scholarly journals Factors Affecting Knowledge Sharing in Virtual Teams

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 6917
Author(s):  
Vida Davidavičienė ◽  
Khaled Al Majzoub ◽  
Ieva Meidute-Kavaliauskiene

The development and use of information and communications technology (ICT) are growing at a rapid speed across the world. ICT has been the cause for new types of work arrangements, such as virtual organizations, virtual teams, teleworking, etc. Virtual teams provide organizations with competitive advantage by enabling them to hire talented people across the world and eliminating the need for physical availability in the office. However, one major issue hindering the productivity of the virtual team is knowledge sharing. The lack of proper knowledge sharing between team members may cause organizations to fail with regards to the implementation of successful strategies. The research into understanding knowledge sharing in virtual teams (VT) in the Middle East is lacking. While such studies have been done in the United States and Europe, the Middle East has been overlooked. In this study, the authors assume that there are some specific behavioral aspects of VT in the Middle East that create the need for specific scientific solutions. Accordingly, this study was conducted in the Middle East in order to gain scientific knowledge on the region’s specificity. The objective of this article is to create a model for the evaluation of the effect on knowledge sharing in virtual teams in the Middle East. For analysis, the selection of companies includes United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based companies in the IT industry whose businesses engage in VT. The results show that the following factors have a direct effect on knowledge sharing in VT: Culture, motivation, conflict, ICT, trust, and leadership. Conversely, the results do not demonstrate that language has any impact on knowledge sharing. The methodology used is as follows: Literature review, survey methods, and structural equation modeling.

Vaccines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendall Pogue ◽  
Jamie L. Jensen ◽  
Carter K. Stancil ◽  
Daniel G. Ferguson ◽  
Savannah J. Hughes ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world, with the United States being highly affected. A vaccine provides the best hope for a permanent solution to controlling the pandemic. However, to be effective, a vaccine must be accepted and used by a large majority of the population. The aim of this study was to understand the attitudes towards and obstacles facing vaccination with a potential COVID-19 vaccine. To measure these attitudes a survey was administered to 316 respondents across the United States by a survey corporation. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships of several factors with attitudes toward potential COVID-19 vaccination. Prior vaccine usage and attitudes predicted attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination. Assessment of the severity of COVID-19 for the United States was also predictive. Approximately 68% of all respondents were supportive of being vaccinated for COVID-19, but side effects, efficacy and length of testing remained concerns. Longer testing, increased efficacy and development in the United States were significantly associated with increased vaccine acceptance. Messages promoting COVID-19 vaccination should seek to alleviate the concerns of those who are already vaccine-hesitant. Messaging directed at the benefits of vaccination for the United States as a country would address the second predictive factor. Enough time should be taken to allay concerns about both short- and long-term side effects before a vaccine is released.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spencer Shumway ◽  
Jonas Hopper ◽  
Ethan Richard Tolman ◽  
Daniel Ferguson ◽  
Gabriella Hubble ◽  
...  

The world is currently dealing with a devastating pandemic. Although growing COVID-19 case numbers, deaths, and hospitalizations are concerning, this spread is particularly alarming in the United States where polarizing opinions, changing policies, and misinformation abound. In particular, American college campuses have been a venue of rampant transmission, with concerning spillover into surrounding, more vulnerable, communities. We surveyed over 600 college students from across the United States and modeled predictors of compliance with non-pharmaceutical interventions. We identified concern with severity (p < .001), constitutional originalist ideology (p < .001), news exposure (p < .001) and religiosity (p < .05) as significant positive correlates with compliance, and general trust in science (p < .05) as a significant negative correlate. To determine how applicable nationwide modeling might be to individual local campuses we also administered this same survey to nearly 600 students at two large universities in Utah County. In this population, concern with severity was the only significant positive correlate with compliance (p < .001); Additionally, feelings of inconvenience was negatively correlated (p < .001). The effects of feelings of inconvenience, and news exposure were significantly different between populations (p < .001, p < .001). These results suggest that we should focus our efforts on increasing knowledge about the pandemic’s effects on our society and informing about constitutionality amongst college students. However, we also show that nationwide surveys and modeling are informative, but if campuses are to efficiently curb the spread of COVID-19 this coming semester, they would be best served to utilize data collected from their student populations as these might significantly differ from general consensus data.


Information ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 490
Author(s):  
Vida Davidaviciene ◽  
Khaled Al Majzoub ◽  
Ieva Meidute-Kavaliauskiene

Organizational reliance on virtual teams (VTs) is increasing tremendously due to the significant benefits they offer, such as efficiently reaching objectives and increasing organizational performance. However, VTs face a lot of challenges that, if overlooked, will prevent them from yielding the required benefits. One of the major issues that hinders the effectiveness of VTs is the decision-making process. There is a lack of scientific research that attempts to understand the factors affecting decision making processes in VTs. Studies in this area have only been done in the United States and Europe. However, such research has not been conducted in the Middle East, where specific scientific solutions are still required to improve the performance of VTs. Therefore, this study is conducted in the Middle East, namely in the United Arab Emirates, to gain scientific knowledge on this region’s specificity. An online questionnaire (Google forms) was used to obtain the necessary data. Hypotheses were developed to test the influence of ICT (Information and communications technologies), language, information sharing, and trust on the decision-making processes, and the effect of decision making on team performance. Structural equational model (SEM) methodology was used to test our proposed model. The results showed that factors such as trust, ICT, and information sharing have a direct effect on decision-making processes, while language has no effect on decision making, and decision-making processes have a direct effect on the performance of the VTs.


