articol_echipe virtuale

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MANAGING VIRTUAL TEAMS IN THE GLOBALIZED ERA.

STUDY CASES IN THE EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH

ACTIVITIES.

Adina Constantinescu

Faculty of Economy and Business Administration, University of Craiova

13 A.I.Cuza, 200 585 Craiova, RomaniaE-mail: [email protected]

You have no choice but to operate in a world shaped by globalization and the

information revolution. There are two options: Adapt or die. . . . You need to plan

the way a fire department plans. It cannot anticipate fires, so it has to shape a

flexible organization that is capable of responding to unpredictable events.

Andrew S. Grove, Intel Corporation

Abstract

The globalization of the intellectual, material or spiritual goods production generates, among other things, the necessity of cooperation between geographicallydistributed teams. This cooperation can be established on the basis of long term duration orthrough short term projects. On the other hand, any cooperation between different structuresimplies a special coordination and communication strategy. In this era, the advanced ICtechnologies are strongly used as substitute of the direct communication methods. Thepresent paper summarises the main specific aspects related to the management of virtualteams and it presents two good practice examples on how the efficiency of this type of

cooperation can be raised through a correct use of the theoretical aspects. The two examplescome from the educational area (e-learning platform) and, respectively from research (an EUproject on the role of education in the social inclusion of vulnerable groups).

Keywords

virtual teams, e-learning, globalization, geographically dispersed teams

1. INTRODUCTION

A world shaped by globalization There has always been a tendency for sharingbetween countries, whether we are talking about goods and services or knowledge

and culture, but the recent years have brought a significant improvement in

technology which led to the fastening of the exchange process and also to its

expansion and diversification. The reduction of barriers provides both opportunities

and challenges. Desiring to adapt to the ongoing process of globalization, some

countries opened their economic borders before they had the capacity to respond

well, which led to poorly managed globalisation, but there are also examples of well

managed engagement with the international community. One thing is certain: the

industry of Project Management is changing the days of boardroom meetings and

group gatherings are behind us and we are moving towards the world of virtual

teams. Although this direction is quite new and rising, more and more companies


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have jumped to the opportunity of trying it out. The questions that follow aresensible: How effective is it? Is it harder or easier for a Project Manager to handle a

virtual team? What challenges does he/she have to face on projects? And more

importantly, is it possible for them to bring the team together, when the team is

spread out across the country or the world, and be successful?Even if companies dont yet hold the answer to all these questions, in order

to remain competitive in todays economic and social environment, the

organizations need to understand the present and future developments of the

working environment. They need to absorb the concept of virtual teams and virtual

organizations, and to find ways of efficiently implementing and managing such a

team in order to reach its maximum potential. The concept of virtual team hascome to life mainly as a result of the accelerated process of globalization, combining

the benefits of the expertise of specialists across the world with the importantreduction of operational costs. Managing virtual teams has become a study subject

in English Universities, and its becoming an essential ability for todays managers.A research study accomplished by The Economist [1] shows that by 2020, the global

evolution of the business environment will be towards geographic fragmentation of

the organizational processes, as the necessary technology will be available in the

geographical areas which have the resources or the marketplace. Considering these

facts, virtual teams become imperative for running a business, and the efficiency of

the communication process within the virtual team becomes a requisite for the

success of the project.

Our goal is to have a better understanding of the virtual teams needs, thus

allowing us to consistently meet their expectations, so that we can understand how

the organizations can maximize their investment in virtual collaboration and touncover the utmost obstacles they face. If we approach it from the economical

point of view, the virtual meetings made possible by the new technologies, theorganization of virtual work teams and opening virtual offices are all opportunities

of cost reduction, assuming they were smartly done and without any effect onquality. We all know time is money, therefore eliminating the commute time, the

dislocation or displacement time and optimizing the balance between the time

allocated to work and personal life are stimulating factors for employees as well.

