Multicultural Management in the Virtual Project Setting

Introduction

The Virtual Project Setting In today’s globalization era, effective cross-cultural management of virtual teams is an emerging subject in international business literature and practice. Virtual teaming has a number of potential benefits; not only in terms of human resources flexibility but it can also reduce the operating costs of one organization. On the other hand, the challenges of such an environment should not be undermined.

Many scholars have attempted to analyze the impact of virtual work in a number of factors such as communication, leadership, trust, decision-making, and productivity, while others were particularly concerned with the management of geographically dispersed units and therefore addressed the challenges of working with time zone differences and culturally diverse groups. The findings are very interesting and the business literature appears to agree that the virtual project setting is somehow different from face-to-face work and more importantly it brings some unique challenges.

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This project will review the literature under these headings and explore the critical issues regarding cross-cultural management in the virtual project setting. Based on the theoretical framework for virtual teaming I will attempt to outline 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 marketplace.

The virtual project setting allows organizations to assign the most skilled individuals to projects across the globe, with less concern for travel or relocation expenses, which improves productivity. However, the challenges of managing culturally and geographically diverse teams must not be undermined. Some of the problems and critical issues arise in different areas such as communication, technology, synergy among team members, culture, and time zone differences. In the next pages, I will discuss these issues and review the current literature and theoretical framework to outline possible solutions.

Communication issue

In the bigger picture, the most critical factor with regard to communication is the language barrier. Effective communication can be affected when team members speak different native languages. For instance, Bakbone Software, a US company faced communication problems when Japanese workers were employed in their virtual team, due to their flawless English. Nevertheless, some cultures prefer more formal communication than others, and managers must pay special attention to individual needs. There are a number of communication platforms available, such as phone, email, chat, and video-conferencing. Selecting the most appropriate method for a virtual project setting is critical for the project’s success. Ardichvili et al. found significant differences in the preferred methods of communication between Russian and Chinese team members.

The former are comfortable with email communication whilst the second would rather prefer face-to-face or phone calls. These findings seem to support the distinction between high and low-context cultures established by Hall.

Solution

A valuable strategy to deal with communication challenges can be achieved by understanding and identifying everyone’s strengths and backgrounds. By recognizing different levels of expertise, skills, and experience among team members, virtual team leaders can distribute the workload accordingly. Lipnack and Stamps (1999), posit three basic steps to overcome obstacles to communication: listening skills, respect, and patience.

Technology issue

The available technology is another critical factor for virtual teams. It is essential that equal access to technology can be guaranteed to all team members, otherwise productivity can be compromised. Broadband services are not available in every location and some regions may experience slower internet speed than others or may have incompatible networks

Solution

Ardichvili et al. posit that the start of the project is crucial and moreover 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 place.

Culture issue

Individualism-collectivism is one of the biggest dimensions of cultural variability. The findings by Gudykunst and Hofstede suggest that team members from collectivist cultures are less ready to trust others than those from individualistic cultures. Chow et al. established that individualistic and collectivist cultures make a sharp differentiation between in-group and out-group members, with regard to knowledge sharing. For example, Chinese managers are found to be more reluctant in sharing knowledge with an out-group member when compared to Americans.

Solution

With regard to culture, many scholars agree that cultural awareness is the most effective solution to minimize the negative effects of cross-cultural differences. Ardichvili et al. emphasize that leadership must facilitate an environment of cultural adaptation in order to create a unique competitive advantage. Therefore 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, shared experiences, and shared social norms, have been found to facilitate the development of trust. Many scholars also argue that face-to-face encounters are irreplaceable when it comes to building trust.

Solution

Following Ardichvili et al. 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 team’s existence. This has been found to be essential in many cases of virtual teams, like Ericsson in China and the virtual project of the New South Wales police in Australia. Nevertheless, in the virtual project setting, this synergy may be difficult to maintain and it is therefore important that virtual organizations consider activities that indirectly create trust, such as group and individual feedback.

