Team+D

 Organizational Development in Current Business: Strategies and Technology

BY Alexandria Olivas, Maria Jones, Sandra Acuna, Tennylle Carnes and Valente Guzman

ODV – 601 Integrating Performance Management, Technology, and Organizational Communication

August 14, 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………3 IT and Commerce Contributing to Change (Maria Jones).....................................4-7 Virtual Teams (Tennylle Carnes)………………...................................................7-9 Learning Organizations (Alexandria Olivas).......................................................10-11 Viability (Sandra Acuna)…………………………………………………………………11-13 Strategic Navigation (Valente Guzman)….........................................................13-16 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………16-17 References…………………………………………………………………………………18-19


 * Executive Summary**


 * IT and Commerce Contributing to Change**

The basis of my research stems from an expanded view of chapter 1 of Rewiring Organizations for the Networked Economy, “From Prediction to Emergence: A New Fundamental,” and the key drivers of change (such as technology and commerce) outlined in our class readings and how this ties into the challenges many organizations face in their on-going effort in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage in an ever-changing economic climate (Thompson, Strickland, and Gamble, 2008).
 * Introduction**

The purpose of the research is to illustrate how technology and organizational change can contribute to successful outcomes that include improvements in an organization’s core competency activities and distinct capabilities, which enable them to better monitor external competitive forces, perform and succeed in the market. A comparison of several articles from selected journals covering such topics as technology advances and applications, perspectives on organizational change from a technology perspective, and learning organizations focusing on quality for better performance outcomes is reviewed, along with my interpretation of this information in a direct relationship to technology being a catalyst for such changes in commerce.

According to a recent article “Technological Frames Perspective on Information Technology and Organizational Change” by Elizabeth Davidson, the author notes that “information technologies (IT) have a central role in organizational change programs, and how the understanding of how organization members make sense of technology, is critical to influencing their (an organization’s) actions and to achieving planned outcomes.”
 * Points on Connectivity**

The article elaborates on technological frames based on specific conditions, applications, and consequences of IT usage (in context) from the perspective of a member of an organization and/or members of a group, and how relevant such social groups in an organization have a tendency to develop similar frames of reference and understanding that may be at times be misaligned in terms of expectations (Davidson, 2006).

As a result, Davidson describes the need and facilitation of the organizational change process, and how technical change and development is determined by the scope of a study from the standpoint of various stakeholders. I believe this holds to be very true. Adding to this, a significant learning from our class readings and lecture is on “connectivity,” meaning that this frame must be flexible enough for participants to analyze information for value-added knowledge across members of the group, and be adaptive in nature to the current “change in kind” or discontinuous change which we have already experienced today (Herman, 2002).

My understanding of this is that there are other factors that are inherent in organizations which foster successful business outcomes, and this is based on the degree of connectivity it has, in terms of the type of relationship and collaboration it has with its own buyers and sellers. This connectivity (through IT and relationship building) provides organizations relevant information for informed decisions and assessments of their external environment on an on-going basis. An example of this is an organization having the technical framework which would give them direct or immediate connectivity with their buyers and sellers, and in turn enable them to anticipate and act on current demand and supply and forecasting, as well as measure competitive risks and industry conditions in the macro-environment. Today, this requires a combination of human resource strategies, technology, and connectivity that drive commerce and meet the ongoing challenges and affects of globalization.

One example of company success (e.g. a new way of doing commerce) is from Blue Nile, an on-line retailer of certified diamonds founded in 1999. The company has annual sales of $251 million and an annual growth rate of 5.7%. Key factors to their success are attributed to quality control, a just-in-time system, and the excellent relationship Blue Nile has with its suppliers (also advertised on their website). Order fulfillment with suppliers is at the time of order and is customized to buyer specifications, and operations are handled with quick Fed-ex delivery to customers. (Thompson, Strickland, and Gamble, 2008).
 * E-Commerce**

As a result, Blue Nile has lean operational costs and just-in-time inventories of diamonds and customized engagement rings (exception for low inventory on signature collection items). Blue Nile having established a derived demand relationship with their suppliers and the ability to generate cash 45 days ahead of time to pay their suppliers represents the company’s competitiveness, strong e-commerce capabilities and core competencies which out do their rivals (Thompson, Strickland, and Gamble, 2008).

By offering high quality diamonds at competitive prices, additional education on gemology and in-depth product information with grading reports on-line to customers, and an on-line build your own feature with 12 different criteria giving empowerment to customers are examples of IT integration with connectivity not only in Blue Nile's supply chain management but in monitoring customer preferences and sales from around the world (Thompson, Strickland, and Gamble, 2008). Additional information is available at www.bluenile.com.

