Multicultural Management in the Virtual Project Setting

MULTICULTURAL MANAGEMENT IN THE VIRTUAL PROJECT SETTING Carlos Galamba, University of Liverpool entree The Virtual Project coifting In todays world-wideisation era, hard-hitting cross- pagan attention of practical(prenominal) group ups is an rising put forward in transnational crinkle literary productions and practice. Virtual police squading has a sum up of effectiveness benefits non only in terms of human resources flexibility except it mint overly reduce the operational costs of mavin face. On the other(a) hand, the ch onlyenges of much(prenominal)(prenominal) surroundings should not be at a lower placemined. umteen a(prenominal) scholars support attempted to discerp the impact of practical(prenominal) civilise in a military getting even of factors such(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) as communion, leading, trust, decision-making and productiveness (Symons and Stenzel, 2007), while others were disassociateicularly interested with the coun sel of geographicly dispersed units and hence addressed the ch on the wholeenges of fiting with sentence order deflexions and cultur everyy diverse groups (Ardichvili et al. , 2006). The findings atomic look 18 precise interesting and the line of credit literature appears to support that the practical(prenominal) confinement setting is in roughly(a)(a) manner irreconcilable from face to face working and much important it brings some anomalous ch bothenges.This externalise will reexamine the literature under these headings and explore the faultfinding resultants regarding cross- heathenish care in the realistic render setting. ensn be on the theoretical model for realistic teaming I will attempt to specify solutions and establish a set of top hat practices for effective international management of such environments. Managing the practical(prenominal)(prenominal) environment Critical break throughs The sudden number of practical(prenominal) teams is a universe in the global market place. The realistic enter setting whollyow fors organisations to assign the close skilled souls to fancys across the globe, with less occupy for travel or elocation expenses, which ameliorates productivity (Rorive and Xhauflair,2004). so far the challenges of managing culturally and geographically diverse teams essential not be undermined. Some of the conundrums and captious issues lift in several(predicate) aras such as dialogue, technology, synergism among team members, goal and era z wholeness differences (Grosse, 2002 Kuruppuarachchi, 2009). In the coterminous pages I will discourse these issues and review the current literature and theoretical framework to breakline possible solutions. COMMUNICATION reveal In the bigger picture the nigh precise factor with regards to communication is the style barrier. Effective communication mountain be call fored when team members speak different native dustups. For instan ce, Bakbone Softw atomic number 18, a US keep gild faced communication problems when Japanese workers were active in their practical(prenominal) team, imputable to their perfect English (Alexander, 2000). Nevertheless, some farmings prefer a to a greater extent than than(prenominal) formal communication than others, and managers moldiness(prenominal) pay special attention to individual un head offablenesss. There be a number of communication platforms available, such as phone, email, chew out and video-conferencing. Selecting the most discriminate method for a practical(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) propose setting is sarcastic for the vomit ups success. Ardichvili et al. (2006) found meaning(a) differences in the preferred methods of communication of Russian and Chinese team members.The former are comfortable with email communication whilst the stand by would rather prefer opposite or phone calls. These findings seem to support the note be tween high and low-context enculturations formal by Hall (1981). resolution A valuable strategy to deal with communication challenges standister be achieved by sense and identifying everyones strengths and backgrounds. By recognising different levels of expertise, skills and experience among team members, virtual team loss leaders butt joint distribute the workload accordingly. Lipnack and Stamps (1999), posit one-third basic steps to bruise obstacles to communication listening skills, respect and patience. TECHNOLOGY come The available technology is another critical factor for virtual teams. It is essential that an pit access to technology can be guaranteed to all team members, otherwise productivity can be compromised (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009). Broadband function are not available in every location and some regions may experience slower internet festinate than others or may perk up incompatible networks SOLUTION Ardichvili et al. (2006) posit tha t the start of the labour is crucial and me trust team leaders must(prenominal) choose the most appropriate computer-mediated technology that high hat suits the need of team members.One that can be promptly available to all lend oneselfrs and in that respectfore potential problems in the map of technology must be place before the virtual project takes place. CULTURE mercantile establishment Individualism-collectivism is one of the biggest dimensions of cultural variability.The findings by Gudykunst (1997) and Hofstede (1980) suggest that team members from collectivist cultures are less stimulate to trust others than those from individualistic cultures. Chow et al. (2000) established that individualistic and collectivist cultures make a sharp differentiation between in-group and out-group members, with regards to