Time zone differences issue

The problem of working in distant geographical 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.

Solution

Precise coordination processes can help conquer time-related challenges and help increase production outcomes. Planning schedules and tasks appear to reduce repetition in the discussion.

This planning should also be organic, particularly if disruption of planned activities takes place. Additionally, virtual team leaders must ensure 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 service in some of their virtual teams. Ethical implications Lee 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 increased over the years and appears to be more important in the international business environment. The literature on this subject appears to agree that there is a clear distinction between the issues raised within this new virtual design when compared to more traditional organizations.

Therefore, based on the problems and solutions identified before, for 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 I agree that ethical leadership is ultimately the responsibility of the project manager. 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 encouraged in the organizational design of the virtual project setting.

Cranford highlights that the use of computers that are in different geographic locations can affect the communicative behavior of the users involved. For instance, the absence of face-to-face interactions can encourage more aggressive and disrespectful behavior. Therefore it is up to the project leader to control this environment, and monitor any unethical behavior as it can have a negative effect on trust and synergy among team members.

Moreover, Lee 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. Another issue identified in the literature regards the potential for social isolation in the virtual community, which in turn can affect motivation and commitment 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 lack of interaction.

The latter has been found to be more noticeable in the virtual environment than in traditional organizations. 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 to 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 job satisfaction, and 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 corporate identity and global standards. The virtual team members are based in many different countries and come from well-distinct cultures, for example, Greece, the 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. For example, some groups considered the excessive number of conference 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 100 per person per day, was seen as negative by many of the users, particularly in the Greek and UK team's problems. 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 tracked or even read sometimes.

The company used video conferences 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 nonnative 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 problematic amongst Germany, Spain, and Italy when they had to communicate in English.

Also, despite the business language being English, BankCo Inc. is 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. Technology With regard 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 raising these problems.

The article by Lee-Kelley and Sankey emphasizes 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 early stages of the project, it was reported that there was a lack of clarity in responsibilities and roles, and therefore 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 a 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 with the East's tendency to avoid answering a question fully. They also felt they could not rely on their Eastern counterparts to complete tasks, even if they were committed to doing so. Senior 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 West and the East, for example despite those in the West working very hard, their colleagues in the East worked longer and socially unaccepted hours. Another issue pointed out was the way that members of 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”. 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 past midnight.

Conclusion By examining the critical issues regarding global virtual teams, this project offers significant insight to broaden our academic understanding of culturally and geographically distant virtual teams. An emergent perception that arises from this discussion is that 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 conflict and team relations, and time zones differences affecting coordination and communication, may be directly related to the temporal and geographical distance features of virtual teams.

Lee-Kelley and Sankey 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 organizations. 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:

• Effective communication

Leaders must ensure that a functional language is adopted in the virtual project setting, one that fits the level of diversity of the virtual team. The organization must provide guidelines for communication and adequate training with the relevant communication tools. Equal access to information must be assured for all members of one team. Recognize that technology is an enabler

• Synergy

Encourage face-to-face encounters where possible, particularly at the beginning of the team's existence. A good definition of roles. Leaders must clarify what is expected and what are the responsibilities of all team members and also ensure that members of one team are aware of each other’s responsibilities. Set clear, measurable, and achievable goals.  Provide constructive feedback

• Virtually minimize time zone differences

Encourage the planning of schedules and tasks. Consider the possibility of 24h services. Ensure that all team members are aware of time-zone differences among 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 organizational culture that promotes listening skills, respect, and patience among culturally diverse workers. Value diversity The future This project identified key areas for cross-cultural management and it represents a step toward more research 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 contributes 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 rely heavily on both the organizational capabilities and the individuals, and moreover that organizations cannot depend solely on their members to attain the organizational goals.

Future research is encouraged to address the unique challenges of such organizational design and contrast the effective leadership styles when face-to-face contact is hardly present.

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