Karen Sobel-Lojeski, Ph.D.is doing some very interesting work in the field of organizational dymanics. She recently wrote and published a new book called Uniting the Virtual Workforce: Transforming Leadership and Innovation in the Globally Integrated Enterprise (Wiley: April 2008). See her web site at: www.virtualdistance.

Her next book will be on leadership of Virtual Workforces, a topic which will have relevance in the field of corporate board performance assessments, among other organizational applications.

Dr. Sobel-Lojeski is Chief Executive Officer of Virtual Distance International (VDI), a firm she established to help companies with innovation, leadership, and virtual workforce management. Virtual Distance International provides advisory, training, and consulting services to organizations around the world.

Virtual DistanceTM is the perceived distance between two or more individuals when their primary method of communication and coordination is not face to face. Virtual Distance can exist regardless of whether people are separated by millimeters, miles or continental masses.

Virtual DistanceTM is measured using the Virtual Distance IndexTM developed by Virtual Distance International - It was developed to quantitatively measure Virtual Distance and associate it with team & organizational performance

Extensive studies have shown that the impact of high of Virtual DistanceTM can significantly hamper organizational financial performance, efficiency, innovation and effectiveness.

Prior to launching VDI, Dr. Sobel-Lojeski spent 18 years in corporate America on Wall Street. She held management positions at Stratus Computer, Inc., Chase Manhattan Bank N.A., and Mercer Consulting Group. She was Chief Operating Officer for Prolifics, a JYACC company, and Vice President of North America for Xansa. She is the former Research Director for the Institute for Innovation and Information Productivity.

She holds undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics and recently completed her Ph.D. at Stevens Institute of Technology where her dissertation, "Virtual Distance: A New Model for the Study of Virtual Work", won the award for Best Dissertation of 2006.

Dr. Sobel-Lojeski also is a columnist and contributing editor for CIOInsight Magazine where she writes on the subject of management and leadership in the changing world of work in the Digital Age. Uniting the Virtual Workforce and her groundbreaking work in innovation and productivity has been featured in a number of major business publications including Business Week, The New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine and others.

Her research and practical guidance were featured in a segment of ABC's 20/20 which aired on May 4, 2008. She is also the Chairwoman for a new, annual conference called "Managing Virtual Distance: Driving Business Transformation Through Distributed Work". The inaugural event was held on November 14-16th, 2007 in Anaheim, California and was sponsored by IIR.

BACKGROUND AND CONTACT INFO:

Karen Sobel-Lojeski, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Virtual Distance International
(212) 742-8794 / klojeski@virtualdistance.com
Executive Assistant: Brenda Cooper
(707) 995-5236 / bhooper@virtualdistance.com

# posted by ChampionBoards.com @ 1:40 PM