Research paper

The use of virtual teams in modern organizations has increased with the increased proliferation of globalization and advances in information and communication technologies (Hunsaker & Hunsaker, 2008). Given the competitiveness of the business environment today, businesses are obliged to be more productive by improving both functional and structural efficiency. Collaboration is becoming increasingly influential in creating the knowledge and capacity that makes organizations more competitive. Many organizations have responded to the changes in their business environment by leveraging the benefits and potential of virtual teams (Malhotra, Majchrzak, & Rosen, 2007). Therefore, establishing how leaders of effective virtual teams establish trust, manage diversity, facilitate constructive communication processes, and empower all team members to achieve the goals of the team as well as those of the organization is a key focus area for organizational behavior research.

[Running Head: EXAMPLE HERE]

EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP STRATEGY FOR VIRTUAL TEAMS 2

Virtual teams offer many benefits over traditional teams. However, without a robust framework for team management and operations, virtual teams can pose adverse impacts on team efficiency, productivity, and – by extension – business performance. The increased cultural diversity of virtual teams has compounded this problem further; strategic leadership is critical to improving the efficiency of virtual teams and their value to the organization (Gazor, 2012). Therefore, the purpose of the proposed paper will be to examine the critical factors that undermine virtual team processes and performance, given the cultural diversity of these teams, to determine the most suitable leadership strategy for overcoming the challenges of virtual teams. The research question, therefore, is: what leadership strategy is most effective at overcoming the impact of cultural diversity in virtual teams?

References

Gazor, H. (2012). A literature review on challenges of virtual team's leadership. Journal of Sociological Research, 3(2), 134-145. Retrieved July 7, 2019, from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e8f8/3f1bbdf6ab44b90f7e7cdeeb05a9fccab7e4.pdf

Hunsaker, P. L., & Hunsaker, J. S. (2008). Virtual teams: A leader's guide. Team Performance Management, 14(1/2), 86-101. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/13527590810860221

Malhotra, A., Majchrzak, A., & Rosen, B. (2007). Leading virtual teams. The Academic of Management Perspectives, 21(1), 60-70. doi:https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.5465/AMP.2007.24286164