Unlike the past, having connectivity today extends to having the “unlimited potential for analyzing information” as described in our class readings (Herman, 2002). Also equally important is having this IT connectivity throughout the value chain (e.g. suppliers, distribution, operations, marketing, etc.) so that relevant information is available to the right people within and across departments and affiliated counterparts. I have come to understand that this requires IT integration in communication to enhance the building of on-going collaborative relationships among people inside and outside the organization, and the alignment of these internal resource strengths contribute to improved overall outcomes.

Forward moving organizations which have gone beyond linear connectivity, and are utilizing Web 2.0 communication tools (for both internal and external purposes) for an overall personalized connectivity experience and loyalty among potential and current employees and customers, include the public sector. This requires an organization that is open to learning as well as continuous improvement and adaptation to new technology and processes. The Orange County Library challenged technology integration through learning Web 2.0 among its employees (across branches and departments) in preparation for the development of a new public-access catalog that will utilize Web 2.0 capabilities for public users of the library (e.g. to write reviews, create tags and blogs with narrative descriptions and images of the neighborhood (Simpson, 2007).
 * IT and an Environment Conducive to Learning**

Also contrary to the beliefs described above is a critique on the dilemmas of IT and organizational development. Some of the examples that were illustrated themed around disastrous investment failures that promised business value and outcomes by such companies as the Hilton Hotels, Marriott, and Budget Rent-A-Car (McDonagh and Coghlan, 2006). The article emphasized the need for a highly integrated approach to handle the complexity of human and organization issues (over 90%) that are associated with IT-enabled change initiatives (McDonagh and Coghlan, 2006).

My views regarding possible solutions for this derive from an understanding from our class lecture on characteristics of a learning organizations defined by Peter Senge’s five disciplines of a learning organization (Albert, 2005). Solutions to IT-integration would be more successful in a learning environment and organizations where the mental mode, shared vision, and systems thinking approach is in place to better handle team learning, and the challenges and adaptation to the IT-integration.

An example of this is described in a case study involving a manufacturer that specialized in systems and equipment that aided the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The company changed its focus from product development and marketing, to one of quality based on Senge’s third discipline, mental modes (Albert, 2005). Results of the study were based on task force interventions, interviews, feedback and discussions from employees below the executive level about the interdependence of work, and various isolation and linear thinking problems which were evident and specific to different department and functions, such as Marketing or R&D (Albert, 2005). The move to a learning organization became apparent among employees when they began to see the interdependency and interrelatedness from a more cross-functional perspective (Albert, 2005).

My findings from the article reviews on technology integration and connectivity reaffirms my learning that proper alignment of internal resource strengths of which include people, processes, structure, and systems is critical to competitive strategy and sustainability through the aid of various integrated technology communication tools and database management.

I still believe the formula for success is still based on the relationships among people, as organizations are made up of people and lead by people. Technology alone cannot do this. However, with improved connectivity and change management systems and integration of technology such as Customer Relationship Management systems (for example) and a combination of integrated IT and E-communication tools in place, employees can better formulate, measure, and make informed decisions through this decentralization and sharing of information across departments in the value chain that is relevant and readily available for employees. In turn, this will also improve the quality of monitoring internal and external environments, as well as contribute to an organization’s sustainability and success.

Virtual teams are a new technology that companies are beginning to utilize in the market. A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable (Gould, pg 1). If we look at teams in a virtual manner, that takes the definition further in relation to the proximity and ways in which the team may communicate. A virtual team is set up to work together but may never meet face to face and could interact through email, internet chats, telecommunications; just to name a few. Their main function of the virtual team is to work independently of one another to produce a collective product (Herman, pg 98).
 * Virtual Teams**

The shift in business and organization to establish the virtual teams may be in response to: • Geographic location and travel is not reasonable • Work schedule is different from one another • Organization-wide projects or initiatives • mergers and acquisitions • emerging markets in different geographic locations • a need to reduce costs • a need to reduce time-to-market of cycle time in general (Gould, Pg 1)

With the development of the internet and email, we are able to utilize employees in a different way. Instead of causing employees to travel and meet with one another, we can now set up tele-conferences in various time zones to interface immediately. Not only will this save a company other direct costs but will also save in the labor hours billed while traveling. Long term virtual teams do have benefits to meeting face to face on occasion, if possible. These advantages fall mainly in the realm of team building: strengthening of bonds among team members and reinforcement of the importance of one’s work related roles and their implications on “real” people and other team members (Sasso, pg1).

