Virtual Team Management for Higher Performance

2016 ◽  
pp. 298-310
Author(s):  
Edward T. Chen
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Behavioral Characteristics ◽  
Team Management ◽  
Talent Pool ◽  
Effective Manner

This chapter aims to explore the increasing utilization of virtual teams in the existing globally competitive and complex business environment of the 21st century. With virtual teams, companies can expand their talent pool beyond geographical barriers. Furthermore, they can incorporate a follow-the-sun process in their business strategy. Combined, this leveraged approach can better position companies to meet market demands in a more timely and cost-effective manner. To achieve this competitive advantage, business leaders must thoroughly understand the challenges associated with developing and managing virtual teams. This chapter examines the reasons for utilizing virtual teams, challenges that stem from diversity, structural and behavioral characteristics, managerial considerations for effective leadership, supporting technologies, best practices, and future implications.

Challenge and Complexity of Virtual Team Management

2014 ◽  
pp. 109-120
Author(s):  
Edward T. Chen
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Talent Pool ◽  
Effective Manner

To thrive in our global economy, businesses must continually seek ways to maintain a competitive advantage by supplying the market with innovative and effective products and services. To do this, barriers of space and time must be overcome, conventional business processes must be enhanced, and customer demand must be promptly answered by high-quality, low-cost, or value-based products and services. One way for companies to meet these fast-paced market demands is by utilizing virtual teams. With virtual teams, companies can expand their talent pool beyond geographical barriers. Furthermore, they can incorporate a follow-the-sun process in their business strategy. Combined, this leveraged approach can better position companies to meet market demands in a more timely and cost-effective manner. However, to achieve this competitive advantage, business leaders must thoroughly understand the challenges associated with developing and managing virtual teams. This research chapter examines the reasons for utilizing virtual teams, challenges that stem from diversity, structural and behavioral characteristics, and managerial considerations for effective leadership, supporting technologies, best practices, and future implications.

Challenge and Complexity of Virtual Team Management

2014 ◽  
pp. 1107-1118
Author(s):  
Edward T. Chen
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Talent Pool ◽  
Effective Manner

To thrive in our global economy, businesses must continually seek ways to maintain a competitive advantage by supplying the market with innovative and effective products and services. To do this, barriers of space and time must be overcome, conventional business processes must be enhanced, and customer demand must be promptly answered by high-quality, low-cost, or value-based products and services. One way for companies to meet these fast-paced market demands is by utilizing virtual teams. With virtual teams, companies can expand their talent pool beyond geographical barriers. Furthermore, they can incorporate a follow-the-sun process in their business strategy. Combined, this leveraged approach can better position companies to meet market demands in a more timely and cost-effective manner. However, to achieve this competitive advantage, business leaders must thoroughly understand the challenges associated with developing and managing virtual teams. This research chapter examines the reasons for utilizing virtual teams, challenges that stem from diversity, structural and behavioral characteristics, and managerial considerations for effective leadership, supporting technologies, best practices, and future implications.

From Strategy Definition to Product Derivation Using a Scenario-Based Architecting Approach

2011 ◽  
pp. 198-220
Author(s):  
M. Ionita ◽  
P. America ◽  
D. Hammer
Keyword(s):  
Mass Customization ◽  
System Architecture ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
The Other ◽  
System Architectures ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
Methods And Techniques ◽  
Professional Systems

Mass customization is a business strategy that aims at satisfying, in a timely and cost-effective manner, the various needs of different customers. For that purpose, a system architecture is needed that supports two different kinds of variability: Variability in space provides a range of different products where each addresses the specific needs of an individual customer; and variability in time allows the products to evolve and thus meet new requirements. In defining such an architecture, two issues should be considered. One is how to anticipate the most likely changes in the external business environment, and hence in the customers’ future needs. The other is whether the architecture can address these changes effectively. This chapter presents a set of scenario-based methods and techniques to support the development of system architectures that are more future-proof, and also are advantageous for mass customization. These methods and techniques have originally been developed for highly-customized professional systems, in particular medical imaging equipment.

scholarly journals Malaysia Private Entity Reporting Standard (MPERS) adoption for SMEs: Insights from Accounting Practitioners in Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Nurul Nazlia Jamil ◽  
Nathasa Mazna Ramli ◽  
Ainulashikin Marzuki ◽  
Nurul Nadiah Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Reporting Standard ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
Accounting Practitioners ◽  
Inherent Problem ◽  
Private Entity ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
The Cost

