Virtual Team: A boon for marketing in a globalised world

With the advent of globalisation, and businesses stretching their legs into foreign lands, the scope of marketing department have increased manifolds. They do not have to be based in one centralised location and can expand to new markets and set up new teams. Virtual marketing teams enables organisation to reap the benefit of having a local presence, and yet have the same or increased efficiency of a traditional face-to-face centralised office.

Virtual Team: A boon for marketing in a globalised world
With the advent of globalisation, and businesses stretching their legs into foreign
lands, the scope of marketing department have increased manifolds. They do not have to be
based in one centralised location and can expand to new markets and set up new teams (Jean
Louis & Simons, 2014). With the global expansion also comes the disadvantages of
managing a dispersed team and maintaining coordination between them. Further, the cost of
having a physical space in foreign land is a costly affair. However, the advancement in
technology has found the concept of virtual teams, which is a boon for any marketing
department. Virtual marketing teams enables organisation to reap the benefit of having a local
presence, and yet have the same or increased efficiency of a traditional face-to-face
centralised office.
Virtual teams are advantageous compared to a face-to-face marketing team, as the
employees can work from any location and stay in touch with the head office though the
internet and digital reporting, instead of being confined to a traditional 9 to 5 job. They do not
have any time bound, and have the flexibility of working as per the need of the hour (Fan, et.
al., 2014). Further, the time difference between the various locations like Los Angeles,
Shanghai and Bangalore, requires one to work in a time zone which matches theirs. A
marketing team based in Melbourne will entail the department to work overtime to coordinate
with client or business associate from these location. Thus, having a local virtual marketing
team will ensure that the work is done smoothly, without the interruption in time zone.
Further, the local business associates and clients will also expect the company to have a local
base so that they are able to interact with them face-to-face. All the above mentioned feature
is not possible if the marketing team is based centrally in Melbourne.

Virtual teams enables the organisation to have diverse workforce which are in sync
with the region in which they are based. When operating in places with distinct culture, it is
important to hire people who will understand the local culture and customs. Hiring local
people will ensure that they understand the local language and customs, which is a very
significant factor in cross-cultural negotiations (Hofstede, 1985). A virtual team comprising
of local workforce will reap the benefit of staying local but thinking global, and also facilitate
the smooth functioning in case any representation from the head office visits the foreign land.
The head office has to make little effort and expense in training employees visiting the
country, to make them accustomed to the cultural differences between the two countries.
They now have a local employee to take care of the same and introduce the representative to
the cultural dimension of the foreign land and prepare them for meetings with business
associates. Further, this will also help in fostering diverse talents in the organisation, and
provide completive advantage to the company to compete and perform well in a globalised
market.
Opponents of virtual teams have presented their displeasure in the rising trend of
virtual teams in the globalised enterprises. They opine that the virtual teams are detrimental
to organisational culture, since the teams do not meet face-to-face and the trust and
collaboration suffer between them. Since there is no one to supervise the work of virtual team
members, the efficiency level of the employees might drop. However, as per a research
conducted by Stanford professor Nicholas Bloom, people telecommuting from remote
locations had better concentration on their jobs since they do not have distraction of a
traditional face-to-face office space (Bloom et al., 2014). They were also found to take lees
number of sick leave and or extended their break time. Further, the modern-day digital
communication system such as the video conferencing and virtual face-to-face meetings
enables one to connect with people sitting in far off places without any hitch. The issue of

distance is no longer a problem in the present day and the various means of staying connected
has helped to develop a sense of community and understanding among various teams.
To conclude, virtual teams have the advantage over traditional face-to-face team to
represent an organisation across borders in a foreign land, without the expense of building or
renting out a physical space. Virtual teams have the flexibility and autonomy to enjoy a work-
life balance, and work as per the requirement of the country where they are operating.
Innovative organisations are substituting traditional offices with virtual teams, thus,
empowering their employees and giving them the flexibility to expand their business
globally. With the benefit of digital communication system, the virtual teams have made it
possible to collaborate and develop a trusting relationship even while sitting at far off places
(GILSON, L. L. et al., 2015).

References
Bloom, N., Liang, J., Roberts, J. and Ying, Z. (2014). Does Working from Home Work?
Evidence from a Chinese Experiment *. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130(1),
pp.165-218.
Fan, K.T., Chen, Y.H., Wang, C.W. and Chen, M., 2014. E-leadership effectiveness in virtual
teams: Motivating language perspective. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 114(3),
pp.421-437.
GILSON, L. L. et al. (2015). Virtual Teams Research: 10 Years, 10 Themes, and 10
Opportunities. Journal of Management, 41(5), pp.1313–1337.
Hofstede, G. (1985). THE INTERACTION BETWEEN NATIONAL AND
ORGANIZATIONAL VALUE SYSTEMS. Journal of Management Studies, 22(4), pp.347-
357.
Jean Louis, R. and Simons, D., 2014. Business Cycles Synchronicity and Income Levels: Has
Globalisation Brought us Closer Than Ever?. The world economy, 37(5), pp.592-624.