Team participation will combine many roles, personalities, and values into play. When working with various people, you must take into consideration their demographic. One needs to consider that cultural diversities need to be taken into account when working with others from different backgrounds. Individuals all handle the virtual team in a separate manner whether a person is an introvert or extrovert. Some people need to discuss situations face to face, perhaps through webcam, while others prefer to instant message or email.

Within the virtual team, individuals will play roles in order to their expertise, personalities, or through the direction of the organization. In the book Rewiring Organizations for the Networked Economy, Stan Herman states that some of the roles include the following: participation coach, assumption challenger, arbitrator, or instigator (Herman, Pg 107-108). Whether one is the cheerleader or the devil’s advocate, each position within the group helps to initiate conversation, raise new ideas or concerns and challenge one another in the group. A manager or leader may support their team by recognizing them and their importance, encouraging members to explore questions, facilitating the coordination of technology, recognizing reflection as action and as legitimate work, and supporting activities which make the informal network visible(Kimball, Pg7).

An example of a virtual team is happening with the writing of this paper. I am currently in a group with four other individuals writing a paper in the ODV 601 course. We have voted that one of the team members will be the leader and will help to organize and compile all the data in our group. Our skills complement one in another in regards to our education. We are all working on graduate degree and have the same general goal which is to complete our class with as high of a score as possible. The performance goal in this class is to write our own section in the research paper and tie all of our work together in one report prior to submitting it to our professor. We have only communicated through online chats or email mainly because we all hold different careers and personal lives and we can answer each other via email whenever we have a chance to get online. If we were taking a course at the college, we would probably meet face to face but we live in other geographic areas and work different hours; this is not a possibility. Our means to communication at this point is through virtual interaction. The virtual team ends when this course is over and we may never interact again.

As I stated earlier, values are an important aspect in the health of the virtual team. One may find that they need to be acknowledged for their direct role in the group or the work they have produced while others believe that a sense of humor to help lighten tense moments is more important. Stan Herman shows an exercise for teams labeled “Determining Team Investment in Values (Herman, Pg 110-111). Each member will list their top 5 values that they expect while working within the virtual team and attach a dollar value to each item you choose, not to exceed $100. Our virtual team did perform this exercise and each member had very different perspectives on what behaviors are the most important within the group. Out of twenty four separate values to choose from in the table, our group of five individuals picked fifteen of these items when filling out their worksheet. This alone shows the diversity of opinions in a small group and all the more need for direction and leadership in larger teams. The top five values for the group are listed in order below:

Creativity The opportunity, encouragement, and rewards to discover or invent new ways of doing things, devise new products, and improve work practices. Ownership Take responsibility and be accountable for the team’s and one’s own actions. Support Assistance to other team members that is given freely. Management that takes an active interest in and has constructive input to the goals of the team and its members. Honesty Team commitment to deal in facts, to be open and aboveboard about problems, and to focus on solutions rather than blame. Collective Decision Making Willingness to discuss all-important aspects of a situation and entertain all suggestions before making a decision. Ironically, these values were also the only repeated qualities out of the fifteen that at least more than one member agreed upon. Virtual Teams can be a great benefit to business. Grouping together various qualified individuals to come up with a collective decision and symbiotic relationship is a new technology that really can help develop growth within organizations.

When initially contemplating the term learning organization many thoughts flowed through my mind the most noteworthy being, an organization in which learning becomes an integral part of how the organization functions. According to Wikipedia learning organization is defined as follows, the term given to a company that facilitates the learning of its members and continuously transforms itself (Learning Organizations, n.d.).
 * Learning Organizations**

After reading this definition many questions began to form in my mind. How does a regular organization earn the title learning organization? What are the characteristics of a learning organization? What are the benefits of becoming a learning organization? Finally, what are some of the problems that may be encountered by a learning organization?

There are normally several issues facing an organization before the organization morphs into a learning organization. As fast as the changes of technology, organizations face change and growth which may cause the organization to become stagnant and lose free flowing creativity, ideas, and suggestions. In order to keep a competitive advantage the organization needs to learn at a faster rate than its competitors. Becoming a learning organization takes cooperation from all involved groups and individuals free flowing communication and a culture of trust (Learning Organizations, n.d.).

