ABSTRACT
In a virtual workspace, people still need to make decisions as efficiently as usual, despite the geographical distance. Most of the time, teams are challenged with a different working time zone. It can range from as minimal as an hour (Malaysia versus Japan) to an extreme of 12 hours apart (Malaysia versus United States). Communication is thus heavily reliant on technology to speed up decisions. Additionally, team members are culturally divergent in their working practices, values, and attitudes. Thus, the key question is, when working together, how can team members collaborate effectively when they are faced with different cultural values, time zones, and remote geographical locations? Rapid globalization and the advancement of information communication technology (ICT) have resulted in a new, effective, and efficient workplace phenomenon. With the proliferate use of ICT, the virtual workplace has totally changed the normal work orientation and space
in multinational corporations (Gibson et al. 2014; Gilson et al. 2014). As such, the mark of the 21st century has made it possible for people to fully seize the advantage of this new form of global collaboration as it provides opportunities for people to work with anyone, anywhere, and any time.