Author(s):  
Swati Kaul Bhat ◽  
Neerja Pande ◽  
Vandana Ahuja

Advances in communication and information technology create new opportunities for organizations to build and manage virtual teams. Virtual teams have become a norm for organizations whose members work across disparate geographical locations, relying primarily or exclusively, on the usage of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for the completion of common goals. In many countries across the world, the internet has helped in shrinking barriers between teams located across diverse locations, and this has been possible because of what is termed as 'virtual teams'-teams which are connected with each other in cyberspace. This paper attempts to explain the role of vital elements like trust, information sharing and communication, in building virtual teams. This study strives towards developing a set of factors that can be used by managers of virtual teams for establishing an efficacious relationship amongst the members. The research methodology of Structural Equation Modelling is used for the purpose.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 488-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taghreed Al Dari ◽  
Fauzia Jabeen ◽  
Avraam Papastathopoulos

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of leadership and rewards on the contribution to knowledge sharing in public organizations of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 154 employees from various organizational units of a law enforcement organization in the UAE, and structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings Leadership inspiration was found to be positively effective in enhancing the contribution of knowledge sharing in terms of solving problems, increasing opportunity and improving the productivity of the workforce. Furthermore, it was found that the reward system had no impact on the contribution to knowledge sharing. Research limitations The method of data collection focused on the employees who were attending a training workshop in the department. This survey raises concerns related to non-response bias and common method bias, which describes the measurement error that is compounded by the sociability of the respondents who wanted to provide positive answers. Practical implications This research focuses on the implementation of certain practices related to knowledge sharing in public organizations. The model was constructed to assess the impact of leadership and rewards on the contribution to knowledge sharing through knowledge sharing practices as a mediation. The study is a modest attempt to assist the organizational leaders to embark on the right steps to foster knowledge sharing behavior among employees. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature on knowledge sharing, particularly on the relationship between leadership inspiration, rewards and contribution to knowledge sharing in the law enforcement organizations in the UAE.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089020702110140
Author(s):  
Gabriel Olaru ◽  
Mathias Allemand

The goal of this study was to examine differential and correlated change in personality across the adult lifespan. Studying differential and correlated change can help understand whether intraindividual trait change trajectories deviate from the norm and how these trajectories are coupled with each other. We used data from two large longitudinal panel studies from the United States that covered a total age range of 20 to 95 years on the first measurement occasion. We used correlated factor models and bivariate latent change score models to examine the rank-order stability and correlations between change across three measurement waves covering 18 years ( N = 3250) and four measurement waves covering 12 years ( N = 4145). We examined the moderation effects of continuous age on these model parameters using local structural equation modeling. The results suggest that the test–retest correlations decrease with increasing time between measurements but are unaffected by participants’ age. We found that change processes in Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were strongly related, particularly in late adulthood. Correlated change patterns were highly stable across time intervals and similar to the initial cross-sectional Big Five correlations. We discuss potential mechanisms and implications for personality development research.


Author(s):  
Nada Hammad ◽  
Syed Zamberi Ahmad ◽  
Avraam Papastathopoulos

Purpose This paper aims to investigate residents’ perceptions of tourism’s impact on their support for tourism development in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires from Abu Dhabi residents (n = 407), who represented 30 nationalities residing in the emirate. Based on social exchange theory, structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses. Findings Results suggest that Abu Dhabi residents perceive the impacts of tourism positively and are more sensitive to the environmental and economic influences of tourism than the social and cultural influences. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to Abu Dhabi residents; findings cannot be generalized to other emirates in the UAE, or other countries. Originality/value This study adds value to extant tourism literature by investigating residents’ perceptions of the influence of tourism in one of the richest cities worldwide, which aspires to be one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in the Middle East.


2021 ◽  
Vol 229 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Wedderhoff ◽  
Timo Gnambs ◽  
Oliver Wedderhoff ◽  
Tanja Burgard ◽  
Michael Bošnjak

Abstract. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988 ) is a popular self-report questionnaire that is administered all over the world. Though originally developed to measure two independent factors, different models have been proposed in the literature. Comparisons among alternative models as well as analyses concerning their robustness in cross-national research have left an inconclusive picture. Therefore, the present study evaluates the dimensionality of the PANAS and differences between English and translated versions of the PANAS using a meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach. Correlation matrices from 57 independent samples ( N = 54,043) were pooled across subsamples. For both English and non-English samples, a correlated two-factor model including correlated uniquenesses provided the best fit. However, measurement invariance analyses indicated differences in factor loadings between subsamples. Thus, cross-national application of the PANAS might only be justified if measurement equivalence was explicitly tested for the countries at hand.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Israa Daas ◽  

Abstract The Palestine-Israel conflict is probably one of the most pressing problems in the Middle East. Moreover, the United States has been involved in this conflict since the 1970s. Therefore, the present research aims to learn more about the American perception of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It was conducted using a survey that addressed Americans from different backgrounds, focusing on four variables: the American government’s position, solutions, the Israeli settlements, and Jerusalem. The research suggests a correlation between political party and the American perception of the conflict. It appears that Republicans seem to be against the withdrawal of the Israeli settlements, and they believe that the US government is not biased toward Israel. Nevertheless, Democrats tend to believe that the US government is biased in favor of Israel, and they support withdrawing the Israeli settlements. Moreover, there might be another correlation between the American perception and the source of information they use to learn about the conflict. Most of the surveyed Americans, whatever their resource of information that they use to learn about the conflict is, tend to believe that the US is biased in favor of Israel. It is crucial to know about the American perception when approaching to a solution to the conflict as the US is a mediator in this conflict, and a powerful country in the world. Especially because it has a permanent membership in the UN council. KEYWORDS: American Perception, Palestine-Israel Conflict, Jerusalem, Israeli settlements


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