This thesis contemplates virtual teams, in particular the role of a leader in them. In the theoretical part of the thesis I explore and describe specific characteristics of virtual teams that distinguish them from the traditional teamwork paradigm, benefits and risks stemming from their use in the business world and policies and principles of leadership of different types of virtual teams that help achieve their maximum efficiency. In the practical portion of the thesis I demonstrate the negative effects of neglecting those principles by studying an example of a real, failed virtual team.

The holodeck in Star Trek is a device that creates a virtual, fictional reality that is virtually indistinguishable from actual reality. The user experiences an extremely high degree of immersion. The article explains what consequences arise when the boundaries between reality and fiction become blurred and the user can no longer distinguish between the two worlds.

Musical instruments are not static, unchanging objects. They are, instead, things that materially evolve in symmetry with human practices. Alterations to an instrument's design often attend to its ergonomic or expressive capacity, but sometimes an innovator causes an entirely new instrument to arise. One such instrument is the Chapman Stick. This instrument's history is closely intertwined with global currents that have evolved into virtual, online scenes. Virtuality obfuscates embodiment, but the Stick's world, like any instrument's, is optimally related in intercorporeal exchanges. Stickists circumvent real and virtual obstacles to engage the Stick world. Using an organology informed by the work of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, this study examines how the Chapman Stick, as a material "thing," speaks in and through a virtual, representational environment.

This thesis is about concept of time in work of french philosopher Gilles Deleuze. First of all is nescessery to introduce reader with philosophy of Henri Bergson and Deleuze's interpretation of Bergon's work and how Deleuze uses it for demonstration of his own thoughs. After Bergson, there is finally an art, Marcel Proust and his novel In Search of Lost Time, which is subject of Deleuze's early work. Philosopher's original interpretation of proustian time is introduced in context of other intepretations of his time and also in the context in relation to philosophy of Bergson. The second half of thesis talks about modern film, which was Deleuze's interest through 1980s. This thesis doesn't try to make any brave interpretations of Deleuze's work, but does try to introduce a problém of time in his work, The concept of time is something which is not a big thing in Deleuze's philosophy, but i tis something what is there for a whole time because of Henri Bergson's influence.

The increasingly virtualized work life, brought on by increased demand on flexibility and work- life balance as well as technological development, has changed the way we work. At the same time the need for organizations to be creative in order to compete on the expanding market has grown. This is a fact that increases the need for groups to be creative through collaboration. Hence, this study investigates how collaborative creativity can be created in Mobile Multi-Locational Work Systems, from a managerial point of view. The existing theoretical body of knowledge on collaborative creativity and virtual structures, such as Mobile Multi-Locational Work Systems, points to communication as an area of key importance. When further investigating the factor of communication, two sub-areas were identified; Social Factors and Coordination. Moreover the role of leadership in collaborative creativity implies that managers have an important role in creating conditions for collaborative creativity. In order to investigate how collaborative creativity can be stimulated in Mobile Multi-Locational Work Systems, managerial perceptions of work within such a system were collected through interviews at our case company, Microsoft AB. The organization had implemented a Mobile Multi- Locational Work Systems called the New World of Work, allowing employees to work flexibly. Results imply that Mobile Multi-Locational Work Systems affect conditions for collaborative creativity in both stimulating and inhibiting manners. The system implementation appears to increase group external communication across organizational boundaries. It likely increases the amount of ideas and knowledge available, which is positive for collaborative creativity. However, handling factors related to communication, social factors and work coordination within work groups appears to be critical in facilitating collaborative creativity as they appear to be affected by the Mobile Multi-Locational Work System implementation. Results indicate that if managers allows freedom with responsibility, provides a clear framework, creates forums for social and work interaction, coaches their employees and acts as role models it is likely that they will stimulate collaborative creativity in their team.

