Virtual Teams: The Role of Involvement, Immersion and Presence for Distributed Team Members

Team virtuality has been mostly conceptualized as structural features, such as the percentage of time team members communicate via technology. However, the perception of distance and of information deficits (team perceived virtuality, TPV) may be an indispensable construct to understand virtual teams’ functioning. The lockdowns imposed on most countries due to COVID-19 created virtual teams with high degrees of structural virtuality. With structural virtuality held constant among teams, we explore configurations of work characteristics (autonomy, interdependence, and organizational support) that influence TPV. With a sample of 296 multinational workers, a Latent Profile Analysis identified four distinct profiles of those work characteristics. Those profiles related differently to TPV. Contrary to previous findings, interdependence seems to play an important role in these teams high in structural virtuality when their autonomy is also high, highlighting the pivotal role of frequent interaction among team members, under conditions of high structural virtuality.

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Virtual Team Effectiveness

Remote Work and Collaboration ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-1918-8.ch036 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 687-706 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

John R. Carlson ◽

Dawn S. Carlson ◽

Emily M. Hunter ◽

Randal L. Vaughn ◽

Joey F. George

Keyword(s):

Virtual Teams ◽

Team Effectiveness ◽

Survey Methodology ◽

Instant Messaging ◽

Virtual Team ◽

Interpersonal Processes ◽

Mediated Communication ◽

Team Members ◽

Main Effect

The work of virtual teams is increasingly important to today's organizations, work that is accomplished predominantly via computer-mediated communication. The authors investigate the moderating role of experience with instant messaging on the team interpersonal processes (cohesion and openness) to team effectiveness relationship in virtual teams. Data were obtained from 365 virtual team members using survey methodology and analyzed using hierarchical moderated regression and multilevel analyses. They found that team cohesion has a main effect on team effectiveness. Team openness has a main effect and is moderated by experience with instant messaging, i.e., strengthens the relationship. Understanding the role of team interpersonal processes and the role of the communication media will allow managers to more effectively build virtual teams and provide effective training and support. Using the theoretical lens of channel expansion theory the authors expand theoretical, empirical and practical knowledge of this area.

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The Role of Virtual Multicultural Teams in Corporate Culture

Advanced Topics in Global Information Management, Volume 2 - Advances in Global Information Management ◽

10.4018/978-1-59140-064-6.ch005 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 62-86 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Amira El Guindi ◽

Sherif Kamel

Keyword(s):

Virtual Teams ◽

Corporate Culture ◽

Multicultural Teams ◽

Cultural Backgrounds ◽

Global Organizations ◽

Team Members ◽

The World ◽

Information And Communication ◽

Multicultural Team

Information and communication technologies are impacting today’s organizations and businesses in many diverse ways. The implications are perceived at the individual, organizational, and national levels. The old accustomed-to boundaries of national economies and markets are giving way to globalization and newly emerging trends. Competition is increasing, and due to the forces of change, the world market will sweep aside the small market players to make way for global organizations that are capable of penetrating the world markets through a massive global outreach strategy. In that respect, there is a need to invest in innovative business models such as virtual multicultural teams that are capable of handling the pressures of growing competition while capitalizing on the evolution of information and communication technology. Global organizations need to operate through a very flexible structure that allows freedom and speed, and replaces the hierarchical models with structures that are flatter and adequate for stronger and more efficient communication. Such a structure will allow bottom-up decision making and self-management and will capitalize on the advantages of employing multicultural teams; the diversified capacities, knowledge and business perception of these teams will be conducive to more in-depth innovation and creativity. Virtual teams can provide an organization with a solid opportunity to compete, making it easier to adapt to different situations and reducing conflicts. This chapter reflects the results of a study conducted in Egypt that targeted the determination of the possibility of reducing multicultural team conflicts by establishing a corporate culture that could have a strong influence on team members using virtual teams. The study covered six organizations operating through virtual multicultural teams and describes the analysis of the findings that relate to the role of corporate culture, the management style, and conflict resolution, among other elements. Global organizations face the challenge of operating through global multicultural teams whose members—coming from different cultural backgrounds—often stumble into conflicts that influence the overall performance of the organization. The core issue of this study is the impact of multicultural team conflicts on the overall organizational performance. Therefore, the objective of the study was to examine the relationship between corporate culture and multicultural team conflicts and to determine whether it is possible to reduce multicultural team conflicts by building a corporate culture in which all individual cultures would fit and where the management plays a vital role in transmitting the corporate culture to different teams in order to help global organizations become more efficient using virtual multicultural teams.