Looking from a success rate point of view, it seems that the success of any

activity depends more and more on the ability of the work team to adapt to

unpredictable situations, in which decisions must be made quickly and supported

through specialized activities. In such a context, the use of virtual teams constitutesa latest general managing strategy, which has proven its efficiency in the recent

years. The virtual teams have the ability to quickly modify its compound in order to

deal with unexpected situations.Although it looks like the perfect concept on paper, statistics show [2] that

80% of the virtual teams are not efficient. The reason for this may be a poormanagement or a lack of virtual management, and by that we understand applying

recycled management practices used for co-located teams on the virtual teams also,completely ignoring the fact that they are two different concepts with different

dynamics and different needs. Ways to improve the management of virtual teams is

a subject we go about later in this article.


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Nevertheless, an important and exciting fact that determined us to do aresearch on the particular subject of virtual teams is that the object of our study is

developing now, right in front of us, like a live being. We are forced to analyze it

during its evolution and we must observe its characteristics and identify its

weaknesses even before they show signs in order to be able to counteract aneventual failure.

2. THEORETICAL ASPECTS ON VIRTUAL TEAMS

MANAGEMENT

2.1. Background on Virtual Teams

The real basic structure of the workplace is the relationship. Eachrelationship is itself part of a larger network of relationships. These relationships can

be measured along all kinds of dimensions from political to professional expertise.

The fact is that work gets done through these relationships. [3]. In order to fully

understand the specific characteristics of virtual teams, we must identify and analyze

first the particular types of relationships that are created within the team, and we

must find ways to efficiently manage these relationships.

The use of virtual teams has proven beneficial in more than one area. In theeducation system, for example, it has brought together teams formed among students

of distance learning classes, but virtual teams are also growing in popularityespecially in work-related and educational organizations. A study that was

conducted by Ceridian Employer Services focusing on the ability of the employeesof a small business to work in virtual teams revealed that such ability has started to

play an important role in the recruitment and retention of employees [4]. The same

authors stated that 50% of the employees of large and small companies were

extremely attracted to the idea of working in virtual teams and that could be an

incentive to join a certain company. Moreover, 66% also inclined to stay within a

company due to the ability to work over the Internet and be part of a virtual team.

A research conducted in 2009 [5] found that over the past decade, the

much-hyped promises of the dotcom bubble have steadily become commonplace.

The cost of fixed broadband has plummeted and is now in the process of becoming

increasingly pervasive across mobile devices too. Online social networks haveemerged and boomed, while instant messaging, web and video conferencing, blogs

and other online communication and collaboration 3olos have become the norm. Inthe process, information and communications technology (ICT) has broken down

the boundaries within organisations and between organisations. All this has givenindividuals the liberty to work in a location of their choice. Yet, despite predictions,

there has not been a mass migration to the countryside, and most people do not work

from home. In fact, a research study from the UKs Office for National Statistics

suggests that full-time teleworkers are mainly comprised of the self-employed [5].

An issue that has received more and more attention in the profile literature

is that of trust in virtual teams. It has been debated by Jarvenpaa [6], by both


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Lipnack & Stamps [7] and by Robey et al.[8]. They all concluded that the success ofthe team depends majorly on the ability to develop trust. Meyerson [9] studied a

theory, called swift trust theory, which has been used to examine the level of trust in

virtual teams. He used 350 master students from 28 universities in a study in order to

make the following point: virtual teams make categorical judgments of othermembers (whom they have never seen and had no information upon which to

assume their trustworthiness) based on positive stereotypes. The study shows that

several factors may negatively influence trust in global virtual teams, factors such as

time, distance, culturally diverse and globally spanning members and the reliance on

CMC technology.

Judy Young concluded in [10] that unlike traditional workplaces, thenature of virtual teams is such that working relationships are typically short and

often there is no actual personal contact. In this environment trust must be taken to anew level as it is essential for the success of collaborative ventures. Luhmann [11]

regards trust as an efficacious mechanism to reduce social complexity and as apossibility to enlarge ones scope of action. This approach is based on the idea that

in a complex world a person is only able to perceive and process a marginal part of

all possible information and therefore only has a rather limited basis for rational

decision making. If the person was able to rely on future actions of another person,

then the complexity of the world would be reduced because a certain part of the

other persons possibilities to act could be excluded from her behavioral repertoire.

