AT A DISTANCE: LEARNING ABOUT CROSS-CULTURAL VIRTUAL TEAMS IN AN INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT COURSE (Abbreviated Title - Learning From Cross-Cultural Virtual Teams In International Courses) (original) (raw)
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At a Distance: Learning about Cross-cultural Virtual Teams in an International Management Course
2004
This chapter narrates our experiences designing and teaching an international management course which was technologically enhanced to include cross-cultural interactions between the US and Denmark. Our rationale, that issues regarding globalization have accelerated the need to bring together through virtual means people from different cultures to engage in collaborative performance at a distance, was addressed in the context of theoretical
Virtual Teams as part of Internationalization of Higher Education
Proceedings Cross-Cultural Business Conference 2017, Steyr, Österreich, 2017, pp. 211-220 , 2017
Worklife is becoming increasingly international and intercultural. With improved online interaction and new ways of working multicultural virtual teams are becoming a routine. In order to interact effectively and efficiently in the networked professional environments practice for higher education students is of utmost importance. Building intercultural competence and experimenting with multicultural virtual teams as part of pedagogical internationalization must be systematic. Successful internationalization of education depends on activities on three levels: institutional, faculty and students (Lauridsen & Cozart 2015). Trust, relationship building, cohesion, cooperation, communication, team-related attributes and tasks are crucial for successful virtual team cooperation (Hertel, Geister & Konradt, 2005; Baruch & Lin, 2012). In order to explore for further prerequisites of effective cross-cultural virtual cooperation in an educational setting a group of Finnish and Austrian master level students were given an assignment to organize multicultural virtual teams and study aspects of intercultural work. Six virtual teams were formed with only a broad assignment brief with the objective of finding out factors hindering or facilitating a successful intercultural virtual team cooperation from the subjective students' point of view. After a three weeks' long cooperation both student groups filled in a similar qualitative questionnaire about the intercultural virtual team experiences. The questionnaires were analyzed with content analysis by means of different criteria i.e. cooperation and collaboration, technical platforms, satisfaction and perceived challenges. The results were additionally analyzed in view of intercultural differences. The students were very satisfied and appreciated the possibility for the virtual international team work. Based on the results following recommendations for enhancing intercultural knowledge in virtual teams are presented: considering obligations and time (especially for para-occupational education), clear assignments, a set of recommended tools for communication and collaboration, scaffolding students in different steps i.e. team formation, common ground for group work and intercultural awareness.
Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2013
The coauthors wish to acknowledge the contribution of the entire X-Culture team: Without the hard work the 141 instructors and thousands of students do every day, the X-Culture Project in general and this study in particular would not be possible. We also would like to acknowledge the support of our many corporate partners, including Gramedia, Lidaris, Innospark, and Caja de Burgos, whose involvement makes the project more meaningful and educational for our students. 415 Taras, Caprar, Rottig, et al. 2013 Vas Taras (PhD University of Calgary, Canada), is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His research revolves around development and management of multicultural teams, with a focus on international teams in domestic organizations and global virtual teams, as well effectiveness evaluation of cross-cultural training programs.
Distant Partners: A Case Study of Global Virtual Teams Between Spain and South Korea
European Higher Education Area: Challenges for a New Decade, 2020
Global Virtual Teams (GVT) among higher education institutions stand as a powerful tool of extending internationalization techniques as well as improving collaborative learning and transversal competencies. This study stems from the belief that using these channels allows students to establish connections and strengthen their confidence in networking for professional purposes. Furthermore, it describes a collaborative project involving undergraduate students of 23 different nationalities in two different business schools located in Spain and South Korea (n = 109; 61 in Spain and 48 in South Korea). The courses in both universities had similar learning objectives focused on the development of written and oral communication skills in a business environment. Through a series of semi-monitored activities and questionnaires, the vast majority of students expressed a strong satisfaction with their own achievements during the course including teamwork, learning how to deal with cultural di...
