Abstract: Telework and virtual teams are seen as strategic organizational innovations with potential benefits to individuals, business, and society. Despite the rapid adoption of telework and virtual team process work models such as AGILE & TSP, research shows that between 20% and 50% of them fail to live to up to expectations and many employers have reverted back to central core team in-the-office work. The presentation entitled, Success Factors in Virtual Working, will discuss some of the reasons why virtual teams fail and will provide process recommendations for managers and team members to help ensure their success.

Bio: 

Michael came to academic life with nearly thirty years of experience in the computer industry where he began as a software engineer, then moved into management with companies such as Digital Equipment Corp, Unisys, France Telecom, and Bank of America. Reflecting on problems he faced while working in the industry, his research area investigates how to exploit technologies, tasks, and human factors to improve how well people work. Incorporating social cognitive theory, Michael examines how human perceptions and technologies interact and affect performance, particularly in team-based work. Prior to coming to Florida Tech, Michael was an assistant and associate professor of information systems at the Florida State University.

Selected Journals:

• (2004). Goals, relationships, information, and processes in global virtual teams. Journal of Management and Decision Making, 5, 348-372.
• (2005). Virtual team culture and the amplification of team boundary permeability on performance. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 16, 435-458. Featured article, with invited reaction by Dr. L. Moran.
• (2007). Virtual team performance and the proximal-virtual team continuum. Journal of American Society for Information Science and Technology, 58, 794-801.
• (2007). Telecommuting and telework. In H. Bidgoli (Ed.), The Handbook of Computer Networks (Volume 3, pp. 131-159). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Selected Books:

• (2005). Object-oriented software concepts: A technology manager's guide to the state-of-the-art. NY: iUniverse. ISBN: 0-595-33962-X.
• (1997). Heretical confessions: A philosophical discourse on the doctrine of comparative dissimilarity. Tucson, AZ: Mason-Pratt. ISBN: 0-464-95750-7.

Selected Conferences:

• (2006). Virtual communities and imaginary friends: Affiliation and affection from afar (Keynote speaker). Stowe, VT: Conference on Technology and Innovation.
• (2004). Chaord: Using technology to transcend the boundaries between chaos and order. Paris, France: Conference on Globalization and Technology Management (best paper award).
• (2004). Bridging islands of information: Solving the problem of translating and transporting geo-spatial data across disparate data resources. Atlanta, GA: OGETA Conference.
• (2003) InSTEP: Business modeling and alignment methodology. Ottawa, Ontario: The Conference on Software Engineering and Process Improvement.
• (2003). Virtual community: Reaching across the information chasm with technology. Las Vegas, NV: Inforum.

• Director of the North Florida Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN)
• Director of the Center for Immigration and National Security (CINS)
• Member: IEEE, Tal Tech, IT Florida

• Doctor of Philosophy, Georgia State University
• Master of Science, Southern New Hampshire University
• Undergraduate, Ohio University