International Business | E Business Cases

International Business : The Challenge of Global Competition, 8/e

Donald Ball
Wendell H. McCulloch, California State University Long Beach
Paul L. Frantz, California State University Long Beach
Michael Geringer, California Polytechnic State University
Michael S. Minor, University of Texas Pan American

E Business Cases

Students:

Included here are some internet/case assignments relating to E-Business that you can use to review or that your instructor may give as assignments. Your instructors have been given the answers to these questions and may choose to give them out to you or not.

Global Telecommuting

This case is designed to:

Expose you to the growing company use of teleworkers;
Provide you with information about issues related to virtual workplaces; and
Compare and contrast work on a traditional team with that of a virtual team.

A revolution is occurring in the workplace today. Computer and telecommunications advances have dramatically widened the workplace choice for information workers. By one estimate, as much as 30% of the US labor force now works at home. This number is expected to grow dramatically. It is estimated that by 2005, over 16.2 million or 10.8% of the European workforce will be teleworkers. On a global basis, forty million employees telework. That number is expected to grow to more than 137 million workers worldwide.

As global competition continues to grow, more and more firms are stepping outside of their domestic boundaries in search of a qualified workforce. For example, a firm might source software development from Indonesia or Romania, data entry from China or the Philippines and site call centers in France, India or Brazil. This allows firms to reduce labor costs, improve employee efficiency and better serve customers on a 24 hour, 7 days a week basis. Other reasons for instituting virtual workplaces include reduced real estate expenses, increased productivity and access to global markets. The downside can be increased setup and maintenance costs, loss of cost efficiencies, and worker feelings of isolation.

In addition to utilizing teleworkers, companies are embracing the concept of virtual teams. A virtual team is a group of people who are working on the same business project, but are located at different geographical sites around the world. Often, virtual team members represent different disciplines reporting to different departments and organizations. Virtual teams utilize technology to facilitate their discussions. Often, members of virtual teams have diverse cultural backgrounds and speak different languages.

As all of this is occurring, managers are finding that managing virtual employees is different than managing a traditional workforce. In addition, companies are finding that their entire human resource management efforts are changing.

Case Instructions:

Answer the following questions:

What exactly is a teleworker? (Hint: try surfing the net and entering the search term "teleworker.")
What are the challenges that businesses face in creating a virtual workplace? Go here to find out http://www.brint.com/igp/virtual.html
What is one of the most important issues that companies must face as they move to establish global virtual workplaces? Go here to find out: http://telecommuting.about.com/smallbusiness/telecommuting/library/weekly/aa062799.htm
In a virtual workplace employee activities are moved from centralized company offices to home offices and other locations. Often these locations are in different countries than the company's central office. The employer, however, is still required to comply with labor and employment laws. What are the five most significant areas of the employment relationship that telecommuting impacts in the US? Go here to find out: http://www.smc.org/db/hrtelecom.html
Assume that in your job, you are placed on a virtual team tasked with developing an international strategy for the introduction of a new product. How is working on a virtual team likely to be different than working on a traditional team. (Hint: try surfing the net and entering the search string "managing virtual teams".)