Volume 4, Issue 13, December 2009, Pages 1575-1590
Virtual R & D teams in small and medium enterprises: A literature review (Review)
Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Abstract
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
are the driving engine behind economic growth. While SMEs play a
critical role in generating employment and supporting trade, they face
numerous challenges, the prominent among them are the need to respond to
fasting time-to-market, low-cost and rapid solutions to complex
organizational problems. Towards that end, research and development (R
& D) aspect deserves particular attention to promote and facilitate
the operations of SMEs. Virtual R & D team could be a viable option.
However, literature shows that virtual R & D teaming in SMEs is
still at its infancy. This article provides a comprehensive literature
review on different aspects of virtual R & D teams collected from
the reputed publications. The purpose of the state-of-the-art literature
review is to provide an overview on the structure and dynamics of R
& D collaboration in SMEs. Specifying the foundation and importance
of virtual teams, the relationship between virtual R & D team and
SMEs has been examined. It concludes with the identification of the gaps
in the existing literatures and calls for future research. It is argued
that setting-up an infrastructure for virtual R & D team in SMEs
still requires a large amount of engineering efforts and deserves
consideration at top level management. © 2009 Academic Journals.
are the driving engine behind economic growth. While SMEs play a
critical role in generating employment and supporting trade, they face
numerous challenges, the prominent among them are the need to respond to
fasting time-to-market, low-cost and rapid solutions to complex
organizational problems. Towards that end, research and development (R
& D) aspect deserves particular attention to promote and facilitate
the operations of SMEs. Virtual R & D team could be a viable option.
However, literature shows that virtual R & D teaming in SMEs is
still at its infancy. This article provides a comprehensive literature
review on different aspects of virtual R & D teams collected from
the reputed publications. The purpose of the state-of-the-art literature
review is to provide an overview on the structure and dynamics of R
& D collaboration in SMEs. Specifying the foundation and importance
of virtual teams, the relationship between virtual R & D team and
SMEs has been examined. It concludes with the identification of the gaps
in the existing literatures and calls for future research. It is argued
that setting-up an infrastructure for virtual R & D team in SMEs
still requires a large amount of engineering efforts and deserves
consideration at top level management. © 2009 Academic Journals.
Reaxys Database Information
Author keywords
Literature review; Small and medium enterprises; Virtual teams
ISSN: 19922248Source Type: Journal
Original language: English
Document Type: Review
Scopus - Document details
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