389 research outputs found

    Whose (Partially Distributed) Team Are You On? Interviews About Us vs. Them in Corporate Settings

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    This study explores, through semi-structured interviews, team member perceptions of effectiveness in Partially Distributed Team work. A partially distributed team (PDT) is a virtual team, in which some members are collocated, yet others are geographically dispersed, and communication between them is primarily by electronic media. Researchers have identified an overarching problem in partially distributed teams, referred to as “Us-vs.-Them”, where members identify and collaborate better with collocated members than they do with distant members. We asked fourteen industry professionals to reflect on recent PDT experiences, in an attempt to find out what exacerbated and mitigated this problem. We confirmed prior findings such as importance of relationship building between members and salience of organizational influences, especially organizational culture and power distribution. We discuss additional findings based on team members’ insight, to help transform the “Us-vs.-Them” in-group/ out-group dynamics into an “Us” team cohesion

    In-group / out-group dynamics and effectiveness in partially distributed teams

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    When organizations collaborate they often do so using partially distributed teams (PDTs). In a Partially Distributed Team there exist at least two distinct sub-groups. In addition, at least one of the sub-groups has two or more members that are geographically co-located. Co-located members can meet face to face; chat in the hallway; have lunch together; and otherwise socialize with one another. On the other hand, remote members must rely on technology to communicate and work together. This distinct characteristic of partially distributed teams makes them especially susceptible to the In-Group / Out Group dynamic (Huang and Ocker, 2006). This dynamic manifests itself when members of a co-located sub-group treat each other with preference or exhibit a more favorable attitude towards each other than they do towards their remote colleagues. We refer to such behaviors as \u27Us-vs.-Them\u27 and categorize their occurrences. After examining why and how Us-vs.-Them occurs in Partially Distributed Teams, we attempt to understand under which conditions it exists and persists, as well as its relationship to effectiveness. We examine conditions of technology, team configuration, employee motivation, and organizational policies that may reduce Us-vs.-Them, and formulate a model for reduction of Us-vs.-Them and increase of effectiveness. We test our model using a survey instrument distributed to 238 industry professionals. We found support among participant comments confirming the existence of Us-vs.-Them in partially distributed teams and its importance. We also found a strong relationship between Us-vs.-Them and effectiveness. High Us-vs.-Them showed a very high correlation to reduced effectiveness. We found support for the value of technology uniformity between sub-groups as well as technology reliability, for decreasing Us-vs.-Them. And we showed that just as in traditional teams, regular meetings are helpful in partially distributed teams. Although we discuss informally implemented policies that proved to be valuable in partially distributed teams, we discovered that the more formal policies are the more effective type. Other important findings include: Us-vs.-Them is more prevalent in international teams as well as in teams that are composed of two sub-groups only; and when motivated by flexible schedule, work creativity, and challenging work, participants had higher perceived effectiveness ratings. Most prior PDT research was conducted using student teams or case studies of one or two industry teams. A contribution of this dissertation research is collection and analysis of a large sample of industry data. Another important contribution is the isolation of Us-vs.-Them as a dependent variable. Understanding under which conditions it exists is important so that managers can identify it and prevent it from escalating

    Benefits and challenges of virtual teams

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    Virtual teams are a growing phenomenon in both the world of research and business. They have evolved as a response to development in electronic communication technology and various global trends. Businesses started utilizing virtual teams before there was any strong research on the subject. While research has increased exponentially since then, there have been few works that have collected the various results together. This thesis aims to summarize the current research on virtual teams and the various benefits and challenges faced by organizations in utilizing them and compare research with the results from an empirical study that focuses on current top management’s viewpoint. Virtual teams are teams where members rarely meet each other physically. They rely on electronic communication to collaborate and achieve their goals. The members are usually both structurally and geographically separated. The use of an unfamiliar communication medium and other characteristics lead to a number of challenges but also to surprising benefits. Significant benefits lie with cost-savings and efficiency, whereas challenges arise in leadership, communication and trust. As communication technology develops and improves, it is likely that virtual teams will also increase in abundance. Organizations must be prepared for this and be able to differentiate between traditional teams and virtual teams. The results from the study suggest that most top management acknowledge the main challenges as found via research, while stated benefits are mostly cost benefits. The study also suggests a number of targets for potential future research.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

