Adaptations that Virtual Teams Make so that Complex Tasks Can Be Performed Using Simple E-Collaboration Technologies

2009 ◽  
pp. 1124-1146
Author(s):  
Dorrie DeLuca ◽  
Susan Gasson ◽  
Ned Kock
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Bulletin Board ◽  
Adaptation Theory ◽  
Team Outcomes ◽  
Compensatory Adaptation ◽  
Organizational Problem ◽  
The Face ◽  
Problem Solving Teams ◽  
Collaboration Technologies

Using the theoretical lens of compensatory adaptation theory, this study examines how organizational problem-solving teams adapt to lean media and effectively communicate. We examined several successful virtual teams using a bulletin board as their primary communication medium to perform complex process improvement tasks in their natural business environment. Although some established theories predict failure using lean media, savings from use of simple e-collaboration technologies provide motivation for conduct of virtual teams. Compensatory adaptation theory argues that e-collaboration technologies often pose obstacles to communication, and yet also lead to better team outcomes than the face-to-face medium. This study provides support for that theory. Members of the virtual teams reported adapting their communication to be more focused, clear, precise, neutral, concrete, concise, persuasive, considerate, and complete in order to overcome the obstacles posed by media of low richness. As a result of those adaptations, the teams perceived better quality and achieved success of the team outcome.

Adaptations that Virtual Teams Make so that Complex Tasks Can Be Performed Using Simple E-Collaboration Technologies

2008 ◽  
pp. 1336-1358
Author(s):  
Dorrie DeLuca ◽  
Susan Gasson ◽  
Ned Kock
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Bulletin Board ◽  
Adaptation Theory ◽  
Team Outcomes ◽  
Compensatory Adaptation ◽  
Organizational Problem ◽  
The Face ◽  
Problem Solving Teams ◽  
Collaboration Technologies

Using the theoretical lens of compensatory adaptation theory, this study examines how organizational problem-solving teams adapt to lean media and effectively communicate. We examined several successful virtual teams using a bulletin board as their primary communication medium to perform complex process improvement tasks in their natural business environment. Although some established theories predict failure using lean media, savings from use of simple e-collaboration technologies provide motivation for conduct of virtual teams. Compensatory adaptation theory argues that e-collaboration technologies often pose obstacles to communication, and yet also lead to better team outcomes than the face-to-face medium. This study provides support for that theory. Members of the virtual teams reported adapting their communication to be more focused, clear, precise, neutral, concrete, concise, persuasive, considerate, and complete in order to overcome the obstacles posed by media of low richness. As a result of those adaptations, the teams perceived better quality and achieved success of the team outcome.

Virtual Teams Adapt to Simple E-Collaboration Technologies

2011 ◽  
pp. 699-705
Author(s):  
Dorrie DeLuca ◽  
Susan Gasson ◽  
Ned Kock
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Process Improvement ◽  
Knowledge Integration ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Adaptation Theory ◽  
Compensatory Adaptation ◽  
Process Improvement Teams ◽  
Complex Forms ◽  
Collaboration Technologies ◽  
Virtual Process

The knowledge that virtual process improvement teams have been successful (DeLuca, Gasson, & Kock, 2006; Kock & DeLuca, 2006; DeLuca & Valacich, 2006; Kock, 2006) and lessons learned from those teams may be what is needed to provide confidence to organizations that virtual process improvement efforts would come to fruition. To manage such initiatives effectively, it is important to understand how these virtual teams overcame the difficulties of e-collaboration. Existing theories of information processing in organizations do not scale well to the complex forms of knowledge integration required at the boundary between the diverse teams found in virtual organizations. Thus, we based our investigation on a new theory of communication behavior, compensatory adaptation theory (CAT) (Kock, 2005b) and the relationships suggested by it, explained in the next section. We also operationalize a key construct, compensatory adaptations and present the adaptations made by participants in the study (DeLuca et al., 2006).

