Can We Be Coworkers and Friends? An Inductive Study of the Experience and Management of Virtual Coworker Friendships

abstract: Scholars and practitioners increasingly recognize that coworker friendships are integral to both individual- and organizational-level outcomes. At the same time, though, the rapid increase in virtual work has taken a principal source of adult friendships – workplaces – and drastically changed the way that individuals interact within them. No longer are proximity and extra-organizational socializing, two of the strongest predictors of coworker friendships in a co-located workplace, easily accessible. How, then, do employees become friends with each other when interacting mostly online? Once these virtual coworker friendships are forged, individuals must balance the often-conflicting norms of the friendship relationship with the coworker relationship. How, if at all, are these tensions experienced and managed when co-worker friendships are virtual? My dissertation seeks to answer these questions through a longitudinal, grounded theory study of virtual coworker friendship in a global IT firm. The emerging theory articulates the “barrier of virtuality” that challenges virtual coworker friendship formation, necessitating that individuals employ two sets of activities and one set of competencies to form friendships with one another: presence bridgers, relational informalizers, and relational digital fluency. The data also suggest that the coworker friendship tension process itself is largely similar to the previously articulated process in co-located contexts. However, the virtual context changed the frequency, types of shocks that elicited the tensions, and management of these tensions. My findings have numerous implications for the literatures on relationships at work, virtual work, and organizational tensions. They also suggest significant ways in which individuals and organizations can more effectively foster virtual coworker friendships while minimizing the potential harm of virtual coworker friendship tensions.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Business Administration 201

