Nowadays modern organizations move in an incredible speed and have to be flexible and adaptable to constantly changing circumstances. Global Virtual Teams (GVTs) have been proved to be one of the means to handle this challenge. While it is said that GVTs bestow an organization with flexibility and enhanced creativity, research proves that the managing of these teams is quite challenging. The modern work stress factor time pressure is said to be omnipresent in nowadays organizations and therefore undoubtedly connected to this. However time pressure within teams has until now been somewhat “under-researched”. This study therefore aims to explore how time pressure is related to the main challenges of GVTs. The qualitative research is based on empirical data collected through 15 interviews with students who participated in a global virtual competition. The main findings show that time pressure affects GVTs and their functioning on several dimensions as well as the challenges connected to the teams can also cause time pressure.

Research Aim: The aim of this study is to identify specific challenges impeding effective communication in a Global Virtual Team (GVT) operating in the energy sector. Research Method: This study uses a qualitative method, focusing on a single case study at the energy company Uniper. Data was obtained through 21 semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Results: Despite considerable developments in Information Communication Technology (ICT) over the last three decades, GVT still faces multiple communication challenges. Geographically dispersed teams are struggling to create team coherence and team efficiency. GVT needs additional attention from both corporations and academics in order for companies to successfully implement and reap the benefits of their virtual operations. Research limitations: A multiple case study approach which compares several corporations would be of interest. By extending the research scope, communication challenges can be better understood and awareness of how obstacles can be addressed will be improved. Practical implications: The presented findings acknowledge the existing challenges facing teams which operate in a virtual setting. This will allow corporations to be more aware of GVT challenges whilst minimizing or eliminating existing GVT challenges. Originality: This research aims to complement existing research focusing on extending knowledge about still existing GVT communication challenges.

Cette thèse explore la façon dont les managers suscitent l’engagement des membres au sein d’équipes ouvertes, internationales et virtuelles. Ce type d’équipe, qu’on nomme une équipe « ouverte » est caractérisée par : des interactions régulières entre les membres, pour atteindre des objectifs organisationnels spécifiques ; une appartenance floue et instable des membres ; une « pluri-appartenance » des membres : chaque membre est simultanément impliqué dans plusieurs équipes ; des managers disposant d’une responsabilité formelle, sans pour autant disposer d’une autorité formelle. Les équipes ouvertes sont un phénomène fréquent dans les organisations commerciales internationales et les entreprises de conseil, mais peu de recherches s’y sont encore intéressées. Mobilisant la théorie enracinée, cette recherche étudie les équipes ouvertes d’une grande entreprise multinationale. Sur une période de deux ans, 70 entretiens formels ont été conduits auprès de 66 employés et 28 jours d’observation ont été réalisés dans neuf pays. Cette étude enrichit la littérature sur les équipes du concept d’équipe ouverte et apporte des compléments à trois cadres théoriques : la théorie de l’engagement, du « boundary spanning » et du leadership fonctionnel. Elle prolonge la théorie de l’engagement de Kahn, en montrant comment les leaders améliorent les conditions psychologiques de l’engagement en donnant du sens et en agissant sur le sentiment de sécurité psychologique. La recherche enrichit le concept de « boundary work » en identifiant de manière empirique et théorique deux pratiques de « boundary spanning » supplémentaires : la création de frontières et la coordination des frontières. L’étude des équipes ouvertes a fait émerger six fonctions additionnelles à la théorie du leadership fonctionnel et montré que six autres fonctions sont modifiées du fait de la structure même de ces équipes ouvertes. / The objective of this empirical study is to explore how managers engage team members in global virtual ‘open’ teams. Open teams are a collection of individuals with varying levels of interdependence, who contribute toward shared organizational objectives, who are seen by others as an intact social entity within one or more larger systems, whose membership is neither bounded nor stable, and whose members participate in multi-team systems, and whose managers have formal responsibility for group outcomes but little to no formal authority. Open teams are a phenomenon found in multinationals and large consulting firms, but little research is focused on this type of team. Using grounded theory, this research examines the open teams at a large multinational. Over a period of two years, 70 formal interviews with 66 employees were conducted and 28 days of observations in nine countries were logged. The study introduces the concept of ‘open team’ and contributes to three theoretical frameworks: engagement theory, boundary spanning theory and functional leadership theory. It extends Kahn’s theory of engagement by showing how leaders influence meaningfulness and psychological safety to improve the psychological conditions for engagement. In boundary spanning theory, the boundary work concept is extended by providing empirical evidence for boundary coordination and boundary creation as well as introducing two new boundary spanning practices. In function leadership theory, six leadership functions emerge from the study of open teams and show how another six changed due to the open team structure.

