Virtual Team Effectiveness Research Articles

The Role of Swift Trust in Virtual Teams and Implications for Human Resource Development

The Problem The combination of flatter organizational structures, globalization, cost-saving initiatives, and the increased emphasis on knowledge sharing has been a contributor to the use of virtual teams in U.S. organizations. The Solution To perform efficiently in a virtual environment, team members must develop swift trust, which does not come inherently with team membership. Understanding the individual, team, organizational, and technological barriers affecting the development of swift trust is critical to an appreciation of how such barriers can be overcome. The Stakeholders In this article, we indicate how virtual human resource development (VHRD) can assist virtual teams, managers, and HR professionals overcome swift trust development barriers. The intended audience for this article includes HRD scholars, scholar-practitioners, practitioners, and students interested in understanding how trust is fostered in virtual teams and how HRD practitioners can make a valuable contribution to the effectiveness of virtual teams.

The impact of emergent virtual leadership competencies on team effectiveness

Purpose– The research on virtual team leadership does well to describe the skills that are needed to guide and direct effective teams. However, what is presupposed in the previous research is that virtual teams have assigned leaders. That is, leaders were either management, appointed by management or were chosen by the team itself. Yet in today's global economy not all virtual teams have assigned leaders, instead many virtual team leaders emerge on their own to direct the group's actions. The purpose of this paper is to examine which emergent leadership competencies most impact virtual team effectiveness.Design/methodology/approach– This is a mixed method study where both a participant survey and content analysis of actual participant messages are used to determine the competencies of emergent virtual team leaders. The research participants for the current study were required to work in assigned teams on organizational case analyses. At the end of each case, teams presented their solutions in the form of final recommendations designed to fix the problem present in the case.Findings– Results indicate that not only do leaders emerge in virtual teams, but in most cases multiple leaders emerge. Results also show that the model that best describes team effectiveness includes the competencies of asking questions, cognitive and creative ability and vision setting.Originality/value– The contribution of the current study is that it extends the research on emergent virtual team leadership by introducing the idea that this type of leadership is often a collective action among individuals. It also advances a model of emergent virtual team leadership as a practice of communication. The better emergent virtual team leaders are at communicating to team members the more effective the team will be in completing tasks and projects, which in turn can lead to a more effectively functioning business unit.

The mediating effect of knowledge sharing on the relationship between trust and virtual team effectiveness

Purpose – The limited proximal communication between virtual team members can create a lack of trust among members which can significantly reduce the effectiveness of these teams. Hence, this study was conducted to examine the relationship between trust and virtual team effectiveness by looking into the mediating effect of knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach – This is a cross-sectional study conducted in a multinational company in Malaysia. Questionnaires were distributed to individuals working in a virtual environment. The questionnaire required the respondents to answer questions regarding three different types of trust (i.e. personality-based trust, institutional-based trust and cognitive-based trust), their knowledge sharing behavior, and their evaluation of the effectiveness of the virtual teams that they are involved with. Findings – Results of hierarchical regression analysis indicated that knowledge sharing and all the three types of trust are significantly related to virtual team effectiveness. However, only personality-based trust and institutional-based trust are significantly related to knowledge sharing, but knowledge sharing only partially mediates the relationship between these two types of trust and team effectiveness. Research limitations/implications – The population of this study are virtual teams working for an organization, hence the generalizability of the findings to other settings is unknown. Originality/value – Trust has been founded to be a significant predictor of virtual team effectiveness. However, this paper shows the effect of different types of trust and the role of knowledge sharing in mediating the relationship between trust and virtual team effectiveness.

The Impact of Trust on Virtual Team Effectiveness

Given the important role of information technology, virtuality has become crucial issue in contemporary organizations. Virtual teams are comprised of members who are located in more than one physical location. They need to be effectively collaborating to harness their full performance capabilities in order to compete in the highly competitive environments. However, virtual team effectiveness is affected by determinants of trust which include three types; personality, cognitive and institutional-based trust. Therefore, this paper examines the impact of trust determinants on virtual team effectiveness represented in virtual team satisfaction and performance. Through a survey of 125 virtual team members who had experienced at least two years in this field, the results indicated that determinants of trust positively influence virtual team satisfaction and virtual team performance. The authors' structural equations modeling findings also support our hypothetical predictions that personality- based trust, cognitive- based trust and institutional- based trust have a dramatic impact on both of virtual team satisfaction and virtual team performance. Moreover, institutional- based trust is the uppermost driver of virtual team effectiveness. This study provides novel insights into virtual team behaviours, managerial and research implications for effective virtual team.

