Wednesday, 4 June 2014
What have I learnt from the Digital Marketing module?
? What have I learnt from the Digital Marketing module?
How can we manage company-customer's relationships by using digital marketing?
- Customer relationship management;
- Social media;
- Engagement;
- Information technology;
- Customer insight;
- Employees;
- Key performance indicator
- The relevance of digital marketing in the organisation you choose or comparable situations
- Your ability to model and analyse digital marketing strategies
- Your ability to evaluate the effectiveness of a range of digital marketing channels
- And, your ability to research emerging technologies for digital marketing
Has technology changed organisational working practices? What exactly are Virtual Teams?
Technology has completely changed the way that we work!
Organisations have increasingly utilized Information Technology, which has in turn allowed them to evolve and adapt to ever changing client needs and requirements. Employees needs have completely been at the forefront of organisations in order to ensure that their workforce and talent are so motivated as possible. In turn, technology and the way that employees want to work has ultimately lead to vast increases in virtual working and has positioned virtual teams to the forefront and crux of organisations. (Davidow and Malone, 1992.)
These flexible working practices that employees ask for, can be defined as flexi-time, home working, part-time and job sharing. DWP (2008) estimate that 91% of employees within the UK have access to at least one flexible working provision, with 24% of employees being able to work virtually. Employees have increasingly desired to work in a company that offers flexible working and is often seen as a main factor in deciding which company to work for, increasingly since the rise in Maternity and Paternity leave. (CIPD, 2012) For organisations and human resources teams, this has meant that flexible working is an important area for employers to focus upon in order to identify ways to fully ensure that virtual teams can work productively to make positive contributions to their outcomes and to their clients. Regus (2012) found that 72 percent of global businesses report that increased productivity is a direct result of flexible working practices.
What are virtual teams?
According to Nemiro (2001), virtual teams are ‘groups of geographically dispersed organizational members who communicate and carry out their activities through information technology.’ Although this definition is clear, a narrower definition is provided by Maznevski & Chudoba (2002) ‘virtual teams are internationally distributed people, with an organisational mandate to make or implement decisions…typically assigned tasks that are strategically important and highly complex…rarely meeting in person and almost all of their interaction is through using communications technology.’’ The vital determinant of a virtual team according to Dube & Robey (2008) is when all members coordinate their working activities predominately by utilizing different forms of communication technologies. A real world example of virtual teams in practice is within global technology companies such as IBM; multinational companies with multiple clients all require their leading employees to working on specific projects but whom work in different locations across the globe, who can all interact as a team using information technologies such as email, instant messaging, conference calls and video conferencing software. Statistics report a 20% increase in productivity, IBM (2013)
Virtual Teams can provide many benefits to employers such as saving financially, they can help grow companies globally, they can ensure that the best skilled employees are working on projects remotely and directly can result in greater productivity when virtual teams are successful. Although barriers can present themselves when companies and employees engage in virtual work such as cultural issues and communication issues, but with clear aims of organizational structure and awareness of challenges that can present; virtual teams can be effective and can ensure productivity for both companies and employees.
Please view two informative videos on virtual teams below. The first one is a 28 minute video which details how you can have success in virtual teams.
The second video highlights in a 2 minute short video how you can develop effective, efficient and cohesive virtual teams.
The following links are so important in understanding what virtual teams really are:
Why are teams so important in general and what can teams provide?
Further information for UK businesses relating to new flexible working practices in UK
UK Gov (2014) announced that on the 30 June 2014, the Flexible Working Regulations in the UK will be amended. This means that the right to request flexible working will be extended to cover all employees after 26 weeks' service, rather than only those with children under the age of 17.
If you are a UK employer, please see the new regulations and ensure that your working practices are adjusted accordingly.
References:
Organisations have increasingly utilized Information Technology, which has in turn allowed them to evolve and adapt to ever changing client needs and requirements. Employees needs have completely been at the forefront of organisations in order to ensure that their workforce and talent are so motivated as possible. In turn, technology and the way that employees want to work has ultimately lead to vast increases in virtual working and has positioned virtual teams to the forefront and crux of organisations. (Davidow and Malone, 1992.)
These flexible working practices that employees ask for, can be defined as flexi-time, home working, part-time and job sharing. DWP (2008) estimate that 91% of employees within the UK have access to at least one flexible working provision, with 24% of employees being able to work virtually. Employees have increasingly desired to work in a company that offers flexible working and is often seen as a main factor in deciding which company to work for, increasingly since the rise in Maternity and Paternity leave. (CIPD, 2012) For organisations and human resources teams, this has meant that flexible working is an important area for employers to focus upon in order to identify ways to fully ensure that virtual teams can work productively to make positive contributions to their outcomes and to their clients. Regus (2012) found that 72 percent of global businesses report that increased productivity is a direct result of flexible working practices.
What are virtual teams?