DEVELOPMENT OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS

siirretty Doriast

Advancing Research on Virtual Collaboration

Aunque los entornos virtuales no eran nuevos para algunas organizaciones, cuando llegó la pandemia de COVID-19, casi todas las industrias del mundo comenzaron a emplearlos. Dado que muchas organizaciones y empleados trabajarán de forma remota de forma permanente (o al menos en cierta medida) en el futuro, uno de los desafíos más importantes que enfrentarán las organizaciones es facilitar el desempeño individual y del equipo en entornos virtuales. Los entornos virtuales pueden permitir a las organizaciones maximizar su capital humano y mejorar su conocimiento, recursos, colaboración y creatividad para satisfacer las demandas de sus partes interesadas. Sin embargo, cuando los miembros del equipo utilizan las comunicaciones mediadas por tecnología, se enfrentan a desafíos adicionales que afectan la colaboración y el rendimiento. Por lo tanto, es fundamental comprender los aspectos que contribuyen a la colaboración individual y en equipo en entornos virtuales. El objetivo principal de esta tesis es, por lo tanto, avanzar en la investigación sobre la colaboración virtual. Más específicamente, esta tesis aborda la siguiente pregunta de investigación: ¿Qué factores promueven una colaboración efectiva en un contexto virtual? Para abordar esta pregunta, esta tesis se divide en seis capítulos, de los cuales la parte principal es un compendio de tres ensayos (Capítulos 2, 3 y 4). El primer capítulo de la tesis es la introducción general. El segundo capítulo se centra en factores a nivel individual que permiten la efectividad de la colaboración virtual (género y juicio situacional). El tercer capítulo se centra en factores a nivel de equipo que promueven la eficacia de la colaboración virtual (comportamientos de comunicación virtual del equipo e intercambio de información del equipo). El cuarto capítulo se centra en los factores de nivel diádico que promueven la colaboración virtual efectiva (expectativas interpersonales y perdón por tiempos de respuesta prolongados). Finalmente, el quinto capítulo presenta las conclusiones generales, limitaciones y futuras líneas de investigación. Esta tesis contribuye a la literatura sobre colaboración en entornos virtuales al examinar fenómenos contemporáneos en diferentes niveles de análisis (p. ej., género, equipos de estudiantes cara a cara tradicionales y efectos de falta de respuesta) desde varias perspectivas teóricas y metodológicas. En general, esta tesis proporciona información útil para las personas y los equipos que trabajan en entornos virtuales.Encara que els entorns virtuals no eren nous per a algunes organitzacions, quan va arribar la pandèmia de COVID-19, gairebé totes les indústries del món van començar a fer-los servir. Atès que moltes organitzacions i empleats treballaran de manera remota de manera permanent (o almenys en certa mesura) en el futur, un dels desafiaments més importants que enfrontaran les organitzacions és facilitar l'exercici individual i de l'equip en entorns virtuals. Els entorns virtuals poden permetre a les organitzacions maximitzar el seu capital humà i millorar-ne el coneixement, els recursos, la col·laboració i la creativitat per satisfer les demandes de les seves parts interessades. Tot i això, quan els membres de l'equip utilitzen les comunicacions à través de mitjans tecnològics, s'enfronten a desafiaments addicionals que afecten la col·laboració i el rendiment. Per tant, és fonamental comprendre els aspectes que contribueixen a la col·laboració individual i en equip en entorns virtuals. L'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi és, doncs, avançar en la investigació sobre la col·laboració virtual. Més específicament, aquesta tesi aborda la pregunta de recerca següent: Quins factors promouen una col·laboració efectiva en un context virtual? Per abordar aquesta pregunta, aquesta tesi es divideix en sis capítols, dels quals la part principal és un compendi de tres assaigs (Capítols 2, 3 i 4). El primer capítol de la tesi és la introducció general. El segon capítol se centra en factors individuals que permeten l'efectivitat de la col·laboració virtual (gènere i judici situacional). El tercer capítol se centra en factors d'equip que promouen l'eficàcia de la col·laboració virtual (comportaments de comunicació virtual de l'equip i intercanvi d'informació de l'equip). El quart capítol se centra en els factors de nivell diàdic que promouen la col·laboració virtual efectiva (expectatives interpersonals i perdó per temps de resposta perllongats). Finalment, el cinquè capítol presenta les conclusions generals, les limitacions i les futures línies de recerca. Aquesta tesi contribueix a la literatura sobre col·laboració en entorns virtuals en examinar fenòmens contemporanis a diferents nivells d'anàlisi (p. ex., gènere, equips d'estudiants cara a cara tradicionals i efectes de manca de resposta) des de diverses perspectives teòriques i metodològiques. En general, aquesta tesi proporciona informació útil per a persones i equips que treballen en entorns virtuals.Although virtual environments were not new to some organizations, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, almost every industry on the globe began employing them. Given that many organizations and employees will work remotely permanently (or at least to some extent) in the future, one of the most significant challenges organizations will face is facilitating individual and team performance in virtual environments. Virtual environments may enable organizations to maximize their human capital and enhance their knowledge, resources, collaboration, and creativity to meet their stakeholder’s demands. Nevertheless, when team members rely on technology-mediated communications, they encounter additional challenges that impact collaboration and performance. Thus, it is critical to understand the aspects that contribute to individual and team collaboration in virtual environments. The main purpose of this thesis is thus to advance research on virtual collaboration. More specifically, this thesis addresses the following overarching research question: What factors promote effective collaboration in a virtual context? To address this question, this thesis is divided into six chapters, of which the main part is a compendium of three essays (Chapters 2, 3, and 4). The first chapter of the thesis is the general introduction. The second chapter focuses on individual-level factors that enable the effectiveness of virtual collaboration (gender and situational judgment). The third chapter focuses on team-level factors that promote virtual collaboration effectiveness (team virtual communication behaviors and team information sharing). The fourth chapter focuses on dyadic-level factors that promote effective virtual collaboration (interpersonal expectations and forgiveness for lengthy response times). Finally, the fifth chapter presents the general conclusions, limitations, and future research directions. This thesis contributes to the literature on collaboration in virtual environments by examining understudied contemporary phenomena at different levels of analysis (e.g., gender, traditional face-to-face student teams, and unresponsiveness effects) from various theoretical and methodological perspectives. Overall, this thesis provides insights helpful to individuals and teams working in virtual environments

