Leadership In Virtual Teams Research Articles

Antecedents and consequences of trust on a virtual team leader

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine, among the possible causes, whether trust in the leader is one of the most relevant factors on the success of a virtual work team by analyzing different antecedents of the trust and its consequences. Design/methodology/approach The influence that certain physical and behavioral characteristics of the leader (attractiveness, empathy and justice) exert on the degree of trust is evaluated. On the other hand, the influence of trust on the efficiency of the team, in terms of organizational citizenship behavior and commitment, is analyzed. To test the model, a survey was conducted on real work teams and the data were analyzed through a model of structural equations. Findings The results support the hypotheses and consequently, the relevance of trust in the leader. Specifically, the leader’s physical and behavioral characteristics have a significant effect on the trust in the leader. This trust results in greater organizational efficiency. Originality/value Despite the undisputable growth in the number of companies using virtual teams, it is also true that many of these teams fail to perform. In this sense, this paper analyzes if certain factors related to leadership can be relevant when influencing the efficiency of a virtual work team. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the internal processes within a virtual team in order to maximize the chances of success in this type of organizations.

Virtual Team Effectiveness: Insights from the Virtual World Teams of Massively Multiplayer Online Games

Over the years, an explosive growth in the use of virtual teams in organizations has been noticed. However, the individual and team factors that result in the team effectiveness of a virtual team still remain unclear. The purpose of the paper is to try to comprehend how virtual teams work better, by shedding light on the Virtual World Teams of Massively Multiplayer Online Games. A framework based on the input‐process‐output model was used to test the relationships between leader emotional intelligence, task interdependence, cooperative group norms, social capital, team cohesion, transformational leadership, and team effectiveness in virtual teams, from a multilevel perspective. Structural equations modeling (N = 500) revealed that leader emotional intelligence is positively related to transformational leadership, which in turn is associated with virtual team effectiveness. Moreover, a significant relation between task interdependence, cooperative group norms, social capital, team cohesion, and virtual team effectiveness was revealed. In addition, task interdependence seemed to also be related to team satisfaction, a subfactor of virtual team effectiveness. Finally, team cohesion has a partially mediating role between transformational leadership perceived at the team level and virtual team effectiveness. The study provides useful insights for leaders and human resource development professionals interested in designing effective virtual teams.

Virtual Team Leader Communication: Employee Perception and Organizational Reality

Based on a study of leader communication effectiveness conducted in a large human resource outsourcing firm, this article reports how virtual team members’ perceptions of their leaders’ effective use of communication tools and techniques affect team performance outcomes. The study also investigates the role that trust plays in moderating the relationship between virtual team members’ perceptions of their leaders’ effective use of communication and team performance. Analysis of 458 responses from 68 teams found a positive relationship between virtual team members’ perceptions of leaders’ effective use of communications and team members’ perception of their team’s performance. The study also found that trust strengthens the relationship between perceived leader communication effectiveness and team performance results. Last, the study also revealed serious organizational alignment issues between what team members perceived to be effective leader communication, their perception of team performance outcomes, and the organizations performance measured by a balanced scorecard.

Fostering work engagement in geographically-dispersed and asynchronous virtual teams

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that enable work engagement to develop when asynchronous communication is used in virtual team (VT) projects.Design/methodology/approachUsing a qualitative approach, a longitudinal study of an eight-month long VT project was carried out. Data collected included an extensive e-mail archive, project documentation, observation of team meetings and interviews with project members and leaders.FindingsThe findings show that VT leaders can actively promote work engagement through the effective use of resources along with appropriate practices that foster its development. They can also sustain and nourish work engagement throughout the different phases of the VT lifecycle project.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has examined work engagement in asynchronous mediated settings. Future work should involve studying the effect of synchronous communications on work engagement within VTs.Practical implicationsOrganizations that are interested in promoting effective virtual work practices need to train VT managers on how to keep VT members engaged throughout the various phases of the VT project.Social implicationsIt is posited that developing work engagement is not a one-off practice, but instead, requires ongoing effort that should be evident and supported across the different phases of the VT lifecycle.Originality/valueThis paper forwards an important debate on work engagement in alternative, non-permanent, work settings.

