Track: Collaboration Systems and Technology
Minitrack: Global Virtual Teams

Global virtual teams can be described as newly emerging organizational forms, which are revolutionizing the workplace and offering organizations unprecedented flexibility and opportunities in global markets. These teams are comprised of geographically and temporally dispersed members charged with completing strategic and often complex tasks. Effective management of these teams is particularly challenging due to cultural, language, and time zone barriers among members. In addition, the virtual nature of these teams requires computer-mediated communication (CMC). This mini-track focuses on the investigation of theoretical and empirical issues regarding effective management of global virtual teams in today's dynamic business and technology environments.

Topics and research areas include:
* Examination of constructs, measurements, and models which expand understanding of relationships among variables in the traditional CMC input-process-outcome model for global virtual teams. Inputs may include cultural or language differences, temporal separation, project management techniques, technical factors, or others. Examples of process variables include social dimensions, task dimensions, coordination, communication and relationship building, commitment, trust, and team cohesion. Outcome variables are likely to analyze output quality, task process and performance as well as satisfaction. Possible topics are:
---- Cultural dimensions such as power distance, uncertainly (risk)
-----avoidance and its effects on the task process and performance of the
-----global virtual team
---- Cultural differences in perception of time and its effects on
-----collaboration and global virtual teams
---- Cultural differences regarding traditional male/female roles

* Global team building and organizational development issues such as
---- Creating and maintaining trust in a global virtual team
---- Leadership, communication, motivation and individual accountability
-----for global virtual team development
---- Global virtual team processes and performance/satisfaction over time
---- Idiosyncratic structural and contextual issues surrounding global virtual
-----teams
---- Conflict resolution across cultures in the global virtual team

* New and/or advanced organizational and technological support tools for global virtual teams, including peer-production, collaboration, project management, establishing project and team goals, performance measurement, and communication tools

* Best practices or case studies providing insight into global virtual team operations in sectors such as knowledge-intensive firms, service-intensive industries, distributed software development, outsourcing firms, or academic institutions


Co-chairs:
Frederick Zarndt (Primary Contact)
Global Connexions 230 C Ave., Coronado CA 92118, USA
Phone: +1-801-361-3204
Fax: +1-360-361-3204
Skype: frederick_zarndt
Email: frederick.zarndt@global-connexions.com

Kimberly Furumo
College of Business and Economics
University of Hawaii Hilo
200 W. Kawili Street, Hilo HI 96720, USA
Phone: +1-808-974-7672
Fax: +1-808-974-7685
Email: furumo@hawaii.edu

Hong-Mei Chen
Shidler College of Business
University of Hawaii at Manoa
2404 Maile Way, E601, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Phone: +1-808-956-7286
Fax: +1-808-956-9889
Email: hmchen@hawaii.edu