Building cultural competencies through global virtual teams: Challenges, opportunities, and best practices of pragmatic learning

• Main Author: Zakaria, Norhayati
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: HD28 Management. Industrial Management
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/16991/1/16.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/16991/

This paper presents a preliminary understanding of cross-cultural challenges and synergistic experiences of multicultural students engaged in global virtual teams (GVTs).In this case study, we introduced the GVT structure as a novel learning platform which utilized computer mediated communication (CMC) tools as part of its virtual-based learning. We administered the case study with thirty students (n=30) in the United of Emirates (UAE) who engaged in GVTs across the globe-encompassing 26 universities and 22 countries.Qualitative data was collected in the form of documents - reflective reports of the students' experiential learning over a ten-week period.We content analyzed the reports based on the thematic analysis with two distinctive categories--cultural challenges and cultural synergies based on the first seven (7)-weeks of the experiential learning process.In this study we found that students experienced challenges such as managing technical difficulty, language barriers, deteriorating motivations, geographical distance, time differences, noncommitted and unresponsive attitude. On the other hand, students also experienced synergies from the GVTs such as strong relationships and continued friendships, formation of emergent leadership, learned diverse managerial styles and competencies skills, varied use of varied CMC tools, and international exposure to diverse cultures without the need to travel abroad.