Abstract
Abstract Objective: The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has been officially classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), meaning the infection is progressing faster and faster in many countries simultaneously. The United States of America has announced a travel ban on 28 European countries, many countries have closed universities, schools and kindergartens, and large gatherings of people have been forbidden. Many companies including Google, Apple and Microsoft encourage or mandate employees to adopt a work-from-home policy. For companies in the modern technology industry, the infrastructure and policy necessary for remote working are undoubtedly already implemented. However, for many smaller companies and organizations the situation was very different. Remote working and virtual team management did not occur or were limited to only a few people. The aim of the article is to present the problems of leading virtual intercultural teams, with particular emphasis on the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: Contemporary texts in the domain of cross-cultural leadership have been reviewed. Relevant existing research has been reviewed and primary research conducted. The latter consisted of 24 IDIs (Individual In-depth Interviews) with employees from various Polish organizations. Findings: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced thousands of enterprises to let their employees work remotely, but many of these companies were not as technologically prepared for the situation as they thought. We are faced with increasing international cooperation and coordination. The outbreak of COVID-19 has accelerated the need for clear standards in remote and virtual teamwork. The article analyzed the positive and negative aspects of the impact of COVID-19 on organizations and ways of virtual leadership. Value Added: This article answers the questions about the main problems faced by managers who had to lead teams in a virtual way. Recommendations: The author is aware of the fact that this is only an exploratory study. It is recommended that in order to gain a fuller picture of the issues underlying the findings, quantitative research with large number of respondents should be undertaken.
Highlights
The success of the 21st century organization depends on its ability to adapt to the constant changes taking place in the environment, especially in the labor market, where it is represented by multinational, and multicultural, labor resources
The outbreak of COVID-19 has accelerated the need for clear standards in remote and virtual teamwork
Value Added: This article answers the questions about the main problems faced by managers who had to lead teams in a virtual way
Summary
The success of the 21st century organization depends on its ability to adapt to the constant changes taking place in the environment, especially in the labor market, where it is represented by multinational, and multicultural, labor resources. International, and transnational enterprises face new challenges and are forced to use the cultural diversity of their members for the purposes of the organization (Chmielecki, 2013). Migration of employees and the globalization of companies mean that the number of people working in culturally diverse teams is increasing, and more and more managers are managing people from different parts of the world, with different views and a different understanding of the concepts of cooperation and duty. Contemporary conditions for the functioning of companies in the market economy, combined with the development of information and communication tools and technologies, the emergence of business internationalization, delegations and transfers of employees, national and international migrations, as well as demographic transformations of the workforce contribute to the increase in the cultural diversity of human resources in the organization Because of constantly increasing intercultural contacts and global interdependence, leaders and managers are forced to “rethink” intercultural communication in order to acquire effective intercultural communication and leadership competence which are becoming more relevant in the increasingly multicultural organisations and communities that people live and work in today (Arasaratnam & Doerfel, 2005 ; Mączyński, Sułkowski, & Przytuła, 2019)
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