Virtual Teams

Ale Ebrahim, N.; Ahmed, S.; Taha, Z. (December 2009) define virtual teams as “small temporary groups of geographically, organizationally and/ or time dispersed knowledge workers who coordinate their work predominantly with electronic information and communication technologies in order to accomplish one or more organization tasks”.

Communications and technology with its rapid development has changed the way of work of thousands of people and businesses around the world. Scenarios that were unthinkable 20 years ago are now the main form of work for most large organizations. In his competitive desire to unite talents and expand markets around the world many companies turn to work virtually, bringing information and geographically distant people to work for the same objective.

Companies that have managed to unite its members through this kind of technology platforms can become more competitive, generate more ideas, expand their products and services, have better customer service, save money and speak a global language, as each individual serves their local goals.

You no longer need face-to-face meetings and the time it entails, a simple Internet connection or via mobile phone you can bind any number of people, adding knowledge, culture and information.

Virtual teams are the current trend of big companies who think the world is their country, that qualified talent has no boundaries and that is not necessary to be close in order to generate a successful organization.

[Untitled photograph of virtual-team

]. 

Retrieved April 25, 2011,

from: 

http://blog.softheme.com/6-rules-for-better-communication-in-virtual-teams/

[Untitled photograph of distributed worforce

]. 

Retrieved April 25, 2011, 

from: 

http://www.workingpoint.com/blog/re-working-work-for-virtual-teams/4088

Communication

nonverbalowl, (2009). nonverbal communication owls. 

Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A68fL1y8ZQ&feature=related

Man has used non-verbal communication from the beginning of time, has developed the ability to express his environment what he thinks and feels through his body. These expressions and signs have taken on different meanings depending on the cultural influence to which each individual is exposed. In this type of communication there are not many studies due to the complexity and extent of the subject, is not well documented but because of its importance has taken a leading role in many new researches.

[Untitled photograph of facial expressions

]. 

Retrieved April 04, 2011, 

from: http://englishcommunicationcourse.wikispaces.com/Group+Project+1

Many gestures are used in the same way in most countries, although these may vary according to the place we are, this is due to the cultural influence of the environment in which we find ourselves. In many countries, expressions that could be taken as universals are not, unlike they could have a negative or opposite meaning to what is wanted to be express. For example:

• The sign of the "V" with the palm out means victory while with the palm inward means an obscene insult
• The thumb up or down to indicate agreement or disagreement means an insult in Greece and in other countries simply means the number one.
• In Western culture, eye contact is interpreted as attentiveness and honesty but in many other cultures, however, including Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Native American, eye contact is thought to be disrespectful or rude. In some cultures women may especially avoid eye contact with men because it can be taken as a sign of sexual interest.
• Hands in pocket is disrespectful in Turkey
• Islamic and Hindu:  typically don’t touch with the left hand.  To do so is a social insult.  Left hand is for toilet functions. 

[Untitled photograph of cultural differences in nonverbal communication]. 

Retrieved April 04, 2011, 

from: 

http://sielearning.tafensw.edu.au/MCS/9362/Sterilisation%20disk%203/lo/7374/7374_00.htm

Andrews University. Non-Verbal Communication Modes. Retrieved April 11, 2011 

from:http://www.andrews.edu/~tidwell/lead689/NonVerbal.html

Vermont Department of Health. Cultural Differences in Non-Verbal Communication. Retrieved April 11, 2011 

from: http://healthvermont.gov/family/toolkit/tools%5CF-6%20Cultural%20Differences%20in%20Nonverbal%20Communic.pdf

Migrant Workers

Migration happens because an imbalance between population and the economic resources, bringing people from regions that suffer from a dearth of land or capital resources, such as Central America, Southeast Asia, or Eastern Europe, to those richer like North America and Western Europe.

Globalization has both facilitated and motivated the migration from states with few economic prospects to those in which the labor supply is low and has to be fulfill. Is in this cases when cases like the “Brain Drain” happens, which basically consist on the movement of well-educated people from one place to another because of their better-remunerated conditions in the host country.

[Brain Drain]. Retrieved April 4, 2011, 

from: http://www.mylot.com/w/photokeywords/brain+drain.aspx

Migrations have a lot to do with the economic factors of both the home and host country, and sometimes can bring good or bad outcomes. But what is really clear is that migration has become an opportunity to search an economic opportunity. 

The influx of immigrants provokes backlashes by the host-country populations. Some reactions are political movements favoring the natives and discriminating against immigrants, they use to gain force during economic downturns; immigrants are often blamed for unemployment and rising crime rates.

