Virtual Teams

Virtual teams are gaining day by day more attention and more business today are using this type of team work because is a way of improving the members of the work group by choosing people from all around the world with different skills, abilities, knowledge and experiences.

A virtual team is a group of people that work together on the same work of expertise from different spaces and ethnics who rely on technology to communicate, specially virtual teams software which are Synchronous (communicate in real time) and Asynchronous (the opposite).

They are used today because of globalization, mergers, alliances, acquisitions and emerging markets.

Some advantages are:

• Better communication specially in asynchronous type of communicate because there is no pressure of responding immediately and it can be better thought.
• Reduces cost of infrastructure and the maintainability of the business.
• Work with a higher number of members with different background and take the best advantages of it will increase productivity.
• The team can work from their own space.

Some disadvantages are:

• No face-to-face communication with the different members.
• No getting to know your team.
• Working in different time zones can affect the availability of others.
• By working with members with different cultural background, messages and work attitudes can be misread or misunderstood.

Virtual teams is a way of bringing people together and work for a common goal, to get more information about this, i invite you to take a look at the following videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1NyIBiYuFQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27Y5WToAeA0&feature=related

References:
http://www.seanet.com/~daveg/vrteams.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1NyIBiYuFQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27Y5WToAeA0&feature=related
http://www.google.com.co/imgres?imgurl=http://www.onsip.com/stylesheets/images/onsip_virtual_teams.png&imgrefurl=http://www.onsip.com/modular/virtual-teams&usg=__nRcFRHJ-94QTGawlX5_QML7J6j0=&h=339&w=470&sz=72&hl=es&start=18&zoom=1&tbnid=iWwMU-rQi_XlGM:&tbnh=132&tbnw=184&ei=tu_GTZGsLou3tgfutZCVBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dvirtual%2Bteams%26um%3D1%26hl%3Des%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D588%26tbm%3Disch0%2C281&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=128&vpy=290&dur=393&hovh=191&hovw=264&tx=142&ty=111&page=2&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:18&biw=1280&bih=588

Cultural Differences in Non-verbal Communication

Each culture has its own way of communicate, especially in the non-verbal type by using body language like gestures, touching, body postures, facial expressions, head, arm and hand movements, eye contacts and different personal space perception.

Extend body language or lack of it depend on the cultural background of the people. This non verbal communication way of expressing own by each culture may have different meaning in another one. Some of them can even be consider offensive or misunderstood.

Some examples:
Some gestures like the OK sign, the finger pointing or the peace sign have different meaning depending on the region.
Ways of saying hello also changes a lot. The kissing part of the greeting is a Must in some countries and a Dont in others.
Excessive touching may be seen as good or as a violation of one´s space.
The way of reaching to a superior or making to much eye contact with him may be consider rude in some places or lack of security or attention on others.

A good research on the other culture is recommended if you are going to have some type of contact with it so no innocent mistake occur.

References:
http://erc.msh.org/mainpage.cfm?file=4.6.0.htm&module=provider&language=English
http://healthvermont.gov/family/toolkit/tools%5CF-6%20Cultural%20Differences%20in%20Nonverbal%20Communic.pdf
http://www.google.com.co/imgres?imgurl=http://www.richmondvaleacademy.org/files/cultdiff.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.richmondvaleacademy.org/TextPage.asp%3FTxtID%3D1044%26SubMenuItemID%3D454%26MenuItemID%3D47&usg=__6hqs2-Gjv2RKgePUF_S-BH8lZTs=&h=469&w=520&sz=17&hl=es&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=Fk-65CpPRozBaM:&tbnh=142&tbnw=157&ei=vtvFTfCxKMi3tweF_I2ZBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DCultural%2BDifferences%2Bin%2BNonverbal%2BCommunication%253F%26um%3D1%26hl%3Des%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D588%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=851&vpy=69&dur=803&hovh=213&hovw=236&tx=93&ty=98&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0

The Arizona Law

The state of Arizona (USA) establish a law against illegal immigrants and has created controversy because it criminalize immigrants without documents and treats everybody who looks like immigrants like criminal suspects without knowing if they are truly Americans or legal immigrants.

This is an intolerant racist law because it judges people based on their aspects, it violate human rights like the equality treatment all people are in-title to and creates a symbolic wall to stop immigration and doesn´t let immigrants live the American dream.

The law has created awareness on unfair treatment and judgment and has driven the state back to the years where the different were hated and punished.

It has made public figures such as Shakira that are against it to speak out and express their point of view as we can see in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORFQD-avN-8

References:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/politics/24immig.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORFQD-avN-8
http://www.google.com.co/imgres?imgurl=http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2010/05/az-law-is-nazi-law.jpg&imgrefurl=http://la.indymedia.org/news/2010/05/237924.php&usg=__4pk_NEgj-jajxjD18ANikbri51M=&h=550&w=570&sz=69&hl=es&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=4DFn4ibNLZ6NgM:&tbnh=165&tbnw=171&ei=d8TFTYuiMpKutwfInZSfBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Darizona%2Blaw%26um%3D1%26hl%3Des%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D588%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=1012&vpy=260&dur=208&hovh=221&hovw=229&tx=139&ty=221&page=1&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:0

What external and internal factors should be taken into account when a company decides to implement a merging strategy?