There are five main characteristics of a learning organization. First, systems thinking, this is a conceptual framework that allows people to study businesses as bounded objects (Learning Organizations, n.d.). Learning organizations employ systems thinking when making an assessment about their company and develop information technology systems that measure the performance of the company as a whole. Secondly, personal mastery which is the commitment by an individual to the process of learning. Individual employees must have a willingness to learn not only through such methods as staff development and training but in daily life. A learning organization has been described as the sum of individual learning, but it is important for there to be mechanisms by which individual learning is transferred into organizational learning (Learning Organizations, n.d.). Mental models, the third characteristic are the terms given to ingrained assumptions held by individuals and organizations (Learning Organizations, n.d.). In order for an organization to become a learning organization, old norms, values, and the organization culture will have to have been challenged. Many times individuals and organizations tend to stick to what has always been used although that process, policy or procedure may be ineffective to the organization. It is these old mental models which should be challenged for the company to become a learning organization and remain competitive in their market niche. Fourthly, shared vision is just that a vision that is shared by employees at all levels of the organization for example from the widget maker up to the CEO of the company. In order for an organization to run effectively and efficiently all those employed by the organization must believe in the vision of the company. Lastly, team learning which is, the accumulation of individual learning. (Learning Organizations, n.d.) By allowing individual learning to be shared employees grow at a faster rate and the problem solving capacity of the organization is improved through better access to knowledge and expertise. “Learning organizations have structures that facilitate team learning with features such as boundary crossing and openness. Team learning requires individuals to engage in open dialogue and discussion, team members should work together to create open communication, shared vision, and understanding (Learning Organizations, n.d.).

There are many benefits to being a learning organization. Some of the most common benefits for the organization include the ability to remain competitive, as well as maintaining levels of innovation. By employing a shared vision another benefit for the organization would be an improvement of the corporate image by becoming more people orientated. By utilizing team learning an added benefit for the organization would be increasing the pace of change within the organization, having the knowledge to better link resources to customer needs and improving quality of all outputs.

Although there are many benefits to being a learning organization unfortunately it does not mean the company is problem free. The most common problem faced by the organization is one that can be easily fixed. If the organization does not fully embrace all five of the main characteristics of a learning organization problems can follow. If employees are resistant to change or learning this can cause problems for the company. The organization will have to find ways for those individuals who may feel threatened or resistant to the change. For example, asking for more feedback regarding the resistance or input on the shared vision.

Making the decision to morph into a learning organization can be an easy choice once all the benefits are considered. Although there is a possibility for barriers to form both organizational and individual the benefits of a learning organization will outweigh the barriers.


 * Viability**

With today’s economic conditions and the changing technological landscape, companies are being forced to re-think how they do business in order to maintain their viability. Take for example a traditional university model. This model may include primarily daytime class offerings and service availability. Over the past decade or so this model may have transitioned a little to include nighttime course and service offerings to accommodate an influx of adult learners who were only able to attend classes after normal working hours. New technology is now making the transitions in the higher education market more competitive and more rapid. Student loans have moved from paper to online processing, students are registering for courses and receiving advising online via software like Moodle, recruiting is being done via social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and more and more courses are being offered in an online setting in order to keep up with non-traditional universities like National University. New technology like smart boards and video conferencing are being used to provide better educational experiences.

The types of changes mentioned above have come about because of the changing technology and the need for organizations to re-think their business practices in order to make themselves stand out from the growing competitive field in order to maintain viability. What key ingredients (practices, mindset, and environment) are needed in order for a business to remain viable in this economy? The following paper will address this question.

Richard Hames identified five “prerequisites for viability”. The prerequisites are:

- Meeting derived demands - Removing barriers to responsiveness - Installing an intelligence capability - Reinventing the niche - Organizing for dynamic uncertainty

Each of these prerequisites has two common threads running through them. Those common threads are speed and flexibility. Hames equates derived demand to goods or services that are instantaneously produced and consumed. To me, this means making or providing only what is absolutely requested or needed. By not having resources tied up in providing products or services that may not be sold will enable a company to provide resources to make quick strategic changes as necessary.

By being able to remove barriers to responsiveness a company will be in a better position to respond to changes that may impact their ability to remain viable in a timely manner. This provides a flexibility to the organization. Often companies can get bogged down in things like company politics which can lead to an ineffective response time to change and possibly the loss of an opportunity. Barriers can occur in different aspects of the company like the company’s technological capability or the degree to which information and knowledge flow through the organization. Management needs to be effective in order to make sure that these barriers are managed or dealt with in a way that will clear a path to innovation, differentiation and the overall success of the company.

