Virtual Team Performance Research Articles

Global Teams: The Effects of Media and Language Diversity on Perceived Proximity and Performance.

Despite geographical distance and diversity in English language proficiency, perceiving proximity to other members is vital for the performance of global virtual teams. Using a sample of 45 global MBA student teams, our model examines how media choice and language-based differences are related to perceived proximity and performance in these teams. The results suggest that when team members are similar in their language proficiency, increased use of verbal synchronous media leads to higher perceived proximity and team performance. In contrast, increased use of written synchronous media leads to higher perceived proximity and performance for team members with diverse language proficiencies.

Exploring How Emotional Intelligence Contributes to Virtual Teams: Interpretive Analysis of a Phenomenological Study

The use of virtual teams continues to rise due to various factors such as increased pressure from competing forces, globalization, the need for improved efficiency, and technological advances. Despite the various benefits associated with high performing virtual teams, these specialized groups also experience extremely high failure rates. The increased failure can come as a result of various challenges including a lack of knowledge-sharing, limited communication, team members who lack self-managed and virtual teaming experience, and social loafing. While increased challenges are prevalent during virtual teaming arrangements, there seems to be evidence supporting that virtual team performance can be improved when team members have higher emotional quotients. This paper explores the potential benefits of emotionally intelligent virtual team members to understand how those with higher emotional quotients can potentially improve project success. The research involved analyzing a phenomenological study that interviewed 31 self-managed virtual team members via electronic questionnaires and surveys. This study follows up the original empirical research with an interpretative analytical review of the phenomenological findings pertaining to emotional intelligence and virtual teams. A thorough discussion regarding the findings and recommendations are provided.

Managing virtual teams for open innovation in Global Business Services industry

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of human dimensions, team climates, and technological features on Global Virtual Team (GVT) performance in the Malaysian Global Business Services (GBS) industry. Attention has also been paid to examine the moderating effect of team diversity and the extent of virtuality on GVT performance.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using structured questionnaire and tested using partial least square – structural equation modelling. The authors collected 263 sample and the assessment of reflective measurement models, structural model, reliability and validity were conducted subsequently.FindingsThis paper found that team climates like team cohesion, team confidence, and team knowledge, skills, and abilities demonstrated different impact on the human dimensions which include trust and creativity. It will then subsequently affect GVTs’ performance. Besides, team diversity which comprised of three major components that include age diversity, functional diversity, and attitudes/values diversity was found to moderate the relationships between the antecedents and consequent. In spite of that, the extent of virtuality was found to have no moderating effects on the relationships between the team creativity and trust and perceived team performance.Originality/valueAs nowadays an increasing number of firms are becoming global, inquiring into GVTs efficient management is of crucial importance for successful implementation of open innovation practices, while GBS companies could represent the most suitable setting to examine the GVT’s underlying principles. This paper integrates adaptive structuration theory with input-mediator-output-input model to provide a holistic study on GVTs’ performance. In addition, this study also illustrated how the extent of virtually can be measured quantitatively.

Relationship between Social Networking Platforms and Performance of Virtual Teams in Nigeria Telecomunnication Industry

The study examined a relationship between social networking platforms and performance of virtual teams in Nigeria telecommunication industries. Opinions of one hundred and eleven virtual team members from three giant telecommunication firms in Enugu and Lagos, Nigeria participated in the study.MTN Nigeria, Globacom Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria were sampled using self-designed questionnaire. Two research hypotheses were tested. It was found out that that there was a significant relationship between types of social networking platforms used (Facebook, Skype, MySpace, Instagram. and Linked) in the workplace on performance of virtual teams {X2 (2) =211.108; p<.05}. Regression results indicated that the overall model fit five predictors (types of organization, team membership, job position, social networking platforms, and sex) was questionable (-2 Log Likelihood = 92.683) but was statistically reliable in distinguishing between virtual team performances X2 (5) = 54.352, p < .05). Useful recommendations that would enhance a synergy between virtual team members and healthy social network platforms were suggested.

