David Retherford Tim Hill

Global Coordinating
March 5, 2019
A. Introduction and Summary
Karl Henderson is a senior manager at Metroinic Systems in Santa Clara
California. He has been with the company now five years. During these five years,
Henderson has worked with low-end routers all the way to fabricated chips. His
performance in the company has received many awards.
Henderson has been placed in charge of virtual team that is spread out over five
continents. The team consists of Henderson; Chris Haines, Hardware Engineer, Santa
Clara, California; Jules Shelford, Associate Director of Marketing, London; Vikram
Malhotra, Senior Manager, Bangalore, India; Sarah McGraw, Hardware Engineer,
Sydney, Australia; Charles Kiew, Manufacturing Head, Crystal Fabrication Labs,
Taiwan; and Diago Silva, Marketing Head, GB Systems, Brazil. Their job is to create the
next generation network-security product. Due the circumstances of a virtual team, there
are several obstacles that Henderson needs to confront.

B. Statement of the Problem

a. Henderson is concerned with how the team will work together.
i. Symptoms:
1. Henderson has had to think about time differences.
2. Henderson created a map showing each member’s location and current
time.
3. Henderson is worried about getting the team connected.
ii. Root Causes:
1. Henderson has never managed a global team.
2. The team members have very different locations which translates to
differing business practices.
3. Henderson’s boss assumed that he could easily handle coordinating the
team.
iii. Henderson must now decide how to begin coordination of the virtual team.

C. Decision Criteria and Alternative Solutions

a. An effective solution will allow the team to successfully connect as a group to begin
developing the safest next generation network-security product that they possibly can.
b. Alternative Solutions:
i. Henderson can choose to have the team start work on the project
immediately without formally connecting.
ii. Henderson can choose to contact each team member individually.
iii. Henderson can choose to have the group connect over an online video
conference to form an initial relationship.

D. Recommended Solution
a. Recommendation
i. Henderson can choose to have the group connect over an online video
conference to form an initial relationship.
b. Reason for recommendation
i. While team members not having to be together face-to-face is a benefit of
virtual teams, it also poses one of the biggest obstacles to an effective
team. By having the team members connect over a video conference, they
are able to connect relationships with a personal face. This will lead to an
increase in motivation of the team, overall efficiency and performance,
and quality of the product produced.
c. Risks of the recommendation
i. Due to other team member’s schedules and time zones, it may be difficult
to schedule a time that is convenient with all members.
d. Response to risks
i. As the leader of the group, Henderson can be willing to make sacrifices in
his schedule and sleep to minimize potential risks.