Intercultural communication competence in a global virtual team

Abstract In recent years, the global prevalence of remote work has rapidly increased. This has been caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the effects of globalisation. A specific form of remote work is a global virtual team (GVT). A GVT refers to a team that uses computer-mediated technology to communicate in order to work towards a common goal, and is temporary, multicultural, and geographically dispersed. The communication in such a team also involves interactions among people of different cultures, intercultural communication. This can be characterised by misunderstandings and communication failures. However, intercultural communication competence (ICC) can aid in achieving mutual understanding. ICC refers to the ability to effectively and appropriately interact with people of different cultural backgrounds. The purpose of this study is to answer the research question: How can intercultural communication competence be applied in a global virtual team? Answering to the question involves descriptions and categorisations of intercultural communication and collaboration challenges, and of solutions to the challenges in the form of ways of applying ICC. The research design of this study included an expert interview, and a single case study of a GVT. The GVT consisted of students at multiple universities. The interview findings indicated that making assumptions related to culturally different others based on insufficient information was the basis of all intercultural communication challenges in a GVT. One solution to this challenge was extending the time of analysing one another’s communication. The case study findings indicated that the most pronounced and common challenges faced by the GVT were related to coordination, particularly to some members’ lack of commitment, which led to other challenges. One solution to the challenge was starting an interaction in order to involve team members in collaboration. Many of the challenges can be related to one another. Furthermore, solutions in the form of ways of applying ICC can be devised, if not to all, at least to nearly all communication and collaboration challenges faced in a GVT. Knowledge of these challenges and ways may allow companies and their employees to overcome and prevent such challenges, improve their intercultural communication and collaboration, as well as ultimately experience increases in task and relationship outcomes.Tiivistelmä Viime vuosina etätyö on nopeasti yleistynyt maailmanlaajuisesti. Syinä tähän ovat olleet COVID-19-pandemia sekä globalisaation vaikutukset. Etätyön erityinen muoto on globaali virtuaalitiimi (GVT). GVT viittaa tiimiin, joka viestii tietotekniikan välityksellä työskennelläkseen yhteisen tavoitteen hyväksi, ja on väliaikainen, monikulttuurinen, ja maantieteellisesti hajautunut. Tällaiseen viestintään kuuluu eri kulttuurien edustajien välistä vuorovaikuttamista, kulttuurienvälistä viestintää. Tähän voi liittyä väärinymmärryksiä ja viestinnän epäonnistumisia. Kuitenkin, kulttuurienvälinen viestintäkompetenssi (KVK) voi auttaa molemminpuolisen ymmärryksen saavuttamisessa. KVK viittaa kykyyn viestiä tehokkaasti ja soveliaasti eri kulttuuritaustaisten ihmisten kanssa. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on vastata tutkimuskysymykseen: Miten kulttuurienvälistä viestintäkompetenssia voidaan soveltaa globaalissa virtuaalitiimissä? Tähän kysymykseen vastaamiseen liittyy kulttuurienvälisen viestinnän ja yhteistyön haasteiden, ja näiden ratkaisujen kuvailuja ja luokitteluja. Ratkaisut viittaavat tapoihin soveltaa KVK:ta näihin haasteisiin. Tämän tutkimuksen tutkimusasetelmaan sisältyi asiantuntijahaastattelu, ja yksittäistapaustutkimus GVT:stä. Haastattelulöydökset viittasivat siihen, että oletusten tekeminen liittyen kulttuurisesti erilaisiin toisiin perustuen riittämättömään informaatioon oli kaikkien kulttuurienvälisten haasteiden perusta GVT:ssä. Yksi ratkaisu tähän haasteeseen oli osapuolten toistensa viestinnän analysointiajan pidentäminen. Tapaustutkimuslöydökset viittasivat siihen, että korostuneimmat ja yleisimmät haasteet, jotka GVT kohtasi, liittyivät koordinaatioon, erityisesti joidenkin jäsenten sitoutumisen puutteeseen, joka johti muihin haasteisiin. Yksi ratkaisu haasteeseen oli vuorovaikutuksen aloittaminen tiimiläisten osallistamiseksi yhteistyöhön. Monet haasteista voivat liittyä toisiinsa. Lisäksi, ratkaisuja voidaan löytää KVK:n soveltamisen tapojen muodossa, jos ei kaikkiin, ainakin lähes kaikkiin GVT:ssä kohdattujen viestinnän ja yhteistyön haasteisiin. Tieto näistä haasteista ja tavoista voi mahdollistaa yritysten ja näiden työntekijöiden selviytyä näistä haasteista ja ehkäistä näitä haasteita, edistää heidän kulttuurienvälistä viestintäänsä ja yhteistyötänsä, sekä lopulta parantaa tehtävätuloksia ja ihmissuhteita

Communication in an "Officeless firm"

New technologies permit new types of organisations. This article describes and analyses one such organisation, an "officeless firm", where all employees work from their own homes and there is no central office. Drawing upon observations and interviews, the modes of communication and the nature of the interpersonal relationships that have permitted this organisation to succeed are described, along with the challenges that face this organisation in the future as it attempts to grow

E-leadership in Practice: The Components of Transformational Leadership in Virtual Business Environments

Today more and more organizations increasingly conduct business using globally distributed teams, also called virtual teams, because of the availability and ubiquity of information and communication technology. E-leadership refers to leading through computer-mediated communication. In the field of e-leadership, transformational leadership has been studied for the past two decades and has been the most-often-cited leadership theory. The literature review discusses how transformational leadership behaviors affect team performance in the context of virtuality, in particular interpersonal trust and organizational commitment of the virtual team members. The researcher conducted a quantitative research study to examine (a) the relationships between transformational leadership and interpersonal trust and organizational commitment of virtual team members, (b) the impacts of the four constructs of transformational leadership via computer-mediated communication, and (c) the moderating effect of the degree of virtuality on such relationships. Study results indicate that transformational leadership behaviors positively affected interpersonal trust and organizational commitment of virtual team members. Among its four constructs, one particular construct—individualized consideration—had a more prominent role. Variety of practices moderated the relationship between transformational leadership and interpersonal trust. Practical implications and future research directions in the emerging field of transformational e-leadership are discussed. Future research directions are suggested

