Virtual Teams in an Executive Education Training Program

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the experiences of 15 different teams from two Fortune 500 companies: a food distribution company and a financial services company. The objectives of the virtual teams for these two companies were twofold: first, to learn how to work in virtual teams, and second, to complete a business project critical to their respective companies. We begin this chapter with a brief explanation of how the teams were organized and for what purpose. Then, the focus is more specifically on the factors that made some teams more successful than others, including the impact of geography, the problem of free-riding, top-level support, and gender differences.