The Impact of Collective Intelligence on the Fraud Brainstorming Effectiveness of Traditional and Virtual Audit Teams

Emerging research in psychology shows that collective intelligence, which captures the general ability of a group to perform a wide variety of tasks, is a strong predictor of group performance. I introduce the concept of collective intelligence to the auditing literature, and conduct an experiment to study its effect on fraud brainstorming effectiveness. I employ a between-subjects design in which 41 audit brainstorming groups, comprising 152 upper-level accounting students, are assigned to either an electronic or a face-to-face group condition. I hypothesize and find that collective intelligence predicts fraud brainstorming effectiveness overall, and that electronic groups are more effective than face-to-face groups. Neither average member intelligence nor maximum member intelligence is predictive of brainstorming effectiveness. I also find that high collective intelligence improves the brainstorming performance of electronic groups more than that of face-to-face groups, in line with expectations. Supplementary analysis of vocal, non-verbal interactions within groups indicates that speaking turn variance, as measured by wearable electronic sensors, is negatively correlated with both collective intelligence and fraud brainstorming effectiveness. These results imply that process losses associated with face-to-face brainstorming attenuate the countervailing beneficial impact of high collective intelligence, such that net process gains are less than those realized by electronic brainstorming groups. The results also suggest that higher performing brainstorming groups consist of members that participate more equally in group conversations and that are better at reading social signals, as compared to members of less effective groups.

Setting the Stage for Virtual Team Development: Designing Teams to Foster Knowledge Sharing

In this study, we examine how organizations can “set the stage” for virtual teams at their formation in order to promote development of knowledge sharing—a critical process for virtual team effectiveness. To do so, we build upon and integrate theories of team development and knowledge sharing to hone insights on tractable ways virtual teams can be optimally designed to promote effective sharing of knowledge expertise. Specifically, we offer and test a theoretical model that specifies how team context (initial meeting type) and team building exercises (team charter) shape development team knowledge sharing and ultimately team effectiveness. We examined our model by experimentally varying the context at team formation of 644 participants within 161 virtual teams performing a management decision-making simulation. Findings demonstrate that teams who had the opportunity to initially meet in person, rather than conduct their meeting virtually, benefitted from increased team knowledge sharing. However, incorporation of a structured team building exercise attenuated this positive effect for such teams. Results highlight the tangible value of investing in face-to-face kick-off meetings but caution managers who are keen to catalyze social norms from structuring team development.

Virtual Teams: Opportunities and Challenges for e-Leaders

In the globalized world with crucial technological changes, leaders are facing unforeseen opportunities as well as challenges while striving to reach their objectives. Such changes have led to organizational restructurings and implied rethinking of leadership functions and practices. Changing organizational structures, from traditional hierarchical towards lower and more flexible ones, have made leaders organize work in new ways. Teams account for one new way of organizing work and reaching organizational goals. Likewise, globalized markets have made leaders search for new solutions to meet the needs of customers. In consequence, organizations strive for competitive advantages through downsizing, subcontracting, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and other collaborative and network-based alternatives which are typically facilitated by virtual teams. Virtual teams are geographically and organizationally dispersed teams that function over time zones. Due to such dispersion, physical contact in virtual teams is reduced or lacking altogether which means that collaboration is enabled by IT-solutions such as computer- based communication. This kind of electronically facilitated team work is known to imply opportunities as well as challenges for today's global e-leaders. Research on virtual teams suggests that organizational success greatly depends on leadership. However, it remains unclear what kind of leaders, and more specifically, which leadership skills, behaviors or practices contribute to effective virtual teams. To add knowledge on the field and fill such research gap, this article aims at exploring e-leadership and answering these questions.

“Communicate Through the Roof”: A Case Study Analysis of the Communicative Rules and Resources of an Effective Global Virtual Team

Challenges to effective collaboration are magnified when work teams are composed of geographically distributed members. Team members separated by time, distance, and culture often struggle with issues of trust, conflict, and potentially divisive subgroups. With global virtual teams becoming increasingly common in organizations, it is important to understand how to minimize such interactional difficulties. This study examines rules and resources that members of a corporate global team draw on to structure their interactions. In this case study, team members draw on highly ritualized actions prescribed by their software development process and their enacted values to mitigate their communication challenges.

