Virtual Team Collaboration Research Articles

Does trust matter? The role of trust in collaboration in virtual teams

Virtual cross-border teams emerged after the global credit crisis as a new operational phenomenon of multinational enterprises. This new form eliminates country-based entities and combines local departments. It is of notable benefit to financial efficiency; however, it may have a crucial impact on the structural dimension and nature of relations (ties) of social capital. The damage to ties is characterised by weak trust and heightened operational risk. Measuring trust directly is cumbersome; therefore, this study aims to measure its inversion (internal control). A quantitative research method is used to analyse a) the data (location, nationality, level of seniority, department) of 495 managers of a multinational enterprise to describe their impact on the structural dimension of social capital and the ties between employees, and b) 298 operational control points to find a statistical correlation among their number, the various types of risks and organisational diversity. The authors’ correlation analysis demonstrates that all well-structured high-risk processes are controlled by the organisation. However, the internal controlling system does not seem to cover the trust-based ill-structured processes: human relations and behaviour.

Developing intercultural communication in the EFL primary education classroom: Internationalization through virtual team collaboration with eTwinning

espanolDe acuerdo con el Marco Comun Europeo de Referencia (MCER), la competencia intercultural es uno de los aspectos que se deben desarrollar como parte de la competencia comunicativa en una lengua extranjera. Dos grupos de alumnos de 6o de Educacion Primaria trabajan en un proyecto sobre contaminacion utilizando el ingles como lengua vehicular. El grupo experimental trabaja en colaboracion con alumnos de un centro de Polonia a traves de la herramienta eTwinning. Por su parte, el grupo de control realiza las mismas tareas, pero con equipos de trabajo formados por alumnos del mismo aula. Tras el proyecto, ambos grupos realizaron una encuesta de percepcion sobre diversos aspectos relacionados con la competencia intercultural. Los resultados muestran que el grupo que trabajo con los alumnos polacos ha evolucionado mas en su competencia intercultural que el grupo control. La colaboracion con alumnos de otro pais, que ha sido posible a traves de eTwinning, parece haber contribuido al desarrollo de esta competencia. EnglishAccording to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), the intercultural competence is one of the aspects that must be developed as part of the communicative competence in a foreign language. Two groups of students in their 6th year of Primary Education work on a pollution project through English as the vehicular language. The experimental group works in collaboration with students from a school in Poland through the eTwinning tool. The control group performs the same tasks, but with working teams formed by students from the same classroom. After the project, both groups conducted a questionnaire about their awareness regarding intercultural communicative competence. Results reveal that the group that worked in collaboration with the international students developed their intercultural competence more than the other group. Collaboration with students from another country— which has been possible through eTwinning — seems to have contributed to the development of this competence.

Augmented reality as a tool for open science platform by research collaboration in virtual teams

The provision of open science is defined as a general policy aimed at overcoming the barriers that hinder the implementation of the European Research Area (ERA). An open science foundation seeks to capture all the elements needed for the functioning of ERA: research data, scientific instruments, ICT services (connections, calculations, platforms, and specific studies such as portals). Managing shared resources for the community of scholars maximizes the benefits to society. In the field of digital infrastructure, this has already demonstrated great benefits. It is expected that applying this principle to an open science process will improve management by funding organizations in collaboration with stakeholders through mechanisms such as public consultation. This will increase the perception of joint ownership of the infrastructure. It will also create clear and non-discriminatory access rules, along with a sense of joint ownership that stimulates a higher level of participation, collaboration and social reciprocity. The article deals with the concept of open science. The concept of the European cloud of open science and its structure are presented. According to the study, it has been shown that the structure of the cloud of open science includes an augmented reality as an open-science platform. An example of the practical application of this tool is the general description of MaxWhere, developed by Hungarian scientists, and is a platform of aggregates of individual 3D spaces.

Building Intercultural Competence Through Virtual Team Collaboration Across Global Classrooms

By means of a cross-cultural virtual teams project involving classrooms in Scotland, Germany, and Portugal, students were exposed to the challenges of collaborating internationally with the intention of increasing their intercultural competency. Intercultural sensitivity and intercultural communication competency were measured using responses to surveys before and after the 6-week project. Students reported, among other aspects, a heightened awareness of the difficulties of intercultural communication. Despite a general appreciation of the project and its outcomes, negative results, such as an increased dislike of intercultural interaction, emerged. Contradictory results warrant further investigation with data from future collaborations.