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have very significant contribution to economic growth of the countries as more than 95% of companies worldwide and employment are represented by the SMEs industries. Therefore, in increasing the harmonization of reporting standard of SMEs, Malaysia is moving aggressively towards the efforts by introducing the Malaysian Private Entity Reporting Standard (MPERS) for SMEs starting from 1st January 2016 onwards. MPERS is seen to bring opportunities to the business as it is adoption of international standard that has been designed to fits the local needs and the customization to the Malaysian business environment could ensure comparability of the locals with the international business. Hence, this research attempt to 1) examine the perceptions of accounting practitioners on MPERS implementation and 2) identify the problems encountered in applying MPERS in SMEs. This study provides pioneering evidence on the problems of the practitioners encountered when applying the MPERS through the 176 questionnaires survey that have been distributed to the accounting practitioners that involve with MPERS implementation for SMEs in Malaysia. The insights and perceptions obtained highlighting new dimensions to the inherent problem such as issues of consistency and guidance in applying the MPERS with the cost-effective manner. Thus, the issues of differences in judgements among the practitioners become a phenomenon in relation to the application of MPERS for SMEs. The findings of this study are of interest to standard setters and SMEs stakeholders in Malaysia and other countries.

THE CREATION OF NOVEL AND MARKETABLE SERVICE IDEAS

2011 ◽  
Vol 08 (01) ◽  
pp. 113-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. CHANG
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Time Zone ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
Parallel Teams ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Impact

Novel and marketable service ideas are useful to most service enterprises. However, the literature has identified several reasons for innovations in services as lagging behind those in manufacturing. Some service enterprises believe that service ideas and innovations are readily imitated by competitors. Others view the impact of service innovations on profitability difficult to assess because specific innovative service elements are typically bundled with many other service elements when delivered to or used by customers. Some service enterprises do not have in-house groups specifically dedicated to innovative pursuits, making it difficult for them to systematically produce new service ideas. Furthermore, because services are usually produced and consumed concurrently, any failure tends to expose the service enterprise immediately, unlike the manufacturing companies which can minimize such risks of exposure by conducting pilot testing away from the marketplace. As a result, many service enterprises are said to shy away from aggressively pursuing new service development projects. It does not have to be this way. This paper describes the combinatorial, heuristic, and normatively guided method, which when correctly applied to a service enterprise enhances the generation of new service ideas in a systematic, speedy, and cost-effective manner, and without requiring the creation of a dedicated and rigid organizational structure. Virtual teams of the "stealth" type are set up to address innovation needs related to marketability and cost competitiveness. These teams may include frontline customer-facing employees as well as customers, suppliers, and other external experts, who can work together despite geographical and time-zone constraints. The application of this method toward developing a specific new service idea is discussed in greater detail. The integration of a "stealth" team can also be readily applied to the front end of a typical stage-gate service development process, whereby parallel teams are engaged to address critical issues and steps needed to successfully market a service idea before initiating costly development, thereby raising the service enterprises' overall probability of developing commercially successful new services over time.

Virtual team experiences in an emerging economy: a qualitative study

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 778-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shubhi Gupta ◽  
Govind Swaroop Pathak
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to document the experiences of team members in order to map the kinds of experiential outcomes that they report while working in virtual teams. The study will help to expand the understanding of various issues related to virtual work arrangements from the perceptions of information technology (IT) professionals in India.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted by adopting an exploratory approach with the use of qualitative methodology. The method of sampling adopted was purposive cum snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews (face-to-face and telephonic) were conducted by taking a sample of 52 respondents, who are employed by IT organisations. The interviews were recorded digitally, transcribed and analysed by using the content-coding approach followed by a thematic analysis.FindingsThe foremost contribution of the study is that it has considered the various motivators and the skills required to be a successful virtual team player. Significant challenges encountered in virtual teams have also been identified.Practical implicationsVirtual teams in the contemporary business environment are evolving with an unparalleled velocity. The findings of the paper have implications for managers, team leaders and change agents regarding how to transform and sustain in the rapidly changing business context of emerging economies.Originality/valueIn the extant literature on virtual teams very little is known about how individual members perceive this new form of teamwork. The findings of the study advance research on the topic of virtual teams by lending empirical support with respect to the interaction effects between IT and human beings. Recommendations have been provided for individual team members and organisations.

