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In 1991, the Academy of Management Review (AMR) published a special issue whose focus was on the dearth of internationally oriented management theory and studies addressing this. The management literature was filled with theories formulated primarily by scholars from the United States or other Westernized areas of the world and with studies whose samples were generally, also, from these Western areas. After noting the trend toward international diversity in the “American workforce,” AMR special guest-editors Doktor, Tung, and Von Glinow (1991) noted that the need for theory that tests the international-applicability of management theories was – not only desirable, but – urgent.

The literature on academic international research teams (AIRTs) has drawn conclusions and made recommendations based on cross-sectional “snapshots” of the research team process – observations made prior to the conclusion of the research project. Several large-scale AIRTs have now evolved through a life cycle including result-related publications. We evaluate and extend the literature using a project life cycle perspective, in which each stage exhibits different challenges and opportunities that influence the quality, reliability and validity of the final research output and the overall viability of the knowledge-creation project. We conclude with recommendations for the effective management of AIRTs and, indeed, perhaps all multinational, globally distributed teams engaged in both basic and applied knowledge creation.

In today's internationalized world, value creation consists of knowledge and work integration involving workers from around the world. Members of these globally distributed work teams (GDWT) encounter organizational behavior issues (identity, cultural differences, and leadership) and organization design issues (dependencies, information processing, media use, and teamwork structures). While most research on GDWT focuses on the first set of issues, this chapter is among the few to systematically explore the second set. We propose and elaborate on strategies for either reducing the intensity of collaboration, or enabling teams to collaborate intensely on a global scale. Implications for research and practice are explored.

The purpose of this paper is to add to the understanding of the international work experiences of lesbian and gay self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) with a particular focus on the effects of different contexts on their disclosure decisions. In doing so, this study responds to the call for more empirical and extensive studies of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) expatriates.

This paper is based on in-depth analysis of four interviews of lesbian and gay SIEs.

The findings presented in this paper support three contextual determinants – personal, organizational, and country-level context. These contextual determinants significantly influence lesbian and gay SIEs’ disclosure decisions and their overall international work experience.

Given the rapid globalization and dynamic business environment, workforce diversity has become a business imperative over the past few decades. Diversity in today’s workforce includes not simply gender and racial diversity, but also age, culture, sexual orientation, religion, education, and disabilities as primary categories of diversity. Moreover, new technologies require highly skilled labor the world over, exacerbating existing global talent shortages. These advancements in technology, accompanied by massive shortfalls in skilled labor, have expanded the pool of potential expatriates to include those non-traditional ones who have been excluded from international assignments. Particularly, as LGBT rights to equal employment opportunity and their potential contributions to international assignments have been increasingly recognized worldwide in recent years, attention to LGBT expatriates has grown exponentially. Nevertheless, neither their experiences as lesbian and gay SIEs in international assignments nor the effects of contexts on those experiences, including disclosure decisions, have yet to be fully explored. In this sense, this paper provides a contribution to the deeper understanding of lesbian and gay SIEs in multidimensional contexts of an international assignment. Although the study examined lesbian and gay expatriates, results suggest insights into the entire LGBT expatriate community.

Bindu Aryais currently a doctoral student in International Business and Strategy at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her dissertation will empirically investigate how collaborative efforts between for-profit, not-for-profit and governmental agencies facilitate outcomes and can function to enhance sustainable development. Her research on how social networks facilitate organizational and group decision-making processes and outcomes has appeared in Journal of Management (forthcoming).

Dedicated to our dear families and friends, with special thanks to Champagne, Tuxedo, Zack, Emma, Molly, Googun, Lisa, Calvin, and David for their understanding and support

The fundamental premises of three different models of diffusion of new technologies are described; the similarities and differences in prediction which are derivable from the three perspectives are highlighted. These perspectives include (1) diffusion of innovation; (2) technology transfer; and (3) critical mass theory. The article examines these predictions within the context of the unique social, cultural and political environments of developing countries. To illustrate the results of this approach, these theories are applied retrospectively to three technologies introduced into developing countries. They differentially explain diffusion and the subsequent use of these technologies. Implications for change management and technology policy are presented and future research is suggested.