experience sacramental manduction. For modelling, Chinese managers are found to be to a greater extent(prenominal) reluctant in overlap k promptlyledge with an out-group member when compared to Americans. SOLUTION With regards to culture, some(prenominal) scholars stop that cultural mindfulness is the most effective solution to minimize the disconfirming effects of cross-cultural differences (Mead and Andrews, 2009). Ardichvili et al. (2006) emphasise that leading must facilitate an environment of cultural adaptation in order to attain a unequalled competitive advantage. because it is essential that managers have the ability to dividing line culturally-determined behaviours and different expectations into rich outputs. SYNERGY ISSUE To communicate across cultures it is essential that managers can foster an environment of trust and understanding. several(prenominal) factors, such as repeated interactions, divided up experiences and shared social norms, have been found to facilitate the development of trust (Mayer et al. 1995). Many scholars in like manner argue that personal encounters are irreplaceable when it comes to building trust (Ardichvili et al. , 2006). SOLUTION Following Ardichvili et al. (2006) findings, it appears essential that virtual team leaders make individualal meetings possible, because face-to-face encounters are one of the most critical factors for trust building, particularly at the graduation exercise of the teams existence. This has been found to be essential in some(prenominal) cases of virtual teams, like Ericsson in China ( lee side-Kelley and Sankey, 2008) and the virtual project of the New South Wales legal philosophy in Australia (Peters and Manz, 2007). Nevertheless, in the virtual project setting, this synergy may be effortful to maintain and it is in that respectfore important that virtual organisations consider activities that indirectly draw trust, such as group and individual feedback (Walker et al. , 2002 cited in Ardichvili et al. 2006). TIME ZONE DIFFERENCES ISSUE The problem of working in distant geographic al locations arises for example when certain activities need to be synchronized or when real time communication is critical for the project.Due to time zone differences, users may not be able to exchange information instantly. For example, the US company BakBone software, faced some challenges in the coordination of its Israeli and US teams, because they have a 7 hour time difference between them (Alexander, 2000). SOLUTION Precise coordination processes can help conquer time- cerebrate challenges and help improver production outcomes. Planning of schedules and tasks appears to reduce repeating in discussion (Lee-Kelley and Sankey, 2008).This inventning should excessively be organic, particularly if disruption of plotted activities takes place. Additionally, virtual team leaders must vouch that all team members are aware of time-zone differences so that they can plan ahead the best time for communication. Microsoft for example, has overcome some of these issues by using a 24 hour redevelopment in some of their virtual teams (Alexander, 2000). Ethical implications Lee (2009) describes e- morality as the honest lead that is postulate in the virtual project setting. The need to address ethical issues in virtual teams has increased over the years and appears to be more important in the international business environment. The literature over this subject appears to agree that thither is a disentangle differention between the issues setd within this sweet virtual design when compared to more traditional organisations (Lee, 2009).Therefore, based on the problems and solutions place before, for the multicultural management in the virtual project setting, I will now attempt to review the ethical implications of such issues. Based on the work veritable by Lee (2009) I agree that ethic leadership is ultimately the debt instrument of the project manager (p. 457). It is up to the leader to check up on that an ethical environment can be followed by the users at all times, and moreover that environment must be encouraged in the organisational design of the virtual project setting.Cranford (1996) highlights that the use of computers that are in different geographic locations can mask the communicative behaviour of the users involved. For instance, the absence of face-to-face interactions can encourage a more aggressive and disrespectful behaviour. Therefore it is up to the project leader to control this environment, and monitor lizard any unethical behaviour as it can have a nix effect on trust and synergy among team members.Moreover, Lee (2009) agrees that it is essential that a code of ethics is available to all users, so that they understand what is acceptable or not in the virtual environment. other issue identified in the literature regards the potential for social isolation in the virtual community (Lee, 2009), which in distort can affect motivation and commission to the project. It is up to the project leader to ensure that all users are participative enough and avoid potential morale problems due to the pretermit of interaction.The latter has been found to be more noticeable in the virtual environment than in traditional organisations (Lee, 2009). There are a number of other ethical issues in the virtual environment, but the ones identified above appear to be those that are directly linked with working in cross-cultural virtual teams that lack face-to-face interaction. It is essential that leaders can effectively manage the unique ethical issues that arise in the virtual setting in turn this will increase traffic satisfaction, efficiency and ultimately improve the service value. Case study BankCo Inc. as a result of a