I denna socialpsykologiska uppsats har jag undersökt effektiviteten inom globala virtuella team. Ämnet är relevant att studera då dagens föränderliga arbetsvillkor ställer höga krav på anställningsbarhet och globala virtuella team är ett ökande arbetssätt. Detta arbetssätt är komplext och ställer höga krav på teammedlemmar. För att undersöka detta har en kvalitativ studie genomförts och grundande teori använts som metodval. Datamaterialet samlades in genom intervjuer som grundligt analyserats och genererat följande kategorier: Frihet under ansvar, Individuellt ansvar, När en arbetsdag börjar på måndagsmorgon och slutar på fredagskväll, Kommunikation genom digitala kanaler, Anta aldrig – fråga alltid, och Kulturella utmaningar. Resultatet visar att det är ett stort individuellt ansvar att vara del av ett globalt virtuellt team. Det individuella ansvaret innefattar att självständigt planera, utföra och redovisa ett resultat, att hålla tät kommunikation med sitt team, att hantera språkliga och kulturella barriärer, samarbeta med kunder som är globalt utspridda, samt att ansvara för att teknisk utrustning fungerar. Allt detta sker digitalt och i sociala avskildhet från sitt team. Detta individuella ansvar kan likställas med att driva ett eget företag. Nyckelord: Grundande teori, globalt virtuellt team, effektivitet, individuellt ansvar, frihet under ansvar / Abstract This social psychology paper aims to clarify the effectiveness of global virtual teams. The subject is relevant for study as todays ever changing work requirements raises the bar for employability and global virtual teams is growing way of working. This work force requirement is complex and sets a high standard on the team members. The results are based on a qualitative study with grounded theory as the method of choice. The data collection was made through interviews that were thoroughly analyzed and yielded the following categories: Freedom with responsibility, Individual responsibility, The workday starts on Monday morning and ends on Friday evening, Communication through digital channels, never assume – always ask, and cultural challenges. The overarching results show that there is a large individual responsibility required to be part of a global virtual team. The individual responsibility entails independent planning, execute, and render results, keep constant communication with the team, navigate language and cultural barriers, engage with a global customer base, and take responsibility that the technical equipment is functional. All of this happens digitally and in social seclusion from the team. The individual responsibility can be compared to that of running your own business. Key words: Grounding theory, global virtual team, efficiency, individual reasonability, freedom with responsibility

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The 'flattening of the world', using Thomas Friedman's phraseology, is driving corporations to increasingly use collaborative engineering processes and global teams to operate on a global scale. Globalization of the traditional university engineering curriculum is necessary to help students prepare to work in a global environment. More scalable and economically sustainable program types are needed to enable the majority of students to obtain a globalized education. The purpose of this research was to determine how effectively a global team- and project-based computer aided engineering course provided learning opportunities that enabled students to develop elements of global competence in comparison to existing engineering study abroad programs. To accomplish this, research was necessary to identify, aggregate, and validate a comprehensive set of global competencies for engineering students. From a review of the literature and subsequent analysis, a set of twenty-three global competencies with an associated conceptual model was developed to group the competencies by contextual topics. Two surveys were then developed and distributed separately to academic and industry professionals, each of which groups largely confirmed that it was important for engineering students to develop these global competencies. Next, the traditional ME 471 class was restructured into a Global ME 471 course. A pilot program was conducted from which lessons learned were incorporated into the global course. Selected global competencies were included as new learning outcomes. Course learning materials, labs, and lectures were also updated to reflect the new course emphasis. A survey was developed to be sent to BYU engineering study abroad students and the Global ME 471 course during 2010. A statistical analysis of responses was used to identify significant differences between the response groups. In addition to the global competencies which were identified and validated, global collaborative project-based courses such as Global ME 471 were shown to be effective in enabling students to learn and develop selected global competencies. Study abroad programs and the Global ME 471 course were seen both to be complementary in their emphasis and supportive of global engineering. In addition, global collaborative project-based courses were shown to play an important part of a globalized engineering curriculum.