scholarly journals Antecedents and consequences of trust on a virtual team leader

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Flavian ◽  
Miguel Guinalíu ◽  
Pau Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Organizational Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Structural Equations ◽  
Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Work Team ◽  
Behavioral Characteristics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine, among the possible causes, whether trust in the leader is one of the most relevant factors on the success of a virtual work team by analyzing different antecedents of the trust and its consequences. Design/methodology/approach The influence that certain physical and behavioral characteristics of the leader (attractiveness, empathy and justice) exert on the degree of trust is evaluated. On the other hand, the influence of trust on the efficiency of the team, in terms of organizational citizenship behavior and commitment, is analyzed. To test the model, a survey was conducted on real work teams and the data were analyzed through a model of structural equations. Findings The results support the hypotheses and consequently, the relevance of trust in the leader. Specifically, the leader’s physical and behavioral characteristics have a significant effect on the trust in the leader. This trust results in greater organizational efficiency. Originality/value Despite the undisputable growth in the number of companies using virtual teams, it is also true that many of these teams fail to perform. In this sense, this paper analyzes if certain factors related to leadership can be relevant when influencing the efficiency of a virtual work team. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the internal processes within a virtual team in order to maximize the chances of success in this type of organizations.

Effective Virtual Project Management Using Multiple E-Leadership Styles

2010 ◽  
pp. 445-454
Author(s):  
Margaret R. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Leadership Styles ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Project Team ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Team Management ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Virtual Project

The field of organizational behavior defines leadership as “the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals” (Capella, 2005, p. 294). Leadership styles have been well studied and researched. Early leadership studies were developed using traditional, co-located work arrangements in mind. Later studies expanded to include traditional project team environments. In the current business environment, however, nontraditional virtual work arrangements are becoming more popular. Virtual project teams are increasing in business today and will continue to become more common in the future (Martins, Gilson, & Maynard, 2004). Managing nontraditional work involving virtual teams is becoming a necessity in the current business environment. The type of leadership emanagers must demonstrate for successful virtual team management is different from traditional project team management (Konradt & Hoch, 2007). Understanding appropriate leadership styles for virtual project teams and the transition toward new leadership styles is an important part of managing human resources in organizations and successful virtual project management. Emerging e-leadership roles and management concepts for virtual teams include multiple leadership models, and their application is an important part of our evolving virtual organizational behavior.

scholarly journals A study of the labor process from a technology transformation perspective: the case of internet virtual teams

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Liang
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Institutional Arrangement ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Labor Process ◽  
Team Management ◽  
Managerial Control ◽  
Surplus Value ◽  
Preceding Discussion ◽  
Technology Transformation ◽  
Hierarchical Features

AbstractThis article presents an empirical study of the labor process of internet virtual teams. It argues that organizations with a “horizontally virtual and vertically real” structure face a dilemma in the virtual team labor process. While a culture of engineers, which embodies equality, liberty, and cooperation, is the cultural basis of the virtual team, management is bureaucratic, emphasizing individual interests and hierarchical features. The coexistence of the two leads to cooperation and division of labor in virtual teams. Essentially, this is a compromising institutional arrangement adopted by corporations to triangulate technology culture and managerial control to obtain surplus value. Based on the preceding discussion, this paper ends by proposing a new theoretical framework for studying the labor process under the technological conditions of the internet.

Strategic planning in grassland farming: Principles andapplications

1997 ◽  
pp. 191-197
Author(s):  
W.J. Parker ◽  
N.M. Shadbolt ◽  
D.I. Gray
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Planning ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Key Performance Indicators ◽  
Strategic Plans ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
Farm Business ◽  
Pastoral Farming ◽  
Financial Environment

Three levels of planning can be distinguished in grassland farming: strategic, tactical and operational. The purpose of strategic planning is to achieve a sustainable long-term fit of the farm business with its physical, social and financial environment. In pastoral farming, this essentially means developing plans that maximise and best match pasture growth with animal demand, while generating sufficient income to maintain or enhance farm resources and improvements, and attain personal and financial goals. Strategic plans relate to the whole farm business and are focused on the means to achieve future needs. They should be routinely (at least annually) reviewed and monitored for effectiveness through key performance indicators (e.g., Economic Farm Surplus) that enable progress toward goals to be measured in a timely and cost-effective manner. Failure to link strategy with control is likely to result in unfulfilled plans. Keywords: management, performance

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