ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the two postal surveys of UK industry to find out how extensively virtual teams are used and to solicit opinions about their implementation. The first survey concerned the extent of use of virtual team working. The second survey dealt with the potential utilization and benefits of virtual team working. Organizations that had adopted and implemented virtual teams often ran voluntary courses to facilitate the use of virtual teams. Respondents were asked about potential or actual benefits of virtual teams, and about any potential problems caused by virtual teams within organizations, and the effect of the geographical dispersion of human resources. Different working practices were reported as the greatest barrier to implementation and management of virtual teams, followed by cultural differences between team members. Availability of technology was considered the most important factor behind the rise of virtual teams, followed by the geographic spread of company resources.