A profile of high-performing global virtual teams

PurposeThere is a paucity of research into high-performing virtual teams. This study aims to design and test a model of virtual team performance and to produce a profile of high-performing teams.Design/methodology/approachThe main constructs found to have influenced virtual team performance in business were trustworthiness, commitment, communication characteristics, cross-cultural communication style and structure effects. New or revised scales to measure these and a new performance measure, based on five performance criteria, were developed. A research model was designed and tested, and a profile of high-performance teams produced. The sample from a global telecoms company comprised 108 global virtual teams. Two senior managers rated performance independently.FindingsHierarchical regression results explained 75.7 per cent of the variance of performance. Analysis of variance revealed that model fit was highly statistically significant. Trustworthiness was identified as the predominant factor, explaining a majority of the dependent variable’s variance, while interpersonal communication, commitment and cross-cultural communication style were also identified as important. The 52 items differentiating high- and low-performing teams are reported and discussed.Originality/valueThe research model makes a contribution to team performance theory and understanding, especially the relative importance of constructs for explaining performance. The profile of high-performing teams adds greatly to our knowledge and provides valuable guidance for team management, selection and development.

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.

Developing virtual team performance: an integrated perspective of social exchange and social cognitive theories

The emerging trend toward physically distributed work teams has necessitated a critical inquiry into the nature and roles of psychological contract and leadership in virtual settings. This study proposes a model based on social cognitive theory and social exchange theory to explain virtual team performance in the information technology industry. In the proposed model, virtual team performance is directly influenced by IT training fulfillment, transactional fulfillment, and knowledge-oriented leadership and also indirectly via the partial mediation of collective IT efficacy. This study adds to the burgeoning theoretical and empirical research on virtual teams by assessing the joint effects of psychological contract fulfillment and knowledge-oriented leadership. Empirical testing of this study at the team level, by surveying team members and leaders across two different points of time, confirms the integrated applicability of social exchange and social cognitive theories in understanding the development of virtual team performance.

Approaches to team performance assessment: a comparison of self-assessment reports and behavioral observer scales

Human factors research popularly employs perception-based techniques to investigate team performance and its dependency to cognitive processes. Such studies frequently rely upon either observer-based or self-assessment techniques to collect data. In this study, we examined behavioral observer ratings and self-assessment ratings for measuring team performance in virtual teams, with team performance regarded as a combination of task outcome and team cognition. Juxtaposing self-assessments and observer ratings from a quasi-experiment comparing team performance rating techniques reveals that they indeed produce overall similar results, with both singling out teamwork effectiveness ratings as the strongest contributor to overall team performance. However, the comparisons show remarkably low correlation on individual questionnaire items. The most striking difference is that the team members’ self-assessments of workload are lower than the corresponding observer ratings. In particular, the self-assessments do not correlate at all with overall team performance, whereas the observers’ workload ratings are more consistent with contemporary research that suggests a strong correlation between workload and team performance, suggesting that observer-based techniques are more reliable than self-assessments for assessing workload. For other ratings, the results show that the two techniques are fairly equal, suggesting that the choice between methods to employ can be deferred to other considerations such as obtrusiveness, accessibility, and resource availability.

Integration Mechanisms, Knowledge Integration Effectiveness, and Performance in Virtual Teams

This paper develops and tests a multi-level model of knowledge integration effectiveness in virtual teams, and links knowledge integration effectiveness to virtual team performance. More specifically, it assesses the effects of two sets of integration mechanisms, namely (1) the use of information technology-enabled integration mechanisms by virtual team members, and (2) the level of common knowledge developed amongst them. Data collected from 700 members of 114 virtual teams in the IT consulting industry reveal that the two sets of integration mechanisms are complementary to each other in the way they affect virtual team members’ knowledge integration effectiveness. Also, cross-level interaction effects demonstrate that some types of common knowledge moderate the relationship between IT-enabled integration mechanisms use and knowledge integration effectiveness. These results contribute to the current literature on knowledge management in virtual teams by studying how the combined use of explicit and implicit integration mechanisms lead to the effective integration of specialized knowledge across boundaries. Implications for future research on knowledge integration and shared cognition in distributed work contexts are discussed.

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.

