Leadership is defined as the interaction between the leaders and the followers for getting things done through people. Leadership is a complex social process that aims at achieving the organizational goals. Leadership is a dynamic state that undergoes continuous changes. With the advent of technology, the concept of leadership has witnessed many changes (Fan, 2014). Technology has helped in communication and growth of knowledge at a faster pace in the organizations. Information technology has converted the face-to-face interaction into digitally based communication. Leadership is no longer based upon the hierarchy and position instead it is earned through skills and competencies.
E-leadership is referred to as the process of social influence in which changes in the feelings, attitudes, behavior, thoughts and the organization that are brought with the help of advanced IT. E-leadership refers to the use of technology in the leadership work. E-leadership is a different concept from virtual leader. Efficient e-leadership requires competencies in social skills, problem solving capability and professional knowledge. E-leadership involves creating trust and motivation among others. It emphasizes more on building relationships using technology with the followers due to lack of personal contact (Avolio, 2014).
The major sills of a leader is to resolve the conflicts of his/ her followers, motivating them and building a team spirit. The leader is responsible for achieving the organizational aims by coordinating the various activities in the workplace. The leader is required to make the followers work efficiently and ensuring that the activities are aligned with the organization’s mission (Kayworth & Leidner, 2002).
Conflict refers to the situation in which a party perceives the other party has either negatively affected or shall negatively affect something that the party cares about. Therefore, it can be stated that conflict is a disagreement among the members of the team that results from incompatible interests or goals. Conflicts are of two types cognitive (task) and affective (relationship). Cognitive conflict arises due to task related issues however; affective conflict arises due to difference in the values and beliefs of the individuals (Tekleab & Quigley, 2014).
The members in GVT belong to different cultures and geographical areas. Therefore, the major reason behind conflicts in GVT is the cultural diversity. This cultural diversity leads to both cognitive and the functional diversity leads to affective conflicts. The major reason behind task conflict is huge volumes of electronic communication and lack of immediate feedback. However, the major reason behind relationship conflict is the relationship between the the team members.
The conflicts can be solved only when the team members try to know the cause of the conflict. There are mainly three types of strategies for managing conflicts namely integrative, distributive and avoidance. The integrative approach involves using collaboration for solving the issues. The distributive approach involves using assertion for solving the issues. Lastly, the avoidance approach involves ignoring the issue. In this particular case of GVT, the implementation of the distributive as well as the integrative approach shall be useful for improving the performance of the team. However, the avoidance approach must not be applied as it would lead to bigger problems.
The major characteristic of GVT is that it comprises of members who are dispersed world-wide. The second characteristic is the use of technology that enables the members to share information and effectively communicate with each other. The third characteristic is presence of members belonging to different cultures. However, GVT faces serious communication challenges due to lack of personal contact. Another issue is the complexity in the logistics due to members belonging to different time zones. Lastly, the cultural diversity leads to biasness and distorted communication that raises leadership problems as it becomes difficult for the leaders to solve the problems (Fry & Bjorkqvist, 2013).
The major factors that result in conflicts in GVT are as follows:
The members of GVT belong to different geographical locations and cultures. Individuals are affected by ethnic, organizational and national cultural factors. The cultural diversity involves heterogeneity in the professional, racial and organizational aspects. The electronic meeting system has both negative and positive impacts. For instance, the feature of anonymity resulted in reduction of stereotyping and also improved the quality of meeting by increasing participation (Wolff & Yakinthou, 2013).
The different forms of diversities in GVT are differences in the age, religion, languages and racial or ethnic differences. The members of GVT belong to different geographical locations that have different cultures and traditions. This has led to the overall diversity in GVT.
According to Kankanhalli (2006), the diversity in the culture in GVT shall result in both task and relationship conflicts. The major reason behind task conflict is huge volumes of electronic communication and lack of immediate feedback. However, the major reason behind relationship conflict is the relationship between the the team members.
Sometimes it is useful to have conflicts within GVT. Task conflicts often result in better performance of the teams especially when the teams have no specific routine of work. The tasks that involve higher complexity often lead to debate among the team members that results in obtaining better solutions (Homan, 2014).
In the given research study, the performance of Team C was better as the members were too often involved in task conflicts that resulted in better solutions. The team members often challenged each other for better ideas and were involved in debates with each other.
The extensive use of technology by GVT also involved various issues such as large volume of electronic communication and lack of immediate feedback that led to conflicts. The technologies related to communication involve issues of overloading of problems that arise from huge volume of communication from calendar systems, e-mail filtering system and others. The use of communication technology also leads to lack of immediate feedback due to periodic conference calls for synchronization.
The strategies that the managers can use in order to reduce the conflicts that arise due to cultural diversity involve identification of the causes of both task and relationship conflicts and these are communicated to the team members (Wallensteen, 2015). The managers must analyze the cultural and functional diversity of the team members and evolve mechanisms to deal with the differences. The managers must also attempt to reduce the cultural diversity in the teams by proper selection of the team members and promoting an efficient organizational culture. The managers must also be aware of the various demerits of the communication technology that increases the conflicts in the team.
The mangers must be aware of the various demerits of the communication technology that increases the conflicts in the team. . The technologies related to communication involve issues of overloading of problems that arise from huge volume of communication from calendar systems, e-mail filtering system and others. The use of communication technology also leads to lack of immediate feedback due to periodic conference calls for synchronization. Therefore, the managers must consider the drawbacks of the communication technology while resolving the conflicts.
The different forms of diversities in GVT are differences in the age, religion, languages and racial or ethnic differences. The members of GVT belong to different geographical locations that have different cultures and traditions. The difference in the beliefs and values of the team members result in relationship conflicts whereas, the differences in the educational qualifications and expertise results in task conflicts (Bradley, 2013).
Such conflicts were noticed in Team C as the members were too often involved in task conflicts that resulted in better solutions. The team members often challenged each other for better ideas and were involved in debates with each other.
References:
Avolio, B. J., Sosik, J. J., Kahai, S. S., & Baker, B. (2014). E-leadership: Re-examining transformations in leadership source and transmission. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 105-131.
Bradley, B. H., Klotz, A., Baur, J. E., & Banford, C. G. (2013, January). When Does Conflict Improve Team Performance? A Review of Evidence and Framework for Future Research. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2013, No. 1, p. 17093). Academy of Management.
Fan, K. T., Chen, Y. H., Wang, C. W., & Chen, M. (2014). E-leadership effectiveness in virtual teams: Motivating language perspective. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 114(3), 421-437.
Fry, D. P., & Bjorkqvist, K. (2013). Cultural variation in conflict resolution: Alternatives to violence. Psychology Press.
Homan, A. C., Redeker, M., de Vries, R. E., Ayoko, O. B., Ashkanasy, N. M., & Jehn, K. A. (2014). Intragroup conflict and the interpersonal leadership circumplex: Matching leadership behaviors to conflict types. Handbook of Conflict Management Research, 427.
Kankanhalli, A., Tan, B. C., & Wei, K. K. (2006). Conflict and performance in global virtual teams. Journal of management information systems, 23(3), 237-274.
Kayworth, T. R., & Leidner, D. E. (2002). Leadership effectiveness in global virtual teams. Journal of management information systems, 18(3), 7-40.
Tekleab, A. G., & Quigley, N. R. (2014). Team deep-level diversity, relationship conflict, and team members’ affective reactions: A cross-level investigation. Journal of Business Research, 67(3), 394-402.
Wallensteen, P. (2015). Understanding conflict resolution. Sage.
Wolff, S., & Yakinthou, C. (Eds.). (2013). Conflict management in divided societies: theories and practice. Routledge.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download