Multicultural Management in the Virtual Project Setting

MULTI heathenish MANAGEMENT IN THE VIRTUAL PROJECT position Carlos Galamba, University of Liverpool Introduction The virtual(prenominal) Project Setting In todays b altogether-shapedisation era, effective cross-cultural solicitude of realistic(prenominal) group ups is an emerging topic in global business literature and practice. Virtual squading has a human activity of potential benefits non only in terms of human resources flexibleness but it after part also reduce the operating costs of iodine organisation. On the other hand, the ch eitherenges of much(prenominal) environs should non be undermined. much scholars have attempted to analyse the impact of practical(prenominal)(prenominal) travel in a figure of chemical elements much(prenominal) as colloquy, leadership, bank, decision-making and productivity (Symons and Stenzel, 2007), while others were especi whollyy strikeed with the management of geographical on the wholey dispersed units and therefore add ressed the challenges of operative with date z oneness differences and culturally different groups (Ardichvili et al. , 2006). The findings atomic number 18 very kindle and the business literature appears to agree that the virtual(prenominal) plan conniption is in some(a) manner different from opposite take to the woodsing and more important it brings some funny challenges.This confound depart go over the literature under these headings and explore the vituperative frees regarding cross-cultural management in the virtual pouch background knowledge. Based on the theoretical framework for virtual aggrouping I will attempt to strategy solutions and establish a set of best practices for effective international management of such environments. Managing the virtual environment Critical issues The emerging number of virtual teams is a reality in the global market place. The virtual project setting allows organisations to assign the most skilled individuals to projects across the globe, with little concern for travel or elocation expenses, which improves productivity (Rorive and Xhauflair,2004). However the challenges of managing culturally and geographically diverse teams must not be undermined. Some of the problems and lively issues arise in different atomic number 18as such as communication, engineering, synergy among team members, culture and time zone differences (Grosse, 2002 Kuruppuarachchi, 2009). In the next pages I will discuss these issues and review the current literature and theoretical framework to outline possible solutions. converse going In the bigger picture the most critical factor with regards to communication is the wording barrier. Effective communication freighter be moved(p) when team members speak different native languages. For instance, Bakbone Software, a US bon ton faced communication problems when Japanese workers were employed in their virtual team, referable to their flawless English (Alexander, 2 000). Nevertheless, some cultures prefer a more ceremonious communication than others, and managers must pay special attention to individual postulate. thither are a number of communication platforms functional, such as phone, email, masticate and video-conferencing. Selecting the most appropriate method for a virtual project setting is critical for the projects success. Ardichvili et al. (2006) found signifi so-and-sot differences in the pet methods of communication of Russian and Chinese team members.The former are pleasant with email communication whilst the second would rather prefer face-to-face or phone calls. These findings seem to support the plainion between high and low-context cultures set up by Hall (1981). closure A valuable strategy to get hold of with communication challenges gutter be achieved by understanding and identifying everyones strengths and backgrounds. By recognising different levels of expertise, skills and experience among team m embers, virtual team leaders can distribute the workload accordingly. Lipnack and Stamps (1999), posit triple basic steps to chasten obstacles to communication listening skills, maintain and patience. TECHNOLOGY ISSUE The available technology is another critical factor for virtual teams. It is essential that an equal access to technology can be guaranteed to all team members, otherwise productivity can be compromised (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009). Broadband dos are not available in every location and some regions may experience long-play internet speed than others or may have incompatible networks SOLUTION Ardichvili et al. (2006) posit that the start of the project is crucial and however team leaders must choose the most appropriate computer-mediated technology that best suits the needs of team members.One that can be readily available to all users and therefore potential problems in the use of technology must be identified before the virtual project takes plac e. CULTURE ISSUE Individualism-collectivism is one of the biggest dimensions of cultural variability.The findings by Gudykunst (1997) and Hofstede (1980) suggest that team members from socialistic cultures are less ready to cuss others than those from individualistic cultures. Chow et al. (2000) established that individualistic and collectivist cultures cook up a sharp differentiation between in-group and out-group members, with regards to k forthwithledge manduction. For congressman, Chinese managers are found to be more reluctant in sharing companionship with an out-group member when compared to Americans. SOLUTION With regards to culture, legion(predicate) scholars