Company does also need to evaluate their ability to receive, retain and use information and the knowledge it already has. Gulcin Buyukozkan notes that In order to obtain better results and customer satisfaction, companies have to listen the voice of the customer and produce value added products and services by reducing the cycle time. This requires an active and an effective management of operational functions and customer/supplier relationship. By being able to quickly and effectively process information companies will ideally be able to turn that information into strategies and/or opportunities. One key to achieving this is to have an adequate information technology system in place that will aid in gathering of information and producing output that can be useful to the company and easy to use and understand. This prerequisite also includes the ability of the company to evaluate the effectiveness of the information also. This is because a company can get tons of information but if it is not of real value that is does no good and is a waste of resources. This can also slow down response time when it comes to being able to respond to change because the company will be bogged down sorting through information that may not be necessary.

The next prerequisite deals with reinvention. What may have been a goal or process ten or even five years ago may be totally inadequate today. This means that an organization needs to have the ability to quickly reevaluate where they see themselves within the market in order to carve out their place in it before it is too late. According to Hames, The ability to remain fluid, to keep changing, embracing uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity as autonomic routines of organizational life now becomes indispensable for optimizing continued value creation.

The final prerequisite addresses a company’s ability to understand that there is uncertainty within this new economy and with new technology on the horizon and what it takes to work with and within these conditions. A very important piece in my opinion is to have buy in at all levels of the organization. This means that employees feel committed to the organization and trust in managers to make the right decisions. It also means that management is committed to the organization and trust in their employees abilities to adjust to change and share knowledge all with the success of the company as the ultimate goal. Having buy in from all levels of the organization will provide necessary flexibility because there will be less resistance.

In conclusion, in order for a company to be or to remain viable today they must implement effective practices, like appropriate knowledge capture and sharing. Management must have the mindset that things are changing and that being able t adapt quickly is the key to remaining a viable organization. Finally an organization must also create an environment that promotes knowledge sharing, trust building and flexibility which will again provide the organization with the ability to act quickly. This ability to act quickly, and effectively, is the key to viability.

In today’s economy, an organization must do all it can in order to stay competitive and survive in their specific niche it has created for itself. The way an organization can “survive” is by staying viable. The word viable in business terms means the following: being self-sustaining over time (Hames, 2001). In order for an organization to sustain this viability, as Hames has defined it for us, it must promote learning, responsiveness, and adaptiveness (Hames, 2001).
 * Strategic Navigation**

The question then arises on what an organization can do in order to keep it viable while having an effective response to the ever changing economic dynamics? The question can be answer by using strategic navigation. The concept of strategic navigation is of having an organization use its knowledge and create a strategy that will help itself navigate through the “rough waters” of competitive business. One can define this concept as a concept using metaphors (concerned primarily with learning and transformation) to balance the more familiar economic metaphors (concerned primarily with controlling and producing) habitually used by managers (Herman, 2002). Just as the military uses strategies to win a battle and eventually the war, so does an organization must have some strategy in order to win those constant battles which will face constantly.

How can an organization create viability in order to survive the niche that it has created for itself? The following are some strategies that will allow an organization to be viable:
 * Creating Viability**

Meeting Derived Demand: Describes the demand placed on one good or service as a result of changes in the price for some other related good or service. It is a demand for some physical or intangible thing where a market exists for both related goods and services in question. The derived demand can have a significant impact on the derived good's market price (Investopedia, 2009). In today’s new economy that uses technology, must operate on what is called real-time demand in which products must be created and sent out within a few hours and not days.

Removing Barriers to Responsiveness: This concept targets those processes and procedures of yesterday that are no longer viable in the new technological economy. The idea of warehousing large inventories of a certain product is something that has to be erased from the organization’s business memory. Products must be delivered quickly within hours of being ordered otherwise the competition will jump on the opportunity to attract your client.

Reinventing the Niche: Organizations must reinvent themselves in a fast way. The days of business models having a shelf life of around 40 years are long gone (Hames, 2001). In today’s economy it has been advised that companies must devise new business models every few months (Hames, 2001). An organization must remain fluid, keep changing, embrace uncertainty and complexity in order to create value (Herman, 2002).

