Sept.+3+Discussion+Questions

Koufman-Frederick et al., 1999.

Q1: The authors claim that one of the main benefits of electronic collaboration is that it offers time for reflection before participants respond to messages (p. 4). However, they also say that asynchronous communication is inferior compared to its synchronous counterpart, as the latter results in a shared experience among members who can "react immediately to information that is being presented or to each others' comments" (pp. 12-13). How do we negotiate this apparent contradiction?

Q2: This article was published in 1999. What has changed in the last decade? What has remained the same? Does the age of this article affect its relevance and/or usefulness for modern scholars and professionals? If so, how? What, if anything, can we learn from this article today?

Schiller & Mandviwalla, 2007

Q1. Why have virtual teams researchers focused so heavily on the individual and group levels of analysis (p. 25)? Have we missed any important research avenues at the organizational or market/interorganizational levels? If so, what lines of study can or should be further explored?

Q2. Schiller & Mandviwalla argued that virtual teams researchers need not yet pursue the unification of theories (p. 27), yet robustness is still an important component of theory selection (pp. 29-30). Despite the authors' support for the continued creation of additional theories, will the need for robustness inhibit their growth?

//Chudoba, K. M., Wynn, E., Lu, M., & Watson-Manheim, M. B. (2005). How virtual are we? Measuring virtuality and understanding its impact on a global organization. Information Systems Journal, 15, 279-306.//

Please think about one of the projects that you have worked for, and reflect your experience upon the six index items identified by Chudoba, et al. The index includes //geography//, //time zone//, //organization//, //national culture//, //work practices//, and //technology//. Rate your experience to each item from 0 to 5 (least agree to strongly agree). Q1. How virtual were you in the project? Q2. Which one of the six do you think has highest correlation with virtuality of your experience? Will this inform your own research interest?

//DeSanctis, G., & Monge, P. (1999). Communication processes for virtual organizations. Organization Science, 10, 693-703.//

Q1. DeSanctis and Monge listed six research areas on electronic communication: //communication volume and efficiency//, //message understanding//, //virtual tasks//, //lateral communication//, //norms of technology use//, //evolutionary effects//. Please review the six research areas (summary given in article review on Blackboard or in paper). Based on the definitions or explanations given by the authors, do you have any personal experience relating to these six areas? Can you share one with us?

Q2. Pretend you are the H&R training manager of a multi-regional company. Your company has just launched a Virtual Lounge on the company’s intranet, where employees from different regions can meet one another on cyberspace. Your boss wants you to prepare a training session to the local employees about the usage of the Virtual Lounge. What would you say to the employees about the importance of electronic communication?