@article{FleischmannFolterAritz2020, author = {Fleischmann, Carolin and Folter, Laura-Christiane and Aritz, Jolanta}, title = {The Impact of Perceived Foreign Language Proficiency on Hybrid Team Culture}, series = {International Journal of Business Communication}, volume = {57}, journal = {International Journal of Business Communication}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1177/2329488417710440}, pages = {497 -- 516}, year = {2020}, abstract = {This study examines the impact of perceived foreign language proficiency on hybrid culture building in multicultural teams. Hybrid culture includes a mutually shared set of norms, communication patterns, problem-solving approaches, and synergistic task coordination that result from the diverse cultural backgrounds of the team members. Language is the main vehicle for communication and plays a major role in social interaction and therefore hybrid culture building. We argue that the level of perceived language proficiency of multicultural team members influences hybrid culture building; consequently, adequate language skills lead not only to an efficient task solution but are also an important factor in creating interpersonal relationships and building a shared culture. Our empirical analysis supports the positive influence of language proficiency in hybrid teams; however, foreign language proficiency is more influential on cognitively oriented areas of multicultural teamwork than on affective ones.}, language = {en} } @article{CardonAritzFleischmannetal.2020, author = {Cardon, Peter and Aritz, Jolanta and Fleischmann, Carolin and Elhaddaoui, Terri and Getchell, Kristen and Helens-Hart, Rose and Iivonen, Kirsti and Insignares, Frank and Li, Xiaoli and Logemann, Minna and Palmer-Silveira, Juan Carlos and Ruiz-Garrido, Miguel and Shrivastava, Archana and Springer, Scott and Stapp, James and Swartz, Stephanie and Warren, Naomi and Woolstenhulme, Karen and Zemaitis, Eigirdas}, title = {What Happens to Global Virtual Teams When a Pandemic Hits? Maintaining Normalcy and Stability with Disruption All Around}, series = {The Western ABC Bulletin}, volume = {Spring 2020}, journal = {The Western ABC Bulletin}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Each year, the Virtual Business Professional (VBP) program brings together professors and students from across the globe to engage in client projects. The VBP program of 2020 occurred from the beginning of March through the middle of April. In this article, we share how the COVID-19 pandemic affected VBP participants and their teams. We present post-project survey results (completed by 440 of 530 participants for an 83 percent response rate), professor comments, and student comments to demonstrate how VBP participants overcame many of the pandemic disruptions to work effectively in virtual teams, develop compassion and empathy for one another, and foster more global mindsets.}, language = {en} } @article{FleischmannAritzCardon2020, author = {Fleischmann, Carolin and Aritz, Jolanta and Cardon, Peter}, title = {Language Proficiency and Media Richness in Global Virtual Teams: Impacts on Satisfaction, Inclusion, and Task Accomplishment}, series = {ACM Transactions on Social Computing}, volume = {2}, journal = {ACM Transactions on Social Computing}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1145/3363564}, pages = {1 -- 18}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Virtual teams that use integrated communication platforms are ubiquitous in cross-border collaboration. This study explores the use of communication media and team outcomes—both social outcomes and task accomplishment—in multilingual virtual teams. Based on surveys from 96 virtual teams (with 578 team members), the research shows that the more time spent in rich communication channels, such as online conferences, increased inclusion and satisfaction, whereas the more time spent with written communication that is lower in richness increased the level of task accomplishment. Team members with lower language proficiency felt less included in all collaboration channels, whereas team members with higher language proficiency felt less satisfied with lean collaboration. In addition, limited language proficiency speakers were significantly less likely to view rich tools as helpful for their teams to reach a mutual decision. Our data support media richness theory in its original context for native and highly proficient English speakers. Our study extends the scope of the theory by applying it to the new context of team members with limited language proficiency. Management should implement a collaboration infrastructure consisting of communication platforms that integrate a variety of media to account for different tasks and different communication needs.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{FleischmannCardonAritz2020, author = {Fleischmann, Carolin and Cardon, Peter and Aritz, Jolanta}, title = {Smart Collaboration in Global Virtual Teams: The Influence of Culture on Technology Acceptance and Communication Effectiveness}, series = {Proceedings of the 53rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 53rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Teams are beginning to rely on smart communication technology that is enhanced by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Yet, we lack understanding of how these smart communication technologies (SCT) influence team collaboration, especially in global virtual teams (GVT). This study empirically investigates how cultural values and practices influence the acceptance of SCT and how the use of this technology impacts communication effectiveness in GVT. We surveyed 643 members of 109 GVT before and after using the SCT. Results showed that team members from individualistic, future oriented cultures generally had more positive expectations towards the performance and enjoyment of using the technology. Uncertainty avoidance increased effort expectancy. After using SCT for communicating in the GVT, most differences disappeared. Regarding communication effectiveness, SCT had a positive influence, which was stronger for performance and future oriented cultures.}, language = {en} }