Microsoft Inc., the global leader in Information Technology, is a company which has extensively depended on the effectiveness of its "Virtual Team" (VT) for product development. Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office, arguably two of the most successful brands of 20th Century, are the end results of tremendous efforts from the VT created and managed by Microsoft Inc. VT is a phenomenon which is not at all exclusive to Microsoft. When we talk about a contemporary global economy powered by the information and communication technology, more specifically, when we talk about the knowledge economy, VTs are present and functioning in multiple number of industries, in different sizes and performing diverse tasks. At the outset, let us define a VT and understand its basic nature.
A VT is synonymous with a Globally Dispersed Team (GDT). Team members hardly meet each other. So, the essential feature of a VT is that members of the team will be functioning from different locations; it may be different cities in the same country, different countries or even different continents. As a consequence, team members work across different time zones. When VT members belong to the same organization, they may belong to different departments. Members of a VT may belong to different organizations altogether, when they are part of an inter-organizational network or collaboration, as prevalent in the global pharmaceutical industry. |
