Introduction

In the fast-changing world of business, the work atmosphere is continuously changing and the organizations are implementing various innovative techniques to bring together various groups of people. Forming virtual teams is one of the techniques the firms have implemented to reduce globalization. These teams do not work face-to-face and operate in a network which supports their communication and their physical existence with the help of technology and group memberships. The report will analyze two scenarios, Scenario A and Scenario B. It will also discuss about different decision-making tools and techniques that will be used by the managers of the firms.   

This scenario has been set in a mid-sized firm of Australia where there are 800 employees working for the firm. 80 employees out of 800 employees are engaged with the works of research, development, and design (R, D & D) (Abdel-Maksoud, Elmogy & Al-Awadi, 2015). The firm is extremely eager for identifying the innovative and creative competencies of the employees those who are engaged in R, D & D works and utilize their skills for distinguishing its business from its competitors.  The firm has made plans for a project for conducting a research on the innovative and creative competencies of the employees those who are engaged in R, D & D works which have been held weakly by the R, D & D employees as well as in their unstructured communication.

It has been observed that if the communication through emails among the employees of R, D &D could be accessed, then it would be the best way to access the implicit data and convert them into knowledge. For a period of one week, the emails, of the employees engaged in R, D & D works, their rates and direction of connectivity has been observed accordingly (Aguwa, Olya & Monplaisir, 2017). The outcomes of the audit of research have been accessible on the attached map of R, D & D which has been made based on the unstructured data and has been available in the emails.

Data of Scenario A

The attached map of R, D & D has identified each of the employees and the workstations where they have logged in, with the help of node. The node has a number in the circle. The rates of connectivity have been presented through different nodes which are connected by lines. The intensity and direction of traffic have been presented through the numbers in the lines which are inside or outside the nodes. The project will interpret both the map and the decisions for discussing about the content and combining them. It has been done to convert the weak and unstructured data, which has been accessed from the emails into strong data and make it suitable so that the firm can use it (Ahmed, Mahmood & Hu, 2016). Some of the R, D & D employees would be chosen for the meeting and they would be given many meeting rooms. Each room would have a facilitator, visual aids and a group decision support system (GDSS) so that the employees of all the rooms could connect and summarize the outputs of the meeting.

The group-based communication technology system would be used by the project for supporting the meetings among the R, D & D employees and helping them to make the weak data into strong information. For making the meeting successful, resources which are accessible in the meeting rooms would provide guidance to the group procedure (Al-Anazi, AlMahmoud & Al-Turaiki, 2016). It will also make sure that the participants of each of the meeting rooms connect with each other as well as with the other groups in other rooms so they could generate strong information.

Table 1: Each Cluster and the Constituents of Each Cluster

Table 2: Key Members of R, D & D as per the Clusters and Meeting Rooms 

The type and size of each cluster have been decided on the basis of the same features of the clusters. The process which is used for identifying the nodes in the clusters is called clustering process. In this case, the chosen clustering method is a hierarchical clustering process. In this process, the distant data point has several clusters (Ishizaka & Pereira, 2016). Each cluster is far from one another while the nodes point are joined with each other. For choosing the crucial members to attend the meeting and conducting the research, it has used a minimum connection. The hierarchical clustering process can prove to be the most useful process for choosing the crucial members to attend the meeting.

The selection of the nodes in the clusters has been done by identifying the innovative and creative competencies of the employees those who are engaged in R, D & D works and utilize their skills for distinguishing its business from its competitors (Machnik, 2015).  It has been observed that if the communication through emails among the employees of R, D &D could be accessed, then it would be the best way to access the implicit data and convert them into knowledge. The group-based communication technology system would be used by the project for supporting the meetings among the R, D & D employees and helping them to make the weak data into strong information.    This is the method adopted to select the crucial members for the meeting.

In the analysis of the research, the dangling nodes are those nodes that are not connected with other nodes, so that nodes have not been counted in the research. There are some gaps in the cluster at the connection point of two nodes (Mahdi et al., 2016).  It is for removing the nodes from the clusters. But in this case, not a single node has been removed, and all the nodes are connected with one another. Thus, the dangling nodes have not been counted in the research.

The unconnected nodes have been counted in the cluster as they help in identifying the employees those who are engaged in R, D & D works. In this case, the key members those who are engaged with the R, D & D works are represented by the unconnected nodes. The task is to select the crucial members for attending the meeting, so it has become vital to include them (Mardani et al., 2015). Although they are not involved in most cases, but in this case, the unconnected nodes will make their task simpler.

The process of clustering does not have any target but it is beneficial for finding any type of data. The main purpose of clustering is to make divisions of the nodes in some groups. It is done so to cluster the nodes of same features in the same clusters to distinguish them from nodes with different features. The nodes in the clusters which has the same features and are connected with each other make the task simpler and better. The two employees those who are engaged with the R, D & D work, Research Manager and Project Development Manager have been selected as they both are closely connected with each other as well with the project and their contributions can be beneficial for the project of the firm (Mastorakis & Siskos, 2016). So, they can be selected from each cluster to attend the meeting. They would be given many meeting rooms with a facilitator, visual aids and a group decision support system (GDSS) so that they could connect and summarize the outputs of their meeting.