Effective Coordination of Shared Leadership in Global Virtual Teams

In this study we investigate how shared leadership is coordinated in global virtual teams and how it relates to team effectiveness. Based on 71 interviews with team members and leaders from eight teams from two global software development companies, we found that shared leadership had a more positive effect on team effectiveness when shared leadership was coordinated both implicitly and behaviorally. Implicit leadership coordination is about members sharing same perceptions or cognitive schemas regarding who has leadership over what, and influences whether leadership actions are acted upon. With a mix of national cultures in the team, members are less likely to share the same leadership expectations, which may make shared leadership less effective. In turn, behavioral leadership coordination is associated with the explicit actions aimed at coordinating the leadership activities taking place in the team. This behavioral coordination increases in importance with a higher degree of shared leadership. Our findings contribute to theory and practice by showing that when leadership is highly shared in the team and uncoordinated, it may actually lead to detrimental effects in terms of lower team effectiveness. In contrast, shared leadership may reap its potential benefits if it is well coordinated.

The importance of reward and recognition system in the leadership of virtual project teams: a qualitative research for the financial services sector

One “new normal” in the global business environment is the establishment of virtual teams to accomplish specific tasks. This trend makes leading project teams challenging. There was insufficient research focusing on the effect of reward and recognition systems on virtual team effectiveness in financial services sector. To fill the research gap, a qualitative research was conducted to investigate the preferred types of reward, and their effect on virtual project team effectiveness from the perspective of project team leaders in the financial services sector. The research sheds light on how to design and implement reward systems to enhance team effectiveness.

Transformational Leadership and Leader-Member Exchange in Virtual Teams

While being a relationship-based leadership approach, whether and how transformational leaders may develop high-quality leader- member exchange (LMX) relationships in virtual settings is unclear. T...

IT-enabled awareness and self-directed leadership behaviors in virtual teams

Despite the pervasiveness of self-managing virtual teams, organizations find it particularly challenging to motivate virtual team members to exhibit and manage their leadership behaviors. This study contributes to virtual team leadership literature by specifically shedding light on how distinct awareness forms enabled by information technology (IT) signal important cues to virtual team members to self-lead, that is, self-direct their leadership behavior in their team. Our results reveal that IT-enabled disclosure awareness is key to inducing several leadership behaviors: directive leadership, supportive leadership and interpersonal helping. Further, for directive leadership and interpersonal helping, the relationship is contingent on IT-enabled task knowledge and IT-enabled presence awareness. At low IT-enabled task knowledge awareness or high IT-enabled presence awareness, virtual team members who perceived IT-enabled disclosure awareness employed directive leadership and interpersonal helping. Opposite results were found at high perceived IT-enabled task knowledge awareness and low perceived IT-enabled presence awareness. This research highlights the critical role played by specific awareness forms enabled by IT in motivating virtual team members to engage in self-leadership.

An Evidence-Based Model of Virtual Team Training and Development

The purpose of this article is to outline a training regimen for virtual team members and leaders, based on prior literature on the particular issues and unique skills necessary for individuals who work in this type of environment. The training program proposes four main modules, beginning with introductory training via a kickoff meeting, followed by subsequent modules that delve into factors that have been shown to be crucial for virtual team success. The study's approach provides guidance on the design and execution of various in-person and virtual training sessions, including content, potential delivery modes, timing, and assessment of learning objectives. In total, the proposed training program is designed to be flexible in terms of project types (e.g., engineering, information technology, product development) but is well-suited for virtual teams and employees who work extensively in a virtual environment.

Analysis of competencies for effective virtual team leadership in building successful organisations

PurposeGlobal competition and advances in technology have enhanced the growing trend of virtual teams in order to execute business strategies. Thus, understanding the competencies needed for virtual leadership effectiveness is essential and vital to organisational success. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse the required competencies for virtual team leadership and its effectiveness in an organisation.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted case study methodology to undertake an exploratory study of a manufacturing organisation. Using a questionnaire that was designed following a focussed literature review to identify the specific virtual leadership competencies, structured interviews were conducted face-to-face with 14 respondents from two major virtual team groups. The interviews were designed to elucidate the opinions and perceptions of virtual team members with respect to selected characteristics of their virtual team leaders (VTLs). The responses obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.FindingsThe study identified the competencies required for effective leadership in virtual teams in order to achieve the organisational project success. The performance of the two VTLs in the organisation was then assessed in the light of these identified competencies. The study also identified transformational leaders as important to be considered when selecting VTLs because they are known to achieve high-performing team. However, the study found that considering the virtual leadership competencies, the two VTLs were found to have not, on the whole, performed well because they are lacking in some of the leadership competencies required for effective leadership in a virtual team and this has led to their organisation not achieving the required success in virtual teams.Practical implicationsThe study has implications for organisations’ virtual team project leaders. The identification of specific leadership competencies for virtual team leadership will enable organisations to be more informed when looking for effective leaders in their virtual teams in order to achieve high-performing virtual teams, which will lead to organisational growth and success. The study is expected to enhance the success rate of any typical organisation using virtual teams.Originality/valueThe study would be highly beneficial to both the potential and current stakeholder organisations considering virtual teams to execute business strategies. This study has also added to the body of knowledge by further exploring the leadership competencies needed for virtual teams.