Dispersion beyond miles: configuration and performance in virtual teams

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand different aspects of structural dispersion in virtual teams (VTs). The study measures five types of dispersion, their impact on VT performance and the moderating effect of electronic communication.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected data from 44 globally distributed VTs representing 403 members. The authors used details of the members’ locations to measure five elements of dispersion for each team: spatial, time-zone, number of locations, extent of numerical balance across locations and extent of isolated members for a team. The authors used two items to assess effective electronic communication and measured team performance on four items from three sources – members, leaders and third-party stakeholders.FindingsUsing regression, the authors found that the number of sites, degree of team balance and isolation had a negative impact on team performance. Spatial and temporal dispersion did not impact performance. Effective electronic communication moderated the relationship of team performance with team balance and the number of sites.Research limitations/implicationsStudy presents novel findings on the role of team configuration in VTs. Limitations: the study provides pointers to the likelihood of a non-linear relationship between spatial distance and performance; however, the scope of the paper does not permit an examination of this model. Future research can study this relationship. Second, the study does not examine how team configuration impacts the team processes that discount performance. Finally, the study treats each index of dispersion as independent of the others. The analysis does not study the interplay between and among the indices.Practical implicationsThe findings provide clear indicators for managers and researchers of VTs on the issues associated with the location and configuration of the teams. Managers, while designing and managing dispersed members are now informed of the impact of the number of sites and the sub-group dynamics. The study underscores the importance of effective electronic communication in managing dispersion.Social implicationsThe study presents how faultiness based on location of VT sub-groups (as represented in the configuration of a team) can hamper performance. Literature suggests that this faultiness can also extend to social identities (based on gender, culture, etc.). The indicators provided by this study in this respect provide a topical focus for research because diverse dispersed teams are becoming more prevalent.Originality/valueThe study is the first empirical exploration of dispersion in VTs beyond the traditionally acknowledged dimensions of spatial distance and time-zones. It is a timely response to the recent trends in literature. Additionally, the study derives data from a unique data set of global VTs, thus making findings easily generalizable.

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.

Moderating Impact of Cultural Identity on the Performance of Virtual Teams in Colombia and the United States

Moderating Impact of Cultural Identity on the Performance of Virtual Teams in Colombia and the United States

Does size matter? An investigation into the role of virtual team size in IT service provisioning

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential influence of virtual team size on team performance by examining group processes in the context of information technology (IT) service provisioning. This paper proposes a theoretical model of the relationships and presents an empirical study to verify the model. Design/methodology/approach Utilizing a survey questionnaire as the data collection instrument, this study focuses on IT service provisioning professionals who are actively engaged in virtual work contexts to test the relationships proposed by the theoretical model. A consistent version of the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach is used to assess the proposed hypotheses. Findings Although the statistical analyses did not provide support for the hypothesized effects of team size on virtual team performance, the results provide novel insights that may help teams overcome the functioning challenges that they face, as reported in the previous literature on virtual team size. In addition, the results highlight the importance of specific group processes for obtaining superior team performance. Originality/value Currently, virtual teams are a reality in several organizations, especially in the IT service provisioning industry. However, despite its importance, the literature suggests that virtual team size has not yet been fully explored as a possible means of enhancing group collaboration in such contexts. This paper attempts to provide an empirical contribution to this field using the latest developments in PLS-SEM.

A conceptual model to improve performance in virtual teams

Background: The vast improvement in communication technologies and sophisticated project management tools, methods and techniques has allowed geographically and culturally diverse groups to operate and function in a virtual environment. To succeed in this virtual environment where time and space are becoming increasingly irrelevant, organisations must define new ways of implementing initiatives. This virtual environment phenomenon has brought about the formation of virtual project teams that allow organisations to harness the skills and knowhow of the best resources, irrespective of their location.Objectives: The aim of this article was to investigate performance criteria and develop a conceptual model which can be applied to enhance the success of virtual project teams. There are no clear guidelines of the performance criteria in managing virtual project teams.Method: A qualitative research methodology was used in this article. The purpose of content analysis was to explore the literature to understand the concept of performance in virtual project teams and to summarise the findings of the literature reviewed.Results: The research identified a set of performance criteria for the virtual project teams as follows: leadership, trust, communication, team cooperation, reliability, motivation, comfort and social interaction. These were used to conceptualise the model.Conclusion: The conceptual model can be used in a holistic way to determine the overall performance of the virtual project team, but each factor can be analysed individually to determine the impact on the overall performance. The knowledge of performance criteria for virtual project teams could aid project managers in enhancing the success of these teams and taking a different approach to better manage and coordinate them.

