interviews with 20 practitioners in textile and apparel companies are conducted. Then, combining the findings, we discuss the features of primary ICTs adopted in practice at present. We recommend six essential facets in ICTs adoption during textile virtual team communication (i.e. synchronicity, medium richness, connectedness, disruptiveness, ease of use, and cost). We also suggest how these ICTs can be deployed in line with organizational and individual factors to facilitate textile virtual collaboration.

Skill Building for Virtual Teams

2016 ◽  
pp. 78-89
Author(s):  
Amir Manzoor
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Skill Building

Advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are creating new opportunities for organizations to build and manage virtual teams. Such teams are composed of employees with unique skills, located a distance from each other, who must collaborate to accomplish important organizational tasks. As such, it is very important for organizations to identify and develop skills that critical for virtual teams to succeed. Participation in and management of virtual teams comes with its own unique challenges and opportunities. This chapter explores virtual teams, their benefits and challenges to organizations, and provide ways to ensure that virtual team members and leaders in their organizations have the skills, competencies and tools needed to succeed. Specific recommendations to improve skills of virtual teams are also provided.

Organizing Across Distances

2007 ◽  
pp. 238-256
Author(s):  
Kris M. Markman
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Team Meetings ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Virtual Meetings

This chapter examines the use of computer chat technologies for virtual team meetings. The use of geographically dispersed (i.e., virtual) teams is a growing phenomenon in modern organizations. Although a variety of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been used to conduct virtual team meetings, one technology, synchronous computer chat, has not been exploited to its fullest potential. This chapter discusses some of research findings related to effective virtual teams and examines some structural features of chat as they relate to virtual meetings. Based on these characteristics, I offer tips for using chat as an effective tool for distant collaboration.

scholarly journals Is High ICT Intensity Always the Ideal?

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
Jiahe Song ◽  
Muhammad A. Razi ◽  
J. Michael Tarn
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Virtual Collaboration ◽  
Virtual Communication ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
The Ideal

Virtual communication is a preferred working style for remotely structured teams to remain productivity while reducing cost. A variety of information and communication technologies (ICTs) are available for providing technical support to virtual teams. While companies as a whole have been accumulating a good deal of experience for executing virtual collaboration, challenges still exist due to the nature of different industries or organizations' business environment. The goal of this paper is to explore the types of ICTs adopted and ICT intensity implemented by contemporary virtual teams. Interview-based cases with companies located in U.S., U.K., and China were conducted to achieve our goal. Important insight for research and practice are discussed.

Skill Building for Virtual Teams

2017 ◽  
pp. 214-225
Author(s):  
Amir Manzoor
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Skill Building

Advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are creating new opportunities for organizations to build and manage virtual teams. Such teams are composed of employees with unique skills, located a distance from each other, who must collaborate to accomplish important organizational tasks. As such, it is very important for organizations to identify and develop skills that critical for virtual teams to succeed. Participation in and management of virtual teams comes with its own unique challenges and opportunities. This chapter explores virtual teams, their benefits and challenges to organizations, and provide ways to ensure that virtual team members and leaders in their organizations have the skills, competencies and tools needed to succeed. Specific recommendations to improve skills of virtual teams are also provided.

The Strategic Use of "Distance" Among Virtual Team Members

2011 ◽  
pp. 156-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul M. Leonardi ◽  
Michele Jackson ◽  
Natalie Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Team Work ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Multidimensional Construct ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Communication Practices

Distance, in the context of virtual teams, has traditionally been treated as an unproblematic, in fact positive, by-product of work practices mediated by information and communication technologies. Research has largely overlooked the notion of distance and its relationship to virtual team work practices and digital telecommunications technologies. Explored in this chapter is the nature of distance by investigating perceptions of “distance” among teleworkers and addressing how virtual team members strategically use the distance enabled by telecommunications technologies to manage a variety of organizational practices. Interviews with 46 distance workers across 10 industries, making up 17 virtual teams, found that members conceptualize distance across three important dimensions: distance and emotion, distance and identity, and distance and communication strategies. We discuss each of these dimensions and propose moving from a notion of distance as a mere outcome of the use of information and communication technologies, to a reconceptualization of it as a multidimensional construct created and maintained through communication practices.

scholarly journals Seniors’ use of ICT to obtain access to cars for fulfilling their transport needs – an exploratory study

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
Joanna Kos-Łabędowicz
Keyword(s):  
Elderly People ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Ageing Society ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Transport Services ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
The Eu

The ageing society and the necessity to meet the needs (including transport ones) of elderly people are a challenge for an increasing number of countries, including the EU Member States and Poland. Different types of modern ICT solutions are being proposed as a way of improving the meeting of the needs of elderly people in order to prevent their social exclusion. The growing popularity of solutions and services that use information and communication technologies (mainly the Internet and mobile applications) can also be observed in transport services and is perceived as a means to better meet transport needs. The aim of the article is to examine the extent to which seniors use ICT solutions to meet their transport needs when, for example, obtaining access to a car or car ride. A literature review, statistical data analysis and results of primary survey studies carried out on a sample of U3A students were used. The results of the analysis do not allow generalization on the entire population of elderly people but point to some interesting conclusions. For instance, at least one of the considered solutions (e.g. sharing travel by car as a driver or passenger) was used by almost two-thirds of those that responded using the Internet. Also, the solutions given were rated rather positively by the respondents in terms of their usefulness and ease of use. Those findings, apart from indicating further directions of research, allow for a cautious statement that these types of solutions can actually serve to better meet the transport needs of seniors.