Background: The construction industry is usually regarded as a traditional sector, owing to its specificities, within which the implementation of advanced technology and online work procedures is difficult and consequently, virtuality is perceived as detrimental to team performance. However, the COVID-19 outbreak has forced the whole sector to a rapid transition to remote working.  Objectives: The main purpose of this study is to understand how communication and collaborative online technologies, along with different leadership and managerial skills, influence virtual hybrid team performance within the construction industry. In addition, the analysis is intended to validate the conclusions of previous studies on factors impacting hybrid team effectiveness in construction projects.  Methodology: The research process has been carried out through quantitative methods and the use of an online survey that has obtained more than 300 responses from engineers and architects. The data have been statistically analyzed through Structural Equation Model (SEM) following a Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach. Finally, a short number of direct questions have been included in the questionnaire, to contrast the results and verify their validity.  Results: First, the analysis has not supported that virtuality is detrimental to team performance. Second, technology has been confirmed as a decisive factor to ensure leadership effectiveness in virtual environments. Third, the study demonstrates that technology and leadership act as moderators between virtuality and team performance when applied together. Fourth, the influence on team performance is more positive for conferencing and collaborative tools, followed by project management and BIM platforms, and basic communication tools. Fifth, all four internal leadership roles are important to achieve team performance; the mentor and facilitator roles are deemed more influential, followed by the coordinator role, and finally, the monitor role. Last, the usage of adequate technologies and effective leadership impacts more decisively on quality and client satisfaction.  Conclusions: The main conclusion is the realization that virtuality is less influential to team performance than expected. Another interesting finding is the general agreement on the feasibility of a higher amount of remote work which opens the door to new organizational procedures. The analysis has also shown that, to date, the poor implementation of BIM platforms has not allowed virtual hybrid teams to take advantage of this technology. Further, future construction leaders will require special training to achieve high performance in virtual environments. Finally, the search for quality in the sector, as a prerequisite for profitability, demands special care be taken in any decision regarding technology and leadership.  Recommendations for future research: A similar study following qualitative methods would be of interest to validate the results of the analysis. Likewise, the repetition of the study, once the COVID-19 pandemic has finished, will allow future researchers to verify its conclusions under ‘normal’ circumstances. Finally, the generalization of the results can be achieved by enlarging the study to other countries and continents, and also, to other groups of professionals that take part in construction projects.

Design is all about visuals, or that is what I have found out during this thesis, from the process materials to the outcome our main entry point to any problem is how will we solve it visually so it’s understandable for the general user. This aspect is problematic in itself due to the fact that we, as humans, understand the world and the things around using all our senses continuously, even though we can forget as visuals are so overpowering. There is a huge opportunity area in exploring our other senses and bringing them back to technology, and this can be seen in works in the past like Tangible Interactions [1] or Natural User Interfaces [2]. But in this moment in time, where all these new technologies like VR/AR and IoT are about to enter our lives and change them forever, this topic is more important than ever. We have already seen what happens when we turn humans into mere machines with some fingers as interactive inputs, and barely any senses to process all the information given to us. Now that these technologies are still young and malleable, we can direct the future to where we want it instead of being guided by the technology itself. To do this we need to reimagine the design process, not reinvent the wheel, but add experts which we currently leave behind and I argue are key to unlock these technologies, experts not only of the technological side of things but on the human side too, like physiotherapists and dancers. Add also people who we never think about when we think of VR like visually impaired users, which could make these technologies inclusive since early on, instead of as an afterthought like we usually do. Not only people, but we also need to add new materials to understand how we use our senses and explore ways that we can understand and explore them differently; like bodystorming and improv theatre because when things aren’t visual, how do you sketch it? A sketch turns into a video about movement. The end result provides a wide breadth of examples of the types of innovations that can come out of using these new design materials, and to open new frontiers. From a VR game with no visuals whatsoever to an AR location based story game, to a home sized multimodal operating system containing several different apps controlled through physical movement. The examples open up the space instead of closing into a single solution. This is just the tip of the iceberg, a hope that others will be inspired by it and continue with this journey that has just started, to guide the future into one that is more technological and at the same time more human than ever before. What we know is that VR does not equate Visual Reality.