Evidence of Compensatory Adaptation to Unnatural Media in a Field Study of Process Redesign Dyads

2011 ◽  
pp. 123-156
Author(s):  
Ned Kock
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Communication ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Communication Media ◽  
Outcome Quality ◽  
Adaptation Theory ◽  
Communication Medium ◽  
Process Redesign ◽  
Compensatory Adaptation ◽  
The Face

Much of the past research on electronic communication media suggests that those media pose obstacles to communication in collaborative tasks when compared with the face-to-face medium. On the other hand, past research also points at mixed findings in connection with the quality of the outcomes of collaborative tasks, generally suggesting that the use of electronic communication media has no negative effect on those outcomes. A new theoretical framework building on human evolution theory, called compensatory adaptation theory, has been proposed to explain these contradictory findings. This study provides a review and test of compensatory adaptation theory. It investigates the impact of the use of an electronic communication medium on 20 business process redesign dyads involving managers and professionals at a large defense contractor, with a focus on cognitive effort, communication ambiguity, message preparation, fluency, and task outcome quality. The study suggests that even though the use of electronic communication media seemed to increase cognitive effort and communication ambiguity, it had a neutral impact on task outcome quality. These results appear to be an outcome of compensatory adaptation, whereby the members of the dyads interacting through the electronic communication medium modified their behavior in order to compensate for the obstacles posed by the medium, which is suggested by a decrease in fluency and an increase in message preparation. The results generally support predictions based on compensatory adaptation theory.

scholarly journals Piracy as Labour Struggle

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Labor Process ◽  
Bulletin Board ◽  
Digital Piracy ◽  
Electronic Bulletin Board ◽  
The Face

This paper examines the organization of digital piracy in the context of reshaping labor under neoliberalism. It discusses the practices by which enclosures of intellectual property are resisted by drawing from literature on the labor process, and examining the historical emergence of piratical practice on electronic bulletin board systems. These pirates sought, above all, to preserve autonomous, self-managed working conditions in the face of tendencies to commodify, enclose, and deskill.

The Impact of Personality on Virtual Team Creativity and Quality

2011 ◽  
pp. 647-655
Author(s):  
Rosalie J. Ocker
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Synchronous Communication ◽  
Individual Member ◽  
Team Creativity ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Team Outcomes ◽  
Individual Personality ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

A series of experiments investigated creativity and quality of work-product solutions in virtual teams (Ocker, forthcoming; Ocker, 2005; Ocker & Fjermestad, 1998; Ocker et al., 1998; 1996). Across experiments, small teams with about five graduate students interacted for approximately two weeks to determine the high-level requirements and design for a computerized post office (Goel, 1989; Olson et al., 1993). The means of interaction was manipulated in these experiments such that teams interacted via one of the following treatments: (1) asynchronous computer-medicated communication (CMC), (2) synchronous CMC, (3) asynchronous CMC interspersed with face-to-face (FtF) meetings, or (4) a series of traditional FtF meetings without any electronic communication. A repeated finding across experiments was that teams interacting only using asynchronous CMC – that is, teams without any FtF or synchronous communication -- produced significantly more creative results than teams in the other treatments. Additionally, asynchronous virtual teams rated high in creativity were generally not the same teams that were judged high in terms of the quality of their deliverable. To further examine these findings, this chapter presents results of an exploratory study designed to investigate the impact of individual personality facets on team outcomes. The objective of this study is to determine whether differences in team outcomes – in terms of the level of creativity versus the quality of the team deliverable – can be predicted by individual member personality.no abstract

Virtual team experiences in an emerging economy: a qualitative study

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 778-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shubhi Gupta ◽  
Govind Swaroop Pathak
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to document the experiences of team members in order to map the kinds of experiential outcomes that they report while working in virtual teams. The study will help to expand the understanding of various issues related to virtual work arrangements from the perceptions of information technology (IT) professionals in India.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted by adopting an exploratory approach with the use of qualitative methodology. The method of sampling adopted was purposive cum snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews (face-to-face and telephonic) were conducted by taking a sample of 52 respondents, who are employed by IT organisations. The interviews were recorded digitally, transcribed and analysed by using the content-coding approach followed by a thematic analysis.FindingsThe foremost contribution of the study is that it has considered the various motivators and the skills required to be a successful virtual team player. Significant challenges encountered in virtual teams have also been identified.Practical implicationsVirtual teams in the contemporary business environment are evolving with an unparalleled velocity. The findings of the paper have implications for managers, team leaders and change agents regarding how to transform and sustain in the rapidly changing business context of emerging economies.Originality/valueIn the extant literature on virtual teams very little is known about how individual members perceive this new form of teamwork. The findings of the study advance research on the topic of virtual teams by lending empirical support with respect to the interaction effects between IT and human beings. Recommendations have been provided for individual team members and organisations.

