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Many organizations worldwide are currently exploring the potential gains to be made from working with virtual teams. Although many different things are meant by use of 'virtual' (and indeed by 'teams'), usually it denotes groups of people with common purpose and goals working in different locations and often different time zones; they will be interconnected via a variety of telecommunications networks, perhaps including the Internet and intranet, video conferencing, shared white boards, as well as telephone, mail and e-mail. For organizations implementing such virtual teams there is a great need for guidance, in terms of the organizational structure and support which needs to be put in place. This book offers a practical guide to developing virtual teams, providing both an overview of what is involved and also a clear simple framework around which organizations can build their own implementation process. Although the different support technologies are discussed (at a generic level), the thrust of the book is on the organizational and human factors issues which must be addressed to make virtual teams a success. It contains detailed case studies to show how virtual teams work and where they can go wrong. Contents: Introduction. When Should We Use Virtual Teams?: The move towards virtual working; What are virtual teams?; Why virtual teams?; What have traditional teams taught us? What We Need to Know When Implementing Virtual Teams: Technology for virtual teams; Why not virtual teams?; Are certain jobs more suited to virtual working than others?; Virtual Team complexity; Managing virtual workers; Success strategies; Communication strategies; Supporting the virtual team; Implementing change; Survey of virtual teams in UK industry. Case Studies of Virtual Teams in Industry: Case study 1: Defencom; Case study 2: Dalgen; Case study 3: Firstcase Telecommunications; Case study 4: Bullcom; Conclusions from case studies. Guidelines and Tools for Virtual Team Success: Introduction; Guideline 1: Produce personal profiles; Guideline 2: Develop virtual socializing skills; Guideline 3: Agree a code of conduct protocol; Guideline 4: Agree a communication protocol; Guideline 5: Produce a meetings protocol; Guideline 6: Generate a product implementation plan; Guideline 7: Plan for training and competency; Guideline 8: Produce a reporting and recording protocol; Guideline 9: Design a central knowledge base; Guideline 10: Agree a system for performance measurement; Guideline 11: Set a strategy for team evaluation; Guideline 12: Develop recognition and reward policies and systems. Epilogue. In conclusion; Further resources; Index. Abigail Edwards has lived and studied in Saudi Arabia, Malta, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. She obtained a First Class Honours Masters Degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Nottingham University, and now works within European Supply Chain Logistics for Proctor and Gamble at their UK Headquarters in Weybridge. Her current role focuses on the design of communication and operational processes of a newly established manufacturing planning team that operates across upwards of 10 sites across Europe, yet must work day to day as a single, cohesive team. John R. Wilson was Professor of Occupational Ergonomics in the School of Mechanical, Materials, Manufacturing Engineering and Management, University of Nottingham. He was Director of The Institute for Occupational Ergonomics and Director of the Virtual Reality Applications Research Team. John was a Chartered Psychologist and a Chartered Engineer, and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Applied Ergonomics. He worked on, and managed, many European research and development projects, all of which were run through virtual teams, and so had first hand experience of the advantages - and pain - of working in this way.

Edwards revisits black transnational culture in the 1920s and 1930s, paying particular attention to links between the intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance and their Francophone counterparts in Paris. He suggests that diaspora is less a historical condition than a set of practices through which black intellectuals pursue international alliances.

Contemporary Theorists for Medical Sociology explores the work of key social theorists and the application of their ideas to issues around health and illness. Encouraging students and researchers to use mainstream sociological thought to inform and deepen their knowledge and understanding of the many arenas of health and healthcare, this text discusses and critically reviews the work of several influential contemporary thinkers, including - Foucault, Bauman, Habermas, Luhmann, Bourdieu, Merleau-Ponty, Wallerstein, Archer, Deleuze, Guattari, and Castells. Each chapter includes a critical introduction to the central theses of a major social theorist, ways in which their ideas might inform medical sociology and some worked examples of how their ideas can be applied. Containing contributions from established scholars, rising stars and innovative practitioners, this book is a valuable read for those studying and researching the sociology of health and illness.

Maastricht and Beyond is a critical assessment of the European Union brought into being by the Treaty of Maastricht. A team of experts provide a clear and thorough appraisal of the main provisions of the Treaty - including the three pillared structure of Economic and Monetary Union, common foreign and security policy and home affairs and justice - showing how these elements will change the function and eventually the character of the European Union. The book draws conclusions from the Maastricht process for the next reform of the Union in 1996, and it examines the practicalities of achieving a fully-fledged federal democracy, making proposals for a constitutional settlement. Maastricht and Beyond will appeal to both informed generalists and to students and scholars who want a fresh approach to the stale arguments over Maastricht, who seek enlightenment over what the Treaty is for and who have the curiosity to look forward to 1996 and beyond.

This volume represents the most important work to date on one of the pressing policy issues of the moment: the privatization of social security. Although social security is facing enormous fiscal pressure in the face of an aging population, there has been relatively little published on the fundamentals of essential reform through privatization. Privatizing Social Security fills this void by studying the methods and problems involved in shifting from the current system to one based on mandatory saving in individual accounts.