Building a Global Education Collaboration Model Using Experiential Learning: A Fresh Look at Developing Intercultural Competence

Adapting to global business and interpersonal differences is a challenge in both higher education and industry. International education generally seeks to improve student intercultural competence; that is, improving an individual’s ability to work with an international mix of colleagues, customers, and suppliers. Nevertheless, there are many examples where these educational efforts fail. This paper explores virtual team projects, where team members at partner schools in Germany and the U.S. worked together on a joint project, as a mechanism to enhance international education and development of intercultural competence. Using interview and qualitative survey data, we find that these virtual projects offer the opportunity to access different perceptions of problem statements, products and procedures, and apply unique resources and knowledge. We add to the literature by exploring both tools and processes to address improved virtual team collaboration through the lens of intercultural competence. Currently, there are many tools which allow cost-effective communication and document exchange (e.g. Slack, Google Drive, Skype) and facilitate virtual projects. We explore several challenges: the geographical distance (e.g. time zones) combined with cultural distance (e.g. different norms, values, and language) make it hard to establish an intensive, trusting work environment. As global networking increases, universities can better prepare students using cross-cultural project-based learning – a process – that involve university partnerships beyond reciprocal on-campus residencies. We offer a process model and four experiential project-based learning ideas designed to develop cultural competence and virtual team skills, and that address challenges such as differences in academic calendars, student work styles, time zones, and educational norms.

The mechanism of trust affecting collaboration in virtual teams and the moderating roles of the culture of autonomy and task complexity

This study investigates the mechanism by which trust is formed and affects collaboration in virtual teams. In so doing, we identify the judgement dimensions involved in determining interpersonal trustworthiness (i.e., ability, benevolence, integrity and goal congruence) and systems through which virtual interactions are organized and executed (i.e., system performance, system design, and system assurance). We also examine the way in which trust influences three distinct aspects of collaboration (i.e., cooperation, coordination, and knowledge sharing). Further, we investigate whether trust and collaboration would be affected by the culture of autonomy and task complexity. The proposed hypotheses were tested with data from 483 respondents collected in South Korea. The results find that coordination and cooperation enhance knowledge sharing and that trust is critical in determining all aspects of collaboration. We find that ability, integrity, and goal congruence as well as system performance and system design are significant in forming trust. The results also indicate that virtual teams with strong autonomy have greater trust and collaboration than those with weak autonomy. Virtual teams carrying out complex tasks exhibit higher trust and collaboration than those working on simple tasks.

Developing Strategies for Success in a Cross-Disciplinary Global Virtual Team Project: Collaboration Among Student Writers and Translators

This article reports on a qualitative study of strategies and competencies used by technical communication and translation students to address challenges inherent in global virtual team collaboration. The study involved students from three universities collaborating in virtual teams to write and translate instructional documents. Qualitative content analysis of students’ reflective blogs and team transcripts was used to examine their experiences while collaborating. Students faced challenges related to communication, leadership, and technology, and developed various strategies to address those challenges. Although the students did not face cultural challenges, they reported increased awareness of cultural issues. Students also reported that the project helped them better understand the workplace and define career goals.

Virtual Team Collaboration on Home Health Care, Golden Jubilee Medical Center, Thailand

Virtual Team Collaboration on Home Health Care, Golden Jubilee Medical Center, Thailand

Collaboration in Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are three-dimensional, computer-generated worlds in which team collaboration can be facilitated through the use of shared virtual space and mediated using avatars. This article examines the effect of task complexity on team collaboration. A puzzle game in Second Life was used as the collaborative task and task complexity was manipulated by varying the number of pieces in the puzzle. The hypotheses are that task complexity influences team trust, and team trust influences team process satisfaction in virtual team collaboration. The experimental results indicate that task complexity has significant effects on team trust and team process satisfaction, and team trust fully mediates the relationship between task complexity and team process satisfaction.

The Mediating Effect of Interpersonal Trust on Virtual Team's Collaboration

This article examines the relationship between task-communication and five collaborative processes by exploring the mediating effect of interpersonal trust in a virtual team's environment. A multiple mediation model was developed to examine this relationship where cognitive-based trust and affective-based trust are defined as mediation variables between task-communication and the five processes of collaboration. The main results of this study show a significant correlation with a large effect size between task communication, trust and collaboration. Also, interpersonal trust is playing an important role as a mediating element in the relationship between task communication and collaboration. This is where the emotional side of trust is no less important than the rational side, if not even more, in some collaborative processes.

Virtual teamwork training: factors influencing the acceptance of collaboration technology

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence the acceptance of electronic collaboration technology by higher education students and that influence their predicted usage of the technology for virtual team collaboration. The research combined the unified theory of acceptance and usage of technology (UTAUT) with a virtual team-training model. All 108 participants completed a survey following their participation in virtual team training. Ten hypotheses were tested using a structural equation modelling technique, partial least squares. Five of the hypotheses were supported and five were not supported. The results indicated that three of the four UTAUT constructs were significant in predicting whether the participants would use the collaboration technology in the future. Additionally, the findings revealed that the participants had a positive perception of the virtual teamwork training.

Role of Leadership in a Virtual Team Project

Global organizations are using virtual teamwork to improve performance. Because virtual teams are distantly apart, organizations depend on information technology tools to collaborate and increase productivity. Additionally, organizations face leadership challenges due to the cultural mix and dispersion of virtual team members. Developing relationship by using technology to inspire and motivate individuals has become the new organizational paradigm. Understanding the impact of technology in driving leader-follower relationship is essential for the advancement of virtual teamwork. This paper explores the role of leadership in virtual teams by reviewing the literature on leadership and collaboration in virtual teams. Increased understanding of cultural influence on decision making can help organizations gain competitive advantage.