EFFECT OF ORGANISATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON INNOVATIVENESS AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIP

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (03) ◽  
pp. 1650037 ◽  
Author(s):  
SANDEEP VIJ ◽  
HARPREET SINGH BEDI
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Business Performance ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Organisational Structure ◽  
Significant Determinant ◽  
Organic Structure ◽  
The Face ◽  
Purposive Sample

We have investigated the role played by organisational and environmental factors in innovativeness and business performance relationship. The study is based on a purposive sample of 168 key informants (senior level managers in decision-making roles) from Indian firms. For data collection, we developed scales to measure innovativeness and business performance. The results show that innovativeness is a significant determinant of business performance. We also find that influence of innovativeness on external business performance is moderated by organisational and environmental variables. The organisational decision makers in India can draw insights from these results and better decide their strategic postures for designing organisational structure (OS) and for coping better with the external business environment. The study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence in support of organic structure and innovativeness for Indian firms to achieve superior business performance in the face of turbulent external business environment.

Jugnoo: expansion or consolidation

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Sushmita Biswal Waraich ◽  
Ajay Chaturvedi
Keyword(s):  
Chief Executive ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Business Opportunity ◽  
Academic Level ◽  
Short Period ◽  
New Business ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Right

Learning outcomes The student will be able to understand the concept of spotting an opportunity and exploiting the same. The student will be able to comprehend the various challenges faced in the development of a business idea. The student will be able to understand the strategies that need to be adopted to cope with and grow, in a competitive business environment. Case overview/synopsis Samar Singla, the Chief Executive Officer of Jugnoo, had sensed a business opportunity in auto rickshaw aggregation. He was convinced that being among the initial players in the market of auto rickshaw aggregation, there would be very little competition. He only had to play his cards right, to become the top auto aggregator. As Singla started the business, there were challenges like inducting the auto rickshaw drivers as partners, training them, hiring the right team, putting the right strategies in place and to expand the business. Singla launched and achieved robust growth in the new business, in a short period of time. Soon, however, Jugnoo felt competition breathing down their neck – form cab aggregators who were already dominant players in the cabs aggregation segment, in the large cities. To hedge their risks, Singla added other services such as “Meal” (meal delivery) and “Fatafat” (goods delivery) – as B2C and B2B services. These services, however, had to be closed soon after because of stiff competition from the local players. Singla also adopted the inorganic growth path by acquiring “Sabkuch,” a grocery delivery logistics firm; “Yelo,” a platform that provided online access to businesses and “BookMyCab,” a taxi aggregation company. Faced with tapering growth after an initial steep rise, Singla had to confront a dilemma about the right method of ensuring growth in the face of competition. Complexity academic level Under graduate, masters in business administration and post graduation in the areas of entrepreneurship and strategy. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

Knowledge Transfer and Team Performance in Distributed Organizations

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngoma Sylvestre Ngoma ◽  
Mary Lind
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Virtual Collaboration ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Business Goals ◽  
Distributed Organizations ◽  
Geographically Distributed ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Collaboration Technologies

The strategic significance of knowledge transfer to leverage team performance in geographically distributed organizations has been extensively studied. However, there is a dearth of scholarship about the interlacing dependencies between knowledge transfer, virtual collaboration, e-collaboration technologies and virtual team performance. This study explores the impact of virtual collaboration and e-collaboration technologies, mediated by knowledge transfer, on team performance in virtual environments. The authors report on the findings of multiple regressions and path analysis carried out on data collected from 219 key informants. The study found that virtual collaboration, e-collaboration technologies, and knowledge transfer differentially affect team performance. The authors propose a holistic framework which aligns virtual collaborative systems with business goals to advance the design and conceptualization of knowledge-based virtual teams.

Digital teams: contemporary anywhere office work model for MIL cities

2021 ◽  
pp. 198-211
Author(s):  
F. Ortiz ◽  
M. Cipolla
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Office Work ◽  
New Learning ◽  
The Face ◽  
Work Model

In this article we analyze the main characteristics of virtual teams and associations as a contemporary Anywhere office modality that will grow more and more in the face of digital transformation and its impact for MIL cities. The levels of development of virtual associations are de­ scribed according to various authors and the growing need to imple­ ment virtualization and the management of new learning and workforce is addressed in order for collaborators/citizens to develop and continue to deliver results. The objective of this work is to show the main char­ acteristics of these virtual teams, as well as the challenges that imply developing organizational culture with parameters of MIL Cities, using a philosophy of media and information literacy so that the inclusion of technology for employees is more covered. The methodology used was a theoretical­pratical, based on the bibliographic review of the topic and the participant observation of the authors during their consultations in the companies which they operate.

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