For example US citizens’ tolerance of economic migrants is cyclical: in weak economies, Americans begin to fear that immigrants are taking jobs away from the US citizens. Fear and resentment of immigrants and the inevitable frictions caused by cultural diversity have taken other forms; the issue of emigration and migration continues in an era of globalization and provides impetus for conflict within and across societies. 

[Bio Tech Brain Drain]. Retrieved April 4, 2011, 

from: http://scienceblogs.com/sciencetolife/2008/08/bio_tech_brain_drain_are_too_m.php

Spiegel, S.L et al. 2009 "World Politics in a New Era". Oxford university Press, Pp. 430-465

Organizational Learning

To start talking about organizational learning, it is important to understand what is a learning organization; Senge (1994) provides this definition “places where people continually expand their capacities to create the result they truly desire, where new and expensive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspirations is set free and where people are continually learning how to learn together”.

Organizations are operating in an environment that is constant in change, also they must keep peace with this rapid change otherwise they are going to perish. Companies should be flexible and continually improve to be able to gain competitive advantage. Learning organizations have been identifies as the strategy for survival and growth in this global economy.

Organizational learning is very important since learning is linked with the capacity for change and improvement; it also describes organizations that experimented with new ways of conducting business in order to survive.

[Workflow Learning]. Retrieved March 21, 2011,
from: http://www.visualinsight.net/portfolio.html

India is a excellent example of a country in which organizations have adopted organizational learning in a good way; thanks this they are living a global expansion and are more competitive in the business environment, they have a thriving services sector and also present an Increase in FDI.

Singh, Kavita. 2010. "An Analysis of Relationship Between the Learning Organization and Organization Culture in India Business Organizations". Organizations and Markets in Emerging Economies. Vol 1 (1): 142-165

Leadership Styles

How does organizational leaders should behave in cross-cultural environments?

Leadership is the process of aligning people in a direction to achieve a common task and contribute that something extraordinary happens. Leaders should have the ability to integrate and motivate the people in a given environment/situation. It is important for the leaders to know the persons with whom he is working with and so be able to have a better communication with them.

When leaders are working in a cross-cultural environment they should understand and respect the culture of each person he is leading, in order to do a good job. They should understand how this culture operates because all the issues are handled different depending on the person’s culture. If the leader has all this knowledge then the communication with the followers will be better.

The culture affects the way you think, act and how you resolve the problems. 

[Untitled photograph of Cultural Intelligence]. Retrieved february 28, 2011,
from: http://www.henryorg.fi/data/dokumentit/yhteistyo/Cross-CulturalWeb.pdf

Ethical Behavior in International Business (workshop)

1. What does the statement “all capitalism is crony capitalism” is referring to? Do you agree with this statement or not? Give an example.

The statement “all capitalism is crony capitalism” is refer to the relation companies have with government and media. It says that the success of a company depends of the benefits the government gives and also of the information’s manipulation. Also the company will obtain more grants and permits and their success will not depend of the free market.

Sandeep. (2010). Dynamics of Land Policy, Retrieved:
February 21, 2011, 

from: http://www.cartoonistsandeep.com/post_detail.php.php?id=MAYAI1292503854MAYA4d0a0b2e7b845

2. What is a Banana Republic? Why the author is comparing India with a Banana Republic?

A “banana republic” is a country that depends of the agricultural sector; it is also very corrupt, unstable and have less power. It allows “the richer het richer and the poorer get poorer”.

The author compares India with a “banana republic” since in this country has high levels of corruption. Like the lecture show us “the media is the biggest banana peel in that republic”, having all the power in their hands.

3. Why is it problematic that in the business world “The Media” becomes a corporation?

Media is already very powerful and if it becomes a corporation they’ll become more powerful. It is a very problematic situation because they only take care of their interest, no matter if it damages others. So they will not worry about which information is the right one instead they will only publish the more interesting one, they will no follow any rules since the power they have and they didn’t take care if they damage others or if they give wrong information if it increases their profits.

[Untitled photograph of Media]. Retrived February 21, 2011, 

from: http://mashable.com/2008/03/19/ebooks-social-media/

4. In this situation, what behaviors are considered unethical for corporations, journalist and the state?

• Corporation: Decide what is going to be written and by who; control the media
• Journalist: Don’t give the right information or exaggerate about one
• State: Corruption showing favoritism by some corporations

5. What can The Media, Corporations and the States do in order to behave ethically and in the benefit of the people and not their own interest? Give at least 5 good ideas.

1. Transmit only the right information
2. Implement strong laws when a corporation enters a company
3. Being honesty in the work
4. State should act for the common welfare of the community
5. Information should be write by neutral people of different areas that are not involve in the issue

The Hindu (2010) The Republic on a banana peel. P. Sainath. Opinion. December 3, 2010. Retrieved from: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article927895.ece?homepage=true