Case Study Analysis: Virtual Team Successes and Stresses

This case study analyzes the challenges faced by Rebecca, a virtual team leader managing a diverse team with members from Japan, Mexico, Germany, Korea, and the US. The analysis highlights communication breakdowns, particularly with Korean and Japanese team members due to cultural and hierarchical work structures. Rebecca's initial attempts at using humor were ineffective, and the case emphasizes the need for leaders to understand individual cultural nuances. The solution advocates for one-on-one conversations to understand each team member's work style, beliefs, and expectations. The study references key literature on virtual team management, emphasizing the importance of technology, communication, and feedback for successful virtual team operations. The case study also highlights the importance of choosing the right technology, speaking a common language, and regular communication to ensure the success of virtual teams.

Running head: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Case study analysis
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Answers:
1. The virtual team leader Rebecca who was assigned to manage a diverse team co
comprising of members from different nations like Japan, Mexico, Germany,
Korea and the US after few days of operation noticed that certain
key team members were not regularly sharing their sales
pipelines on their team meeting calls and those where the
members who gradually began to skip calls and where even
reluctant to speak during their presence. Rebecca initially tried to
use humour to help lighten the situation as she perceived that it
might be certain initial discomfort or nervousness of the team
mates which made then conscious during the conference calls
2. When Rebecca faced difficulty in managing her diverse team mates as few ere not
responding appropriately, the subject matter expert offered a critical reading of the
whole situation which suggested what Rebecca actually should have done to
handle the situation better. According to the view of the expert Rebecca should
have offered a personal one to one talk session with each of her virtual team
members belonging to different nation as the whole project was going to happen
virtually and there was no scope for them to meet each other hence such initial
ice-breaking session on personal level was very much necessary to known certain
core issue in a detailed manner. Moreover her restoring to humour in order to
lighten up the mood might not have gone well with most of her employees
because of the diverse cultural setting of her team
3. The Korean and Japanese employee seemed to behave little awkwardly as they did
not regularly share their sales pipeline and even did not receive Rebecca’s call.
Further analysis made it clear that it was their specific work culture and structure

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CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
which made them behave in a certain manner. While Woo-jin the Korean
employee worked in a very rigid hierarchical structure in her specific office and
also had to clear everything[ng out with his direct superior before spending every
document. Hence he did not have that permission and expected Rebecca to
understand it, her Japanese team mate named Kamiko had to work under strict
data protection laws in Japan which again made it difficult to share her sales
pipeline information constantly she even tried to communicate this to Rebecca
indirectly but did not succeed in doing the same.
4. Today almost every organization is operating globally, hence virtual business
operation are quite common. The employees or rather the team mates are spared
across the globe hence every team leader who is assigned to virtually manage his
team must make an effort to individual strike a conversation with every employee
either through video call or a voice call to understand each of their culture,
believes, needs and expectation and their style of working so that it does not
create any grounds for confusion when working as a team (Lockwood, 2015)
5. Virtual teams can equally be made product and pro active like the traditional ones
by maintaining the right method of operation. The first and foremost need is to be
well acquainted with each team members as the whole operation would be virtual
and there would be no scope for making a physical appearance, the next is
choosing the right technology which supports glitch free communication, speak a
language which is understood by all and most importantly be in regular
communication with the whole team, take necessary feedback regularly and
measure the progress of the whole operation after a fixed interval. These steps can
easily make virtual managing of team quite successful (White, 2014).

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CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
References:
Lockwood, J. (2015). Virtual team management: what is causing communication
breakdown?. Language and Intercultural Communication, 15(1), 125-140.
White, M. (2014). The management of virtual teams and virtual meetings. Business
Information Review, 31(2), 111-117.