In Luhmanns terms, trust simplifies ones life through taking risk.

Finally, communication is a challenge in virtual teams. Virtual teams are

challenged because they are virtual![12]. That is an intriguing quote if we

acknowledge that virtual teams exist through computer mediated communication(CMC) technology. It often happens that the members of a virtual team must report

to different supervisors. Theoretically a virtual team is expected to accomplish theteam goal by making use of their resources and initiative [7]. By doing so, they

become interdependent, their cultural differences thin out and all is done throughcomputer-mediated technology. The same authors assert that one of the reasons

virtual teams fail is because they overlook the implications of the obvious

differences in their working environments. People do not make accommodation for

how different it really is when they and their colleagues no longer work face-to-face.

Teams fail when they do not adjust to this new reality by closing the virtual gap.

The general concern about communication within virtual teams regards the

lack of non-verbal language, incidental meetings and learning (such as brief andspontaneous discussions at the water cooler or copy machine). According to

Rebecca Jestice [13], increasing supportive communication and reducing critical

communication can improve performance of a virtual team. Improve thecommunication environment by being more supportive and less critical yourself and

being a role model for others. The same author mentions that this may help teammembers understand others perspectives better and be more supportive of their

ideas. Also, a manager of a virtual team should help team members express theirdisagreements in a way that does not harm team performance. Help them phrase

their point not as a simple contradiction or disagreement, but rather by being


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supportive and offering a counterpoint or alternative this will help the teamfunction better.

2.2. Why virtual teams?

Because the best employees may be located anywhere in the world [14].

Once started the process of globalization, companies and organizations all

over the world soon realized that there is a new dynamic to adapt to. Nevertheless,

the awareness hit both ways: it wasnt just the employers who discovered the

opportunity of shared workforce, but the employees also. They started to demand

personal flexibility or increasing technological sophistication. A flexibleorganization is more competitive and responsive to the marketplace. The obvious

reason is that productivity of the workers grows inversely to the time spent oncommuting and travel. The workday at a global level reaches 24 hours, instead of

the usual 8 of the traditional team.Another obvious reason for choosing to form or to manage a virtual team is

the emergence of environments which led to a necessary inter-organizational

cooperation as well as competition. Also due to the globalization companies now

face competition not only with the national, direct competitors theyve always done,

but with international competitors about which had less or no information. Workers

living in different societies, associated with/ specialized in different markets, help

the organizations gather first-hand information, which is much more realistic and

valuable then the typical market research methods applied by the profile firms.

Nevertheless, an important motivation of choosing to create and manage a

virtual team, rather than a traditional one, arises also from the human factor. Whilesome may say having to work with persons with a complete different upbringing, of

a different culture and speaking a different language might be somehow frustratingand inhibiting, human resources studies have shown that often people develop

curiosity and eagerness to learn about the differences, and so the CMC becomes amotivating factor. Its fascinating how efficiency and productivity grows when

workers enjoy their meetings, their brainstorming sessions, their projects or even

their workplace. This motivation must me

The benefits a virtual team brings to both companies and its members are

various and go from saving parking space (as some members of virtual teams do not

need to come in to the workplace, therefore the company will not need to offer those

workers office or parking space) to acquiring the best talent without geographicalrestrictions. Virtual teams allow more people to be included in the labor pool and

also to be more flexible within an organization, not to mention that when working in

such a team any kind of physical disability is not a concern anymore.The less commuting decreases both air pollution and congestion and also

reduces relocation time and costs (Virtual teams overcome the limitations of time,space, and organizational affiliation that traditional teams face).

Furthermore, virtual teams reduce time-to-market. Time also has an almost1:1 correlation with cost, so cost will likewise be reduced if the time-to market is

quicker.


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Another benefit is the increased degree of freedom that individuals enjoy wheninvolved in the development projects.

