CASE PROBLEM: VERONICA STRUGGLES AS A VIRTUAL WORER

Veronica, a toy-design specialist, has been assigned to a virtual team in a large toy company. Her group is re-sponsible for developing new ideas for toys with a high probability of success in an intensely competitive field. The virtual team includes representatives from several different regions of the United States, and one represen-tative from British Vancouver, Canada. The head of mer-chandising believes that people from different regions might have different slants on what type of toy would have the most appeal.Product development specialist Karl was at first re-luctant to have Veronica assigned to the team. In his words, “Veronica has always been kind of a lone wolf, making me wonder if she is suited for the high level of collaboration we need on our team.” When Karl con-fronted Veronica about this problem, she assured him that she did like to work independently but that she also enjoyed being part of a team.Two weeks after the team was formed, team member Bev sent all the members an e-mail attachment describing a battery-operated toy dragon whose eyes would flash while he walked. Bev received back generally favorable reactions from the other four members plus Karl within a few days. Seven days later, Veronica sent a text message to the group that stated, “Not a monster idea. Try again.”A week later, team member Sanjeet circulated an idea for a small toy fishing rod that came with a can of plas-tic slimy worms. Veronica called Sanjeet from her boy-friend’s phone, leaving the brief message, “My phone and computer are down. I will get back to you on your mundane idea later.”Sensing that perhaps Veronica was not contributing as much to the team as she could, Karl sent her a text mes-sage asking her how she was enjoying being a member of the design team. Veronica sent back a text message to Karl three days later that said, “A virtual team is only as good as its weakest link. And I’ve found a few weak links.”

Case Questions  

1. How do you recommend Karl, and perhaps the other team members, deal with Veronica to make her a more cooperative team member?

2. What do you recommend that Veronica say to Karl about enjoying being a member of the virtual toy-design team?

3. What does this case illustrate about the possible problems within a virtual team?