According to Nemiro (2001), virtual teams are ‘groups of geographically dispersed organizational members who communicate and carry out their activities through information technology.’ Although this definition is clear, a narrower definition is provided by Maznevski & Chudoba (2002) ‘virtual teams are internationally distributed people, with an organisational mandate to make or implement decisions…typically assigned tasks that are strategically important and highly complex…rarely meeting in person and almost all of their interaction is through using communications technology.’’ The vital determinant of a virtual team according to Dube & Robey (2008) is when all members coordinate their working activities predominately by utilizing different forms of communication technologies. A real world example of virtual teams in practice is within global technology companies such as IBM; multinational companies with multiple clients all require their leading employees to working on specific projects but whom work in different locations across the globe, who can all interact as a team using information technologies such as email, instant messaging, conference calls and video conferencing software. Statistics report a 20% increase in productivity, IBM (2013)
Virtual Teams can provide many benefits to employers such as saving financially, they can help grow companies globally, they can ensure that the best skilled employees are working on projects remotely and directly can result in greater productivity when virtual teams are successful. Although barriers can present themselves when companies and employees engage in virtual work such as cultural issues and communication issues, but with clear aims of organizational structure and awareness of challenges that can present; virtual teams can be effective and can ensure productivity for both companies and employees.
Please view two informative videos on virtual teams below. The first one is a 28 minute video which details how you can have success in virtual teams.
The second video highlights in a 2 minute short video how you can develop effective, efficient and cohesive virtual teams.
The following links are so important in understanding what virtual teams really are:
- http://www.forbes.com/sites/unify/2013/12/10/how-technology-has-changed-workplace-communication
- http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4113
- http://yq8bm2zc4p.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Group-to-Individual+Problem-Solving+Transfer&rft.jtitle=Group+Processes+%26+Intergroup+Relations&rft.au=Carey%2C+Harold+R&rft.au=Laughlin%2C+Patrick+R&rft.au=Kerr%2C+Norbert+L&rft.date=2008-07-01&rft.pub=SAGE+Publications&rft.issn=1368-4302&rft.volume=11&rft.issue=3&rft.spage=319&rft.epage=330&rft_id=info:doi/10.1177%2F1368430208090645&rft.externalDBID=n%2Fa&rft.externalDocID=10.1177%2F1368430208090645¶mdict=en-US
- http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/science/article/pii/0030507382902483
- http://www.thehrdirector.com/business-news/employment_law/right-to-request-flexible-working-becomes-law/
Why are teams so important in general and what can teams provide?
Teams are a central part of all organisations, with companies utilizing
them to achieve efficient performance. Blau, (2002, cited in Torrington et al) emphasizes
how ‘the team is now the norm at work,’
with teams being set up to solve specific issues and disbanded once complete or
the creation of relatively permanent teams which are fixed together for long
periods of times that often spans throughout decades.
Early
research taken by Faust (1959) highlighted how groups were shown to have
superior solutions when compared with individuals. Further information for UK businesses relating to new flexible working practices in UK
UK Gov (2014) announced that on the 30 June 2014, the Flexible Working Regulations in the UK will be amended. This means that the right to request flexible working will be extended to cover all employees after 26 weeks' service, rather than only those with children under the age of 17.
If you are a UK employer, please see the new regulations and ensure that your working practices are adjusted accordingly.
In conclusion, virtual teams coordinate their working activities predominately by utilizing different forms of communication technologies. Increases in requiring flexible working and technology improving has directly correlated to the positive increase in the use of virtual teams throughout the world. Virtual teams are part of many multinational and small sme's companies. Technology has completely revolutionised organisational structures and working practices. The working practices that used to happen 20 years ago has completely changed and now technology and virtuality is at the crux of all organisations.
References:
- CIPD (2012) Training [Online] <http://www.cipd.co.uk/binaries/5790%20Flexible%20Working%20SR%20(WEB2).pdf> [Accessed 5 May 2014]
- Davidow, W & Malone, M. (1992) ‘Virtual Corporation’
- Dube, L. & Robey, D. (2008) ‘Surviving the paradoxes of virtual teamwork’ Info Systems Journal [Online] Vol 19 Issue 3 Available at <https://intranet.cs.aau.dk/fileadmin/user_upload/Education/Courses/2009/SOL/Dube___Robey_2009_-_Surviving_the_paradoxes_of_virtual_teamwork.pdf> [Accessed 20 February 2014]
- Forbes [Online] Supp.Supplement Available at < http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/docview/194988508> [Accessed 20 February 2014]
- Faust, W. (1959) ‘Group versus individual problem-solving.’ The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology [Online] Vol 59 (No 1) Available at < http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/abn/59/1/68/> [Accessed 5 May 2014]
- IBM (2013) Technology [Online] <http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/en/it-services/workplace-services/flexible-workplace/> [Accessed 20 February 2014]
- Nemiro (2001) Creativity in Virtual Teams: Key Components for Success. San Francisco:Pfeiffer
- Regus (2012) ‘A Regus study into the link between flexible working practices and increased revenues/productivity’
- <http://www.regus.com/images/Flexibility%20Drives%20Productivity_tcm8-49367.pdf> [Accessed 4 April 2014]
- Torrington, D., Hall, L. & Taylor, S. (2005) Human Resource Management London:Pearson
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