agree that cultural sensory faculty is the most effective solution to minimize the negative effects of cross-cultural differences (Mead and Andrews, 2009). Ardichvili et al. (2006) emphasise that leadership must facilitate an environment of cultural rendering in order to create a grotesque c ompetitive advantage. and then it is essential that managers have the ability to channel culturally-determined behaviors 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 factors, such as repeated interactions, dual-lane experiences and shared social norms, have been found to facilitate the development of trust (Mayer et al. 1995). m some(prenominal) another(prenominal) scholars also argue that face-to-face 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 personal meetings possible, because face-to-face encounters are one of the most critical factors for trust building, particularly at the beginning of the teams existence. This has been found to be essential in many nationals of virtual te ams, like Ericsson in chin witting (Lee-Kelley and Sankey, 2008) and the virtual project of the New South Wales police in Australia (Peters and Manz, 2007). Nevertheless, in the virtual project setting, this synergy may be difficult to say and it is therefore important that virtual organisations consider activities that indirectly create trust, such as group and individual feedback (Walker et al. , 2002 cited in Ardichvili et al. 2006). TIME ZONE DIFFERENCES ISSUE The problem of work in distant geographical locations arises for congressman when original 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 attach to BakBone software, faced some challenges in the coordination of its Israeli and US teams, because they have a 7 moment time difference between them (Alexander, 2000). SOLUTION Precise coordination pro cesses can divine service conquer time- tie in challenges and help increase production outcomes. Planning of schedules and tasks appears to reduce repetition in discussion (Lee-Kelley and Sankey, 2008).This planning should also be organic, particularly if perturbation of planned activities takes place. Additionally, virtual team leaders must see to it that all team members are aware of time-zone differences so that they can plan forrader the best time for communication. Microsoft for example, has overcome some of these issues by using a 24 hour service in some of their virtual teams (Alexander, 2000). ethical implications Lee (2009) describes e-ethics as the ethical leadership that is required in the virtual project setting. The need to address ethical issues in virtual teams has change magnitude over the years and appears to be more important in the international business environment. The literature over this subject appears to agree that there is a clear explic ition between the issues raised within this new virtual digit when compared to more handed-down organisations (Lee, 2009).Therefore, based on the problems and solutions identified 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 developed by Lee (2009) I agree that ethic leadership is ultimately the responsibility of the project manager (p. 457). It is up to the leader to ensure that an ethical environment can be followed by the users at all times, and moreover that environment must be back up in the organisational design of the virtual project setting.Cranford (1996) highlights that the use of computers that are in different geographic locations can affect 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 contr ol this environment, and monitor any unethical behaviour as it can have a negative effect on trust and synergy among team members.Moreover, Lee (2009) agrees that it is essential that a cypher of ethics is available to all users, so that they understand what is acceptable or not in the virtual environment. Another issue identified in the literature regards the potential for social isolation in the virtual fraternity (Lee, 2009), which in plication can affect motivation and commitment to the project. It is up to the project leader to ensure that all users are participative enough and parry potential morale problems delinquent to the privation 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 fac e-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 job satisfaction, efficiency and ultimately improve the service shelter. Case study BankCo Inc. as a leave behind of a coalescence of many multinational companies, as an attempt to create a global brand, with similar corporate identity and global standards. The virtual team members are based in many different countries and come from well distinct cultures, for example Greece, UK, Germany and Singapore. It has been suggested that any poor performance or project delays were not related 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 gathering calls to be unproductive and time-consuming.The critical issues Communication 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 struggle takes place, for example. The excessive number of emails also meant that they could not be fully introduce or even read sometimes.The company used video-conference as a replacement for face-to-face interaction, however staff felt that many of these conference calls were very long 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 genuinely more problematic amongst Germany, Spain and Italy when they had to commu nicate in English. Also, despite the business language organismness English, BankCo Inc. as flexible enough to allow certain groups to discuss problems in their native language when interacting with each other, for example, in