Virtual team effectiveness: The role of knowledge sharing and trust

Organizations utilize virtual teams to gather experts who collaborate online to accomplish organizational tasks. The virtual nature of these teams creates challenges to effective collaboration and team outcomes. This research addresses the social effects of knowledge sharing on virtual teams. We propose a conceptual model which hypothesizes a relationship between knowledge sharing, trust, collaboration, and team effectiveness in virtual team settings. The findings suggest that knowledge sharing positively influences trust and collaboration among virtual team members. The findings also suggest that while trust positively influences virtual team collaboration, it does not have a significant direct effect on team effectiveness.

Intercultural Challenges in Virtual Teams

Abstract Virtual teams are usually geographically dispersed and consist of members from different countries and cultures. They influences internal communication processes and can cause personal conflicts, misunderstandings or lack of trust. Intercultural diversity is also significant for goal setting and team effectiveness. The aim of this article is to check if virtual team members appreciate the cultural diversity or rather suffer from lack of team cohesion and mutual understanding. The article presents research conducted among specialists from IT sector who have experience in working in virtual teams. They perceive intercultural collaboration in virtual teams as the opportunity to exploit the potential of specialists from all over the world but they also point to some challenges related to cross-cultural virtual teamwork.

Changes in Virtual Team Collaboration With Modern Collaboration Tools

Changes in Virtual Team Collaboration With Modern Collaboration Tools

Virtual teamwork training: factors influencing the acceptance of collaboration technology

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence the acceptance of electronic collaboration technology by higher education students and that influence their predicted usage of the technology for virtual team collaboration. The research combined the unified theory of acceptance and usage of technology (UTAUT) with a virtual team-training model. All 108 participants completed a survey following their participation in virtual team training. Ten hypotheses were tested using a structural equation modelling technique, partial least squares. Five of the hypotheses were supported and five were not supported. The results indicated that three of the four UTAUT constructs were significant in predicting whether the participants would use the collaboration technology in the future. Additionally, the findings revealed that the participants had a positive perception of the virtual teamwork training.

Sociopsychotechnological Predictors of Individual’s Social Loafing in Virtual Team

The rapid development of technology and the demands of the workers to be productive have made efficiency and effectiveness of virtual team collaboration is becoming increasingly urgent lately. Therefore, it is important to identify the variables undermining the efficiency and effectiveness. This study aimed to investigate the role of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived playfulness of online collaboration tool (as elements of technology acceptance) and xenophobia in predicting social loafing (at the individual level)─a social psychological phenomenon that shows the declining performance of the individual when working in the group. The contribution of this research is its attempt to combine social psychological and technological factors in explaining human performance in the context of the group when interacting with technology. The research design was correlational predictive, with multiple linear regression data analysis technique. Participants of this study were 80 students and employees (43 males, 37 females; mean of age = 25.58 years of old, standard deviation of age = 4.92 years) who work using online collaboration tool in a virtual team. The results showed that the perceived playfulness, perceived ease of use, and xenophobia were able to predict an individual’s social loafing, but the perceived usefulness is not able to predict it. Implications of the results of research in order to prevent social loafing are stated in the Discussion section.

Building Collaboration in Virtual Teams through Emotional Intelligence: Mediation by SOAR

In today’s global business environment virtual teams have increased rapidly worldwide due to advances in communication technology that facilitate communication and sharing of information among team...

Analysis and Modeling of Academia's Collaborative Decision Support System Based on Key Performance Indicators and Degree of Certainty

Increasingly, academia is relying on a novel concept of virtual teams for Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) processes amongst the students across the globe (different cultures). To facilitate collaboration in international virtual teams there is a need to support cross-cultural decision making through a series of steps required to improve problem solving and decision making. In this paper we analyze the CDM processes in international virtual environment and discuss the opportunity to support CDM through the use of a Computer-Aided Collaborative Decision Making (CA-CDM). In CA-CDM students declare their knowledge in terms of the Degree of Certainty (DC) during the collaboration process. In this research, a process model based on various Key Performance Indicators (KPI) designed to figure out the key challenges, performance and differences in CDM. Based on these KPI variables and their scores, two different models are suggested to calculate the difference and similarity in CDM. The designed computer-supported environment supports CDM processes to address critical thinking, deep learning and knowledge transformation. In this computer program model, based on Degree of Certainty of each peer student, each student declares their communication certainty before starting a virtual interaction to support a CDM process. Incorporation of the suggested KPIs modeling; this learning environment will optimize the output of virtual team decision support collaboration.

How Team Leaders Can Improve Virtual Team Collaboration Through Trust and ICT : a Conceptual Model Proposition

How Team Leaders Can Improve Virtual Team Collaboration Through Trust and ICT : a Conceptual Model Proposition