Virtual R&D Teams

16 Virtual Teams: A New Opportunity to Develop a Business Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Salwa Hanim Abdul Rashid, Zahari Taha, University of Malaya - Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya (UM), University of Malaya (UM) - Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture, University Malaysia Pahang - Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Date posted to database: December 19, 2010 Last Revised: December 19, 2010

Virtual Collaborative R&D Teams in Malaysia Manufacturing SMEs Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Salwa Hanim Abdul Rashid, Zahari Taha, Md. Abdul Wazed, University of Malaya - Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya (UM), University of Malaya (UM) - Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture, University Malaysia Pahang - Department of Manufacturing Engineering, University of Malaya (UM), Date posted to database: March 1, 2011

“Groups of geographically, organizationally and/or time dispersed workers brought together by information technologies to accomplish one or more organization tasks

ource: Ebrahim, Nader Ale, Shamsuddin Ahmed, and Zahari Taha. 2009. "Virtual Teams: a Literature Review." Australian Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences 3, no. 3: 2653-2669.Graphic: Adapted from Cascio & Shurygailo (2003) in Ebrahim, Nader Ale, Shamsuddin Ahmed, and Zahari Taha (2009).

[1] Source: Ebrahim, Nader Ale, Shamsuddin Ahmed, and Zahari Taha. 2009. "Virtual Teams: a Literature Review." Australian Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences 3, no. 3: 2653-2669.

Providing appropriate compensation is also a challenge. Integrators can look like individual contributors even when managing a large “virtual” team; if that is the case, it may initially be hard to justify attractive salaries. Executives who were at Hewlett-Packard when it set up its value chain integration program in the 1990s found a way around this, explicitly compensating managers based on their span of control both internally and externally.

Collaborative networks of organizations provide a basis for competitiveness, world-excellence, and agility in turbulent market conditions. They can support SMEs to identify and exploit new business potential, boost innovation, and increase their knowledge. Networking of SMEs with large-scale enterprises also contributes to the success of the big companies in the global market. Reinforcing the effectiveness of collaborative networks, mostly based on SMEs, and creating the necessary conditions for making them endogenous reality in the European industrial landscape, are key survival factors.

If on one side ECOLEAD is important for ICT companies, on the other side it is of vital importance for the single Small Medium Enterprise: actually the global market pushes the SMEs into cooperation with other SMEs and also with big companies in the collaborative network paradigm. But collaboration requires, very frequently, a preparedness that usually is missing in actual SMEs, in fact the need for cooperation is new and not already compatible with the traditional mindset of SMEs and their patrons. Facts like insufficient preparedness of people or resources and the inability to have a quick access to monetary resources, frequently force the SMEs to do not grasp business opportunities which require the rapid establishment of a collaboration framework among them. ECOLEAD will provide a complete cooperation kit for SMEs which will speed up, enable and support the building of VOs between SMEs and thus secure the successful existence of the most important economic entity in. All this keeping in mind that SMEs might be ready to pay just for applicative services which could either cut expenses or increase revenues, not to directly pay for infrastructures and invasive ICT solutions, and keeping in mind that for sure a smooth ‘entrance’ in the VBEs is a key success factor.

Ale Ebrahim, N., Ahmed, S. & Taha, Z. in their recent (2009)

Ale Ebrahim, N.

Dynamique de collaboration au sein des équipes dispersées : Le cas des projets d'ingénierie Daoudi, Jaouad (2010) Dynamique de collaboration au sein des équipes dispersées : Le cas des projets d'ingénierie. Thèse de doctorat, École Polytechnique de Montréal.PDF3295KbRésuméLa globalisation des marchés, la cherté des compétences, et le développement sans précédent des technologies de l’information et des communications (TIC) encouragent les entreprises à réviser leurs pratiques. Désormais, les entreprises se procurent des ressources bien au-delà de leurs frontières organisationnelles et nationales, et leurs équipes deviennent de plus en plus étendues. Pour la réalisation des projets d’ingénierie, la constitution des équipes dispersées dont les membres collaborent sur une base régulière est devenue un mode de fonctionnement de plus en plus répandu. Cependant, cette pratique amène un contexte nouveau qui se caractérise par la diversité culturelle, la variété des pratiques, la différence des TIC utilisées, la rivalité, etc. Il s’agit là d’une dynamique complexe qui nécessite davantage d’exploration. L’objectif général du présent projet de recherche est de développer une meilleure compréhension de la collaboration en contexte de dispersion des équipes de projets. Pour y répondre, une exploration de la littérature qui porte sur la collaboration et la dynamique des équipes dispersées est effectuée. Cette investigation a permis de développer un modèle caractéristique du phénomène étudié. Ce modèle qui exprime, en effet, les facteurs déterminants de la collaboration, le contexte auquel cette collaboration fait face, et l’impact que celle-ci exerce sur la performance des équipes de projets.----------Market globalization, the scarcity of skills, and the explosive development of information and communications technologies (ICT) compel companies to scrutinize their practices. Henceforth, companies will seek resources beyond their organizational and national boundaries, and project teams will become increasingly distributed. To carry out engineering projects, today’s enterprises require distributed teams whose members work together regularly and intensely. However, this practice has raised new challenges: cultural diversity, differing practices, incompatible ICT, rivalries, and more. This complex dynamic needs to be understood and effectively managed. The overall objective of this research project is to develop a better understanding of how collaboration works in distributed project teams. First, the literature on collaboration and the dynamics of distributed teams is reviewed. A model including the different determinants of collaboration, the characteristics of collaborative environments, and the impact of collaboration on project team performance is then presented. To verify the validity of the model, an empirical survey was administered to professionals involved with distributed engineering projects. Based on data gathered from 253 project teams, various research hypotheses are confirmed. The results support the central role of collaboration in successful distributed projects. Superior collaborative functioning depends on several factors: organizational support, ICT, project manager leadership, and the flexibility and commitment of team members. Moreover, the collaborative dynamic is found to be influenced by various contextual factors, including member distributedness, and within-team trust and rivalry. Our results provide both a practical and theoretical contribution through a better understanding of collaboration in distributed project teams to enable optimal management.Type de document:Mémoire ou thèse (Thèse de doctorat)Département:Département de mathématiques et génie industrielCode ID:342Déposé par:Marie-carline LajeunesseDéposé le:04 oct. 2010 14:58Dernière modification:04 oct. 2010 14:58

