Contact: Andy Ciganek
(262) 472-6946
ciganeka@uww.edu
WHITEWATER The ability to work with others from around the world has become an important skill for students to learn as the business world becomes increasingly global. A new information technology course at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is helping business students acquire the necessary skills to work internationally.
Professor Andy Ciganek and his project management course is the first UW-Whitewater course to use a management program called partially distributed teams or virtual teams.
“Virtual teams are increasingly becoming a Onormal’ mode of operation in business today,” said Ciganek. Working with a team that is physically distant from one another allows one to overcome many challenges.
The virtual teams consist of at least two subteams that are separated geographically. Ciganek groups his students in teams of four to five who then pair up with other students from another subteam at a distant university. The projects usually last around five weeks, and results in a management program a team has designed.
The concept of partially distributed teams was developed to provide students with a deep learning experience that prepares them for the business world. There are 15 universities currently using the program with more than 750 students from across the world. Among those universities are: Pennsylvania State University; Pennsylvania, Saint Louis University; and Missouri, University of Washington, Washington. Universities in Spain, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Switzerland and Singapore are also participating.
The first few of weeks of the program are devoted to establishing trust with the other team and creating a shared team identity. “When students start to view the other team as Ous’ instead of Othem,’ it reduces conflict and enhances team progress,” said Ciganek. Students introduce themselves and interview the other subteam members. They communicate through the project Web site, which has e-mail, discussion forums, chat and file exchange. The teams prepare a team contract, which both subteams sign and a leader of each subteam is chosen.
Initial problems some groups face are coordinating work across time zones, different cultural norms and language barriers. However, “it’s better to have students manage these issues in class without a job on the line,” said Ciganek.
Junior Joseph Cassel is one of Ciganek’s students working with a subteam in Lithuania. Despite the eight-hour time difference between Wisconsin and Lithuania, Cassel and his other teammates are up for the challenge. The time difference makes it impossible to put off work “until the last minute because anything we do we can’t expect them to have any sort of response to until the next day,” Cassel said. “I think this is going to give me real experience in business, and it’s something I can put on my resume that employers will find impressive.”
After introductions are done and trust is built, the teams begin to work on designing a management program. This fall, students in Ciganek’s project management class will develop a proposed design for the Argentina Ministry of Defense to help the country curb bioterrorism. Bioterrerorism is a terrorist threat by intentional release of biological agents like bacteria, viruses and toxins. The Argentina Ministry of Defense has decided to use Buenos Aires as a test city for the blueprint.
Students will develop a software program that can help plan for and respond to a bioterrorism attack. “The software could detect threats live as they happen from first responders like health officials and policemen,” said Ciganek. Student’s design must cover threat detection, executive decision-making and general emergency resource management.
“Another part of the system will be taking that data and giving recommendations about how to respond to any particular threat,” said Ciganek. “For example, recommend where treatment centers need to be set up and where to send first responders.”
Every fall semester Ciganek will be using partially distributed teams as a project in the course Project Management: Methodologies Techniques and Tools (ITBE 385). The course is open to all business disciplines and the only requirement is that students must be admitted to the College of Business and Economies. For more information contact Andy Ciganek at 262-472-6946 or ciganeka@uww.edu.
