Assignment

Background

Required Material

A good place to start is this interactive tutorial:

Group behavior and teams. (2014). Pearson Learning Solutions. New York, NY.

After reviewing the tutorial, dig deeper into this topic with the following readings. Important concepts to focus on in the readings include Tuckman's five stages of group development, group cohesiveness, and groupthink:

Aswathappa, K. (2008). Chapter 8: Group dynamics. Organisational Behavior. Global Media, Mumbai [Ebrary] Available in Trident Online Library (type Aswathappa Organisational Behavior in the Summon search box).

Nair, S. R. (2010). Chapter 11: Groups and Dynamics. Organisational Behavior. Global Media, Mumbai, pp. 271-298. Available from Trident Online Library (search Nair Organisational Behavior in the Summon search box).

Wellington, P. (2012). Chapter 2: Back to basics-the fundamentals of working in teams. Managing Successful Teams. Kogan Page Ltd. London, (includes Tuckman's four stages, pgs. 14-17). Available in Trident Online Library (type Wellington Managing Successful Teams in the Summon search box).

Required Case Assignment Reading

Garfoot, A. (2003). The reality of virtual teams. IT Training. 32-34. [ProQuest]. Available in Trident Online Library (type Garfoot The reality of virtual teams in the Summon search box).

Rigby, R. (2013). How best to manage a virtual team. The Financial Times [ProQuest]. Available in Trident Online Library (type Rigby How best to manage a virtual team in the Summon search box).

Sadri, G., & Condia, J. (2012). Managing the virtual world. Industrial Management. 54(1), 21-25. [ProQuest]. Available in Trident Online Library (type Sadri Managing the virtual world in the Summon search box).

Assignment Overview

A rapidly growing trend in the business world is the growth of virtual teams. Some companies are allowing teleworking, which means that more and more workers have to coordinate their activities with other team members through the phone or Internet. Even among workers who are working from their office, more and more companies are having employees work in teams with employees who work at other locations who they may or may not have ever met in person. New technologies have been developed to help facilitate virtual teamwork, but challenges still remain.

Review the background materials and also do some research on virtual teams. Here are a few articles on virtual teams to get you started:
Garfoot, A. (May 2003). The reality of virtual teams. IT Training, 32-34. [ProQuest]

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

Rigby, R. (2013). How best to manage a virtual team. The Financial Times [ProQuest]

Case Assignment

When you are finished with your research, integrate what you learned in general about group dynamics in the background materials with more specific information you learned about virtual teams. Write a 4- to 5-page paper addressing the following issues:

1. How do you think the five stages of group development (forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning) will be different for virtual teams as compared to traditional teams? Discuss in regard to all five stages of group development as covered in Nair (2010) and Aswathappa (2010).

2. Do you think virtual teams will be more or less cohesive than traditional teams? Include a discussion of the issue of groupthink in your discussion, and use Nair (2010) and Aswathappa (2010) as your guide to the concepts of group cohesiveness and groupthink.

3. Overall, do you think virtual teams will perform better or worse than traditional teams? Explain your answer with references to the background readings.

Assignment Expectations

• Answer the assignment questions directly

• Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, don't go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.

• Make sure to use reliable and credible sources as your references. Articles published in established newspapers or business journals/magazines are preferred. If you find articles on the internet, make sure it is from a credible source.