Abstract
This chapter introduces and explains some critical issues regarding Cultural Implications of Collaborative Information Technologies (CITs) in International Online Collaborations and Global Virtual Teams. This chapter attempts to addresses some of the cross-cultural issues in international online collaboration, which include but are not limited to language, culture, trust, and technology along with the implications for organizational virtual collaboration. The chapter also provides useful recommendations and strategies for improving international online virtual collaboration with CMC.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Virtual Team: A collaboration approach in which members interact via communication technologies for the purpose of accomplishing a group goal.
Computer-Mediated Communication: A communication process in which computers and other electronic media serve as the medium of interaction.
Power Distance: A process that identifies cultural norms or believes where a society comes to accept how power is distributed (either equally or unequal)
Globalization: A social, political and economic trend in which denationalization of markets, politics and legal systems occur and from an organizational standpoint, corporations or companies attempt to participate in the global economy by maintaining their presence in foreign markets through incorporation of communication technologies (i.e., Internet) for virtual presence on the international marketplace or e-business.
Virtual Workspaces: Organizational environments in which coordination process and communication activities exist with the aid of electronic mediated technologies.
Culture: A collection of symbols and norms that affect how humans gather, organize, and process information.
Individualism-Collectivism: Individualism speaks to the cultural approach where people look after themselves and their family—in essence, the emphasis is on self. Collectivism emphasizes cultures where people belong to in-groups or collectivities that are supposed to look after them in exchange for loyalty; thus the emphasis is on others.