International virtual teams: Opportunities and issues

Widely accepted forecasts expect globally networked virtual teams cutting across firms and disciplines to become the dominant enterprise form of the 21st century. This chapter critically reviews concepts, experience, and evidence bearing on this new approach to business in the digital and global economy. Key aspects of the available literature (academic, consulting, and practice) are identified. It is important not to conflate an evolutionary theory of the firm with an interpretation of the causes, logic, and effects of a particular stage of that evolution. While recent forecasts are reasonable projections of the opportunities opened by advanced communication technologies and likely falling prices for communication, the projections tend to be general inform. Detailed knowledge concerning forming, maintenance, and use of global virtual teams is slender. How to address global networking and virtual teamwork should be considered in light of various cautions being published about various kinds of change management approaches. Technology and human skill and motivation development investment are essential.