From the companys point of view, the virtual team is an unmatched asset

since it generates the greatest competitive advantage from limited resources. The

most important thing now, is to learn to efficiently create and manage such a team,to outcome the potential threats and problems of the virtual work, in order to reach

its goals and objectives.

2.3. Problems with virtual teams

Researches found that, even though many virtual teams have unprecedentedsuccess, a significant number are not reaching their full potential [2]. The gaps in the

perception of team effectiveness show that most of the organizations are unaware ofthe low performance of their virtual teams. It revealed that only 18 % of the seventy

global business virtual teams assessed were found to be highly successful. Theperceptible implication is that an astonishing 82% did not achieve their goals!

As we noted before, virtual teams have the benefit of unique and interesting

opportunities and advantages, but as a new, growing concept, they also face unique

and variable challenges.

The project managers may find it difficult to actually manage the performance of the

team, especially when the major complaint among the members of virtual teams was

concerning the misunderstandings that occurred in communications, whether they

were due to the lack of face-to-face contact or to the differences in time zone which

hindered their ability to collaborate.

While the virtual workspace is ideal for the organization, for the workersmight turn into a hindrance as it causes a lack of visibility, which ideally would have

to increase the level of trust between the members of a team, but 21% of theinterviewed persons noted that team members do not share relevant information with

one another. Its difficult enough to contact other members when you dont knowexactly where they are so you depend on emails or instant messaging, but when you

count in the fact that most of them are on more than one team and cannot devote

enough time to this team, you can easily see what a manager has to deal with and the

obstacles he/she faces.

One of the most intriguing challenge and with a less obvious response is

that the organization of the virtual team allows members to deny ownership of the

project. Responsibility is hard to disperse throughout the world. Some humanresources specialists think responsibility comes hand in hand with dedication, which

weve already ruled out as a basic characteristic in members of a virtual team.

If so far we have referred to challenges virtual teams face as a unity, it isnot surprising to acknowledge the fact that team members, and in some cases even

team leaders, frequently lack clarity about who their fellow team members actuallyare. That notion becomes less surprising, however, when you consider that many

people reported that members of their teams changed monthly. With this commonrevolving door method for staffing teams, you can hardly blame them for not

being able to keep up. And having team members who are here today and gone

tomorrow leads to another big challenge for virtual teamscommunication. The


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frequent change of team members makes it difficult to find the most effective waysto communicate with one another and to build relationships effectively[15].

2.4. Ways of improving the efficiency of virtual teams

Due to its nature, the occurrence of tension within virtual teams will need

greater efforts for communication and greater pressure on maintaining team

efficiency and ensure the success of the project. A common mistake made by the

managers of virtual teams is focusing on concrete results and neglecting the

relationship throughout the project concluded [16].

Starting from there, we can identify at least three ways in which theefficiency of virtual teams could improve. First, managers could allow members to

get to know each other by occasionally setting up face to face meetings or by usingwebcams for video conferencing.

General understanding and viewing is important in creating a unity so it might be agood idea for managers to allow team members to form an idea about the direction

of the project and how its expected to look in the end. This way each member will

know how they fit into the project.

Last, but not least, rules are important in every society and for virtual teams setting

clear rules is a requisite for the successful collaboration of the team members. They

need a sense of discipline, a set of norms and regulations to relate to, so managers

should create a code of conduct. Not only will this avoid possible delays, but it will

also ensure the promptness of the responses.

Access to information will be the next step towards increased efficiency, so

one more way to do so is to store charts or diagrams or any kind of useful materialson the internet, reachable by every member of the team. The idea is to create a

package of information similar to those provided through the socializing networks,such as facebook, about background, interests and other personal information

about the team members, which will ultimately help them to get to know each other better. In this way, the individuals would be able to select the information they

share, thus enhancing the level of trust.