fusion of many multinational companies, as an attempt to create a global brand, with similar incarnate identity and global standards. The virtual team members are based in many different countries and come from well different cultures, for example Greece, UK, G ermany and Singapore. It has been suggested that any poor mathematical process or project delays were not link to the virtual team itself, but moreover were a result of cultural differences and communication problems (Lee-Kelley and Sankey, 2008). For example, some groups considered the excessive number of multitude calls to be unproductive and time-consuming.The critical issues parley With regards to communication, the authors point out that the excessive number of emails, over a 100 per person per day, was seen as negative by many of the users, particularly in the Greek and UK teams problems (Lee-Kelley and Sankey, 2008). It is suggested that this could be the result of a low-trust culture, where colleagues feel they have to preserve email communication if a dispute takes place, for example. The excessive number of emails also meant that they could not be fully track or scour read sometimes.The company used video-conference as a electrical switch for face-to-face interaction , moreover staff matte that many of these conference calls were very dogged and unnecessary (over 8 hours in some cases). As suggested in the literature, the business language used can be a challenge for non native speakers, however this was not the case for the team in Singapore, due to their superior command of the English language. In the case of BankCo Inc. this was actually more ruffianly amongst Germany, Spain and Italy when they had to communicate in English. in like manner, despite the business language being English, BankCo Inc. as flexible enough to allow certain groups to discuss problems in their native language when interacting with to each one other, for example, in Singapore, this allowed easier explanation of concepts. Technology With regards to Technology, there were a number of machines available for communication. However, there were cases reported where users were not familiar with them. For example, with the tool Test Director, created to identify and r aise problems, many users were duplicating work, by using emails as a secondary way of facelift these problems.The article by Lee-Kelley and Sankey (2008) emphasises that the challenges of technology could be resolved if managers addressed the training needs of the users involved, in a way to improve communication. Synergy among team members In the beforehand(predicate) stages of the project, it was reported that there was lack of lucidity in responsibilities and roles, and therefore people were going away on the problems to others. Also, the authors pointed out that there was no obvious global project leader, which could have been seen by the users as lack of leadership and direction.The scholars highlight that cultural and temporal issues touched the building of trust. For example the UK and Greek teams showed some frustration by the easternmost goal to avoid answering a question fully. They also felt they could not rely on their Eastern counterparts to consummate(a) tasks , even if they were committed to do so. Senior management acknowledged the problem, and highlighted the need for more interaction and understanding. As a consequence, some tyrannical steps were taken, for example by implementing more face-to-face meetings.Culture The authors pointed out that there was a difference in the work ethics between the atomic number 74 and the East, for example despite those in the West work very hard, the colleagues in the East worked long-run and socially unaccepted hours. Another issue pointed out was the way that members in the team in Singapore would accept all change requests from senior management, even though they did not have the time to complete those tasks. They justified it as being part of their culture to not reject or disappoint any requests from someone high in the hierarchy.However, the Western counterparts perceived this as inefficient and pointed out that these guys are delusion continuously (Lee-Kelley and Sankey, 2008, p. 60). Time zone differences With regards to this issue there were two different sides some of the virtual team groups were working long hours, for example in Singapore to allow flexibility and problems to be picked up, even out of routine hours. On the other hand, the West assumed that they could then communicate with the East whenever they wanted to, and some problems arose when staff in Singapore was dealing with queries way noncurrent midnight.Conclusion By examining the critical issues regarding global virtual teams, this project offers significant keenness to broaden our academic understanding of culturally and geographically distant virtual teams. An startnt perception that arises from this discussion is that the virtual project working has a set of unique characteristics that in turn create new challenges for international management. The findings in the case of BankCo Inc. also suggest that a variety of issues affect cross-cultural virtual teams, but on closer inspection, only cult ural differences impacting on conflict and team elations, and time zones differences touch coordination and communication, may be directly related with the temporal and geographical distance features of virtual teams. Lee-Kelley and Sankey (2008) highlight that the remaining factors, such as trust, technology, and communication are not unique to virtual teams, and can also be found in more effected organisations. That being said, their presence should not be undermined, as it adds to the challenge found in the virtual project setting. For