Global Virtual Team Leadership Scale (GVTLS) Development in Multinational Companies

Sema Nur Batırlık,Yasin Galip Gencer,Ulas Akkucuk

doi:10.3390/su14021038

Sema Nur Batırlık, Yasin Galip Gencer + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su14021038

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Jan 17, 2022
Citations: 18	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Yalova University, Boğaziçi University

Abstract

As a result of developments in technology, globalization and digitalization, virtual teams have become indispensable for many industries. Transformations in information and communication technology have provided new opportunities for businesses to create and manage virtual teams. Today, all organizations have had to introduce new methods of communication and have started to continue their conversations through digital platforms. It has become inevitable for teams to form in such virtual environments. Virtual team members are made up of individuals from different genders, experiences, cultures and geographic locations. While there are leaders in virtual teams as in face-to-face environments, this type of leadership performs its function through information and communication technologies, unlike traditional types. Although there are many studies on face-to-face leadership in academic studies and despite the increasing use of digital platforms, it is observed that there is a need for studies on leadership styles in virtual organizations. The main purpose of this study is to create a scale about leadership characteristics in virtual teams. With the present study, it is aimed to develop a valid and reliable scale in order to discover and analyze the virtual team leadership characteristics of individuals within the multinational companies. During the scale development process, literature review, focus group interviews and statistical analysis were used to create the items to be included in the scale. First of all, focus group discussions were conducted by examining the scale developments on the leadership phenomenon. A total of three focus group interviews were held; expert opinions were used to ensure the content validity of the results, and a draft scale with 29 items was created as a result.

Highlights

With the rapid advances in technology, communication technology has developed and the level of communication has increased through virtual communication tools
The aim of this research is to explain virtual teams and the concept of virtual team leadership, to learn the leadership perceptions of individuals who are employees of multinational companies in organizations held in virtual environments, and to develop a scale about virtual team leadership
In this research carried out in order to create a valid and reliable scale, which is different from the leadership scales existing in the academic literature, in a manner to focus on global virtual environments, the item pool that forms the basis of the scale was produced by using focus group interviews and expert opinions in line with literature reviews

Summary

Introduction

With the rapid advances in technology, communication technology has developed and the level of communication has increased through virtual communication tools. Research shows that organizations need to bring the right people together at the right time to accomplish certain tasks. At this point, virtual teams have emerged in order to keep up with the needs of the new era. Let’s say you hold a meeting about your job or education in a virtual environment. What do you think a virtual team is?. What do you understand when you say virtual team leadership?. Think about the meetings you hold in the virtual environment in terms of leadership styles and management styles. Transition Key. How do you think a team leader in a virtual environment should be?. How does the virtual team leader monitor or monitor team members’ performance and progress towards task completion?

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