    Leader delegation and trust in global software teams

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    Virtual teams are an important work structure in global software development. The distributed team structure enables access to a diverse set of expertise which is often not available in one location, to a cheaper labor force, and to a potentially accelerated development process that uses a twenty-four hour work structure. Many software teams are partially distributed, that is, part of the team is colocated. Such partially distributed global software teams are an important work structure in software development projects. However, little is known about what affects or improves team members’ motivation and job satisfaction in the partially distributed environment. This study investigates the effects of leader delegation to sub-teams and trust between sub-teams on global software team members’ motivation and job satisfaction. It proposes a research framework based on specific hypotheses regarding these effects. A survey instrument was created and a pilot study conducted on student project teams in two U.S. universities. In addition, a study combining interviews and a survey distribution using industry software development teams was also conducted. The studies found that team competence predicts leader delegation to a sub-team in global software projects. Leader delegation related to teamwork process improves team members’ motivation and satisfaction with the leader. However, leader delegation may also generate negative consequences for the sub-teams, such as anxiety and pressure. Cultural distance and geographical distance impair trust development between members across sub-teams. Temporal distance causes conflicts related to excessive overtime and meeting scheduling. Trust in sub-teams is critical to improving motivation in a global software project. In addition, this study explores the impacts of language differences and software engineering profession culture on global software team members’ interactions. Suggestions are proposed for how to shape delegation strategies in partially distributed global software projects and how to improve team members’ trust in each other and their motivation. This work provides important findings for organizations interested in developing leadership skills for global software teams and retaining IT professionals at distributed sites

    Superior/Subordinate Communication in an Effective Organization

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    This thesis documents the communication climate of a Fortune 500 business to determine if it contains key components essential for effective communication. A model developed to identify components of an ideal managerial climate for effective communication between superiors and subordinates was used. The model was published in 1972 by Dr. W. Charles Redding of Purdue and applied to a rocket manufacturing plant\u27s communication climate that existed from 1991 to 1996. The findings contain evidence that validates Redding\u27s model 25 years after it was first published and provides a framework for improving communication effectiveness at the plant

    Exploring Employee-Organization Relationships in Post-Socialist Transition: Local Employees\u27 Experiences in Foreign-Owned Companies in Croatia

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    Organization-public relationships have been recognized as the essence of public relations. Even though employees have been identified as a strategic public contributing to organizational success, no attention has been given to employee-organization relationship development in postsocialist transitioning countries in Central and Eastern Europe. This study explores how local employees in foreign-owned hotels in Croatia make sense of relationships with organizations for which they work. Interviews with Croatian employees reveal a number of barriers to successful employee-organization relationship development in foreign-owned companies. Findings indicate that local employees struggle with unfulfilled expectations in the workplace and face obstacles that prevent improvement. Employees perceive profit as a main corporate value while there is little or no attention given to employees’ wellbeing and satisfaction. Findings further illustrate cultural and social distance between local employees and foreign managers. The issue of multiculturalism in transitioning countries becomes increasingly relevant as companies hire Western, Eastern European, and other non- Western managers. Public relations and internal communication could assist in relationship development in cross-cultural settings. However, this study’s findings indicate greater managerial issues that have to be dealt with at the top management level, which has to be willing to consider employees’ perspectives. That provides an opportunity and challenge for public relations in foreign-owned companies. However, in order to be able to contribute to overcoming crosscultural obstacles, public relations will have to participate in strategic management, and argue that communication has to be supported by appropriate managerial behavior

