(Please read this case study carefully and use this context to answer all questions in this assignment.) James McConnell has been recently appointed as the Senior Director of New Product Development for a multinational manufacturing company based in New York. As part of a company restructuring, several functions including R\&D, IT infrastructure support, product testing, and manufacturing will be migrated offshore to other countries. The main reasons for this decision are the time zone differences, talent availability, and labor cost advantages. While the company has some previous experience in international business, it has not previously worked with global virtual teams for new product development. The company has decided to locate R\&D in Dallas, product testing in Toronto, IT support in Chennai (India), and manufacturing and assembly in Guadalajara (Mexico). Local engineers and other employees will be hired at each location, but some existing managers and experienced engineers from the US will also relocate for a limited period of 6 months to a year to facilitate knowledge transfer and guide local personnel. The chief program manager overseeing all locations will be based in the US and report to the CEO. In order to be successful, the company will follow its corporate values based on US culture but will also need to adapt its business practices to local cultural models in each foreign location. The CEO is aware that running a global virtual team will not be easy, as the company has no prior experience in this virtual mode of high-level product innovation, development, or manufacturing work. As a result, the company has chosen you as the consultant to investigate the idea and prepare a detailed report on global virtual teams and their successful operation. 1. What are the rationale and drivers for the recent growth of global virtual teams? What justifications can be given for the company's decision to migrate some product development, testing, IT infrastructure, and manufacturing work to these three countries? Wouldn't it be easier to manage the entire project if each component was based in the US itself? Be very specific in your response. 2. What are the most likely major opportunities and challenges for this particular global virtual team? Be very specific in your response. 3. Since the other teams will be based in Canada, Mexico, and India, what cross-cultural differences are likely to impact the performance of this particular global virtual team? How would they cause any positive or negative impact on this company's overall business mission? What recommendations should be made for fully understanding and bridging these cultural differences? (Hint: First, make a brief comparison chart of key cultural differences among these 4 countries and relate them to performance issues.) 4. How would mutual "trust" be a significant potential issue among members of this particular global virtual team? How would you positively address any trust-related issues? 5. Provide some practical guidelines for general best practices for sustaining a high performance for this particular global virtual team