Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Communication technologies and the Internet have transformed groups in the workplace and in our communities. Members of groups no longer need to be co-present: to be together in time and place to collaborate, to share information, or to socialize. As a result, new group forms have emerged in organizations and on the Internet. Two examples of these new group forms are virtual teams in organizations and social support groups on the Internet. Fast communication systems, more powerful processors, and new software enable organizations to form virtual teams of members who are separated temporally and spatially. For example, British Petroleum Co. has developed a virtual team network that allows people to work cooperatively and share knowledge quickly regardless of time, distance, and organizational boundaries ( Harvard Business Review , 1997 ). The network gives users access to communication technologies, such as videoconferencing, electronic blackboards, scanners, faxes, and information databases. British Petroleum also has an in-house intranet that contains a growing number of home pages where experts in different technical areas describe their expertise and provide information for fellow employees. The company has reported benefits of the virtual team network such as: improved interactions between land-based drilling engineers and offshore rig crews, the avoidance of a refinery shutdown ... log in or subscribe to read full text