    Bonding over the Love of Soccer Is No Joke: A Mixed Method Study Exploring Sense of Community, Resilience, and Cultural Adjustment for Refugee Youth Participants

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    abstract: Resettled refugees face numerous challenges including unsafe living conditions, loss of permanent shelter, adjustment to a new culture, loneliness, and separation from family, friends, and community. Of particular importance is the lack of a feeling of sense of community (SOC) within their new surroundings. SOC is not only worthwhile as an outcome of its own, but may also predict additional positive outcomes such as resilience and cultural adjustment. Literature has shown participation in sport can develop youth positively and build social skills, while studies in other regions of the world have also found a sport team setting to be a place for immigrants to experience SOC. In this study, I use a congruent mixed methods approach to both explore the experience of SOC for youth refugees in a soccer club, and examine the relation of SOC to resilience and cultural adjustment. Using photo-elicitation and semi-structured interviews with 11 youth participants, the qualitative portion of the study explored SOC among youth participants. Findings note the presence of SOC as matched to theoretical frameworks both specific to sport, and to a more general theory of SOC. Further data were collected through questionnaires distributed to club members. Results from the quantitative analysis indicate a significant positive relation between SOC and resilience, and SOC and perceived acculturation. This study’s contribution is to illustrate how refugee youth in a sport club in the United States experience SOC, and the impact of that SOC. Results suggest practical implications for sport managers who wish to provide positive sport experiences for youth refugees.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Community Resources and Development 201

    Managerial interventions in multicultural virtual teams: A review and synthesis of the literature

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    Teams distributed across cultural, geographic and temporal boundaries, also known as multi-cultural virtual teams (MVTs), have been prevalent in international organizations. To provide guidance for MVT managers and support accumulation of prior experience, we establish a management model based on the extended adaptive structuration theory (EAST) and verify the model with 55 empirical studies from leading publications in related fields. The findings contribute a comprehensive set of empirically verified managerial intervention in MVTs and suggest that managers can improve MVT outcomes through manipulating five sets of struc-tural characteristics (i.e., organization, team, individual, technology and task) before and dur-ing the task process. Based on the findings, we generate a holistic view of managerial inter-vention, which explains the mechanisms of managerial intervention in MVTs

    How Leaders Use the Construct of Culture to Influence Change Resistance: A Study of a Planned Change Initiative in a Combined Government and Military Organization

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    The construct of organizational culture has been used to interpret various aspects of organizational life, including organizational leadership and organizational change. The literature indicates that leaders can influence organizational change by attending to and modifying an organization\u27s cultural dimensions. Much of this literature, however, is theoretical and speculative, and the empirical work that does exist has focused mostly on business. The purpose of this case study was to develop an understanding of how leaders in a combined government and military organization used the notion of culture during a two-and-a-half year planned change initiative. The study explored the strategies and mental constructs those in positions of formal authority used to make sense of and influence the change process. The particular focus was on identifying any culture-oriented change strategies leaders use to overcome resistance to change. The study also examined how organizational culture shaped and constrained leaders\u27 actions. This study employed qualitative methods. Interviews with designated leaders of the planned change initiative were the primary data collection method. Document analysis and participant observation were used to triangulate interview data. Several findings and conclusions emerged from the study. One of the more interesting findings involved the observation of resistance at the top of the organizational hierarchy, i.e. the level from which the change initiative had been promoted. Normally, resistance is conceptualized as something that occurs at the bottom rungs of an organizational hierarchy. In this initiative, in which middle managers were given considerable authority about what would be done to achieve goals mandated from the top, there was significant resistance coming from above as well as below. Both levels, in other words, were uncomfortable with the specific cultural change being implemented, and both levels attempted to minimize its impact. This study should be useful to individuals who are charged with leading large-scale change initiatives within their organizations and to scholars who analyze and write about the use of culture as both a facilitating and an inhibiting factor in planned organizational change
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