Development of a New Product Using Two Distributed Teams

Recent trends in globalization of business operations and education has increased the need for global teams. These teams face a variety of challenges. This paper discusses the experience of distributed teams made up of participants from the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Technology and Stanford University in carrying out a design and development assignment. Challenges faced included differences in culture, in time and experience and the use of distributed information to develop a new product. Better product development demanded at least one face-to-face meeting, setting milestone deadlines and heavy use of electronic media, especially telephone and video conferencing.