Internal Factors:
The company should take into account the factors regarding the company itself... its position in the market, how its perceived by its costumers, its clients and its employees and its relationship with them, its objectives, mission and vission, its own organizational culture, financial situation and overall its current strategy and development in the market. By taking this into account, the company will know its weaknesses and its strengths and will use a merging strategy that best aligns with its business.

External Factors:
Everything regarding the environment the company currently is developing in and will be developed in once it mergers: Political, economic, social, cultural, legal, technological and environmental factors and also analyze the industry itself, the market situation, its competitors and its costumers. This in order to analyze the opportunities and threats that the company has in the environment or may face someday so they can be prepare and take the best advantages of them.

References:
http://www.google.com.co/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mspmentor.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/managed-services-mergers.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/03/17/msps-merge-to-form-national-exchange-server-giant/&usg=__mnseX06Pbhm8X1wZ3WncDa8Sp2o=&h=254&w=592&sz=22&hl=es&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=sYOxnf2BmQlllM:&tbnh=76&tbnw=176&ei=v7XFTdviIJC-tgeP7cGvBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmergers%26um%3D1%26hl%3Des%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D588%26tbm%3Disch0%2C277&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=597&vpy=144&dur=1122&hovh=147&hovw=343&tx=146&ty=81&page=1&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:0&biw=1280&bih=588

Checking my classmates´ blogs

Some interesting post i founded and comments i made:

From: http://paosocieties.blogspot.com/
Post: Motivation
I really like the video posted in this blog regarding motivation approaches... i founded very useful because it explains that taking into account the different types of forces that drive people to do something, we can categorized different types of ways to motivate people (Theoretical, Utilitarian, Aesthetic, Social, Individualistic and Traditional motivators) simply because we are all different, we give different meaning to things in live and we need to be motivated differently.

From: http://fboteroc.blogspot.com/
Post: Why is important for managers and employees to be able to understand different types of personalities?
It is also important because for each job position, there is a type of personality required, not everybody in the company has to be a leader or a follower, it is needed to have a little bit of everything so by working all together they can learn from one another and take the best advantage of the way the other co-worker works and acts so you can complement one another.

From: http://juanpablojimenez7.blogspot.com/
Post: Migrant workers and expatriates
The idea of choosing the song of Ricardo Arjona called "El Mojado" is very good because it completely relates to the subject in manner, it tells us his thoughts regarding this issue, he related to the immigrants and exposed their feelings, their motives, their fears, what they leave behind... and in a very poetically way he let us know his point of view about it.

References:
http://paosocieties.blogspot.com/
http://fboteroc.blogspot.com/
http://juanpablojimenez7.blogspot.com/
http://www.google.com.co/imgres?imgurl=http://www.unostiposduros.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/revisar.jpg&imgrefurl

Management Vs Leadership

Companies nowadays when selecting a manager look not only for the tittles the aspirant has or his experiences, they look for specials skills that assure them that a leader lies inside him.

Managers have skills that makes them apply control of all the procedures in the organization, the employees, do thing how they are supposed to be done, but leaders skills seek to bring the best side of their followers and make change possible, they inspire trust and people admire them. When hiring a manager, the companies seek for an employee with a balance in this 2 aspects where LEADERSHIP IS A SKILL THAT MANAGERS SHOULD HAVE.

To have a more clear knowledge of the difference between this 2, i invite you to take a look at these 2 videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaoAbf9RMJw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu1JgJARHO8

Team development is an important part of leadership, in where leaders must achieve task, manage the team and take care and lead individuals. The best way to lead a group and accomplish a process is to have an unanimous focus on a common goal, everyone must have a role with its task and know the status of the process they are developing because they count with fast and accurate communication exchange between all of the members, they continuously applied what they learned and make changes during the process development if needed. A leader should seek and motive their followers to achieve an effective and efficiency development of the team work so the company reaches it´s goal.

I invite you to take a look at this video of team development in leadership: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51IaHlC8Bl4


Picture: http://blogs.curtin.edu.au/cv/files/2009/10/temp-2.jpg&imgrefurl http://www.therealtimscott.com/top-mlm-leaders-model/&usg

Culture in Decision Making

When we are face to make a decision, many components will influence the process and will help to understand the outcome, the main one, i consider, is the cultural background you have.

Culture will affect directly the process of the decision making, according to the Hofstede´s 5 cultural dimensions, mainly 3 of them can influence such process, people will pick a solution based if they are long term orientated or short term orientated, if they want to profit from their decision in the long run or immediately; also if the culture they belong to is collectivism or individualism to know if the decision taken was chosen taking others well being into account; and if they have uncertainty avoidance to understand why they have chosen the different uncommon option or they didn't took any unknown risks and to know why they reacted in a certain way when ambiguous situations appeared.

This cultural influences may become a conflict when decisions must be taken between several responsible people with different backgrounds because the common thing is that they will not easily agree on choosing the best option as they wont have the same opinions and preferences so they need to work together, tolerate differences, learn to listen, consider other options, be open minded and try to chose that option that is best for the company´s well fare.

Pictures: http://www.desarrollopersonalinteligente.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/decision-making.jpg&imgrefurl
http://www.agribusiness.unimelb.edu.au/images/decisions.jpg&imgrefurl
http://www.personalbrandingblog.content/images