BUSN 630 Week 3 - Article Summary #1

Please select a relevant article related to managing the culture aspect in a virtual organization. Analyze the article and critique the major points. This is not just a report, it is a critical analysis of the article.

Instructions:

Your deliverable should be 2-3 pages in length and should be supported by 6 sources (3 should be peer-reviewed). Your paper should be in APA format.

Week 3 - Article Summary #1

Garro-Abarca et al., (2021), in their article, discussed how virtual teams were helpful and operational during the pandemic and how performance in virtual teams could be enhanced. In the traditional teams, all employees could meet face to face and discuss the tasks at hand while helping each other. Evaluating the performance of such teams would be easier since the manager could observe and notice various aspects of the team members. However, while working with virtual teams, all operations occur in the virtual workspace hence may be a challenge to pick on the minute challenges the employees are facing.

Virtual teams enhance the collaborative use of technology at work, unlike the traditional teams that are face-to-face. Digitization of the work environment has pushed companies to develop their digital infrastructure which can only be enhanced through virtual teams that allow the use of technological advancements to work. Virtual teams also enhance globalization and diversification where they make it easier to work with international organizations without relocation (Dulebohn & Hoch, 2017). However, traditional teams create a stronger social bond which helps adjust cultural differences that come with diversification to develop a neutral organizational culture. There is a challenge in emotional bonds and understanding as well as open communication when handling virtual teams compared to traditional teams. A manager will have a challenge in managing the virtual teams as empathy is not created and mentorship programs may fail to capture the tiniest needs of the employee that help in developing their talents and potentially more as a mentor. Interpersonal skills and relationships are hard to develop in virtual teams or organizations compared to traditional ones (Morrison-Smith & Ruiz, 2020).

Managing a virtual organization is slightly different from managing a traditional organization. Unlike traditional where there is face to face meetings and managers can easily direct, organize and plan on their teams, virtual organizations operate differently as members are dispersed. Planning, organizing, and directing such an organization is based on trust among the employees and managers. This comes with the need for a high level of responsibility and competency to have the employees complete their tasks as expected at the right time. The employees of virtual organizations have a lot of freedom as everyone works on their tasks at their schedules with minimal supervision (Sadri & Condia, 2012). Virtual organizations face challenges in communication among employees which could be done on a deeper level like when they meet face-to-face which would help grow their bonds, understand each other’s strengths and develop interpersonal relations. Due to a lack of deeper communication in virtual teams, there have been an increased number of mental health issues among employees something that was noted among employees during the pandemic. Managers fail to understand this Side of employees and while struggling to meet expectations, they may create unnecessary pressure on employees (Snellman, 2014).

Virtual organizations have been believed to have a higher performance. This comes with the aspect of the employees having the freedom to handle the tasks which allows them to push themselves beyond their limits and fully exploit their talents. Also, the aspect of diversification is the key factor leading to the high performance in such organizations. Due to the coaching aspect used to mentor employees, where they have the freedom to explore their potential through guidance by a coach or leader, they increase their competency (Zhang, 2022).

In conclusion, virtual organizations have come to be very helpful progress in the digitization of the workplace. Every organization could benefit from the virtual teams to develop globalization and benefit from the diversification that comes with globalization. In addition, many virtual teams are important to improve the digital advancement of organizations and the use of technology. What needs to be worked on is communication to help improve the interpersonal relationships and social bonds among employees like traditional organizations do.

References

Dulebohn, J. H., & Hoch, J. E. (2017). Virtual teams in organizations. Hum. Resour. Manage. Rev. 27, 569–574. doi: 10.1016/j.hrmr.2016.12.004

Garro-Abarca V, Palos-Sanchez P & Aguayo-Camacho M. (2021). Virtual Teams in Times of Pandemic: Factors That Influence Performance. Front. Psychol. 12:624-637. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.624637

Morrison-Smith, S. & Ruiz, J. (2020). Challenges and barriers in virtual teams: a literature review. SN Appl. Sci. 2, 1096. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-2801-5

Sadri, G., & Condia, J. (2012). Managing the virtual world. Industrial Management, 54(1), 21-25.

Snellman, L. (2014). Virtual Teams: Opportunities and Challenges for e-Leaders. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences. 110. 1251-1261. 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.972.

Zhang A. (2022). The application of virtual teams in the improvement of enterprise management capability from the perspective of knowledge transfer. PLoS ONE 17(3): e0264367. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264367