" Ale Ebrahim, N., Ahmed, S. & Taha, Z. in their recent (2009) literature review paper, added two key issues to definition of a virtual team “as small temporary groups of geographically, organizationally and/ or time dispersed knowledge workers who coordinate their work predominantly with electronic information and communication technologies in order to accomplish one or more organization

Virtual Teams and Management Challenges

24 Process Construct in the Virtual R&D Teams Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Salwa Hanim Abdul Rashid, Zahari Taha, Marjan Mohammadjafari, University of Malaya - Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya (UM), University of Malaya (UM) - Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture, University Malaysia Pahang - Department of Manufacturing Engineering, University of Malaya (UM), Date posted to database: February 22, 2013 Last Revised: February 22, 2013

Benefits and Pitfalls of Virtual R&D Teams: An Empirical Study

Envisages of New Product Developments in Small and Medium Enterprises Through Virtual Team

Innovation Process is Facilitated in Virtual Environment of R&D Teams

Ale Ebrahim, Nader; Ahmed, Shamsuddin; Abdul Rashid, Salwa Hanim and Taha, Zahari (2010): The Effectiveness of Virtual R&D Teams in SMEs: Experiences of Malaysian SMEs. Published in: In: The 11th Asia Pacific Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Conference (APIEMS 2010), Melaka, Malaysia. (09. December 2010): pp. 1-6. Ale Ebrahim, Nader; Ahmed, Shamsuddin; Abdul Rashid, Salwa Hanim and Taha, Zahari (2010): Virtual R&D Teams: A potential growth of education-industry collaboration. Published in: In: 2010 2nd International Congress on Engineering Education (ICEED 2010), 8th - 9th December Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (08. December 2010): pp. 7-9. Ale Ebrahim, Nader; Ahmed, Shamsuddin and Taha, Zahari (2010): SMEs; Virtual research and development (R&D) teams and new product development: A literature review. Published in: International Journal of the Physical Sciences , Vol. 5, No. 7 (July 2010): pp. 916-930.

Ale Ebrahim, Nader; Ahmed, Shamsuddin and Taha, Zahari (2009): Virtual Teams for New Product Development – An Innovative Experience for R&D Engineers. Published in: European Journal of Educational Studies , Vol. 1, No. 3 (October 2009): pp. 109-123.

virtual teams and virtual communities to develop processes and software for emergency management and recovery?

New approaches and dedicated-platforms supporting virtual teams and collaboration in Crisis Management

Ale Ebrahim, Nader

Ale Ebrahim, Nader

Virtual R&D Teams: A potential growth of education-industry collaboration,

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Abdul Rashid, Salwa Hanim & Taha, Zahari, 2010. "Virtual R&D Teams: A potential growth of education-industry collaboration," MPRA Paper 27414, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 28 Jul 2010.

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari, 2010. "Virtual R&D teams and SMEs growth: A comparative study between Iranian and Malaysian SMEs," MPRA Paper 26983, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 13 Jul 2010. [Downloadable!]Emanuel Kohlscheen, 2010. "Emerging Floaters: pass-throughs and (some) new commodity currencies," Working Papers Series 224, Central Bank of Brazil, Research Department. [Downloadable!]Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari, 2010. "Critical factors for new product developments in SMEs virtual team,"

Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Abdul Rashid, Salwa Hanim & Taha, Zahari, 2010. "Virtual Teams: A New Opportunity to Develop a Business," MPRA Paper 26934, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2010. Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari, 2010. "Virtual R&D teams and SMEs growth: A comparative study between Iranian and Malaysian SMEs," MPRA Paper 26983, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 13 Jul 2010. Emanuel Kohlscheen, 2010. "Emerging Floaters: pass-throughs and (some) new commodity currencies," Working Papers Series 224, Central Bank of Brazil, Research Department. Ale Ebrahim, Nader & Ahmed, Shamsuddin & Taha, Zahari, 2010. "Critical factors for new product developments in SMEs virtual team," MPRA Paper 26936, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Jul 2010.