Journal of Teaching in International Business, 2014
The increasing importance of global virtual teams in business is reflected in the classroom by the increased adoption of activities that facilitate real-time cross-cultural interaction. This article documents the experience of students from two Colombian universities who participated in a collaborative international project using virtual teams as part of the international business (IB) curriculum. The data reveals that in spite of challenges associated with time zone differences, technology limitations, and trust issues, the vast majority of students perceived that the use of virtual teams as a teaching tool facilitates cultural understanding and IB-relevant learning. The findings of this research suggest that online experiential exercises can be an effective approach in teaching and in the development of virtual collaboration skills.
Experiential Learning with Global Virtual Teams: Developing Intercultural and Virtual Competencies
This study evaluates the impact of Global Virtual Team (GVT)-based experiential learning in business education. During the first semester of 2014, 2,494 university business students from 37 countries from all inhabited continents participated in the X-Culture project. Post-project surveys applied to a participating group and to a control group of Colombian students reveal significant learning in terms of perceived difficulties related to cultural differences and virtual team coordination. This study provides evidence for the usefulness of GVT-based approaches and facilitates a better understanding of the challenges and learning opportunities in using this type of experiential learning activity. This study evaluates the impact of Global Virtual Team (GVT)-based experiential learning in business education. Post-project surveys reveal significant learning in terms of perceived difficulties related to cultural differences and virtual team coordination. This provides evidence for the usefulness of GVT-based approaches and facilitates a better understanding of the challenges and learning opportunities in using this type of experiential learning activity. Participation in the GVT-based project allows students to experience the challenges and form more realistic expectations with respect to intercultural and international virtual collaboration.
Teaching Globalization, Globally: A 7Year Case Study of South Africa-U.S. Virtual Teams
Information Technologies and International Development, 2008
This article reports on a project conducted from 1999-2006 that involved a substantial collaboration between South African and U.S. universities to build human capacity for the knowledge-intensive global economy through geographically distributed collaborative learning. The project used a highly interactive, rich media, synchronous and asynchronous learning environment to foster U.S.-South Africa student team learning. Particular attention was paid to the use of commercially available Web-based collaboration technologies that work well in both developed and developing country university settings. The study had one overarching research question: Can universities in developing as well as developed countries use a suite of commercially available Web-based collaboration technologies to successfully deliver an advanced global graduate seminar? Data for the study came from narrative evaluations and post-hoc surveys of student participants. Focusing on providing a model that can be used in disparate multidisciplinary and university settings, the article highlights both the technologies and the pedagogy that recognize cultural differences and cross-national collaborative opportunities in university settings.
Virtual Teamwork: A Product of Globalization Implications for University Education
With globalization, virtual teamwork is becoming the predominant type of labour organization within multinational companies. Empirical studies on this new form of teamwork show that besides requiring specific knowledge, this teamwork requires social skills, as well as media and methodological competencies. Through the Bologna-Process European universities received clear directions to prepare young professionals for the challenges of the future working life by focusing on extra-curricular activities and developing personal key competen-cies. Accordingly, this essay outlines how to prepare students to work in a virtual team environment by making fundamental reforms to university education. A key element of proposed reforms is the introduction of Collaborative Computer Supported Learning as the leading didactic principle, especially in postgraduate studies.
1999
This paper addresses some issues regarding virtual learning and the future of traditional universities. Specifically, it considers these issues by reflecting on the following: First, it focuses on the repercussions of information technologies for teaching and learning in "cross-cultural" courses. It critically assesses, via three recent examples, how these approaches influence teaching and learning in the context of international management courses. Second, drawing from the above examples, the paper reflects more broadly on the implications of these technologies: (1) for new forms of knowing and knowledge production; and (2) for the future of institutional conditions of universities. Much has been written in recent years about upcoming changes in universities as information technologies become easily available and increasingly sophisticated. What would be the future of these technologies and how would they affect the university is, nonetheless, still widely debated. For in...