Virtual Teams Demystified

Virtual teams have been researched intensely in the last ten years and there is a growing body of literature on the topic. At this point, the authors need an integrative theory-driven framework through which they can conceptualize the notion of virtual teams and organize and make sense of prior research. This can help them better understand what drives virtual team dynamics and ultimately effectiveness and can guide future research on the topic. Drawing on models of team effectiveness and emergent processes and states, the authors developed a framework for understanding virtual team dynamics. They then use this framework to review and synthesize one hundred and twenty-one empirical studies of virtual teams published since 1990. The authors analyzed the direct and indirect antecedents of virtual team effectiveness and identify key gaps in both their knowledge of, and approach to studying, virtual teams. They outlined areas for future research and discuss, the implications for the authors’ paper for practice and for the study of virtual and traditional teams.

The Role of Shared Mental Model Development in Understanding Virtual Team Effectiveness

In this article we develop a conceptual framework that examines the relationship between shared mental models, task interdependence, and virtual team performance. In addition, we use media synchronicity theory to examine how various attributes of the technologies used by virtual teams to communicate can influence the development of shared mental models. Finally, we employ a sense-making lens to explore in more detail how features inherent to different communication technologies influence the development of shared mental models. Our goal is that through examining these relationships, some of the mixed findings in prior virtual team research may be better explained.

Effective virtual new product development teams: an integrated framework

Purpose – Research on virtual teams is still in its nascent stages. The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretically grounded integrative framework of key factors influencing the effectiveness of virtual new product development teams. Design/methodology/approach – The framework is developed by integrating perspectives from several research streams, including relationship marketing, new product development, knowledge management, the resource-based view, virtual teams, innovation, and communication. Findings – Factors impacting effective virtual interactions (i.e. improved decision quality and decision speed) and new product development (i.e. increased levels of creativity, innovativeness, and product development speed) are proposed. Research limitations/implications – Guidance is provided for managing virtual new product development teams. The paper offers testable propositions that can serve as a foundation for further research in this promising area. Originality/value – By synthesizing relevant perspectives from diverse literature streams, the paper offers a new framework for understanding and improving the functioning of virtual new product development teams.

Conflict management and effectiveness in virtual teams

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the role of goal‐oriented attitudes and behaviors as antecedents of conflict management and the subsequent impact of conflict management on team outcomes in virtual teams. Of particular interest is the role of “commitment to team goals” as a predictor of successful conflict management and the subsequent impact of conflict management on team outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThis paper describes the results from a quasi‐experimental study examining the relationships among commitment to team goals, conflict management and team outcomes in virtual teams. First, it provides an in depth review of relevant empirical findings. Next, it describes a study examining the relationships between three sets of variables: commitment to team goals; conflict management; and team outcomes (performance and attitudinal) in the context of virtual teams. Data were collected from 141 students grouped in 39 teams size 3 to 4 that were part of four cohorts of an Engineering Management course.FindingsThe results provide some preliminary evidence that conflict management mediated the relationships between goal commitment and team outcomes. Results suggest that commitment to team goals is a significant predictor of successful conflict management. Findings also suggest that teams that are more actively involved in preventing and solving their conflict experience a significant increase in the relationship between commitment to team goals and team performance, suggesting that use of effective conflict management can support team effectiveness in the context of virtual teams. Finally, limitations and suggestions for future research are presented.Originality/valueThis paper sheds some light into the role conflict as a mediator on the relationship between goal commitment and virtual team effectiveness. It provides preliminary evidence that conflict management plays a critical role in enhancing virtual team effectiveness.

