ETM5110/MSIS5600 – Managing Virtual Project Teams
Instructors
Nicholas Romano, Ph.D. (Management Science and Information Systems),
Nicholas-Romano@mstm.okstate.edu, 918-594-8506
Paul Rossler, Ph.D., P.E. (Industrial Engineering and Management), prossle@okstate.edu,
918-594-8289
Course Description
Identifies the management and group issues inherent in the application and implementation
of effective teamwork in virtual workspaces. Topics addressed include the appropriate use of
virtual teams; issues and challenges associated with effective teamwork; virtual team
structures, processes, and technologies; facilitation skills; group dynamics: and team
motivation and reward.
Prerequisites
Minimum of three year's work experience or instructor's consent and admission to any of the
following programs:
Master of Science in Engineering and Technology Management (MSETM)
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Masters of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM)
Masters of Science in Management Information Systems and Accounting (MAIS)
Course Website
http://www.okstate.edu/ceat/msetm/courses/etm5110msis5600
Topics
Characteristics of virtual workspaces and virtual project teams
Creating and organizing virtual project teams
Using collaborative structures, processes and tools in virtual settings
Planning and facilitating virtual team meetings
Required Text
Duarte, D. L. & Snyder, N. T. Mastering Virtual Teams (2nd Ed.). San Francisco: JosseyBass, 2001.
Learning Objectives
By the semester’s end, students should:
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Know and understand the key challenges and issues associated with structuring,
facilitating, participating in, leading, and supporting effective virtual teamwork.
Know and understand various processes, tools, and techniques useful for structuring
and facilitating effective virtual teamwork and group decision-making processes.
Demonstrate an ability to apply (on paper) the above knowledge to an organization’s
virtual team performance problems and opportunities.
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Schedule
Any changes to the schedule will be announced in class or via e-mail.
Syllabus Review Session (Taping January 13th)
Course overview. What is this course about? What are the instructors’ philosophy and
expectations? How will student performance be measured and evaluated? How can the
assigned journal articles be obtained?
Taping 1 An Introduction to Virtual Teams (Taping January 17th)
Pre-Class Reading:
 Chapter 1 in Duarte, D. L. & Snyder, N. T. Mastering Virtual Teams (2nd Ed.).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001.
 Kirkman, Bradley L., Rosen, Benson, Gibson, Cristina B., Tesluk, Paul E.,
McPherson, Simon O. “Five challenges to virtual team success: Lessons from
Sabre, Inc.,” Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 16, Issue 3, 2002.
Class Session Content:
1-1 Virtual Teams Defined. What is a virtual team? How does a virtual team differ from
traditional teams? What types of virtual teams are there? Are virtual teams all that
new? What driving forces have led to the rise of virtual teams? What do current
trends in the use of virtual teams suggest?
1-2 Challenges. What challenges do managers face in the use of teams? Which of these
challenges becomes even more challenging in a virtual team environment? Does
virtual teaming add any new challenges? What are the critical success factors in the
use of virtual teams?
Assignment 1 (Due on or before 5 PM CST January 31):
Install and test NetMeeting. Install and test the Citrix Client. (See Week 2 Pre-Class
Reading for installation instructions.)
Taping 2 Virtual Team Meeting Experience (No Taping) – Task Statement: What criteria
should the instructors use to evaluate and grade class assignments? What weight should be
given to each assignment in deciding the final course grade?
Pre-Class Reading:
 NetMeeting Installation
 Citrix Client Installation
Class Session Content:
2-1 NetMeeting Experience (February 3, 6:00 to 7:00 CST)
2-2 GroupSupport Systems Meeting Experience. (February 3 through February 7)
Assignment 2 (Due February 14):
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Write a one page summary that compares your experience and shares lessons learned in
preparing for and participating in the NetMeeting and the GroupSupport Systems
meeting.
Taping 3 Management Tools for Virtual Teams (Taping February 7)
Pre-Class Reading:
 Chapters 2and 3 in Duarte, D. L. & Snyder, N. T. Mastering Virtual Teams (2nd
Ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001.
 R. Jassawalla and H. C. Sashittal, "Building collaborative cross-functional new
product teams," Academy of Management Executive, vol. 13, no. 3 (August), pp.
50-61, 1999.
 Pauleen, D. J. & Yoong, P. “Relationship building and the use of ICT in
boundary-crossing virtual teams: A facilitator's perspective,” Journal of
Information Technology, 16: 205-220, 2001.
Class Session Content
3-1 Technological Considerations. What technologies are available for virtual teaming?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of each? What should be considered when
deciding on the best technology to use in a specific case?
3-2 Cultural Considerations. What is alignment? What makes alignment difficult to
achieve in general and in virtual teams in specific? What types or dimensions of
culture are encountered in virtual teams? Is culture a management variable or is it a
constraint in most cases?
3-3 Performance Metrics. What metrics should be used to evaluate the performance of a
virtual team?
Assignment 3 (Due February 21):
Conduct an Internet search for available groupware, group support, or collaborative
technologies. Categorize the groupware found using the technology types listed in
Chapter 2 of Duarte and Snyder. Organize your results in table format, making certain to
list for each table entry the vendor, application name, and source URL.
Taping 4 Leading and Managing Virtual Teams (Taping February 14)
Pre-Class Reading
 Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 in Duarte, D. L. & Snyder, N. T. Mastering Virtual Teams
(2nd Ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001.
 J. F. Nunamaker, Jr., Dennis, A. R., Valacich, J. S., Vogel, D. R., and George, J.
F., "Electronic meeting systems to support group work: Theory and practice at
Arizona," Communications of the ACM, vol. 34, no. 7 (July), pp. 40-61, 1991.