One of the simplest solutions for increasing the level of responsibility

within a virtual team is ensuring complete transparency throughout the entire

process. Its important for each member to know what the responsibilities of the

others are because it leads to knowing whom they depend on for completing certain

tasks and targets. Moreover, the competition roused from the knowledge of othermembers success will determine an increase in individual performance.

In asynchronous environments, pace is an important dimension to facilitate.

Different team members may access the virtual environment more or less frequently.This is how the term of rolling present appeared in the specialized literature.

Generally, people consider material current if it has been entered since they lastlogged on. If different members sign on five times a day, that might make it difficult

for the other group members to engage with the virtual team: it will all go by toofast. Managers should find ways to slow down the pace.

The study [14] about the growth of virtual teams concluded with nine key

steps to developing virtual teams:


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1. Secure a project-based idea conducive to collaboration.2. Build a business plan to include the team vision, purpose and goal.

3. Identify critical players to support the project.

4. Select people who can contribute their core competencies to the project.

5. Enlist their service.6. Establish an initial meeting with members to lay down the groundwork,

set guidelines and processes.

7. Strategically align all members to the projects goal.

8. Set a timeline.

9. Monitor activities and progress.

3. CASE STUDIES

In [17] seven types of virtual teams were identified: networked teams,parallel teams, project or product development teams, work or production teams,

service teams, management teams, action teams.

Three main questions are arising: how to understand, how to create and

how to manage these virtual teams? We shall try to give answers to these questions

by analyzing two concrete examples of virtual teams, one working as a service team

in distance learning process and the second one representing a project team which

developed a research concerning the status of the social inclusion of vulnerable

groups through adult education.

3.1 Study case: the project team for building the e-learning Tutor-web platform

As a first example on how the general principles on efficient virtual activity can be

transposed in practice comes from the distance learning. There are many questionswhich arise in the frame of distance learning: What is the impact of technology on

the learners personal development and performance? How do the relationships

between the participants into the learning process are built across geographic and

cultural boundaries? Which communications technologies work best and in what

mix? We shall concretely tackled out these questions by presenting the case of a e-

learning web platform.

3.1.1 Platforms description

The e-learning platform called tutor-web was developed by teachers, studentsand IT programmers all over the world [18]. Its a system of computer assisted

education and educational research, one that can be useful both in the classroom and indistance learning. Its addressed to students of all nationalities, the database being

stored in English. The system allows free 8ase d (8ase don online subscription), storeseducational information and does the evaluation online.

The subjects registered up until now include mathematics, statistics, natural

sciences and fishing science. The Tutor-web platform is continually developing and

its being accessed by students all over the world, especially from the Universities of


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the involved professors. This is a major fact considering that most of these countries donot have a high economic status.

3.1.2. How the team was created?

The e-learning platform was the result of an international team, formed by

members who accepted the invitation of the 9ort he manager, Dr. Gunnar Stefansson

from the Reykjavk University in Iceland. A considerable part of the work involved

is conducted by PhD students, programmers, postdocs and other staff (at present

with the main thrust coming from the University of Iceland, the United Nations

University). A major part of this 9ort he is to entice other instructors to use andexpand the tutor-web, initially in Statistics and Mathematics. In order to obtain a

critical mass of students and university lecturer using the system, the proposedstrategy is to recruit academic professionals and students from Europe (in particular

Iceland and Romania) and beyond (including South America, Asia and Africa) touse and add to the tutor-web is considered. More 9or 20 academic staff of

Universities from Australia, Barbados, Bulgaria, Botswana, Benin, Greenland, India,

Iceland, Malta, Malawi, Nigeria, Norway, New Zealand, Romania, Swaziland,

Taiwan, USA make up a consortium to support the tutor-web initiative through

submission of material and so forth.

The team members had particular roles for each step of the project:

- creating the structure of the platform;

- elaborating the teaching materials included in the platform;

- the communication tests;

- tutoring activity for the students who 9ort h the platform.9ort he communication issue, emails and audio conferences were used. There

wasnt any face-to-face meeting of the team members, due to the fact that the platformwas created with minimal costs which couldnt allow members to travel.