Emergent Leadership in Self-managed Virtual Teams: A Replication

Emergent Leadership in Self-managed Virtual Teams: A Replication

Are you satisfied yet? Shared leadership, individual trust, autonomy, and satisfaction in virtual teams

Despite the benefits associated with virtual teams, many people on these teams are unsatisfied with their experience. The goal of this study was to determine how to better facilitate satisfaction through shared leadership, individual trust, and autonomy. Specifically, in this study we sought a better understanding of the effects of shared leadership, team members’ trust, and autonomy on satisfaction. We conducted a study with 163 individuals in 44 virtual teams. The results indicate that shared leadership facilitates satisfaction in virtual teams both directly and indirectly through the promotion of trust. Shared leadership moderated the relationships of individual trust and individual autonomy with satisfaction. Team‐level satisfaction was a strong predictor of virtual team performance. We discuss these findings and the implications for theory and design.

Are you Satisfied Yet? Shared Leadership, Individual Trust, Autonomy and Satisfaction in Virtual Teams

Are you Satisfied Yet? Shared Leadership, Individual Trust, Autonomy and Satisfaction in Virtual Teams

Virtual Leadership: A Review Paper

Abstract In today’s competitive business environment, virtual work settings present a growing challenge for rapid solutions of organization’s complex problems. This enables an organization to pool talent and expert employees by eradicating the time and space barriers. In accordance, companies are profoundly investigating on virtual teams’ performance enhancement. Virtual work settings revolutionize workplace by providing high level of responsiveness and flexibility. Virtual work setting has also many issues and challenges which must be addressed in order to enhance the team’s performance. Hence one of the major challenge of modern work setting is virtual leadership. This review paper presents an introduction to virtual leaderships, advantages of virtual work environment, challenges and recommendations for virtual leaders to enhance the performance of virtual teams. This article also offers review of earlier published researches and reports the findings on virtual team leadership in a struggle to the present the current state of work on this topic.

Getting Things Done, Virtually! - The Role of Virtual Team Leadership in Virtual Team Effectiveness

A virtual team’s success depends on the team's effectiveness. Accomplishing such a team’s effectiveness is far more difficult when compared with traditional work teams. This article is a result of an exploratory study of the role of leadership in virtual teams. Virtual teams’ leadership is seemingly situational and supervisory, depending on the task. This study reveals that (1) individual virtual team members act as leaders based on the specific requirements for getting things done, (2) classifies virtual team leadership under supervisory and facilitating leadership, (3) suggests that both leadership roles are essential for virtual team effectiveness and functioning and (4) recommends exploration of leadership-oriented communication competency, shared understanding and virtual team citizenship behaviour as these are required for the effective performance of a virtual team.

Editorial

The current issue of Ushus – Journal of Business Management is an eclectic mix of conceptual and empirical papers. The importance of conceptual papers cannot be denied as they reflect systems of concepts, assumptions, expectations, beliefs and theories as well as reflections and the various relationships between them.
 In this vein, the first paper argues that albeit much technical advancement, it is the human capital that provides enough thought and stamina for any industry or institution to run. Hence, it is imperative for any organisation to take proper care of their employees. Underscoring the need for better employee care the article, A Comparative Study to Analyse the Effectiveness of Sexual Harassment Policies of IT and Non-IT Companies aims to analyse the effectiveness of sexual harassment policies of IT and Non-IT companies working in India.
 The second article Getting things done, virtually! -Role of Virtual Team Leadership in Virtual Team Effectiveness highlights various dimensions of leaderships with reference to virtual teams in its review of the literature. The study’s key finding states that shared understanding is a vital force that promotes the smooth functioning of the virtual team’s performance.
 The third paper stands testimony to the never-ending conflictbetween empirical papers and conceptual papers are continual. Nevertheless,it cannot be denied that empirical research enables us to operationalise a paradigm and implement it. Impact of Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Motivation on Job Satisfaction among mystery shoppers is one such empirical study. It focuses on how EI plays a mediating role between motivation and job satisfaction among mystery shoppers. The mystery shoppers may overcome negative emotions by increasing their emotional intelligence, helping them to attain greater career satisfaction.

