Introduction
The Global Virtual Work Teams have now evolved into everyday practices for businesses working internationally. The significance of these work teams are attributed partly to its advantages and partly to the mere necessity of doing so. The main aim of this paper is to find a suitable Eastern European country as well as creating an appropriate plan for a multinational business organization to implement the virtual work team in that country. We have selected Poland for the successful completion of this paper. We also aim to focus on the cultural differences that may halt or fuel the work process in any manner.
Market Potential in Poland
Poland boasts a rich population of 38 million people and is centrally located right at the heart of Europe. Being centrally located gives Poland the advantage of staying closer to old European Union countries as well as to the newly accepted members. A major proportion of the Polish markets lie in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. The existence of potential markets topped with the rules & regulations, increased intellectual property rights, and a safer overall business environment means that the market is both safe and lucrative. An integration of all of these aforementioned benefits may translate into revenues worth of billions and stronger infrastructure for both international and national projects.
After Poland shifted from communism to democracy, the country has seen massive amounts of investments. This further helps strengthen the commercial and the strategic relationships between the economy and the businesses. Therefore, it also makes the country quite appealing for the US investors. Apart from this, the Polish people also tend to favour US products over those of the other countries.
US products are quite diverse and it includes, food industry, paper industry, transportation, aerospace industry, IT industry, automotive and pharmaceutical industries to name a few. According to export.gov US on average exports goods and services worth $3 billion, which is quite a whopping figure.
Onset of Cultural Differences
The primary hurdle investors will face is the language of the country itself which in this case is Polish. The Polish language is part of the Western Slavic group of languages whereas American speaks in English, which has an Anglo-Saxons Origin. The extent to which the Polish person may learn English is quite subjective and may change from one person to another. However, Europeans do have the advantage of knowing two or a greater number of languages compared to the American people.
Apart from this, the social customs and the legal holidays of the two countries also differ to a significant extent. Therefore, if workers of the two countries seek holidays on different days then it may lead to work flow disruptions as employees in one country will have a holiday while employees in the other would be working. Another crucial component is the mindset of the Polish people. Polish people have been subject to years of rule by the communist regime which also has an impact on their mindset as opposed to the open political mindset of the Americans.
Selecting the Virtual Members
Before selecting the members of the virtual team, all of the aforementioned crucial components must be taken into account. If is important the people selected in Poland are capable of handling the cultural differences and cope with the language settings of the American counterparts. It is crucial that the virtual team members have very strong communication skills. The team members should be social able and have an open personality and attitude towards any change.
The work shift of the virtual employees should also be mentioned clearly. This is because US and Poland have differing time zones and fixing an appropriate time for both the parties is essential. Apart from this, the chosen virtual team members should also be able to communicate via the lasts technology. The Polish employees as well as the American employees should be taught to adapt of to each other’s culture which will help employees from both the countries.
Probability of Success
The probability of success from this expansion is quite high. Poland has an increasing GDP growth rate and the attitude of Polish people towards the American goods is also quite positive. This is likely to result into a successful work relationship with the Polish people leading to more revenues.
Conclusion
Entering the Polish market may not be an easy task. However, it does seem to be a promising venture for the US investors. Therefore, forming a virtual team to oversee such operations is also quite lucrative.
References
1. Export.gov. (2012). Doing Business in Poland. Retrieved on 3rd February 2012 from http://export.gov/poland/doingbusinessinpoland/index.asp
2. Berry, G. R. (2011). Enhancing Effectiveness on Virtual Teams. Journal of Business
