Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Is unified communication a vital tool for effective leadership in virtual teams?
Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
Saved in:
| Other Authors: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Pretoria
2014
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613549106298880 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Chiba, Manoj |
| author_browse | Chiba, Manoj |
| author_facet | Chiba, Manoj |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/40651 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:37:54.123Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publishDateRange | 2014 |
| publishDateSort | 2014 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/40651 Is unified communication a vital tool for effective leadership in virtual teams? Chiba, Manoj ichelp@gibs.co.za Nabi, Ariff UCTD Leadership Business communication Teams in the virtual workplace Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. Virtual teams are defined as geographically dispersed teams who work together across time and space using information and communication technologies to accomplish one or more organisational tasks (Piccoli, Powell, & Ives, 2004). As virtual team members are physically distributed, they often need to work together as teams without ever meeting each other using only technology and electronic communication to collaborate, communicate and share information. Previous studies have shown that electronic tools are ineffective and do not aid in building trust and common understanding in a virtual team environment. This study challenges these previous findings and assesses the use of unified communication as a tool for leading virtual teams. Many organisations use different tools such as e-mail, instant messaging, IM presence, conference calls, voice calls and video calls. The concept around unified communications is the integration of data, voice and video into a single tool. Is unified communication an effective tool for leading virtual teams? This research paper defined the sample population as any team member working in a virtual team anywhere in the world. Data was collected from one large multinational with offices in 112 countries as well as virtual team members around the globe. The sampling technique used was based on non-probability (subjective) sampling. The sample size of 220 individuals, representing virtual team members was originally targeted for this research. Data was collected over a three month period with two hundred and thirteen (213) responses received from thirty seven (37) countries using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study found that effective communication is vital for the success of virtual teams. It found that even though communication tools are vital, a unified communication toolset was not necessary as only some components of a unified communication tool were used on a day to day basis. Some components in a unified tool were regarded as nice to have but not vital. lmgibs2014 Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) MBA Unrestricted 2014-07-08T11:16:27Z 2014-07-08T11:16:27Z 2014-04-30 2013 Mini Dissertation Nabi, A 2013, Is unified communication a vital tool for effective leadership in virtual teams?, MBA Mini Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/40651> http://hdl.handle.net/2263/40651 en © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Leadership Business communication Teams in the virtual workplace Is unified communication a vital tool for effective leadership in virtual teams? |
| title | Is unified communication a vital tool for effective leadership in virtual teams? |
| title_full | Is unified communication a vital tool for effective leadership in virtual teams? |
| title_fullStr | Is unified communication a vital tool for effective leadership in virtual teams? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is unified communication a vital tool for effective leadership in virtual teams? |
| title_short | Is unified communication a vital tool for effective leadership in virtual teams? |
| title_sort | is unified communication a vital tool for effective leadership in virtual teams |
| topic | UCTD Leadership Business communication Teams in the virtual workplace |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/40651 |