Longitudinal Effects of Computer-Mediated Communication Anxiety on Interaction in Virtual Teams

Research problem: Organizations continue to rely upon virtual teams, yet knowing how, and for how long, individual members' computer-mediated communication (CMC) anxiety affects virtual team interactions and performance outcomes is not well-known. Research questions: (1) What is the relationship between CMC anxiety and virtual team participation? (2) How does this relationship influence the perceptions of individual performance? (3) Does this relationship persist over time? Literature review: A literature review including communication and media structures, input-mediator-output team effectiveness, and individual CMC anxiety elements indicate researchable negative effects upon virtual team interaction and participation in CMC environments. Higher levels of individual CMC anxiety could dampen participation quantity, participation type (task versus social), participation quality, and perceptions of individual performance. Further, the initial negative interactions and behaviors could persist over time. Methodology: This quantitative quasiexperimental study involved surveying, observing, and coding the interactions of 22 virtual project teams (consisting of a total of 110 individuals) over a span of four months. The teams used a CMC tool with shared file space and discussion boards to coordinate database design and implementation work. Data were collected from questionnaire surveys, individual message postings, and team project scores. Individual message postings were coded to measure participation quality (task focus and topic introductions) and participation quantity (message count and words per message). Data were analyzed using repeated-measures multivariate analyses along with follow-up univariate statistical testing. Results and conclusions: The results indicate that individuals with higher levels of CMC anxiety participated less, sent fewer task-oriented messages, introduced fewer novel topics, and were rated more poorly by team members on their performance compared to individuals with lower levels of CMC anxiety. The results also show that CMC-anxious individuals do send relatively more social-oriented messages, perhaps to compensate for typical apprehensive communication behaviors in a virtual team environment. In addition, participation quality and quantity and perceptions of performance by CMC-anxious team members do not significantly improve, even with repeated interactions over CMC. Although study participants evidenced high engagement with the project tasks, the study is limited by its use of student subjects. The study suggests the importance of team leaders and role definitions for virtual teams, to counteract potential unintended effects of CMC technology use masking actual participation and contribution of virtual team members. Future research could investigate the efficacy of interventions for reducing the negative impacts of CMC anxiety in virtual team performance, as well as the influence of individual structures such as CMC anxiety in the use of CMC and team structures in the virtual team environment.

Global Virtual Team Performance: The Effect of Coordination Effectiveness, Trust, and Team Cohesion

Research problem: Subgroup formation in global virtual teams could negatively impact team performance due to difficulties in coordination, trust, and team cohesion. Research questions: What role do trust and team cohesion play in the relationship between coordination effectiveness and team performance of global virtual teams with two distinct subgroups? Literature review: Prior research suggests that coordination effectiveness on team performance is most strongly impacted by coordination of knowledge. This effectiveness is mediated by trust and team cohesion. However, we have a poor understanding of trust and team cohesion dynamics on intergroup relationships in global virtual teams. Methodology: A survey was conducted with 14 teams with a total of 112 participants in the US and India. The teams were tasked with evaluating customer-relationship-management best practices for a global environment. Results and discussion: We evaluated how the process of effective coordination for teams composed of two colocated subgroups is mediated by individual perceptions of out-group trust and overall team cohesion. Our findings show that individual trust and team cohesion share a reciprocal impact on each other, suggesting that effective coordination in virtual teams can create a positive feedback loop with trust and cohesion, improving overall project performance. Implications for theory and practice include the virtuous cycle that trust and cohesion create in global virtual team coordination and the necessity of establishing appropriate project coordination systems and processes to promote both aspects and, thus, achieve excellent project performance for colocated subgroups.

Effects of Team Emotional Authenticity on Virtual Team Performance.

