MBA - Proposal

Thesis Proposal!
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The Complexities of Managing a Virtual Team: The Added Layers and
Considerations Required in Comparison to Managing a Classical One.!

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MBA - Proposal

Objective!
This dissertation will investigate the daily Management of Virtual Teams and the added
complexities attached to that task in comparison to the classical model of Classical
Formal Teams.!

Virtual teams allow work to be completed across time, space and geographical
boundaries, there are true advantages for organisations to be using these type of
structures. However, the management of those Virtual Teams is not as easy and can
represent challenges for the management and team members in question in
comparison to the classical conservative model.!

The objectives is to compare and contrast from a management perspective the two
models by looking into:!

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Management Style or styles rein order to achieve Team Goals!

Costs of running those Teams !
Teamwork and the Communications used !
Effect of Localisation, Geography and Local Culture!
Achievement of Goals and Overall Productivity!

These finding will allow to draw conclusions, present guidelines and recommendations
to improve Organisational Change for those considering moving from one model to
another.!

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Introduction!
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The internet changed it all. Communications these days is so much easier than it was
even 20 years ago, and yes the advent of the internet and the leaps and bounds
technology has gone though in last decade has opened up new ways to work. Though
Organisations have worked with their International locations for years, the teams,
classically, have always been grouped together in one location.!

Todays technologies allow for an individual team to have members spread across the
globe covering multiple timezones, cultures and geographical boundaries. This means
that the Classical team model must work on the same schedule, which implies that
everyone must be at the same location at the same time. Due to the fact that virtual
teams engage communication technologies, team members are no longer restricted to
one physical location. They can use communication tools to work together over long
distances. With industry leaders such as Skype, msn messenger and other online
communications tools, constant communications is easy and virtually free. The advent
of the virtual team has allowed many team members to work together despite the fact
that they may have never met each other in person. In some cases, the members of the
virtual teams may have no idea how the other members of the team look, though video
calls are very easily set up through Skype of Google Hangout (Google, 2013).!
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MBA - Proposal

In contrast, formal team members actually thrive on the ability to see and work with
each other in person. Another powerful aspect of the virtual team is the enormous
amount of money which is saved through its implementation. For instance, with a virtual
team, there is no reason to worry about parking space, since the members of the team
have no reason to park in one location.!
The costs of travel are also dramatically reduced. In the past, it was common for certain
employees to spend weeks traveling on business from one location to another. While
physical travel is still necessary today, and will not phase out anytime soon, the advent
of virtual teams has made it less necessary, and this naturally leads to lower costs for
the organisations which implement them.!
In some ways, virtual teams have made the necessity for physical travel obsolete, at
least when it comes to business purposes. For example, instead of paying a worker to
get on a plane and fly to Shanghai for a meeting, it is much more efficient, faster, and
cost effective to simply hold a video conference.

However, with all those added benefits, the proper management of a virtual team is very
different that being an classical manager present and located physically with the team at
all times. Hirschy (2011) references Malhotra, Majchrzak, and Rosen (2007) who have
listed six leadership practices to overcome the unique challenges associated with virtual
team leadership. Some of the practices are:!
Ensuring that the diversity in the in team is appreciated, leveraged and understood.!
Monitor team progress through available technology.!
Ensuring all individuals actively participate!
In addition, the challenges faced by managers could be grouped into these categories:!
Building Trust!
Building a team by overcoming Feelings of Isolation!
Maximising Gains and minimising losses of processes !
Balancing Technical and Communication skills amongst the team!
Assessment of Performance!

MBA - Proposal

All of these challenges as well and the new technological advances make it consider all
possible management styles and the adaptation of known skills and styles to make for a
good base of managing a virtual team.

Research Question(s)!

Definition and Analysis of virtual teams and determination of all the factors that enter
into account under that label!
Current research on leadership in journals and published textbooks!
Point by point comparison between virtual and formal teams in their defining elements!
Application of Leadership (Management) of virtual teams in terms of success and
productivity as determined by the management style required for such a role.!
Best practices and recommendation of the best style suited for Organisational types.!

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Method of Approach!

This comparative and analysis will be conducted by the study of the currently available
literature and by making the determination and recommendation based on published
recommendation as well as my individual one based on experience.!

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References!
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Here is a small sample of the collected research references found addressing the
subject of the proposal:!

Berg, R 2012, 'The Anonymity Factor in Making Multicultural Teams Work: Virtual and
Real Teams',Business Communication Quarterly, 75, 4, pp. 404-424, Business Source
Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 2 October 2013.!

Berry, GR 2011, 'Enhancing Effectiveness on Virtual Teams',Journal Of Business

Communication, 48, 2, pp. 186-206, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 5
October 2013.!

Chyng-Yang, J 2013, 'FACILITATING TRUST IN VIRTUAL TEAMS: THE ROLE OF

AWARENESS',Advances In Competitiveness Research, 21, 1/2, pp. 61-77, Business
Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 3 October 2013.!

Goh, S, & Wasko, M 2012, 'The Effects of Leader-Member Exchange on Member

Performance in Virtual World Teams',Journal Of The Association For Information
Systems, 13, 10, pp. 861-885, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 10
October 2013.!

MBA - Proposal

Google Corporation (2013). Google Apps for Business. [ONLINE] Available at: http://
www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/landing/plus/features.html. [Last Accessed 1
November 2013].!

Hirschy, M 2011, 'Virtual Team Leadership: A Case Study in Christian Higher

Education',Christian Higher Education, 10, 2, pp. 97-111, Academic Search Complete,
EBSCOhost, viewed 11 August 2013.!

Hoch, J, & Kozlowski, S 2012, 'Leading Virtual Teams: Hierarchical Leadership,

Structural Supports, and Shared Team Leadership',Journal Of Applied Psychology,
PsycARTICLES, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 August 2013.!

Mysirlaki, S, & Paraskeva, F 2012, 'Leadership in MMOGs: A Field of Research on

Virtual Teams',Electronic Journal Of E-Learning, 10, 2, pp. 223-234, Education
Research Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 August 2013.!

RUGGIERI, S 2009, 'LEADERSHIP IN VIRTUAL TEAMS: A COMPARISON OF

TRANSFORMATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL LEADERS',Social Behavior &
Personality: An International Journal, 37, 8, pp. 1017-1021, SPORTDiscus with Full
Text, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 August 2013.!

Saonee, S, Manju, A, Suprateek, S, & Kirkeby, S 2011, 'The Role of Communication and
Trust in Global Virtual Teams: A Social Network Perspective',Journal Of Management
Information Systems, 28, 1, pp. 273-309, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost,
viewed 5 October 2013.!

Shuffler, M, Wiese, C, Salas, E, & Burke, C 2010, 'Leading One Another Across Time
and Space: Exploring Shared Leadership Functions in Virtual Teams',Revista De
Psicologia Del Trabajo Y De Las Organizaciones, 26, 1, pp. 3-17, Academic Search
Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 August 2013.!

Tuffley, DD 2012, 'Optimising virtual team leadership in Global Software

Development',IET Software, 6, 3, pp. 176-184, Academic Search Complete,
EBSCOhost, viewed 21 August 2013.

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