Virtual Teams

The business is an international NGO called The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) that works on issues regarding the conservation,research and restoration of the environment.

WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, acting locally through a network of over 90 offices in over 40 countries around the world. It is an independent foundation registered under Swiss law. The central secretariat for the network (called WWF International) is located in Gland, Switzerland.

MesserWoland. WWF Logo. 2008.  Retrieved on May 10, 2011 from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WWF_logo.svg 

WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of our planet's natural environment, and build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.Since 1985, WWF has invested over US$1,300 million in more than 11,000 projects in more than 100 countries. WWF runs about 1,300 projects at any one time.In carrying out its work, WWF cooperates with many partners, including UN organizations, IUCN, and development agencies such as USAID and the World Bank. WWF also works with business & industry partners. Individuals contribute 60% of WWF's income.

Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world, with high living standards and with diverse linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, and Italian with a strong sense of belonging to the country founded on the common historical background, shared values (federalism, direct democracy, neutrality) and Alpines symbolism.

Traditionally, Switzerland avoids alliances that might entail military, political, or direct economic action and this neutrality is the reason for the unusual number of international institutions that have their seats there.

Switzerland has one of the best environmental records among nations in the developed world, part of lots of organizations and treaties and with politics that allow them to be for example one of the top recyclers in the world.

Virtual Teams. Retrieved on May 15, 2011 from:
http://www.businesscapturemastery.com/proposal-writing-with-virtual-teams  

Mongolia is an Asian developing country with an economy based on agriculture and mining. Mongolia has rich mineral resources, and copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production. Despite growth, the proportion of the population below the poverty line is around 30%, being a considerable percentage. As a result of rapid urbanization and industrial growth policies Mongolia's deteriorating environment has become a major concern. The deterioration of the environmental situation is rooted in the irresponsible conflict of interests, the lack of coordination among the member implicated, the inadequate monitoring of natural resource conditions and the lack of serious and respected environmental regulations.  

Siebdrat, F., Hoegl M. & Ernst, H. 2009. How To Manage Virtual Teams.
Article MIT Loan management review. Retrieved on May 12 from:
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/2009-summer/50412/how-to-manage-virtual-teams/ 

n this order of ideas, Switzerland could be a useful partner to transfer environmental practices to Mongolia. But is not as simple as it sound, because their hugest differences in technologies, time zones, cultural differences, knowledge transfer could be a source of misunderstandings. First of all there are located in two different continents with a different time zone (6 hours) and different languages  which would make complicated the agreement on the development of communication. Cultural differences could generate differences in the group member’s willingness and ability to collaborate with each other and also the development of trust among them. Both countries have notorious differences in their technology development, which could make harder the compatibility between the tools that are use to communicate and the availability of such tools. 

ASSIGNMENT GOAL	DESCRIPTION (Hypothetical Case)
Audience	Managers
Purpose	Define a recycling project to develop in Mongolia by the supervision and coordination of the Switzerland branch.
Deadlines and deliverables	Each member must send to the other a project proposal before the date of the virtual meeting. In the virtual meeting there’s going to be a discussion to define the project. After a period of one week the proposal must be defined and ready to be started.
Content	The meeting will be directed by the manager of the Switzerland branch.
Evaluation	Accomplishment of the definition of the project by the date proposed.
Resources	Skype and email.

REFERENCES:

The World Wide Fund for Nature web site. Retrieved on May 10, 2011 from: http://wwf.panda.org/