Members of virtual teams lack many of the visual or auditory cues that are usually used as the basis for impressions about fellow team members. We focus on the effects of the impressions formed in this context, and use social exchange theory to understand how these impressions affect team performance. Our pilot study, using content analysis (n = 191 students), suggested that most individuals believe that they can assess others' emotional authenticity in online settings by focusing on the content and tone of the messages. Our quantitative study examined the effects of these assessments. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis (n = 81 student teams) suggested that team-level trust and teamwork behaviors mediate the relationship between team emotional authenticity and team performance, and illuminate the importance of team emotional authenticity for team processes and outcomes.

Managers’ Remote Work and Expertise across Cultures

IntroductionRemote management is currently a routine task in organizational life. However, at any given time, some of an organization's members will struggle with personal challenges, such as remote management of cross-cultural environments and local entrepreneurship.While a manager's remote-work emphasis is on virtual-team performance, the need to attend to conflicts, communication, and cultural perspectives has grown considerably in recent years (e.g., Mulki et al., 2009; Maznevski et al., 2000); the herein presented understanding of individual managers' remote work-such as sending instructions from A to B-implies that their managerial inputs arrive in cross-cultural environments without those managers' physical displacement. This study examines the unique expertise that enables managers to implement their cross-cultural projects remotely, since little research into this topic yet exists. It also explores this question through an inductive, interviewbased study of remote managers working for the United States Government in Washington, D.C. Furthermore, it identifies circumstances that engender such managers' work expertise in virtual workplaces where work is divided according to space, time, and performance pressures.Significantly, this article adopts a Bourdieuian organizational perspective, focusing on the situated, everyday activities of managers' remote work. This allows for the recognition of objective structures and subjective experiences as important aspects of distance-management dynamics that must be understood. The Bourdieuian organizational perspective involves looking at situated activities in order to comprehend contextual circumstances. This perspective emphasizes the relationships that emerge between organizational contexts and component behavior (individuals and groups) and examines how these relationships affect outcomes (House, Rouseau and Thomas-Hunt, 1995).From the aforementioned perspective, then, this analysis examines the significant mechanisms that emerge from managers' remote-work expertise apropos of implementing projects, specifically local enterprises, in cross-cultural organizational contexts. The cross-cultural implementation of a project has certain performance implications for both individuals and enterprises. The complexity of this situation is greater when projects are supervised remotely because this requires cross-cultural management expertise in understanding local individuals and enterprises-an unexamined form of work whose study can strengthen management and entrepreneurship theories and practices.The following sections review theories and research underpinning the theoretical framework for this study's stated focus on the in-context management of local small enterprises. Interviews with government contractors and supervisors (remote managers) constitute a portion of this analysis to aid in theorizing links between managers' remote work and a set of project-implementation mechanisms, with a view to describing remote-work expertise itself. This study concludes with a discussion of the theoretical contributions it makes to applied management and entrepreneurship theories. Implications for practitioners and suggestions for future research are also discussed.A review of extant literature on remote work managersBefore discussing the actual work managers do-particularly when they manage projects remotely-it is only proper to review the existing literature on remote management and remote managers' work in the present section.There are several debates on remote management, and these focus on virtualteam performance, conflicts, communication, and cultural perspectives (e.g., Mulki et al., 2009; Maznevski et al., 2000), as well as on remote work and work-life balance (e.g., Baugh et al., 2013). However, little has been written on remote managers' actual work when dealing with cross-cultural projects pertaining to local individuals and enterprises. …

Utilizing Virtual Team: Lessons Learned from MMORPGs Players

Virtual teams, with the advantage of bridging over geographical and temporal restriction, have been widely utilized by companies around the world to make the best use of talents from different domains and areas to accomplish complex missions and assignments. However, it is always a challenging task to build up a perfect environment for virtual teams to deliver outstanding performance. The current study utilized online survey to collect data from MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Play Games) players, a special type of virtual team, to investigate critical issues on the journey of attaining operational goals. The major objective is to figure out relationships among different factors that were proposed, from the literature or practical evidences, to affect the performance of virtual teams. The results are concluded as follows: (1) Trust among virtual team members has positive influences on team cooperation; (2) The cohesiveness of virtual team members has positive influences on team cooperation; (3) Team cooperation has positive influences on team performance; (4) Communication among virtual team members would decrease the influence of team cooperation on team performance. Managerial implication and directions for further studies are provided at the end of the current study.