<p>We are currently in an ongoing internationalisation period, demanding organizations to coordinate activities spanning geographically through time and traditional boundaries. Co-workers begin to work more frequently geographically dispersed from each other creating new challenges for leaders and organisations all over the world. The distance requires groups to use technology to cooperate, bringing both advantages and disadvantages. These changes demand organizations to go from traditional team formations to virtual. This leads us to our topic of research, investigating Marina Systems' experience with the previously stated work setting.What problems can be found at Marina Systems regarding their dispersed work setting and how can they be solved?The purpose of our research was to find the challenges and possibilities that Marina Systems perceive, as well as contributing with sustainable solutions for managing their distant teams. We conducted a qualitative case study with interviews. Different theories used in this case study regarded geographically dispersed teams, virtual teams, hybrid teams and distant leadership.The results found in the interviews showed that Marina Systems had some ofthe challenges and problems found in the theory chapter. They can become more successful in their planned expansion if they start considering their employees as members of a hybrid team and start adapting their leadership behavior to what such groups need. Areas of communication and a lacking reward system were some of the opportunities for improvement.</p>

We are currently in an ongoing internationalisation period, demanding organizations to coordinate activities spanning geographically through time and traditional boundaries. Co-workers begin to work more frequently geographically dispersed from each other creating new challenges for leaders and organisations all over the world. The distance requires groups to use technology to cooperate, bringing both advantages and disadvantages. These changes demand organizations to go from traditional team formations to virtual. This leads us to our topic of research, investigating Marina Systems' experience with the previously stated work setting.What problems can be found at Marina Systems regarding their dispersed work setting and how can they be solved?The purpose of our research was to find the challenges and possibilities that Marina Systems perceive, as well as contributing with sustainable solutions for managing their distant teams. We conducted a qualitative case study with interviews. Different theories used in this case study regarded geographically dispersed teams, virtual teams, hybrid teams and distant leadership.The results found in the interviews showed that Marina Systems had some ofthe challenges and problems found in the theory chapter. They can become more successful in their planned expansion if they start considering their employees as members of a hybrid team and start adapting their leadership behavior to what such groups need. Areas of communication and a lacking reward system were some of the opportunities for improvement.

In a world that is getting more and more globalized and dependent of the progress within the sphere of technology, there is a need for organizations to keep up with this development. Virtual Teams are a developing area, where there is a strive and a consistent desire to evolve and reach a higher level of efficiency. There is also a development when it comes to communication and is a consequence of a world that is increasingly globalized, and creating global competition is facilitated by a wider use of information and communication technology This leads to higher demands on the Virtual Leader in order to make sure that the team reaches its full potential, and being able to tackle the challenges that comes with leading an in a Virtual Environment. Since it is a subject that is still going through a phase of evolution, there is a knowledge gap in both a theoretical and practical view. The creation of Virtual Teams and the Virtual Leader encounters several aggravating challenges compared to traditionally collocated teams. There is a need for a clear definition of a Virtual Leader as well how to handle upcoming challenges. This study suggests a suitable definition for a Virtual Leader, where the result was drawn from a literature review and qualitative data from ten different companies and twenty respondents. A connection is drawn to the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation model (FIRO) made by Will Schutz in 1958. The main objectives of a leader are still the same, it is rather the context that has changed, and therefore an expansion of the model is presented. This reinforces the purpose of this study which is to investigate how a Virtual Leader can overcome the aforementioned challenges and ensure that everyone in the team are heading in the same direction.

Introduktion: Pandemin och dess konsekvenser innebar flera år av utmaningar på alla nivåer i samhället. Det var särskilt utmanande för ledare att styra sin organisation i rätt riktning då framtiden var oviss och förändringen var oundviklig. Ledarskap påverkas av flera faktorer, varav en avgörande faktor är kontexten. Tidigare forskning framhåller betydelsen av kontexten för att bestämma vilken ledarskapsstil som fungerar bäst. Coronapandemin skulle kunna anses utgöra en sådan kontext där ledare snabbt behövde anpassa sig för att möta de nya kraven. Coronapandemin medförde även utmaningar för ledare att hantera medarbetares välmående. Vår studies relevans bekräftas av tidigare forskning, vilka framhåller behovet av mer forskning för att förstå distansens påverkan på ledarskapet. Vidare blir vår studie särskilt relevant eftersom det är få studier gjorda i Sverige, vilket gör det intressant att undersöka landets unika strategi och dess effekter på ledarskapet i denna kontext. Tidigare forskning framhåller att betydelsen av att förstå effektivt ledarskap har ökat under coronapandemin, och att det är viktigt att ompröva och utveckla befintliga ledarskapsteorier med tanke på de kontinuerliga förändringarna i dagens samhälle.   Syfte: Vår studies syfte är att bidra till ökad förståelse för hur svenska ledare, till följd av införandet av restriktionen gällande att arbeta hemifrån, har anpassat sin ledarskapsstil i en extraordinär situation.   Teoretisk referensram: Den teoretiska referensramen bygger på tidigare studier och teorier om psykosocial arbetsmiljö samt ledarskapsstilarna: transaktionellt-, transformativt- och situationsanpassat ledarskap som vi anser är relevanta för vår studie. Vidare ges även en introduktion till området organisation och distansteorierna presenteras.   Metod: Vår studie genomförs med ett abduktivt angreppssätt och en kvalitativ forskningsmetod. Ett målinriktat urval används för att finna respondenter som uppfyller förutbestämda kriterier. Data från sju respondenter samlas in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer som sedan transkriberas. Avslutningsvis analyseras insamlad data med hjälp av en tematisk analys.   Slutsats: Coronapandemin verkar inte medfört att grunden i ledarnas ledarskap har förändrats i någon större utsträckning. Coronapandemin har dock ställt helt andra krav på ledarna under distansarbetet som i större utsträckning behövt ta hänsyn till medarbetarnas välmående och ta mer ansvar för de sociala delarna som medarbetarna har gått miste om till följd av distansarbetet. I motsats till tidigare forskning, fann vi att tilliten inte blev lidande till följd av distansarbetet. Resultatet indikerade även att respondenterna tidigare erfarenhet av att leda på distans och bättre digitala förutsättningar hade en påverkan på hur smidigt omställningen till att arbeta på distans har kunnat ske.