Maximizing team performance by reducing impact of virtuality

Virtual Distance International

Leadership Team

Karen Sobel Lojeski, Ph.D.  — Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Karen Sobel Lojeski is CEO of Virtual Distance International.  Karen established Virtual Distance to provide advisory services and software solutions to global organizations using technologically mediated collaboration and virtual resources. Prior to launching VDI, Karen spent 18 years in corporate America. 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. Karen holds undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics and recently completed her Ph.D. at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., where she specialized in technology management, virtual work and outsourcing. She is currently working on a book about Virtual Distance

E-mail: klojeski@virtualdistance.com

Richard Reilly, Ph.D. — Chief Technology Officer

Dick is a co-founder of Virtual Distance International and is a world-renowned thought leader in Organizational Behavior and New Product Development.  As Chief Technology Officer for Virtual Distance International, Dick’s primary role is to develop new products and services around Virtual Distance that leverage his expertise and well-established experience in assessment design, management consulting, research methods and statistical modeling and analysis.  Dick specializes in Team effectiveness in new product development, employee assessment, feedback and selection and Individual differences in group and team performance. 

 

Before joining Virtual Distance International, Dick was a research psychologist for Bell Laboratories, the Educational Testing Service and AT&T.  He is a certified with the American Board of Professional Psychology, is on the Editorial Board of Personnel Psychology and the International Journal of E-collaboration.  He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society.  His publications include Blockbusters: The Five Keys to Developing Great New Products, HarperCollins, 2002, Multi-dimensionality of learning in new product development teams. (2002)., Knowledge management in new product teams: practices and outcomes (2000). IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 47, 221-231 (with G. Lynn, A. Akgun), Measuring team performance (2000). Research Technology Management. 43, 48-56. (with G. Lynn) and many more.

William F. Hills— Chief Commercial Officer

Bill is a founding partner of Virtual Distance International and serves as Chief Commercial Officer.  In this role Bill is responsible for management consulting services, business development and project design.

 

Bill is a senior consulting executive with deep experience in assisting Fortune 500 companies with improving business processes and information technology utilization.  Bill’s expertise focuses at the intersection of business process optimization and effective information technology utilization from both an industry and consulting perspective.

 

As an IT executive, Bill has served as head of the information technology consulting practices at Mathematica Policy Research, Director of IT at Chase Econometrics and head of Systems and Development at Johnson & Johnson’s RW Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute.  As a consulting executive, Bill has held leadership roles at  Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Xansa plc and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).

E-mail: rreilly@virtualdistance.com

E-mail: wfhills@virtualdistance.com