Management approaches towards remote teams in new computer hardware product development

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate how remote teams for new computer HW product development can be managed. Remote collaboration brings a lot of challenges, such as communication gaps, time zone differences, and a lack of face-to-face connection. It is further more complex in the world of computer HW development due to the presence of physical products. It is important to understand the current/existing methods practiced by companies and organizations globally to manage the drawbacks of remote collaborations and explore the benefits that remote teams has to offer. The research follows a qualitative approach to investigate the research question in a deeper fashion through interviews and contribute to the existing literature on distant team management. This study analyzes the methods to manage the development of new computer HW products in distributed teams. The results of interviews provide an interesting set of data to draw possible conclusions about the research questions. The data collection highlighted the development of a culture of openness, clear accountability, avoiding local protectionism, and granting local autonomy to remote team members in addition to the managerial attributes recorded by other researchers in similar studies. This study provides an overview of approaches for managing remote teams in a global context, but more research is needed to develop theories and practices that can be embraced by a wider audience.