ABSTRACT
In today’s global economy, working across boundaries is here to stay. Global alliances are proliferating and, according to John Naisbitt in his 1994 book Global Paradox , small businesses are better able to achieve success in the global economy because they are nimbler and better able to operate as dynamic networks. Mergers, joint ventures, flatter organization structures, globalization and the desire to bring the right people together to work on the right projects are just some of the other reasons why people are increasingly likely to be required to work beyond their own departmental or organizational boundaries. In this chapter we will be focusing on what it means for employees to work with people who are not part of their traditional ‘ functional ’ work team. In Chapters 10 and 14 we look specifically at the international implications of working across boundaries.
