One foot in a global team, one foot at the local site: Making sense out of living in two worlds simultaneously

Abstract

The classic tension between differentiation and integration is played out between local and global perspectives within a globally dispersed team (GDT). It occurs as organizations attempt to develop corporate-wide processes across globally dispersed sites while simultaneously encouraging local innovation and adaptation. The tension between local and global interests is apparent in GDTs comprised of part-time members, pulled from their daily jobs, and charged with developing global processes for implementation at their local sites. Team members share a global perspective of organizational conditions or competitive factors that is often not understood or appreciated by their local supervision and coworkers. They must also navigate local conditions not appreciated by their remote teammates. This chapter presents a model to help understand the dynamics at play and the issues still to be addressed by researchers and practitioners.

Citation

Klein, J.A. and Barrett, B.J. (2001), "One foot in a global team, one foot at the local site: Making sense out of living in two worlds simultaneously", Beyerlein, M.M., Johnson, D.A. and Beyerlein, S.T. (Ed.) Virtual teams (Advances in Interdisciplinary Studies of Work Teams, Vol. 8), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 107-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1572-0977(01)08021-9