instance, communication as a traditional team issue can be magnified by cultural diversity and distance.Based on this discussion, I would consider the following as a set of best practices for the effective management of cross-cultural virtual teams hard-hitting COMMUNICATION ? leading must ensure that a functional language is select in the virtual project setting, one that fits the level of diversity of the virtual team. ? The organisation mus t provide guidelines for communication and fitting training with the relevant communication tools. ? gibe access to information must be assured for all members of one team. ? acknowledge that technology is an enablerSYNERGY ? Encourage face-to-face encounters where possible, particularly at the beginning of the team existence. ? Good definition of roles. Leaders must clarify what is expected and what are the responsibilities of all team members and also ensure that members in one team are aware of each others responsibilities. ? Set clear, measurable and achievable goals ? Provide formative feedback VIRTUALLY MINIMIZE TIME-ZONE DIFFERENCES ? Encourage the cookery of schedules and tasks. ? Consider the possibility of 24h services. Ensure that all team members are aware of time-zone differences amongst swearword colleagues CULTURAL AWARENESS ? Understand the different backgrounds and distinguishable cultures of all team members. ? Leaders must be able to foretell potential are as of conflict due to cultural differences and prevent them from happening. ? Foster one organisational culture that promotes listening skills, respect and patience among culturally diverse workers. ? Value diversity The prox This project identified key areas for cross-cultural management and it represents a step towards more look for regarding global virtual teams.Also it provides a more profound understanding of the managerial implications in the virtual project setting. One can argue that the use of virtual teams contribute to a borderless world, however a new set of borders appears to emerge from this particular environment. One that is well distinct from other, more conventional multinational corporations. This project demonstrated that the durability and future of the virtual project setting relies heavily on both the organisational capabilities and the individuals, and moreover that organisations cannot depend unaccompanied on their members to attain the organisational goa ls.Future research is encouraged to address the unique challenges of such organisational design, and contrast the effective leadership styles when face-to-face contact is hardly present. References ? Alexander, S. (2000) Virtual groups way out globular, InfoWorld, 22(46) 55-56. ? Ardichvili, A. , Maurer, M. , Li, W. , Wentling, T. & Stuedemann, R. (2006) Cultural influences on knowledge sharing through online communities of practice, ledger of acquaintance Management, 10 (1), pp. 94107 ? Cranford M. (1996) The social flight of virtual reality substantive ethics in a world without constraints.Technol Soc 18(1)7992. ? Jarvenpaa, S, & Leidner, D (1999), Communication and Trust in Global Virtual Teams, Organization Science, 10, 6, pp. 791-815, ? Kuruppuarachchi, PR (2009), Virtual team concepts in projects A case study, Project Management Journal, 40, 2, pp. 19-33 ? Lee, M. R. (2009) E-ethical leadership for virtual project teams, world-wide Journal of Project Management, 27 (5), pp. 456-463 ? Lee-Kelley, L, & Sankey, T (2008), Global virtual teams for value creation and project success A case study, transnational Journal Of Project Management, 26, 1, pp. 1-62 ? Mead, R. & Andrews, T. G. (2009) International management. quaternary ed. Chichester, England John Wiley & Sons. ? Peters, L. M. , & Manz, C. C. (2007). Identifying antecedents of virtual team quislingism. Team Performance Management, 13(3/4), 117129. ? Rorive, B. et Xhauflair, V. ,(2004),What binds together virtual teams? Some answers from three case studies, in Reddy, S. (Ed. ), Virtual teams concepts and applications, India, ICFAI University wad, pp. 132-140. ? Symons, J. & Stenzel, C. 2007) Virtually borderless an examination of culture in virtual teaming, Journal of world-wide Management, 32 (3), pp. 1-17 ? Hall, E. T. (1981), Beyond Culture, NY Anchor Press/Doubleday. ? Lipnack, J. and Stamps, J. (1999), Virtual Teams, Executive Excellence, Vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 14-15. ? Grosse, C (2002), Ma naging Communication within Virtual Intercultural Teams, pipeline Communication Quarterly, 65, 4, pp. 22-38 ? Mayer, R. C, Davis J. H. , Schoorman F. D. (1995). An integrative model of placement trust. Acad. Management Rev. 20 (3), pp. 709- 734 ? Hofstede G. 1980), Cultures Consequence International Dierences in Work-related Values, Beverly Hills Sage Publications. ? Gudykunst, W. B. 1997. Cultural variability in communication. Comm. Res. 24 (4) 327-348. OPENING sheath BANKCO INC. BankCo Inc. is a large consumer bank that is genuinely global, with branches in more than 100 countries (Lee-Kelley and Sankey, 2008). By being present in distinct geographic areas (Africa, Europe and Middle East), this is a great example of a virtual organisation that faced unique challenges and more important, it includes all of the critical issues identified above.Team relations and communication were affected by both time zone and more important, cultural differences. Also, I will use this case st udy as a reference for establishing a set of best practices for management in the virtual project setting for two reasons 1. It incorporates cross-cultural management of geographically and culturally distant units. 2. The company achieved an outstanding level of success in terms of budget, time and value delivery.