 Griffith, A. F. & G.E. Gibson, J. Alignment during preproject planning. Journal
of Management in Engineering, 17(2): 69-76, 2001.
 Scott, S. G. & Einstein, W. O. Strategic performance appraisal in team-based
organizations: One size does not fit all. Academy of Management Executive,
15(2): 107-116, 2001.
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Class Session Content:
4-1 Lessons Learned. What has the collective knowledge to date uncovered about
leading and managing virtual teams?
4-2 Starting and Maintaining Virtual Teams. What is the process of forming a virtual
team? What knowledge, skills, and abilities should virtual team members possess?
How do these competencies differ from those required in face-to-face team settings?
What types of interdependencies are found in virtual teamwork? What are the key
roles played by the team leader? How should performance appraisal be conducted?
4-3 Building Trust in Virtual Teams.
Assignment 4 (Due February 28):
Prepare a 15-20 minute PowerPoint presentation that is designed to inform a top
management audience of an organization (or type of organization) of your choosing as to
what is required in general to make virtual teams or teamwork succeed and what they
must specifically do to help virtual teams succeed organization-wide. In building your
presentation, do not forget to consider material covered in Week 1.
Taping 5 Planning and Facilitating Virtual Team Meetings (Taping February 21)
Pre-Class Reading:
 Chapters 8 and 9 in Duarte, D. L. & Snyder, N. T. Mastering Virtual Teams (2nd
Ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001.
 N. C. Romano, Jr. and Nunamaker, J. F., Jr., "Meeting Analysis: Findings from
Research and Practice," in R. J. Sprague, Proceedings of 34th annual Hawaii
International Conference on System Sciences, Maui, HI, 2001.
 M. A. Fuller and Trower, J., “Facilitation, systems, and users: the complete
socio-technical system,” in R. H. Sprague, Jr. and Nunamaker, J. F., Jr.,
Proceedings of Twenty-Seventh Annual Hawaii International Conference On
System Sciences, Maui, HI, pp. 82-91, 1994.
 B. A. Reinig and Shin, B. “The dynamic effects of group support systems on
group meetings,” Journal of Management Information Systems, 19(2): 303-325,
2002.
 S. M. Miranda and R. P. Bostrom, “Meeting facilitation: Process versus content
interventions,” Journal of Management Information Systems, 15(4), pp. 89-115,
1999.
Class Session Content:
5-1 Meeting Performance and Group Dynamics. How efficient and effective are most
meetings? Has meeting performance improved over time with the availability of
technology? What are the causes of poor meetings? What tendencies do groups
exhibit? Are these tendencies exasperated in virtual team settings? What are the
processes and structures associated with effective meetings?
5-2 Pre-Meeting Planning and Meeting Facilitation. What things should be considered in
planning a virtual team meeting? How does facilitation work in a virtual setting?
What are the key facilitator roles and behaviors? What tendencies do virtual teams
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exhibit during meetings? What can be done to increase the probability of good
meeting outcomes?
5-3 Case Study Applications. What types of meetings has group support software been
applied to? What structure, process, and tools have been used in each case? What are
useful references for further study?
Assignment 5 (Due March 7):
Design a virtual team meeting to perform a SWOT Analysis and develop three-to-five
year performance improvement goals for an organization (or type of organization) of
your choosing. Present your meeting design in the same format as that of Table 8.3,
found on pages 170 and 171 of Duarte and Snyder. Include a one page justification for
your choice of process and technology used at each step and a project schedule. The
project schedule must list the major activities that must be accomplished prior to and
following the virtual team meeting and the timing of those activities. Specify the timing
of pre-meeting activities as x days, where x is the number of calendar days prior to the
date on which the meeting will be held. Specify the timing of post-meeting activities as
+x days.
Assignment Submission
The instructors recognize and appreciate the fact that many students who take this course
work full time and have other obligations outside of school. In addition, students who take
the course through distance learning often receive their CDs or tapes on different dates or
material arrives during times at which they are traveling on business. Because of this, a late
policy that provides no flexibility does not seem reasonable. On the other hand, attending
graduate school is a choice that obligates those who make it to a certain degree of sacrifice
and reorganization of priorities. Therefore, having no late policy does not seem reasonable
or fair. Therefore, in order to receive credit for an assignment the instructors must receive it
on or before the due date, unless prior arrangements have been made. If you expect that your
assignment will not be turned in by the due date, then please call or e-mail the instructors
beforehand to inform them of the delay and provide them with an anticipated delivery date.
If the instructors feel that you handled this in a professional manner (that is, you did not wait
until after the assignment was due to inform the instructors of the delay), that your
anticipated delivery date is reasonable, and a pattern of late work is not emerging, then your
work will be accepted. A final course grade of “I” is only given in those cases in which a
student has demonstrated reasonable and consistent progress toward the completion of the
course.
Assignments must be submitted in the specified format (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint) via
email to both instructors. Electronic files must be named according to the following naming
convention: “first initial”“last name.”“assignment #.file extension.” For example,
nromano1.doc, prossler2.ppt, jsmith3.xls. The filename must also appear in the subject line
of the email.
Please do not send comments or ask questions in the email used to submit your assignment.
If you have comments or questions, then please use a separate email for these.
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Additional Information
For additional information on OSU policies and procedures, see the syllabus attachment at
http://www.okstate.edu/acadaffr/facultystaff/spring_03_syllabus_attachment.htm
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