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The Role of Leadership in Virtual Teams

Encyclopedia of E-Collaboration ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-000-4.ch082 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 540-546

Author(s):

Kristi M. Lewis Tyran ◽

Craig K. Tyran

Keyword(s):

Organizational Structure ◽

Task Performance ◽

Virtual Teams ◽

Communication Technology ◽

Team Performance ◽

Electronic Communication ◽

Team Leadership ◽

Team Members ◽

Rapid Pace

As globalization and the prevalence of electronic communication technology has become more widespread, organizations are adapting and changing at a rapid pace. Many organizations are using “virtual teams” of people working across space and time as an organizational structure to enhance organizational flexibility and creativity in this changing environment (Duarte & Snyder, 1999; Townsend, DeMarie, & Hendrickson, 1998). As virtual teams become a more popular organizational tool, many researchers have begun to explore ways in which the performance of such teams may be enhanced (Cohen & Gibson, 2003). One aspect of teamwork that has traditionally had an important impact on team performance is team leadership. Leaders often facilitate effective task performance within a team. By assigning tasks to individuals with the skills, knowledge and abilities to perform best, as well as structuring the team to best accomplish its tasks, a leader can greatly increase the effectiveness and efficiency of a team (Hooijberg, Hunt, & Dodge, 1997; McGrath, 1984; O’Connell, Doverspike, & Cober, 2002). In addition to task-focused behaviors, leaders also motivate, coach and mentor team members toward higher levels of performance (Bass, 1985; Conger & Kanungo, 1998).

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Managing Virtual Teams: Strategies for Team Leaders

Ergonomics in Design The Quarterly of Human Factors Applications ◽

10.1518/106480409x415152 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 8-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rebecca Lyons ◽

Heather A. Priest ◽

Jessica L. Wildman ◽

Eduardo Salas ◽

David Carnegie

Keyword(s):

Virtual Teams ◽

Team Leadership ◽

Virtual Team ◽

Team Leaders ◽

Team Members ◽

Support Tools ◽

Virtual Team Leadership ◽

Collaborative Support ◽

And Training

Organizations' increasing use of virtual teams has emphasized the importance of effective virtual team leadership. Yet the distribution of team members complicates typical leader functions, such as supervision and support, which the leader must now perform through technology. In this article, we present 10 strategies for managing virtual teams, focusing on the role of technology and training. Our hope is that these strategies will inform designers and guide them in developing collaborative support tools and procedures for these tools and in designing training for the use of these tools.

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Task interdependence and Moqi in virtual teams in China: the mediating role of virtual collaboration and the moderating role of distributive justice climate

Chinese Management Studies ◽

10.1108/cms-06-2020-0264 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Yinxuan Zhang ◽

Tong Li ◽

Xuan Yu ◽

Yanzhao Tang

Keyword(s):

