Cultural diversity in the perception of time. Implications for global virtual teams

Seminar Paper , 2016 , 37 Pages , Grade: 2,0

Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance

This thesis aims at identifying dimensions in the individual’s perception of time that are influenced by some dimensions of national cultures. Further, implications of cultural differences in these time perception dimensions for GVTs and the temporal coordination in GVTs should be identified. Additionally, the influence of ICT on the internal team processes and the team members’ surrounding environment is assessed. Therefore, the current state of the literature with regards to GVTs, its relevance and problems as well as with regards to temporal coordination is reviewed. Moreover, time perception dimensions are discovered in the actual research, combined with existing cultural dimensions and applied on GVTs.

The continuous progress in the development of modern information and communication technology (ICT) and the need for flexible responses to globalized markets trigger companies to frequently build global virtual teams (GVT). Most of the teams that are assembled in companies work at least to some extend virtually. The team members of a GVT are geographically and timely dispersed and collaborate through the use of ICT. Compared to face-to-face teams, these GVTs face several additional challenges, some of which are caused by the cultural diversity of GVTs and the associated differences in the perception of time. Although much effort was spent in the past to synchronize the clock time and calendars globally, the meaning of time is perceived differently across national cultures.

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Abbreviations

1 Introduction

2 Challenges of diversity for global virtual teams
2.1 Relevance for today’s organizations
2.2 Diversity expressed with national cultures
2.3 Dimensions of virtual collaboration
2.4 Virtual gap and virtual edge

3 The need for temporal coordination for effective teamwork

4 Cultural diversity in the perception of time
4.1 Time perception as cultural core value
4.2 Being on time: meaning across cultures
4.3 Structure of time: monochronic and polychronic time
4.4 Time orientation: past, present and future

5 The role of technology in global virtual teams
5.1 Importance of information and communication technology selection
5.2 Integration and isolation through technology
5.3 Coordination and pace making through technology

6 Discussion

7 Summary

8 References

9 Appendix
A Temporal coordination in Tuckman’s group development sequence
B Perception of time in cultural models

• College: University of Münster (Wirtschaftsinformatik)
• Course: Seminar: Dark Side of Technology
• Grade: 2,0
• Author: Tobias Wulfert (Author)
• Publication Year: 2016
• Pages: 37
• Catalog Number: V353590
• ISBN (eBook): 9783668397217
• ISBN (Book): 9783668397224
• Language: English
• Tags: Virtual Team, Global Virtual Team, Dark Side of Technology, Cultural diversity, Perception of Time