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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/267248 |
| Creators | Ee, Cynthia Beng Guat. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | copyright under review |
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