Exploring team formation processes in virtual partnerships

Abstract

Different types of new ventures require different types of new venture teams in order to operate successfully. Virtual teams formed across organisational boundaries and organised around an opportunity are a relatively new area of research. A review of previous research shows that, although virtual teams have been well defined as a concept, only a few studies have contributed to the understanding of the processes of assembling and maintaining effective inter‐organisational teams enabled by new modes of communication. By combining cross‐disciplinary theoretical approaches, the reported study presents a conceptual overview of team formation in virtual settings. The findings of the study confirm that interorganisational teams follow special development patterns, which can be described as cyclical self‐energising processes.