Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2002. / Field problem. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Washington State University. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2011. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-133). Also available on the World Wide Web.

M.Comm. / The discipline of management, denoting the concepts of management and leadership, has been deliberated in boundless number of books, magazines and journals over the years. Some views are that there is a distinction between management and leaders, whilst others vehemently argue that there is no difference between the two terms, and use them synonymously. Leadership is the nucleus of all organisations. Moreover, sustained performance, competitive advantage and success, depends both on effective leadership, as well as committed followers.The literature study undertaken discovered writings confirming the distinctions between the terms groups and teams: groups may fall inside or outside the boundaries of an organisation, such as social groups, whereas teams (in their various forms) are generally referred to in the context of "working teams" in an organisation. Teams may be formed from groups, subsequent to their maturity. In many instances, the usage of the terms "groups" and "teams", are also used interchangeably.

M.Phil. / This dissertation provides a study of Virtual Teams and possible ways of predicting their effectiveness. The motivation for carrying out this study was to discover if there was a way of quantifying why Virtual Teams used in a particular company was proving to be very effective. A brief literature study of the topic of Virtual Teams and Virtual Team communication is given, as well as an overview of different Communication Models. A case study is made of the particular company (called DevCo Software Development as a pseudonym for the sake of confidentiality). The case study presents the results of two online surveys. One survey sent to all the employees within the Labs Department and another sent to only the Virtual Team members of a specific Virtual Team within the Labs Department. The case study concludes with an analysis of the company culture and the effect it appears to have on the way the employees use technology and the effect of this on Virtual Team success.

Virtual collaboration-the act of working together across boundaries of space, time, and organization, aided by technology-has become increasingly commonplace in recent years. Doing so, however, presents a number of challenges to those involved. One of these is that because of a lack of experience in collaborating through computer-based collaboration systems, there is little knowledge on how to carry out collaboration virtually. Another is that it is not easy for those not directly involved in the collaboration to know what is, and has been, 'going on' during virtual collaboration. This thesis suggests that both of these challenges can be addressed with the same approach, namely by referring to observations of virtual collaboration. The problem then is how such observations of virtual collaboration can be obtained without requiring those involved in it to document their own actions. To address this problem is the objective of this thesis. The approach proposed here involves three elements: firstly, the collection of data about virtual collaboration; secondly, the modeling of this data; and thirdly, the derivation of increasingly abstract, larger-scale representations of virtual collaboration from this data. These representations are termed patterns of virtual collaboration, which are abstract descriptions of activities of virtual collaboration. A multi-layered conceptual model of information, the Information Pyramid of Virtual Collaboration, is proposed, providing different views of information related to virtual collaboration, at different levels of abstraction. The thesis then suggests how from a given body of data, patterns of virtual collaboration at a corresponding level of the Information Pyramid can be extracted, and how from collections of such patterns more abstract patterns of larger-scale activity can be derived, providing the observations of virtual collaboration sought. In considering how the extraction of patterns of virtual collaboration fits into the larger context of the conception, design, and use of collaboration systems, a Framework for Pattern Extraction and Feedback is proposed. This framework introduces the notion of collaboration memory, a type of organizational memory that contains records of collaborative activity. Moreover, the framework suggests how extracted patterns of virtual collaboration feed back into both ongoing development and use of collaboration systems. Finally, the modeling and extraction of patterns of virtual collaboration is illustrated in a case study involving the LIVENET collaboration system.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 229-242). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Supervisor: Sirkka Jarvenpaa. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.

Thesis (M.S. in Modeling, Virtual Environments, and Simulation)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Rudolph P. Darken, Susan G. Hutchins. Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-168). Also available online.

The advent of collaborative technologies has enabled people to work together apart. This has brought about the formation of virtual teams where members, usually from different geographies, come together to work on a common objective. Virtual teams encounter similar teaming issues as intact teams, but face additional challenges which include working with communication technologies and with teammates they might never meet. The nature of virtual work requires team members to manage ambiguity, work independently, adopt technology and work in a less structured environment. / The virtual work dimensions can be further mapped to Hofstede's cultural dimensions of Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), Individualism (IDV), Power Dimension Index (PDI) and Masculinity (MAS). Those working in virtual teams should display a lower UAI working with ambiguity, higher IDV as they need to work independently, lower PDI as they work in a less structured environment and higher MAS as they work around systems and technologies. / Organizations can render support to facilitate virtual teaming, and encourage the growth of virtual teams. The organization can provide, among others, training for members to improve virtual teaming, remuneration such as reward and recognition and/or compensation and benefits, infrastructure support such as upgrade of hardware and software, work life balance programs like including virtual team members in company functions and allowing flexible work hours and finally, creating a positive communication environment. / This paper seeks to explore the virtual work dimensions and satisfaction among virtual team members in Malaysia, and the types of support organizations can provide to enhance virtual teaming. The focus will be on organization's support, team members' virtual status, communication channels used and virtual work satisfaction measurement. The need for this research is apparent as Malaysia progresses into the IT era, and would require a new competitive edge to compete for foreign investment and develop competencies for its workforce. Furthermore, similar research into this area of study is lacking. / The exploratory research findings show that only one of three hypotheses was accepted. The first hypothesis reveals that by providing infrastructure support, the organization is able to increase technology adoption. The second and third hypotheses are rejected. For Hypothesis 2, higher virtual status when interacting with work life balance does not have a positive impact on virtual work satisfaction. In fact, the findings reveal that virtual status does not impact work life balance or any of the organization support dimensions. For Hypothesis 3, face-to-face interaction when interacting with training and development does not have a positive impact on virtual work satisfaction. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2006.