Singapore, this allowed easier explanation of concepts. engineering With regards to Technology, there were a number of tools 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 raise problems, many users were duplicating work, by using emails as a secondary way of aggrandizement these problems.The article by Lee-Kelley and Sankey (2008) emphasises that the challenges of technology could be resolved if managers addressed the teach needs of the users involved, in a way to improve communication. Synergy among team members In the early stages of the project, it was reported that there was lack of clarity in responsibilities and roles, and there fore people were passing 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 affected the building of trust. For example the UK and Greek teams showed some frustration by the East tendency to repress answering a question fully. They also felt they could not affirm on their Eastern counterparts to complete tasks, even if they were committed to do so. of age(p) management acknowledged the problem, and highlighted the need for more interaction and understanding. As a consequence, some positive 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 watt and the East, for example despite those in the West work very hard, the colleagues in the East worked longer 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 higher in the hierarchy.However, the Western counterparts perceived this as inefficient and pointed out that these guys are lying 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 fabricated 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 past midnight.Conclusion By examining the critical issues regarding global virtual tea ms, this project offers significant insight to broaden our schoolman understanding of culturally and geographically distant virtual teams. An emergent lore 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 cultural differences impacting on fight and team elations, and time zones differences affecting 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 conventional organisations. That being said, their presence should not be undermined, as it adds to the challenge found in t he virtual project setting. For instance, communication as a traditional team issue can be magnified by cultural kind 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 impressive COMMUNICATION ? leading must ensure that a functional language is adopted in the virtual project setting, one that fits the level of form of the virtual team. ? The organisation must provide guidelines for communication and adequate train with the relevant communication tools. ? Equal access to information must be assured for all members of one team. ? Recognise that technology is an enablerSYNERGY ? elevate face-to-face encounters where possible, particularly at the beginning of the team existence. ? Good translation 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 responsibil ities. ? Set clear, measurable and achievable goals ? grant constructive feedback VIRTUALLY MINIMIZE TIME-ZONE DIFFERENCES ? Encourage the planning of schedules and tasks. ? Consider the supposition of 24h services. Ensure that all team members are aware of time-zone differences amongst fellow colleagues CULTURAL AWARENESS ? Understand the different backgrounds and distinct cultures of all team members. ? Leaders must be able to predict potential areas 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 early This project identified key areas for cross-cultural management and it represents a step towards more research regarding global virtual teams.Also it provides a more leaden understanding of the managerial implications in the virtual project setting. One can argue that the use of virtual teams contribute to a bo rderless 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 solely on their members to attain the organisational goals.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 Teams Going Global, InfoWorld, 22(46) 55-56. ? Ardichvili, A. , Maurer, M. , Li, W. , Wentling, T. &038 Stuedemann, R. (2006) Cultural influences on knowledge sharing through online communities of practice, Journal of Knowledge Management, 10 (1), pp. 94107 ? Cranford M. (1996) The social trajectory of virtual reality s ubstantive ethics in a world without constraints.Technol Soc 18(1)7992. ? Jarvenpaa, S, &038 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, global Journal of Project Management, 27 (5), pp. 456-463 ? Lee-Kelley, L, &038 Sankey, T (2008), Global virtual teams for value creation and project success A case study, International Journal Of Project Management, 26, 1, pp. 1-62 ? Mead, R. &038 Andrews, T. G. (2009) International management. 4th ed. Chichester, England John Wiley &038 Sons. ? Peters, L. M. , &038 Manz, C. C. (2007). Identifying antecedents of virtual team collaboration. 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 wring, pp. 132-140. ? Symons, J. &038 Stenzel, C. 2007) Virtually borderless an examination of culture in virtual teaming, Journal of General 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), Managing Communication within Virtual Intercultural Teams, Business Communication Quarterly, 65, 4, pp. 22-38 ? Mayer, R. C, Davis J. H. , Schoorman F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organization 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. &8212&8212&8212&8212&8212&8212&8212 OPENING CASE BANKCO INC. BankCo Inc. is a large consu mer bank that is unfeignedly 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 study 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.