1. Professor Svjetlana Madzar Carlson School of Management Virtual team project November 2008 – May 2009 CEMBA WEMBA VEMBA CHEMBA

2. What is this project about? In teams of 5-6 students from all four programs, you will select a product or service and develop a business plan for introducing this product/service in an overseas market. Objectives The experience of working in virtual teams spanning four countries and three continents Allow integration of concepts across CEMBA courses you have taken from Strategy and Entrepreneurship to Marketing, Finance and International Business Foster lasting friendships (hopefully!) across four countries Evaluation For CEMBA, 45% of your grade in the course CMBA5544 For Poland it is a major part of their final course grade For China it goes toward most of the grade on their International Residency course For Austria, it is the grade on their Master’s thesis

3. Some tips on high-performance virtual teams 1.Take the time to become a team -- introduce yourself, share personal information in initial e-mails – encourage shyer team members to do so as well 2.Suggest assignment of a regular role, however small, to each member 3.Find a way to rotate leadership, if possible 4.Frequently discuss and clarify team goals 5.Engage in frequent interaction – notify members about whereabouts and absences 6. Respect people’s opinions, focus on problem rather than personalities 7.Be forgiving of language difficulties 8.Keep it light. Have fun!

4. Country Clusters  Anglo (Oz, U.S., U.K.)  Nordic (Denmark, Finland)  Germanic (Austria, Netherlands)  Central/East Europe (Belarus, Poland, Greece)  Mediterranean (France, Israel, Italy)  Middle East (Lebanon, Turkey)  Latin America (Brazil, Mexico)  Sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Nigeria)  South Asia (India, Thailand, Malaysia)  Pacific Asia (China, Japan, Macao) Gupta, V., Hanges, P., & Dorfman, P.W. (2002). Cultural clusters: Methodology and findings. Journal of World Business, 37, 16-27.

5. Culture & Communication Style  High- and low-context styles  In high context cultures, the listener is expected to understand nuances of the implicit messages  In low context cultures (US), the onus lies on the sender to transmit a clear, explicit message – this may not be understood by non-US team members  Succinct vs. elaborate communication  Quantity of talk vs. silence  Central European cultures are more elaborate  Scandinavia, UK, US emphasize clarity & precision  China, Japan, Korea are succinct but need ‘pauses’ especially to think and formulate responses in English  Self-enhancement vs. self-effacement  Team members from self-effacing cultures may find it difficult to “sell themselves”  Collectivist Asian cultures are generally self-effacing  Also affects the use of and reaction to praise/public praise