Advances in Highly Virtual Teams:Key Composition, Leadership, and Shared Process Components

Although the notion of virtual as applied to teams is increasingly viewed as a continuum, teams characterized by high virtuality continue to constitute a special challenge. While such teams offer many advantages, such as allowing the assembling of the best expertise regardless of geographical location and allowing the handoff of work across multiple time zones, evidence indicates that highly virtual teams are susceptible to significant process losses that can undermine their sizable advantages. The overall purpose of this symposium is to present research that points to key advances in understanding how critical compositional and leadership components may affect highly virtual team processes and effectiveness and to stimulate audience thinking in critical new directions. Specifically, the papers in the symposium point to critical compositional and leadership components that can positively influence important shared processes, such as knowledge sharing and shared leadership, and ultimately impact the effectiveness of highly virtual teams. The papers provide both unique and important extensions to existing research and theory regarding the challenges of designing effective highly virtual teams, while also providing important and needed guidance to managers seeking to harness the vast potential of highly virtual teams.Leading from Afar: Directive vs. Empowering Leadership in Virtual TeamsPresenter: Elizabeth Margaret Campbell-Bush; U. of MarylandPresenter: Kathryn M. Bartol; U. of Maryland, College ParkPresenter: Michael R. Parke; U. of MarylandKnowledge Sharing in Global Virtual Teams: Effects on Performance and the Role of Team FamiliarityPresenter: Travis Maynard; Colorado State U.Presenter: Lucy L. Gilson; U. of ConnecticutLeading Distributed Teams: The Influence of Composition and Virtual ToolsPresenter: Marissa Shuffler; Institute for Simulation & Training, UCFPresenter: Shawn Burke; U. of Central FloridaPresenter: Stephen Fiore; U. of Central FloridaStructural Supports, Kickoff-meetings, and Shared Leadership in Virtual TeamsPresenter: Julia E. Hoch; Michigan State U.Presenter: Steve W. J. Kozlowski; Michigan State U.Presenter: James Hamilton Dulebohn; Michigan State U.Emergent Leadership Network Structures in Global Virtual Teams: Impact on Innovation Presenter: Dorothy R Carter; Georgia Institute of TechnologyPresenter: Leslie A. DeChurch; Georgia Institute of TechnologyPresenter: Stephen J. Zaccaro; George Mason U.

Stigmergic self-organization and the improvisation of Ushahidi

There has been considerable investigation into the nature, effectiveness and performance of virtual organizations, virtual teams and virtual collaboration (Cogburn, Santuzzi, & Espinoza, 2011) based on the affordances of information and communications technology (ICT). The recent emergence of location-based social network technologies has resulted in new modes of ad hoc virtual organizations. Developers appear to improvise systems by cobbling together existing applications and technologies, almost overnight, with uncoordinated contributions rather than traditional designs or project plans. Heylighen theorizes that stigmergic self-organization explains this kind of system development (Heylighen, 2007a, 2007b). As defined by the biologist Grasse, stigmergy has been defined as a sequence of indirect stimulus and response behaviors that contribute to the coordination of actions among insects through their environment, for example termites coordinating their nest building activities (Theraulaz & Bonabeau, 1999). Heylighen likens human cognitive self-organization to stigmergy. In recent years, the advent of distributed ICTs like worldwide internet computing and pervasive ubiquitous networks have made traditional top-down techniques of system development increasingly irrelevant for software application development. Instead, modular, adaptable and self-managing end-user components are combined in mash-ups (Merrill, 2009). Similarly, software development teams are spontaneous and ad hoc, functioning as virtual organizations. In this study, the actions leading to the creation of the Ushahidi software platform and its subsequent adaptations are identified using longitudinal case study methodology and content analysis methods applied to newspaper, magazine, website, journal and social networking publications. Based on a socio-technical theoretical framework, the Ushahidi system is framed as a dynamic, ad hoc virtual organization in the context of emergency response. The actions leading to the instantiation of the Ushahidi system are examined as examples of human cognitive stigmergic response to critical incidents and naturalistic development of complex adaptive systems.

Effective virtual teams for new product development

At present, the existing literature shows that the factors which influence the effectiveness of virtual teams for new product development are still ambiguous. To address this problem, a research design was developed, which includes detailed literature review, preliminary model and field survey. From literature review, the factors which influence the effectiveness of virtual teams are identified and these factors are modified using a field survey. The relationship between knowledge workers (people), process and technology in virtual teams is explored in this study. The results of the study suggest that technology and process are tightly correlated and need to be considered early in virtual teams. The use of software as a service, web solution, report generator and tracking system should be incorporated for effectiveness virtual teams.

