Case Study Three: Virtual Teams in Action

The F-35 Lightning II Program, also known as the Joint Fighter Program, is the US Department of defense’s next generation stealth fighter aircraft. The Department of Defense named Lockheed Martin Aeronautics of Ft. Worth Texas to design and build the fighter with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems as major partners. Countries including Italy, Australia, Canada, Turkey, India and Israel have contributed toward development costs of the program.

The success of the mega project hinges greatly on intricate teamwork and the cooperation of countless individuals. For example, more than 80 suppliers worked at 187 locations worldwide to build components for the fighter. A seventy-five member technology group at Lockheed’s aeronautics division linked the suppliers along with the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marines to Britain’s Defense Ministry to track progress and make midstream design and production changes. Individuals working at more than 40,000 computer stations collaborated to get the first plane airborne in just four years. Speaking of teamwork involved, Mark Peden, vice president for information systems at Lockheed Aeronautics said, “it is the true virtual connection.”

Teams working both nationally and internationally were connected as if team members were working in the same room. Teams communicated via their computers while looking at

shared documents carried on e-mail chats, and used electronic whiteboards on which geographically separated team members could draw pictures or charts, in real time, as others watched and responded. The internet was designed to allow people from different companies with incompatible computing systems to interface on websites that speak a common language.

Questions

1.                What advantages did Lockheed Martin gain by using virtual teams? Explain.

2.                Identify and discuss potential problems with using virtual tams, for example 
interpersonal, technical or geographical concerns.

3.                Discuss the characteristics that virtual team members should possess.

4.                What specific training should virtual tams receive?

Source: Chapter 4, Case Study 2, Page 161. Snell, Morris, and BohlanderManaging Human Resources, 17thEd.

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