How virtual team leaders cope with creativity challenges

PurposeAs technology-mediated communication improves, many organizations increasingly use new types of collaborative online tools to promote team-based learning and performance. The purpose of this study is to explore how virtual team leaders cope with process challenges in developing a context for team creativity.Design/methodology/approachThe authors interviewed nine leaders who have worked for more than five years and managed virtual teams in different fields.FindingsThis research uncovered distrust, personality differences, generational differences in views, scheduling issues and technology difficulties as the top five inhibitors for virtual team creativity and success. The authors identified seven main strategies for developing virtual team creativity and success. The authors found that building “team norms” and guidelines to encourage positive interactions between team members can facilitate team creativity. In addition, a concept of trust-based open communication was identified as one of the important strategies when teams actively use technology-mediated communication tools.Practical implicationsOrganizational practitioners can use the results of this study when developing knowledge to establish assessments regarding which employees possess the appropriate characteristics to lead virtual teams and implement virtual team training.Originality/valueThis study emphasizes the importance of technology in professional lives by showing how technology-mediated work leads to success in learning and producing creative ideas and performance in a virtual team environment.

Team personality composition, emergent leadership and shared leadership in virtual teams: A theoretical framework

Limited theory and research has been devoted to the role of team personality composition, as well as emergent and shared leadership, in virtual teams. In an effort to provide a theoretical basis for the role of team personality composition, as well as emergent and shared leadership, in virtual teams, we propose a virtual team framework that portrays the team personality composition as predictors of emergent and shared leadership. These in turn are expected to impact virtual team performance. We further posit that the relationships between team personality composition and virtual team performance are indirect, through emergent leadership and shared leadership. Finally, we present team virtuality as a moderator between team composition and team processes. Suggestions for future research and implications for the management of virtual teams are presented.

Leadership in virtual teams: A multilevel perspective

Understanding leadership functioning in virtual teams becomes critical as organizations increasingly use dispersed teams for talent acquisition. In the current article I present a preliminary model that explicates how task- and relationship-oriented leader behaviors influence team and individual processes and outcomes in virtual teams. Further, I discuss cross-level relationships between virtual team and individual processes, as well as the boundary effects of contextual factors (i.e., task complexity, task interdependence, and virtuality) in virtual leadership functioning.

Managing Teams from a Distance: Making the Most of Virtual Meetings

This technical note is a meta-analysis of some of the issues involving the management of virtual teams. Managing people who are geographically dispersed across time, space, and organizational boundaries requires team leaders who are able to communicate effectively and navigate interpersonal relationships. This requires an understanding of team dynamics, how to create a virtual team culture, and what works best when managing from a distance. The successful virtual tam leader knows what it takes to create and sustain high-performing teams, whether people are working in separate, remote locations or in the same corporate workplace. Excerpt UVA-BC-0255 Dec. 11, 2014 MANAGING TEAMS FROM A DISTANCE: MAKING THE MOST OF VIRTUAL MEETINGS The Economist Intelligence Unit's “Foresight 2020” research report outlines five key trends in business for the next 15 years. Of these, three trends—globalization, atomization, and knowledge management—will have a significant effect on the structure, functioning, and distribution of teams within and across boundaries. As organizations become global and cater more to worldwide markets, the prevalence of multicultural and geographically dispersed teams will increase, especially as work gets broken down into more granular units to be managed and delivered by specialist teams or individuals. Atomization will enable firms to “use the world as their supply base for talent and materials…As a result, effective collaboration will become more important.” At the same time, many see the future value of their organizations becoming closely linked to the knowledge they can leverage—knowledge that is frequently an amalgam of individual experience, behavior, and understanding. Managing people who are geographically dispersed across time, space, and organizational boundaries requires team leaders who are able to communicate effectively and both understand and navigate interpersonal relationships. A 1964 Harvard Business School study noted that a successful leader “is able to communicate, to make sound decisions, and to get things done with and through people”—advice that is equally sound for today's virtual team leader. The virtual team leader of today needs to understand team dynamics, how to create a virtual team culture, and what works best when managing from a distance. . . .