Towards A Theoretical Model Of The Impacts Of Incorporating Webcams In Virtual Teams

Virtual teams have proliferated over the last ten years as businesses realized benefits in coordinating across geographic and departmental boundaries. Studies of virtual teams, however, have revealed uneven success in team effectiveness. With the increase in quality and availability of video over the Internet, there are opportunities to improve effectiveness of virtual teams by integrating videoconferencing into synchronous meetings. The purpose of this qualitative study is to evaluate the impact of video on team interactions and effectiveness. Results showed a relationship between the added richness and authenticity brought about by video and increased effectiveness, while also showing a relationship between the increased stress of learning new technology and decreased effectiveness.

Virtual Team Meetings

Students find that choosing the appropriate technology for a virtual team meeting is not as simple as it first appears. The authors describe a class exercise used to demonstrate the benefits and drawbacks of using virtual team meetings by requiring students to replace a face-to-face meeting with a virtual meeting. The exercise challenged students’ assumptions about the ease of meeting virtually, and groups learned how to choose technology with capabilities appropriate for their meeting objectives. After reviewing the literature concerning the effectiveness of virtual work teams and technology choice, the authors describe the objectives of the class exercise, the context and content of the exercise, and classroom reflections. Finally, they review the benefits and limitations of this experiential exercise and advise instructors who see an opportunity to incorporate virtual team meetings within different management courses.

Something(s) old and something(s) new: Modeling drivers of global virtual team effectiveness

SummaryWe developed and tested a model that bridges existing team effectiveness theory with new ideas aimed at understanding the complexity of multiple team membership and virtuality. Using a sample of 60 global, virtual supply teams from a large multi‐national organization, we propose that even for new team configurations, transactive memory systems and preparation activities are critical for effectiveness. We also examined the association between members' percentage of time allocated to a team, team virtuality, and interdependence on preparation activities. Our findings suggest that preparation activities related significantly to effectiveness as mediated by transactive memory systems. Furthermore, interdependence interacted with members' percentage of time allocated to the team as related to preparation activities. Specifically, members' percentage of time allocated to the team shifted from being a positive influence on preparation activities to a negative influence as team interdependence went from relatively high to relatively low levels. We discuss implications for theory, research, and practice. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Modeling the Metaverse: A Theoretical Model of Effective Team Collaboration in 3D Virtual Environments

In this paper, a theoretical model of effective team collaboration in 3D virtual environments is presented. The aim of this model is to enhance our understanding of the capabilities exerting influence on effective 3D virtual team collaboration. The model identifies a number of specific capabilities of 3D virtual worlds that can contribute to this team effectiveness. Compared to "traditional" computer-mediated collaboration technologies, 3D virtual environments support team collaboration primarily through (a) the shared virtual environment, and (b) avatar-based interaction. Through the shared virtual environment, users experience higher levels of presence (a feeling of actually "being there"), realism and interactivity. These capabilities increase the users' level of information processing. Avatar-based interaction induces greater feelings of social presence (being with others) and control over self-presentation (how one wants to be perceived by others), thus increasing the level of communication support in the 3D environment. Through greater levels of information and communication support, a higher level of shared understanding is reached, which in turn positively influences team performance. Our paper concludes by presenting several propositions which allow further empirical testing, implications for research and practice, and suggestions for future research. The insights obtained from this paper can help developers of these virtual worlds to design standards for the capabilities that influence effective team collaboration in 3D virtual environments.

Virtual Teams: a Literature Review

In the competitive market , virtual teams represent a growing response to the need for fasting time-to- market, low-cost and rapid solutions to complex organizational problems. Virtual teams enable organizations to pool the talents and expertise of employees and non-employees by eliminating time and space barriers . Nowadays, companies are heavily investing in virtual team to enhance their performance and competitiveness. Despite virtual teams growing prevalence, relatively little is known about this new form of team. Hence the study offers an extensive literature review with definitions o f virtual teams and a structured analysis of the present body of knowledge of virtual teams. First, we distinguish virtual teams from conventional teams , different types of virtual teams to identify where current knowledge applies. Second, we distinguish what is needed for effective virtual team considering the people, process and technology point of view and underlying characteristics of virtual teams and challenges they entail. Finally, we have identified an d extended 12 key factors that need to be considered, and describes a methodology focused on supporting virtual team working, with a new approach that has not been specifically addressed in the existing literature and some guide line for future research extracted.