3.1.3. Goals and activities

Until the platform was launched, there were four stages of proposed activity at

the end of every semester between 2008 and 2010. After launching, the activity was

coordinated by the initiators of the platform, without any reporting from the team

members. Practically, the working style has changed dramatically after the platform

was launched, switching from a small team, strictly coordinated, to an expansive one,which included incidental collaborators, whose activity and interest wasnt equal in

time.

The initial goals have been partially obtained up to this 9ccess9:- there still isnt enough teaching material for all the subjects and themes proposed

and accepted by the initial team;

- the teaching material 9ccess in English; there have been no translations to otherlanguages, which somehow aggravates the students 9ccess;

- the tutoring is available for a relatively small number of people accessing the

platform.


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Most of the cooperation around the tutor-web will be informal in thatselected professors and students in each target university will become a test-base.

Test-bases will include some with a clear need for support and others with capacity

to participate in evolving the tutor-web. The first test-base will be within the

University of Craiova, Romania.

3.1.4. Why a virtual team?

We consider the team involved in the 10roject to have the characteristics of a

virtual team for the following reasons:

- It was initially formed by 13 persons (teachers) from Iceland, USA, France,Romania, Canada, Morocco and Brazil so team members are dispersed

geographical and organizational;- Only two persons are professors at the Reykjavk University, the institution that

initiated the 10roject; the team members have work implications with otherorganizations (universities) and so, their participation was voluntarily.

- The team activated in this formula between 2008 and 2010, until the e-learning

platform was ready, then the work continued in wiki system (the educational material

could be introduced by any person agreed by the administrator); the team temporarily

included students from the University of Reykjavk (as part of special programs of

practice) in order to resolve a number of technical issues such as platform

maneuvering, formatting and introducing teaching materials, keeping in touch with the

professors, etc.

- At present, persons from 18 different countries are involved in the enriching of the

platforms content, most of which are still developing: Australia, Barbados, Bulgaria,Botswana, Benin, Greenland, Iceland, Malta, Malawi, Nigeria, Norway, New Zealand,

Papua-New Guinea, Romania, Swaziland, Taiwan, USA and support from Rwanda,Singapore, England and South Africa

3.2. EDAM a research project on social inclusion

The second case study which will be tackled in this paper is related to an EU

project that is going to come to the end and in which the University of Craiova was

one of the partners [19]. We choose such an example because of the large amount of

virtual activity such projects suppose. Their tasks usually consist in bringing

together various experiences in different countries and unifying them in a commonframe, with a clear finality. The virtual project team exists for a given period of time

and does not suppose a strict networking of the partner institutions as a whole.

3.2.1. Projects description

The project we shall analyze here is called EDAM Education Against

Marginalisation, and it had as main objectives:

To fairly contribute to a European infrastructure of education, widening andsecuring participation of vulnerable groups in society as well as enhancing

their insertion to the labour market.


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To well-ground scientific research of needs and results so as to create a

consistent, unitary and (more) transparent approach to education.

To develop a standardised model for reporting outcome of education and

innovative learning-environments so as to improve quality and 11roject ofco-operation between European countries.

The consortium consisted in 8 partners from 8 different European countries:

The Netherlands: Maastricht University (11roject coordinator), Belgium: Free

University of Brussels, Italy: University of Molise, Austria: BFI Tirol Bildungs

GmbH, Romania: University of Craiova, Greece: Ergomathisi S.A., Denmark:

Copenhagen Adult Education Institute, Germany: Hamburger Volkshochschule. As

types of activity the project combined the face-to-face activity with the virtual

cooperation through virtual communication means: e-mail, website of the project,blogs, twitter, facebook, etc.

3.2.2. Building the virtual team

Three main factors make us to understand how the consortium was built.

