Virtual R&D Teams Definition
Nader Ale Ebrahim
The literature related to virtual R&D teams reveals a lack of depth in the definitions(AleEbrahim et al., 2010). Although virtual teamwork is a current topic in the literatureconcerning global organizations, it is problematic to define the meaning of 'virtual teams'across multiple institutional contexts (Chudoba et al., 2005). The concept of a "team" isdescribed as a small number of people with complementary skills who are equally committedto a common purpose, goal, and working approach for which they hold themselves mutuallyaccountable (Zenun et al., 2007). It is worth mentioning that virtual teams (VTs) are oftenformed to overcome geographical or temporal separations (Cascio and Shurygailo, 2003).VTs work across boundaries of time and space using modern computer-driven technologies(Ebrahim et al., 2010). The term "VTs" is used to cover a wide range of activities and forms
of technology-supported working (Anderson et al., 2007). Gassmann and Von Zedtwitz(2003) defined "virtual team as a group of people and sub-teams who interact throughinterdependent tasks guided by common purpose and work across links strengthened byinformation, communication, and transport technologies". Another definition suggests thatvirtual teams, are distributed work teams whose members are geographically dispersed andcoordinate their work, predominantly with electronic information and communicationtechnologies (e-mail, video conferencing, telephone, etc.) (Hertel et al., 2005). From the perspective of Leenders et al. (2003), VTs are groups of individuals collaborating in theexecution of a specific project while geographically and often temporally distributed, possibly anywhere within (and beyond) their parent organization. Among the differentdefinitions for virtual teams the following form is one of the most widely accepted definition:''VTs as groups of geographically, organizationally and/or time dispersed workers broughttogether by information technologies to accomplish one or more organization tasks''(Powellet al., 2004).Therefore, a comprehensive definition of virtual teams may be taken as:
small temporary groups of geographically, organizationally and/or time dispersed knowledge workers whocoordinate their work, predominantly with electronic information and communicationtechnologies in order to accomplish one or more organization tasks (Ale Ebrahim et al.,2009).
Nowadays, this definition have gained popularity as found in Wikipedia(wikipedia,2011). Virtual R&D team is a kind of virtual team that concentrate on the R&D tasks andleft:522px;to
Nader Ale Ebrahim on 05 Aug 12"1. Critical factors for new product developments in SMEs virtual team [48.294%] Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2010) Downloadable! Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered as an engine for economic growth all over the world and especially for developing countries. During the past decade, new product development (NPD) has increasingly been recognized as a critical factor in ensuring the continued survival of SMEs. On the other hand, the rapid rate of market and technological changes has accelerated in the past decade, so this turbulent environment requires new methods and techniques to bring successful new products to the marketplace. Virtual team can be a solution to answer the requested demand. However, literature have shown no significant differences between traditional NPD and virtual NPD in general, whereas NPD in SME's virtual team has not been systematically investigated in developing countries. This paper aims to bridge this gap by first reviewing the NPD and its relationship with virtuality and then identifies the critical factors of NPD in virtual teams. The statistical method was utilized to perform th 2. Virtual R&D teams and SMEs growth: A comparative study between Iranian and Malaysian SMEs [48.294%] Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari (2010) Downloadable! This paper explores potential advantages of using virtual teams for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a comprehensive review on various aspects of virtual teams. Based on the standing of the pertinent literature, attempt has been made to study the aspects by online survey method in Iran and Malaysia. In both countries, SMEs play an important role in their economies, employments, and capacity building. Virtual R&D team can be one of the means to increase SMEs efficiency and competitiveness in their local as well as global markets. In this context, surveys have been conducted to evaluate the effects of virtuality to th