Developing IS competence during cross-cultural collaboration in ad hoc virtual teams: a tale of one case analysis project

As information technology continues to transform the workplace, developing business-relevant skills through traditional classroom instruction becomes increasingly more complex. Globalization of the business environment leads to the need for increased ability to collaborate on projects across borders. One technological application which may be able to combine students' need to develop information technology competence with their need to adapt to a culturally diverse environment is the Internet. This paper describes a case study that was used to investigate the viability of using the Internet as the means of group communication on a case analysis project for geographically-dispersed groups from different cultures. Results to-date indicate that the students' technological competence with respect to the Internet has been enhanced, their general perception of the importance and value of communication media has been changed, and the group dynamics traditionally applied in case analysis appear to be affected. Specifically, a deep sense of trust, cooperation and cohesiveness appear to be missing, while the groups appear to enjoy the opportunity for direct interaction with a different culture.