Virtual Team Effectiveness

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.

Virtual Team Process and Pathologies

The dynamic nature of group process is a long-standing challenge for research and practice, and particularly so in virtual teams, which are increasingly a regular part of organizational life today. Virtual teams act in fluid environments, as they strive to make sense of how best to incorporate appropriate technology choices during on-going interaction. Interventions in group process have potential to help teams make those choices. However, one set of critical factors that has received very little attention is the timing of interventions and their presentation style and content. These factors are particularly important in virtual teams, whose members rely on information and communication technologies and where technology interplay with group processes needs particular attention. Based on empirical findings, the authors present a new perspective on the longstanding topic of team process and the use of interventions, specifically in a virtual environment. The authors use the analyses of seven teams of students from three universities working together in a virtual workspace to complete a global offshore development project as case studies for building a process theory of adaptive intervention for virtual teams. The theory integrates team process with technology, to show how interventions can be used to proactively trigger and reactively respond to transitions. Ultimately, the theory shows how adaptive interventions can be used in a dynamic way to enhance virtual team process and thereby address key challenges that virtual teams face in their on-going work.

The Telework as an Organizational Innovation in the Entities of the Third Sector

This article discusses the role of the telework as an organizational innovation incorporated to the activities of the third sector as well as in the creation of networks and links between these entities. The telework has become a tool that has produced important changes in the traditional organization of the work, and has improved the inter- and intra-organizational communication, in addition to promoting the creation of extensive networks of collaboration in the third sector. The online connection and the provision made in telework mode have also served for the creation of a higher density of contacts between the entities that are grouped in the third sector, done so that it benefits the transmission of information and collaborative practices in providing services to the citizens. Its effectiveness consists in the speed that prints the response capacity of the social economy entities.

Scaffolding Agency and Responsibility in Cloud-Based Collaborative Writing

Although most students regularly interact online for social reasons, many are uncomfortable collaborating for academic work, even work utilizing familiar cloud technology. Because collaborative writing in digital spaces is becoming commonplace in work and academic environments, composition teachers must help students to recognize their individual agency within group work and to develop strategies for a shared writing process. How can we scaffold online writing experiences so that our students' ability to collaborate emerges as a strategic and still-developing part of the learning process? In this chapter we discuss strategies for scaffolding a collaborative writing process using Google Docs in the composition classroom. We describe four sample activities appropriate for undergraduate writing courses: anonymous invention, group annotated bibliographies, group agendas and project plans, and peer review. We suggest best practices for developing individual agency and shared responsibility for group writing in the cloud.

Scaffolding Role of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Environment on Collaboration and Academic Literacy

Drawing on knowledge building and social cognitive perspectives on academic literacy, this chapter argues for a design framework of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environment featured by Knowledge Forum for Chinese tertiary business English students. An initial design study was reported to evaluate the design effect of CSCL environment on collaboration and academic literacy and to further investigate factors facilitating academic literacy development. Four intact classes with 102 Year One students participated in a 12-week project learning in two different learning environments, namely Computer-Supported Collaborative Inquiry Learning (CSCIL) and Regular Project-Based Learning environment (RPBL). Data was obtained from exam results, survey, essay writing quality, and focus group interviews. Four dimensions of academic literacy were identified and rated. MANOVA analyses showed significant main effects of environment indicating that CSCIL groups have significant higher gains in conceptual understanding and argumentative construction. Contrastive analyses of focus group interview data identify the interplay of social, cognitive, and technological dynamics that facilitate collaborative conceptual understanding and argumentative construction. Implications and further design issues are also discussed.

Task-Technology Fit Assessment of Cloud-Based Collaborative Learning Technologies

Universities require basic changes in knowledge and communication-based society in order to achieve higher order learning experience and to satisfy expectations of new generation of students. This study aims to understand the likelihood of the cloud-based collaborative learning technology adoption within educational environments. Reviewing cloud computing research, technology characteristic construct was divided into collaboration, mobility, and personalization. Based on the Task-Technology Fit (TTF) model, this study tested a theoretical model encompassing seven variables: collaboration, mobility, personalization, task non-routineness, task interdependence, task-technology fit, user adoption. Purposive sampling was used and data were collected from 86 undergraduate and postgraduate students who had experiences in using cloud-based applications for collaborative activities. The results indicated that task non-routineness, collaboration, mobility, and personalization have positive significant effects on TTF. However, distinct from past studies, task interdependence positively influences TTF. In addition, results indicated that the significant effect of TTF on users' intention to adopt cloud-based collaborative learning technologies was considerable.

Managing “Virtuality”

A wealth of research is associated with virtual teams and collaboration technologies; however, no integrated model is available to guide decision-makers at large organisations in the strategic implementation and management of “virtuality.” Whilst collaboration through technology has become commonplace in modern teams, it is not yet clear if Enterprise 2.0 organisations have made changes to accommodate and support this new mode of work. In other words, managing “virtuality” requires supporting tools and research in order to maximise the benefits and diminish the challenges inherent in it. This chapter presents findings of research relating to managing “virtualtiy” that culminates in the development and evaluation of a management model that guides large organisations in implementing and managing virtual teams. The findings demonstrate that there are benefits associated with virtual teamwork; however, a structured approach is essential to realise and maximise such benefits. The authors uncover several critical success factors in managing virtual teams, and they also learned that the implementation of enabling technologies must be carefully planned to ensure successful adoption by the intended audience. This chapter provides practitioners with a structured approach to implementing and managing virtual teams in an Enterprise 2.0 environment. Essential conditions for success are identified, specific organisational level tasks are presented, a process to ensure the introduction of new technologies is documented, and the critical success factors to create and manage virtual teams are synthesised and presented.

E-Collaboration at Celadon Trucking Services

Technology has influenced industries around the world. Not only is the use of technology essential to the success of a business, but the continuous improvement of technology is a determinant factor in obtaining a competitive advantage. Electronic collaboration (e-collaboration) has made a presence in the supply chain of international trade. The logistics industry, in particular the area of trucking, has to continuously improve their technology and use e-collaboration in order to continue having a profitable advantage in a highly regulated and competitive arena. Some methods of e-collaboration used by a particular trucking company along the U.S.—Mexico border will be discussed.

An Empirical Evaluation of Information Sharing Between Australia-Singapore Beef Organisations in Light of Trust and ICT Diffusion

This study investigates cross-border collaboration between beef organisations in Australia and Singapore. It aims to identify factors impacting trust and technology diffusion by gauging gaps between expected importance and perceived performance rating of the factors. The research presents results of a survey comprising 69 beef organisations from Australia and Singapore. The research identifies critical gaps using two methods of analysis; validity analysis and performance gap analysis. Each method comprises two types of tests. The WarpPLS software is used to perform the validity analysis. Results indicate gaps in level of responsiveness. The research concludes that the success of cross-border collaboration between organisations in both Australia and Singapore can be better achieved through the establishment of information exchange relationships, rather than through the use of technology alone, and by ensuring compatibility between business partners.

How Likely is Simpson's Paradox in Path Models?

Simpson's paradox is a phenomenon arising from multivariate statistical analyses that often leads to paradoxical conclusions in the field of e-collaboration as well as many other fields where multivariate methods are employed. This work derives a general inequality for the occurrence of Simpson's paradox in path models with or without latent variables. The inequality is then used to estimate the probability that Simpson's paradox would occur at random in path models with two predictors and one criterion variable. This probability is found to be approximately 12.8 percent, slightly higher than 1 occurrence per 8 path models. This estimate suggests that Simpson's paradox is likely to occur in empirical studies, in the field of e-collaboration and other fields, frequently enough to be a source of concern.