Distributive Justice ◽

Virtual Teams ◽

Task Interdependence ◽

Virtual Collaboration ◽

Content Type ◽

Team Members ◽

The Relationship ◽

Moderating Role ◽

Justice Climate

Purpose This study aims to examine the influence of task interdependence on team members’ Moqi in virtual teams in China. The authors also aim to identify virtual collaboration as a mediator and distributive justice climate as a moderator in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from a sample of 87 virtual teams (including 349 individuals) from various Chinese companies through a three-wave survey. Hierarchical regression analysis, path analysis, bootstrapping method and multiple validity tests were used to examine the research model. Findings In virtual teams in China, task interdependence has a significantly positive influence on team members’ Moqi; Virtual collaboration mediates the relationship between task interdependence and team members’ Moqi; The distributive justice climate positively moderates the relationship between task interdependence and virtual collaboration, as well as the indirect effect of virtual collaboration on the relationship between task interdependence and team members’ Moqi. Practical implications In virtual teams, leaders can facilitate team members’ Moqi by designing highly interdependent tasks, encouraging team members to engage in virtual collaboration and cultivating a climate of high attention distributive justice. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to pay to the Moqi among team members rather than supervisor-subordinate relationships and further examine how team members’ Moqi is predicted by task interdependence via the mediation of virtual collaboration with the distributive justice climate playing a moderating role.

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

Ushus - Journal of Business Management ◽

10.12725/ujbm.39.2 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 13-20

Author(s):

Jude Ashmi E

Keyword(s):

Virtual Teams ◽

Team Effectiveness ◽

Team Leadership ◽

Virtual Team ◽

Leadership Roles ◽

Team Members ◽

Virtual Team Leadership ◽

Effective Performance ◽

Traditional Work

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.

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Building Collective Awareness in Virtual Teams

Leadership in the Digital Enterprise - Advances in Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-958-8.ch008 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 105-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mohamed Daassi ◽

Nabila Jawadi ◽

Marc Favier ◽

Michel Kalika

Keyword(s):

Information Management ◽

Virtual Teams ◽

Interpersonal Relationships ◽

Theoretical Development ◽

Dimensional Structure ◽

Team Members ◽

Work Completion ◽

Activity Awareness ◽

Task Oriented

This chapter investigates the role of e-leaders in building and maintaining collective awareness within virtual teams. The authors examine the effects of behavioral leadership orientation on collective awareness building. The study explores the bi-dimensional structure of both collective awareness and leader behavior orientation. According to this conceptualization, activity-awareness is linked to task-oriented behaviors of e-leaders. Activities related to goal clarification, coordination and work monitoring are expected to provide more visibility regarding team members’ actions and their contribution to work completion. At the same time, social awareness is developed through the e-leaders’ relation-oriented behaviors. The development of aspects related to interpersonal relationships such as trust, cohesion, and conflict management reduce uncertainty regarding the behavior of team members. Interviews conducted with 12 members of two virtual teams confirm the authors’ theoretical development and emphasize information management as a key managerial practice for e-leaders to build collective awareness.

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Understanding Collaboration with Virtual Assistants – The Role of Social Identity and the Extended Self

Business & Information Systems Engineering ◽

10.1007/s12599-020-00672-x ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Milad Mirbabaie ◽

Stefan Stieglitz ◽

Felix Brünker ◽

Lennart Hofeditz ◽

Björn Ross ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Identity ◽

Virtual Teams ◽

Social Identity Theory ◽

Sense Of Self ◽

Extended Self ◽

Team Members ◽

Daily Work ◽

Work Related ◽

The Impact

AbstractOrganizations introduce virtual assistants (VAs) to support employees with work-related tasks. VAs can increase the success of teamwork and thus become an integral part of the daily work life. However, the effect of VAs on virtual teams remains unclear. While social identity theory describes the identification of employees with team members and the continued existence of a group identity, the concept of the extended self refers to the incorporation of possessions into one’s sense of self. This raises the question of which approach applies to VAs as teammates. The article extends the IS literature by examining the impact of VAs on individuals and teams and updates the knowledge on social identity and the extended self by deploying VAs in a collaborative setting. Using a laboratory experiment with N = 50, two groups were compared in solving a task, where one group was assisted by a VA, while the other was supported by a person. Results highlight that employees who identify VAs as part of their extended self are more likely to identify with team members and vice versa. The two aspects are thus combined into the proposed construct of virtually extended identification explaining the relationships of collaboration with VAs. This study contributes to the understanding on the influence of the extended self and social identity on collaboration with VAs. Practitioners are able to assess how VAs improve collaboration and teamwork in mixed teams in organizations.

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