OTMT 681 Leading Cross Cultural and Virtual Teams (4)

In today’s complex global business environment, cross cultural and virtual teams are replacing many face to face working groups. Coworkers are no longer across the hall, they are on the other side of the city, the country or the world. Companies are turning more to cross cultural and virtual teams and management as the world becomes more virtually connected. This course explores cultural influences on organizations and on the people working within them as well as communication processes in virtual organizations and how to build, manage, and lead virtual teams across cultures. The class will also focus on the impact of distance and diversity on processes and outcomes as well as examine culturally diverse practices in a global environment. Issues relating to virtual management such as team building, defusing conflict, building networks and trust, and developing organizational identification among multi-cultural workforces will also be points of focus. Finally, with an emphasis on learning methods for scanning the cultural assumptions of groups; bringing personally held cultural assumptions to consciousness; gaining exposure to the cultures of a variety of different regions, nations, and groups while facilitating communication and cooperation across cross cultural and virtual teams, personal and managerial skills are developed to enhance organizational performance.

Grading Basis: Graded