One strategy that is the most effective way of ensuring that an organization is sufficiently alert to changing conditions is through the pervasive us of ChangeBrain strategy (Hames, 2001). This strategy is used for strategic conversation, collaborative learning, planning and systemic development (Hames, 2001).
 * ChangeBrain Strategy**

The ChangeBrain strategy contains phased methods of critical inquiry, discovery, and exploration which effective in situations such as: 1. There are no obvious solutions to a problem or problems 2. Patterns and trends are difficult to establish 3. Previous experiences and/or knowledge appears to be of little use 4. A level of uncertainty prevails around a number of critical variables (Hames, 2001)

In addition, with the phased methods the ChangeBrain strategy also contains eight phases which are set in four linked pairs each pair representing one type of learning domain (sensing, making sense, designing, and actioning) (Hames, 2001). In phase can simultaneously point forwards (in development) and backward in time (in appraising and reviewing). Within the linked pairs found in the ChangeBrain strategy there are eight learning spirals that are fluid and dynamic. The eight learning spirals are:

Contextualizing Allows to perceive and create a preliminary general understanding of the system that the business is using Focusing Allows to come to a shared understanding of critical issues Patterning Allows to test and enhance quality of perceptions used in business Reperceiving After getting information from previous phase, one can now have a better understanding of what has to be done next Refocusing New understanding to establish design criteria for shaping the business Charting Allows business to view the entire strategies being implemented Effecting Allows to shape changes to the business ecosystem in order to generate higher levels of strategic appropriateness Coevolution Enables the continual adaption of an organization
 * Learning Spirals Purpose**

The following diagram illustrates the total ChangeBrain Strategy displaying all the parts that make this strategy an effective tool for organizations to be viable and successful in the long run. Pay attention on how the learning spirals interact with each other showing that one can return to them if need be. The ChangeBrain Showing strategy is fluid and not stagnant making it a valuable tool to use.

The importance of ChangeBrain spiral is that it integrates multiple perspectives into our thinking, generates dialogue, and effectively maps the changing dynamics of our systems, allowing us to make more informed and insightful decisions for change. It is the continuous building of intelligence and learning from which planning and Strategic Navigation emerges (Herman, 2002).

The overall health and viability of a company forces businesses to think in a new way. Organizations must begin assessing how the technological developments that have been introduced in the last decade can promote sustainability. Viability forces organizations to efficiently produce and distribute a product that satisfies the customer and constantly reducing the cycle time (Buyukozkan, 2004). Information technologies (IT) have a central role in organizational change programs, and how the understanding of how organization members make sense of technology, is critical to influencing their (an organization’s) actions and to achieving planned outcomes (Davidson, 2009).
 * Conclusion**

Through strategic navigation the company learns how best to not only survive in the current business climate but also how to promote learning, responsiveness, and adaptiveness (Hames, 2001). One strategy is called ChangeBrain and can simultaneously point forwards (in development) and backward in time (in appraising and reviewing) (Guzman, 2009). Other strategies that organizational development promotes are learning organization. By measuring the performance of a company and training employees, the growth promotes competition in the market. The learning organization trains through E-Learning, E-training, etc and facilitate(s) team learning with features such as boundary crossing and openness (Learning Organizations, n.d.). Learning is also promoted in virtual teams. Virtual teams are used to help an organization collectively produce a product. This team atmosphere will help cut back on travel as each person is in a remote location and corresponds virtually through email, chats, telecommunications and so forth. All members help to develop a vision adding their own expertise in the field.

There are many ways in which organizations are developing in the new technological era. No longer can companies produce the same idea but must branch out and constantly renew their products and resources. Promoting growth through employee training and through teamwork is a strategy that promotes sustainability in the market today. Connectivity through information technologies not only helps integrate companies in the mainstream but also keep them adapting to change, expands their potential growth with customers and improves efficiency.

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 * REFERENCES**

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10. McDonagh J., Coghlan, D. Information Technology and the Lure of Integrated Change+ A Neglected Role for Organizaiton Development? University of Dublin, Trinity College. 2006. 11. Sasso. A. (2008). The Advantage of Face-to-Face Meetings for Virtual Teams. Retrieved August 11, 2009 from http://www.leadingvirtually.com/?p=59. 12. Simpson, T. (2007). Keeping Up with Technology: Orange County Library Embraces Learn 2.0. Florida Library Association. Fall 2007. 13. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. Arelington: Mar 2006. Vol. 42. Iss. 1, pg. 23, 17. Retrieved on August 10, 2009 from http://proquest.umi.com 14. Thompson, A., Strickland, A.J., Gamble, J. (2008). Crafting and Executing Strategy. McGrw-Hill Publishing. 15. Worksheet on Team Values