MGT200 Organizational Behavior: Evaluating Virtual Teams' Worth

This essay explores the effectiveness of virtual teams within contemporary organizational behavior, referencing the systems approach and the capacity of virtual teams to manage strategic projects across geographical boundaries. It contrasts arguments for and against virtual teams, noting their potential to foster collaboration and innovation, while also acknowledging challenges related to coordination, trust, and potential miscommunication due to diverse backgrounds. The essay references various studies that highlight both the benefits and drawbacks of virtual teams, ultimately questioning whether the troubles associated with virtual teams outweigh their potential value to organizations. Desklib offers a range of similar resources for students.

Organizational Behavior
MGT200
Student Name

Are virtual teams more trouble than they’re worth
In contemporary business environment, a powerful structure named virtual teams have
emerged that are characterised by different elements of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT). Virtual teams are capable of making radical changes in organisational
structure as well as disposition of multicultural workforce ( Morley, et al., 2015). In essence,
organisations emphasise that every element is connected with each other and its worthwhile
to formulate business processes in regards to flows and feedback barriers. For the same,
systems approach to organisational behaviour prove beneficial in virtual teams as it has the
capability to make teams more united, composed of interrelated elements and purposeful.
This approach not only gives virtual team members way of looking business as a whole, but
also looking teams as a single entity (Kondalkar, 2007). Virtual teams have capacity to
deliver broader strategic and operational projects that involves diversified concurrent and
consecutive activities among team members spread in different geographical localities. For
example, Mandy at Los Angeles can form a virtual team with Sam at Mexico and Sara at
Sydney, thereby working all together for one common objective where communication is
made totally through digital technology. Virtual team formation proves most useful for those
organisations where pooling of talented employees or trading partners becomes vital for
remaining ahead in this competitive global environment. When team members start operating
towards one common goal, they start perceiving each other’s behaviour that is very
significant for 21st century workforce (Törmänen, 2017). Therefore, the above statement is
proved negative and according to me, virtual teams are worth facing troubles for benefiting
contemporary organisational behaviour.

According to Dailey (2012), organisational behaviour can be related to the concept of
knowledge related to how individuals perform in organisation to serve external environment
through effective operative system. To manage individuals, leaders or mangers are appointed
who transfer authority to team member, however, the process becomes crucial while working
with virtual teams. Virtual teams are quite often described as teams that have high degree of
autonomy where organisational leadership is focused more on integrated people development
instead of controlling directly ( Leede, et al., 2008). Ebrahim, et al. further supports the above
statement and states that shift in organisational decision making through virtual teams can
hamper overall behaviour of other employees also who restrains themselves in taking
instructions from their superior. Coordination and trust are strongly required by virtual teams
especially the ones who are associated with innovation behaviour (Gazor, 2012). For
example, one team of a company is situated in Philadelphia whereas the other members are
situated in other parts of the world. Naturally, team members of Philadelphia will develop
stronger relationship and authority as compared to the others who are scattered around
different parts of the globe as they work outside the main hub. Furthermore, a strong
emphasis in employees’ behaviour by coordinating them can generally imply bringing strong
intolerance that results in making errors. Therefore, it is often seen that virtual teams’
comprising of people belonging to different background or cognitive experience becomes the
source of miscommunication and conflict in organisation ( Carpenter, et al., 2012). Under this
context, I would say that instead of getting troubled for virtual teams, organisations must
focus more on physical appearance since virtual teams are more trouble than they are worth
for it.

References
Carpenter, M., Bauer, T. & Erdogan, B., 2012. Management Principles. s.l.:Creative
Commons.
Dailey, R., 2012. Organisational Behaviour. s.l.:Edinburgh Business School .
Ebrahim, N. A., Ahmed, S. & Taha, Z., n.d. Virtual Teams and Management Challenges.
[Online]
Available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/11436798.pdf
[Accessed 20 09 2018].
Gazor, H., 2012. A Literature Review on Challenges of Virtual Team's Leadership. Journal
of Sociological Research, 03(02), pp. 134-145.
Leede, J. D., Kraan , K. . O., Hengst , M. D. & Hooff, M. . L., 2008. Conditions for
innovation behaviour of virtual team members: a ‘high-road’ for internationally dispersed
virtual teams. The Journal of E-working , Volume 02, pp. 22-46.
Morley, S., Cormican, . K. & Folan, . P., 2015. An Analysis of Virtual Team Characteristics:
A Model for Virtual Project Managers. Journal of Technology Management & Innovation,
10(01), pp. 188-203.
Kondalkar, V., 2007. Organizational Behaviour. s.l.:New Age International.
Törmänen, M., 2017. Virtual Teams: Considerations, Advantages and Disadvantages.
[Online]
Available at: https://www.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/135203/Virtual%20Teams

%20Considerations%2C%20Advantages%20and%20Disadvantages.pdf?sequence=2
[Accessed 20 09 2018].