Promoting Critical Thinking in Virtual Teams

2014 ◽  
pp. 201-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Heizmann
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Behaviors ◽  
Dialogic Learning ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Effective Decision ◽  
Effective Decision Making

Effective decision-making in a virtual environment is becoming increasingly important as more and more organizations introduce virtual teams into their global businesses. Critical thinking is a reflective practice that has been suggested to enhance the quality of group decision-making in organizations (Natale & Ricci, 2006). However, little is known about the value of critical thinking in a virtual team environment and the ways in which it can be promoted. This chapter provides a conceptual model of informed decision-making based on critical thinking. It further outlines how critical thinking can be promoted in virtual teams through an active shift towards a dialogic learning culture, constituted by collaborative communication behaviors, authentic leadership, and the use of social Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

Collaboration Among Multicultural Virtual Teams

2011 ◽  
pp. 306-313
Author(s):  
Kursat Cagiltay ◽  
Barbara A. Bichelmeyer ◽  
Michael A. Evans ◽  
Trena M. Paulus ◽  
Jae Soon An
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Problem Solve ◽  
Virtual Setting ◽  
E Mail

Due to the increasingly widespread use of various information and communication technologies (ICT), individuals from different countries and cultures are able to learn and work collaboratively in virtual environments (Mowshowitz, 1997). Electronic communication tools, such as chat, e-mail, and the World Wide Web, now make it possible for students and employees to communicate and problem solve with colleagues irrespective of geographical location (Scott, 2000). One of the major downsides of this form of collaboration, though, is that members of a virtual team do not have the advantage of face-to-face interaction and communication. Instead they must rely solely upon an assortment of computer-supported cooperative-learning and class-work tools and strategies—some planned, some ad hoc—to coordinate resources (Bichelmeyer, Cagiltay, Evans, Paulus, & An, 2004). Unfortunately, little research has been conducted to systematically investigate the dialectic between culture and computermediated communication (CMC). There is currently an insufficient understanding of how individual learning and work, cultural features, and CMC mutually influence one another in a purposeful, virtual setting.

scholarly journals Using Zoom Videoconferencing for Qualitative Data Collection: Perceptions and Experiences of Researchers and Participants

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 160940691987459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mandy M. Archibald ◽  
Rachel C. Ambagtsheer ◽  
Mavourneen G. Casey ◽  
Michael Lawless
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Practice Nurses ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Conducting Research

Advances in communication technologies offer new opportunities for the conduct of qualitative research. Among these, Zoom—an innovative videoconferencing platform—has a number of unique features that enhance its potential appeal to qualitative and mixed-methods researchers. Although studies have explored the use of information and communication technologies for conducting research, few have explored both researcher and participant perspectives on the use of web and videoconferencing platforms. Further, data are lacking on the benefits and challenges of using Zoom as a data collection method. In this study, we explore the feasibility and acceptability of using Zoom to collect qualitative interview data within a health research context in order to better understand its suitability for qualitative and mixed-methods researchers. We asked 16 practice nurses who participated in online qualitative interviews about their experiences of using Zoom and concurrently recorded researcher observations. Although several participants experienced technical difficulties, most described their interview experience as highly satisfactory and generally rated Zoom above alternative interviewing mediums such as face-to-face, telephone, and other videoconferencing services, platforms, and products. Findings suggest the viability of Zoom as a tool for collection of qualitative data because of its relative ease of use, cost-effectiveness, data management features, and security options. Further research exploring the utility of Zoom is recommended in order to critically assess and advance innovations in online methods.

Use of information and communication technologies for administration and management of schools in Nigeria

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 183-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Funmilola Olubunmi Omotayo ◽  
Michael Chinweike Chigbundu
Keyword(s):  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Sampling Procedure ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Ease Of Use ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Task Technology Fit

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the adoption and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by school administrators in the management of schools, as well as factors that influence use of ICTs by the administrators. Design/methodology/approach Survey research design was adopted. A two-stage sampling procedure (random and purposive) was used to select the respondents, while quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data collection. Findings Findings reveal that the school administrators use various ICTs to carry out administrative and management duties. Task characteristics, task-technology fit, attitude and perceived ease of use have significant relationships with use of ICTs by the administrators. Research limitations/implications The findings and conclusion from this paper cannot be generalised to all schools in Nigeria because the population was limited to only private secondary schools. Practical implications The study contributes to an existing knowledge on adoption and use of ICTs in schools, and provides information to policymakers on factors that should be given consideration when there is a need to implement ICTs in schools. Social implications This paper could assist school administrators that are yet to adopt and implement ICTs in their schools of the need to do so in order to enjoy the benefits associated with ICTs use in the workplace. Originality/value This paper is one of the first pieces of empirical research that has adopted the integrated technology acceptance and task-technology fit models to investigate use of ICTs by administrators of schools in Nigeria.

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