This thesis explores the use of virtual reality as a prototyping tool for designpractitioners to utilize when designing artifacts situated in physical places.Methods used in the study are qualitative and derive from the field ofinteraction design. The topic is explored through literature review on theattributes of virtual reality and sense of place, presented in the theorychapter, and is connected to the empirical research throughout the designprocess chapter. The theories presented strongly indicate that places affecthuman behavior, making them a substantial part of the user experience wheninteracting with designed artifacts in specific locations, which is echoedthough the target audience who voice the need to prototype design conceptsin the context of place. The study culminates in two kinds of virtual realityprototypes, dubbed contextual prototypes, that are suggested to havedifferent use cases depending on what the purpose for prototyping is.

The thesis addresses the role of logistic concept in a virtual organization. Theory of virtual organization was complemented by a definition of virtuality and a model of virtual organization was created. Two measurable properties of virtual organizations are used for construction of a 2x2 matrix of centralization – integration giving thus clear view of virtual organizations taxonomy. Duality of hierarchic dimension of network structure and layers of the virtual dimension led to a comprehensive description of virtual enterprises with the aid of newly created 3x3 matrix of virtual layer – hierarchy level. Within this framework are interpreted processes in virtual organization during virtual enterprise’s lifecycle. Dynamic restructuring and stability issues are explained with the aid of the matrixes. A consistent approach of presented virtual organization’s theory gives interpretation of emerging logistic concept. The use and application potential of presented theory is exemplified in development of RFID implementation method for virtual organizations. Attention is paid to RFID costs and benefits analysis under condition of virtual organizing.

Social loafing is a phenomenon where individuals exert less effort in a group than when working alone. Social loafing has been widely examined through experimental studies, primarily conducted on face-to-face teams. The recent COVID-19 pandemic changed the working patterns around the world, increasing the amount of remote work in our society. This shift in working patterns resurfaces social loafing as an important area of research. Understanding the relationships between social loafing and its factors is important for increasing individual team members' efforts. This bachelor’s thesis aims to fill knowledge gaps by investigating the relationships between social loafing and the key factors explaining it. This research draws upon social identity and media richness theory to explain the relationships between individuals and groups and the role of communication mediums. Based on previous literature, we developed hypotheses concerning the effects of team size, cohesion, anonymity, and virtuality on social loafing. The findings reveal a significant correlation between team size, cohesion, and social loafing. Anonymity and virtuality showed no statistical significance with social loafing. Overall, the findings contribute to our understanding of key factors influencing social loafing. Future research is needed to explore the impact of these factors as well as additional factors that may contribute to the phenomenon that this study did not acknowledge. / Social medåkning är ett fenomen som karaktäriseras av att individer lägger ner mindre ansträngning när de arbetar i grupp än när de arbetar på egen hand. Social medåkning har studerats noggrant genom experimentella studier, främst på grupper som träffas fysiskt. Den senaste Covid-19-pandemin tiden förändrade arbetsmönstren runt i världen, vilket ökade mängden distansarbete i samhället. Distansarbete kan vara i sin tur att leda till social loafing genom att minska motivation och engagemang. Det är viktigt att förstå relationerna mellan social medåkning och dess faktorer för att öka prestationen hos gruppmedlemmar. Forskningen bygger på teorierna om “social identity” och “media richness” för att förklara relationerna mellan individer och grupper samt rollen hos kommunikationsmedier. Vi har utvecklat hypoteser om effekterna av gruppstorlek, sammanhållning, anonymitet och virtualitet baserade på tidigare litteratur. Detta kandidatarbete syftar till att undersöka relationerna mellan social medåkning och dess faktorer såsom gruppstorlek, sammanhållning, anonymitet och virtualitet för att förbättra prestationen i grupparbete. Resultaten visade på en signifikant korrelation mellan gruppstorlek, sammanhållning och social medåkning. Dessutom finns en signifikant korrelation mellan anonymitet och sammanhållning. Sammanfattningsvis bidrar forskningen till en ökad förståelse för de viktigaste faktorerna som påverkar social medåkning. Resultaten betonade vikten av gruppstorlek och sammanhållning, vilket pekar på att anonymitet och virtualitet kan ha begränsad effekt. Framtida forskning bör utforska inverkan av dessa faktorer samt ytterligare faktorer som kan bidra till fenomenet som denna studie ännu inte har uppmärksammat.