Its institutional structure was imposed by the complexity of the two main aspects

the project had deal with: adult education and social inclusion. On the other hand,

the willing of covering all the aspects of the two topics asked for the involvement in

the project of all types of stakeholders: researchers from universities, trainers in

Adult Education or practitioners which are officially dealing with problems related

with the social inclusion. At last but not least, the partners came from different

countries with different social contexts. A good geographical spreading of partners

offers a more realistic picture on the actual European situation in integrating througheducation of the vulnerable group of adults.As far as the individual members of the team, the prevalence of the virtual work

asked for persons whose profile was defined through three main competencies:technical skills and abilities, desire to contribute, and capability of collaborating

effectively. Individual team structure is a key factor in a successful virtual work,factor which amplifies the importance of using appropriate criteria when selecting

people for the team.

3.2.3. Managing the virtual team.

Let us now emphasize the specific management problems created by the virtual

workduring the project lifetime.

- A first step in transforming the group of partners in a real team, working towards

the same thing, consisted in defining a clear and elevating goalof the project. They

needed to understand from the beginning what are the goals and the outcomes they

are working towards, what is the potency and the expected impact of the project.They also had to know what concrete part of the project is in their strong

responsibility, what will be their role and their involvement. This is why the activityof the project was divided in 8 working packages, each partner tacking the

responsibility of one of the packages.


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- Another key issue in managing virtual teams activity consists in maintaining trust

during the collaboration. The studies show that trust is the condition sine qua non for

a good cooperation. The lack of face-to-face contact can affect in reaching

consensus. This is why the EDAM start-off was represented by a first direct meeting

of the partners. The coordinator managed very well the enormous challenge ofbuilding trust, by making team to interact and by generating communication among

partners. The partners need to communicate, to be synchronized, to accept common

goals and quality standards.

4. CONCLUDING REMARKS

The paper presented some important theoretical aspects related with the virtual

team management, as well as two good practice examples which allowed

demonstrating how the theory really works. The main conclusion of the study is thatin highly interconnected global marketplaces, the ability to create and manage

geographically distributed teams and virtual projects is a requisite for companies and

organizations to maintain their competitiveness.

REFERENCES

[1] Report Foresight 2020- Economic, Industry and Corporate Trends. TheEconomist Intelligence Unit, 2006

[2] Frank Siebdrat, Martin Hoegl and Holger Ernst How to Manage VirtualTeams, MIT Sloan Management Review, July 1, 2009

[3] Michael Schrage, No More Teams, Doubleday Inc., USA, 1990

[4] De Lisser E., The Wall Street Journal, 1999 the 5-th of October, p.B2

[5] Clint Witchalls Managing virtual teams, The Econ.Intel.Unit Limited, 2009

[6] Jarvenpaa, S. L - Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 3(4), 1998.

[7] Lipnack, J., Stamps, J. - Virtual Teams People Working Across Boundaries withTechnology, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2000.

[8] Robey, D., Koo, H. M., Powers, C. Technical Communication, 47(1), 2000.

[9] Meyerson,D., Weick, K.E., Kramer, R.M. - Thousand Oaks, USA: Sage

Publications, 1996

[10] Judy Young, Trust in virtual organisations: a synthesis of the literature,

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, June 2008[11] Russell Hardin Trust and trustworthiness, Russell Sage Foundation, 2002

[12] Cohen, S.G.,Mankin,D.-Trends in Organizational Behavior, 6, 1999[13] Rui Huang, Surinder K, Jestice R. Comp. in Human Behavior 26 (2010)

[14] ***- Interpersonal Relation , Course College of commerce Mombai Univ.[15] Richard Lepsinger, Darleen De Rosa Virtual Team Success: A Practical

Guide for Working and Leading from a Distance, Jossey-Bass Inc., 2010

[16] L. Mihaileanu-Echipe virtuale: oportunitate pe timp de criza, Marketwatch

2009.


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[17] Deborah L. Duarte and Nancy Tennant Snyder- Mastering virtual teams,John Wiley &Sons Inc, 2001.

[18]www.tutor-web.net

[19] www.social-inclusion.eu
http://www.tutor-web.net/http://www.social-inclusion.eu/http://www.tutor-web.net/http://www.social-inclusion.eu/

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