Last weekend’s Wall Street Journal carried an article by Safeway’s CEO, Steven A. Burd, addressing the national health-care reform debate. Safeway has been able to hold the per-capita health-care costs flat since 2005, while for most American companies these costs have increased by 38% during the same period. Mr. Burd attributed this to a program that Safeway designed in 2005… Read more →
Surinder is my advisor and mentor in the doctoral program at Binghamton University. We have written several conference papers and collaborated on other projects together with Betsy and Professor Rui Huang at the university. Very often the two of us, or all of us, have worked together while geographically far apart. We have used tools like Google docs, Google… Read more →
Since virtual teams are supported by technology and technology tends to filter out vital nonverbal cues, can a leader be effective in virtual contexts? This is one of the questions that I have tried to answer in my past research. I have found that leadership can indeed make a positive difference in virtual contexts. I have also found that certain… Read more →
The other day I found a link to a book review on Twitter. The book is called Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive. It provides summaries of research about persuasion and how to be successfully persuasive. One study in particular had me thinking about an approach to change and innovation that I am very interested in. The… Read more →
After I gave my final exam this week, one of my students came up to me and said that one of his takeaways from my course was his discovery of the Internet as a tool for learning. I use the videos and latest news posted on the Internet to make my courses more relevant and to also show how the… Read more →
According to Harvard’s Richard Hackman, a leading expert on teams, there is a widespread belief that teams make us more productive and creative and that they are the best way to get a job done. In a May 2009 Harvard Business Review interview, Professor Hackman cautions us that problems with coordination, motivation, and competition often cause a team to perform… Read more →
Surinder and I are currently conducting research on the use of online media such as virtual worlds for education and training. In my readings I came across an interesting article about the perceptions of social presence, or the feeling of being with others in an online environment, and perceived learning and satisfaction in an online course. In this study,… Read more →
The Washington Post recently featured an article about how the new system upgrades for Microsoft and Apple (due out likely towards the end of the year in time for the holidays) might impact those in the market for new computers. Although the article is directed at individual consumers performing “typical” tasks, businesses and those working on virtual teams might… Read more →
We have said often and heard from others that maintaining positive social communication and relationships and creating opportunities for socialization are important for effective and satisfying work in virtual teams (e.g. see New Year Resolution: Be Happy ; Spread Your Virtual Smile, Really). Even though team members are often communicating over geographical distances, personal interaction and forming bonds with distant… Read more →