Establishment of Virtual Teams: Justifications and Challenges

This article discusses the justifications and challenges of establishing virtual teams in an organization. It covers the benefits of cost-saving and reduction of carbon footprints, as well as the potential cultural issues that may arise.

Running head: PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION
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Project objective: The objective of undertaking the virtual teams will be helping to ensure the
smooth functioning of the processes of the organization and thereby enhance the productivity of
the same.
Introduction
The Sydney HQ of the organization has taken steps to set up a new marketing team,
which will be acting virtually. The team members will be located in the different locations in
Sydney, New York, Beijing and Mumbai. The creation of the virtual team will be helping the
organization in managing the time differences, real time and not concurrent. It will be helping
the organization in undertaking proficient functioning of the business as per the objectives of the
same. However, the virtual team members proposed different challenges that might be faced by
the same through the implementation of the virtual teams. The Marketing Director of the
organization thereby proposed the justifications in order to make the employees aware of the
need for the change.
Justification for the establishment of the virtual team- Money saving purpose
The establishment of the virtual teams will be helping the organization in maintaining the
proficiency of the work with little investments. It will be helping the organization in cutting
different cost of operations (Pinjani and Palvia 2013). On the other hand, the implementation of
the virtual teams will be helping the organization in maximizing the productivity of the business

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while operating as per the objectives of the firm. The creation of the virtual teams will also be
helping in the growth of the business world wide through proper distribution of the different
segments as per the market needs. The attributes of changes in the processes of the business is
initiated through the creation of the virtual teams. The creation of the virtual teams will be
helping the organization in cutting the costs of conveyance and thereby facilitate the appropriate
deliverable as per the needs of the clients (Klitmøller and Lauring 2013). The money saving
purpose will be helping the organization in maintaining a steady growth in the revenue systems,
which will be helping in the future growth prospects of the business. The future growth prospects
of the business will also be providing the employees with the scope of making an expansion in
their careers. The cost of marketing will be reduced, as the existence of the company offices in
the different locations will be helping the business in undertaking market penetration. The
growth of the organization through the proper functioning of the systems of the business is will
be facilitated through the introduction of the virtual teams.
Justification for the establishment of the virtual team- Reduction of carbon footprints
The reduction of the carbon footprints will be facilitated through the proper functioning
of the virtual teams. The establishment of the virtual teams will be helping the organization in
reducing the different levels of carbon emissions (Au and Marks 2012). Carbon emissions
might occur while undertaking a marketing activity by the organization. However, the reduction
of the carbon footprints can be made through the establishment of the virtual teams. It will be
helping the organization in undertaking their activities as per the CSR objectives of the business
(Hoch and Kozlowski 2014). The green marketing approach will be facilitated through the
introduction of the virtual teams which will be beneficial for the communities. On the other

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hand, the reduction of the carbon footprints of the organization will be helping the same in
maintaining the congruity in the product offerings as per their specific objectives.
Justification against the establishment of the virtual team- Cultural issues
The establishment of the virtual teams across the different nations might lead to cross
cultural conflicts that might affect the productivity of the business. The clashing mentality of the
people and the decision- making systems might affect the functioning of the business as per the
objectives of the same (Daim et al. 2012). On the other hand, the language and communication
affects the performance due to lack of integration and coordination among the different
departments of the business. The cultural conflicts and the mentality of the people affects the
decision making process which might result to a degradation in the productivity of the team
members in the virtual teams (Crisp and Jarvenpaa 2013). On the other hand, the distance might
create issues relating to communication of the changes that are planned by the business while
operating in the international markets.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above arguments it might be stated that there are different pros and
cons of implementing the functioning of the virtual teams. However, proper managerial actions
will be helping the organization in managing the different issues that might be faced by the
organization and thereby facilitate the suitable performance of the teams.

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References
Au, Y. and Marks, A., 2012. “Virtual teams are literally and metaphorically invisible” Forging
identity in culturally diverse virtual teams. Employee relations, 34(3), pp.271-287.
Crisp, C.B. and Jarvenpaa, S.L., 2013. Swift trust in global virtual teams: Trusting beliefs and
normative actions. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 12(1), p.45.
Daim, T.U., Ha, A., Reutiman, S., Hughes, B., Pathak, U., Bynum, W. and Bhatla, A., 2012.
Exploring the communication breakdown in global virtual teams. International Journal of
Project Management, 30(2), pp.199-212.
Hoch, J.E. and Kozlowski, S.W., 2014. Leading virtual teams: Hierarchical leadership, structural
supports, and shared team leadership. Journal of applied psychology, 99(3), p.390.
Klitmøller, A. and Lauring, J., 2013. When global virtual teams share knowledge: Media
richness, cultural difference and language commonality. Journal of World Business, 48(3),
pp.398-406.
Pinjani, P. and Palvia, P., 2013. Trust and knowledge sharing in diverse global virtual
teams. Information & Management, 50(4), pp.144-153.