A Major Engineering Firm Has Introduced Virtual Teams Around the Globe

question 142

Essay

A major engineering firm has introduced virtual teams around the globe to resolve client emergencies.Although some of these emergencies are routine (they occur often enough that the engineers have ready-made action plans),several are novel.Furthermore,information about the client emergencies often comes second-hand from employees of the client,so some of the details are missing or ambiguous.Although the company plans to eventually offer a variety of communication media that these virtual teams can use,engineers are currently limited to e-mail,telephone,fax machine,and an instant messaging program that was recently introduced.Based on your knowledge of media richness,how can this engineering firm maximize communication effectiveness with the existing resources in this situation? Your answer should briefly define media richness.

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Definitions:

Hypothesis

A proposed explanation for a phenomenon, which can be tested through experimentation and research.

Positive Correlation

A connection between two variables where both variables shift in tandem.

Independent Variables

In experimental design, the variables that are manipulated by the researcher to observe their effect on dependent variables.

Opposite Direction

A term indicating a movement, action, or trend that goes in the reverse direction of a previously established pattern or expectation.