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Many experts project generative AI will impact the types of competencies that are valued among working professionals. This is the first known academic study to explore the views of business practitioners about the impacts of generative AI on skill sets. This survey of 692 business practitioners showed that business practitioners widely use generative AI, with the most common uses involving research and ideation, drafting of business messages and reports, and summarizing and revising text. Business practitioners report that character-based traits such as integrity and soft skills will become more important. Implications for teaching business communication are discussed.
Virtual team meetings are increasingly supported with advanced technology. This study investigates the extent to which Al-enabled speech technology can be useful for global virtual teams (GVT). A survey was conducted in GVTs in 2020 and 2021, when people's lives were primarily dominated by the pandemic. A transcription software was used to support the collaboration. A total of 530 survey responses were analyzed using a structured approach- qualitative content analysis. The data was structured using the SWOT framework that aimed at comprehensively answering the research question "To what extent is the use of Al-supported speech technology in GVTs useful?". Al-generated transcripts are helping to overcome language and time zone barriers in GVT. Yet, they also cause misunderstandings and impact openness of communication. Further results and implications for GVT are discussed.
Virtual meeting recordings have become a common part of virtual and hybrid workplace environments. Meeting recordings offer potential benefits (speedy transcript production, expedited information sharing, searchable information, inclusion of visual and tonal expressions) and drawbacks (difficulty discussing sensitive issues, employee privacy, limited off-the-record capabilities, and employee concerns over sharing recordings). Given this variance, policies for virtual meetings are a necessity. Managers can successfully implement a policy by co-creating policy preferences with employees in open-ended and nonjudgmental conversations that openly discuss potential benefits, drawbacks, and employee concerns. Topics such as when to record, when not to record, how to gain consent, and who will have administrative and sharing rights should be covered. Accessibility concerns, use or rejection of software features, for how long and where meeting recordings should be stored, and emerging issues such as use of virtual reality meetings and AI tools are areas of less urgency that may be part of the conversations. Managers should deliver policy preferences to a group of representatives from Human Resources, Information Technology, and the executive team to compose the policy, request a legal review, then introduce and implement it in the organization.
The Challenges and Opportunities of AI-Assisted Writing: Developing AI Literacy for the AI Age
(2023)
Generative AI may significantly disrupt the teaching and practice of business communication. This study of 343 communication instructors revealed a collective view that AI-assisted writing will be widely adopted in the workplace and will require significant changes to instruction. Key perceived challenges include less critical thinking and authenticity in writing. Key perceived benefits include more efficiency and better idea generation in writing. Students will need to develop AI literacy—composed of application, authenticity, accountability, and agency—to succeed in the workplace. Recommendations are provided for instructors and administrators to ensure the benefits of AI-assisted writing can outweigh the challenges.
Psychological safety, the feeling of being comfortable to express one’s ideas or opinions in teams, is a key determinant of successful global virtual teams. Even though there exists considerable knowledge about its antecedents, it is unknown how team-based (e.g., clarification of deliverables and deadlines) and technology-based (e.g., digital reminder nudges/ DRN) interventions foster psychological safety given cultural variations of team members. Based on a survey involving 148 participants, our data shows that both team-based interventions (TBI) and digital nudges foster psychological safety in global virtual teams. TBI are even more effective for high-context, indirect communicators than for low-context, direct communicators. However, digital nudges were equally effective across cultures for building psychological safety. These findings contribute to the literature on psychological safety as we show that not all antecedents hold equally across cultures and to the literature of digital nudges as we show the effectiveness of technology-based interventions in a team context.
Virtual teams that use integrated communication technologies are ubiquitous in cross-border collaboration. This study explored media use and communication performance in multilingual virtual teams. Based on surveys from 96 virtual teams (with 578 team members), the research showed that more time spent in synchronous communication channels such as online conferences increased inclusion and satisfaction. Team members with lower language proficiency felt less included in synchronous and asynchronous collaboration, whereas team members with higher language proficiency felt less satisfied with asynchronous collaboration. Also, limited language proficiency speakers were significantly less likely to view synchronous tools as helpful for their teams to reach a mutual decision. Our data supports Media Synchronicity Theory (MST) for native and highly proficient English speakers. However, MST needs to be adjusted to account for different levels of language proficiency.
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.
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.
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.
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.