Discussion of Scenario B

This scenario has been set in a service-based firm which is based in Australia. Its headquarters is located in Melbourne of Australia. There are 200 service employees as well as 10 service centers and they report to 40 managers regarding their works.  The firm is extremely eager for determining their service support levels which are delivered by the employees of the firm. The firm has initiated a project for observing the tasks of the service employees as well as recognize the perceived assistance which has been given by the management (Cao, Duan & Li, 2015). The management has done several telephonic interviews and face-to-face interviews of the field employees and the managers and they have recorded the interviews. The stories of the individuals have been recorded in interviews with the help of Leximancer concept map. It is a qualitative analysis tool and helps to evaluate huge amounts of information.

The Leximancer concept map has analyzed the huge amount of qualitative information through the interviews of the field employees and the managers of the service-based firm of Australia. The map has six themes; customer, management, communication, open, focused, and results. Each balloon is connected with other balloons, which implies that all the balloons have some connection links with each other to run the business. The balloon of communication has two elements, work, and team. It implies that communication is connected with both groups and work so that the operations in the firms are systematically conducted (Ghotra, McIntosh & Hassan, 2015). The map also implies that the other balloons of customer, management, open and results are all connected with the balloon of communication. Thus, it proves that communication has a vital role and it is an important tool for running the business successfully. The communication among the teams is needed in every firm for better performance and for achieving their targets.

The employees of field service have open communication through emails, face-to-face communications, communications at the time of training, and use body language for communication.

The employees of field services are most likely communicating with the management team and other employees within the firm. They communicate about the business developments for achieving the targets of the firm.

There is no high level of communication between the managers and the customers, as the customers mostly make communication with the staffs about their needs. The communication between the managers and the customers are of low level (Paja, Maté, Woo & Mylopoulos, 2016).

The support availability is essential to run the business in the firm. The clients are also provided technical support in accordance with their needs.  

The communication between the field employees and the managers is open. The managers and the field employees openly share their issues and also of the firm with each other. They acn take proper decisions which can be advantageous for the firm.  

The nature of the outcomes of communicating by the field employees is based on proper communication (Saha & Das, 2018). Proper communication can help for improving the performance of the staffs as well as for achieving the objectives set by the firm.

The managers have a vital role in communicating the outcomes so that they can make plans, lead, organize and manage the various management operations of the firm. Proper communication helps them in carrying on their managerial tasks and duties.

The managers are not effectively facing the customers for introducing a system of the incentive payment for the customers. The reason is that the managers are not well-equipped with sufficient capacity for funds. So, a system of incentive payment system cannot be provided to the customers.

Based on the outcomes of the analysis both the management teams and the field employees are working together in spite of several difficulties. They are targeting for reaching their customers and meeting their needs (Sourlas, Psaras, Saino & Pavlou, 2016. Both are equally crucial for the firm for running the business successfully.

The managers are not directly associated with the customers, so the customers cannot communicate their needs and give feedback. The communication between the customers and the managers are of low level.  So, the support availability is of great significance for providing relevant technology to the customers according to their needs (Thompson, Houbiers, McConnell & Irving, 2016).

The managers and the employees have open communication among them according to the Leximancer concept map. The managers and the employees openly share their issues and also of the firm with each other. They can take proper decisions which can be advantageous for the firm (Irani, Pise & Phatak, 2016). If open communication is established among managers and employees, then it can affect the decision-making process of the firm.

Recommendations

It is highly recommended to the managers of the firm to conduct their properly as it can help them to achieve their targets. They can choose soft clustering process in place of hierarchical clustering process while choosing the crucial members for the meeting.  This process can help to cluster every information in a single node. It can also help to select the right employees for attending the meeting. It can prove to be a useful process for proceeding with the clustering of nodes.

The managers should maintain a good relation with each employee of the firm in accordance with the Leximancer concept map. Each concept of the map has been maintaining a good relation with one another for delivering their best performance. If one concept does not maintain a good relationship then it can also have a negative impact on the other concepts.  

The management team has to maintain a high level of communication with the customers. It can be helpful for the customers as they will able to communicate their needs directly to the managers and the managers can also help them to fulfill their demands and needs

 The management team has to come up with innovative ideas and solutions for solving the issues of the firm. The employees should also communicate with the managers about some innovative and creative ideas and solutions for improving the existing strategies of the firm. The managers should consider the ideas from every direction, particularly from the perspectives of the firm  

Conclusion 

The report described two scenarios, Scenario A and Scenario B. The first scenario is about the clustering methods and the second scenario is about the Leximancer concept map. In the current world of business, many firms have been using virtual teams for improving their business. It helps to create a positive impact on the decisions of the managers of the companies. Moreover, the virtual teams help to create innovative techniques which can increase the profitability of the companies. The report also analyzed various decision-making tools and techniques utilized by both the companies of two scenarios. The managers have used that tools for taking relevant decisions for the companies.

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