The Moderating Effects of Virtuality on the Antecedents and Outcome of NPD Team Trust

Abstract

The fundamental dynamics of virtual and traditional face‐to‐face teams may be very different. The purpose of this study is to empirically examine and assess the moderating effects of virtuality on the antecedents and outcome of trust, where virtuality is measured along a continuum from face to face (no virtuality) to fully virtual rather than the more common approach of dichotomizing teams into two groups (i.e., face to face and virtual). The sample includes 116 different new product development teams from a variety of industries. The antecedents of trust that are studied are familiarity, goal clarity, training, relationship conflict, and process conflict. The outcome of trust is analyzed by determining how the impact of trust on cooperation changes as the level of virtuality changes. Primary findings are as follows: (1) Relationship conflict can be more detrimental to virtual teams than face‐to‐face teams because it is very difficult for team members of virtual teams to resolve their interpersonal disputes; (2) goal clarity is more important for face‐to‐face teams and less important for virtual teams in creating trust among team members; and (3) the impact of trust on cooperation is less for virtual teams than face‐to‐face teams. The primary implication for researchers and practice of these findings is that the role and importance of trust in virtual teams needs to be reevaluated. Managers using virtual teams need to realize that interpersonal relationships in virtual teams do not evolve in the same manner as face‐to‐face teams and may require different management techniques to be successful.