Effects of Multinational Team and Team Member Characteristics on Subgroup Formation, Group Identification, and Trust in Team

Multinational teams (MNTs) consist of members from different national backgrounds who work interdependently to achieve a shared objective (Earley & Gibson, 2002). These teams are frequently employed in global organizations because they provide several advantages, such as meeting the needs of customers from different cultures and getting diverse perspectives on how to lead projects and approach problems (Connaughton & Shuffler, 2007; Earley & Mosakowski, 2000). Much of the previous research on MNTs has focused on whether members’ national background diversity has an impact on MNT effectiveness (Connaughton & Shuffler, 2007; Stahl, Mäkelä, Zander, & Maznevski, 2010a; Stahl, Maznevski, Voigt, & Jonsen, 2010b). Recent research, however, suggests that defining the conditions under which diversity increases team effectiveness is a more fruitful approach than trying to reach rigid conclusions about the overall effectiveness of diverse teams (Roberge & van Dick, 2010; van Knippenberg, De Dreu, & Homan, 2004a; van Knippenberg, Haslam, & Platow, 2007). In the present study, perceptions and behaviors of MNT members were examined using the Input-Mediator-Output-Input (IMOI) framework of team effectiveness (Ilgen, Hollenbeck, Johnson, & Jundt, 2005). Specifically, the salient team-level inputs in MNTs were defined as national diversity (Earley & Gibson, 2002){Roberge, 2010 #298} and reliance on virtual communication (Gibson & Gibbs, 2006), and the salient individual-level inputs were defined as team members’ collectivism orientation (Mockaitis, Rose, & Zettinig, 2012) and diversity beliefs (van Dick, van Knippenberg, Hägele, Guillaume, & Brodbeck, 2008). Critical mediators that were tested include identification with one’s in-group, out-group, and the team as a unit; and one’s trust in the team, since those mediators are components of team cohesion. Team commitment was examined as the output. Data were collected from 184 participants via an online survey. During the time the data were collected, the participants were working as MNT members at multinational organizations such as consulting firms. Results of the study did not support a majority of the hypothesized relationships. However, a final model was developed and tested based on exploratory analyses. According to this model, collectivism orientation and leader’s effectiveness directly predicted commitment to one’s team; there was also an indirect relationship that was mediated by identification with the team and trust in the team. The results show that selecting team members with high collectivism orientation and developing the skills of team leaders are crucial for increasing MNT members’ commitment to their teams

Out of reach out of touch? The impact of flexible work arrangement use on collaboration within teams

Organisations are faced with a growing interest in flexible work arrangements that enable employees to control where, when and for how long they work and need to find ways to adapt and integrate these practices into work routines and processes. Because these arrangements reduce employees’ facetime at the office, doubts remain regarding their impact on collaboration within teams. In this thesis I explore the impact of the use of part-time work, telework and flexible working hours on collaboration within teams and the contextual features that explain this relationship. Seven case studies were conducted in software development teams in three organisations in The Netherlands and Belgium. Findings suggest that telework, part-time work and flexible working hours impact on collaboration within teams because of reduced passive facetime – passive presence of team members at the office without necessarily engaging in interactions with each other. Passive facetime was interpreted as availability to others and an enabler to collaboration. A theoretical framework is put forth outlining six sets of contextual features that impact on this relationship. At the team-level, these included skill differentiation, task characteristics (task complexity and goal clarity), temporal characteristics (temporal stability and task urgency) and structural characteristics (regular face-to-face meetings, amount of absence, predictability of absence and synchronisation of presence). At the individual level, proactive behaviours were found to have an impact. Finally, the whole framework is nested in and dependent on environmental characteristics, in particular the organisational setting. This thesis contributes to theory by outlining the double-faceted role of passive facetime in the relationship between FWA use and collaboration, by delineating how structural characteristics can provide teams with sufficient passive facetime, and by presenting a framework explaining the influence of FWA use on collaboration and the features that explain how and when this happens

Virtual teamwork:features of effective teamwork

Abstract. Nowadays organizations rely more and more on distance working and virtual teams. The aim of this study is to identify the characteristics of effective virtual teamwork and to provide a wide view on what a team is, how it is defined, which are the enabling factors for successful distance teamwork and what are the benefits of virtual distance teamwork. This thesis is a qualitative study and was conducted as a systematic literature review. Data is collected both from University of Oulu Nelli portal and The University of Melbourne Discovery Database and studies up to 15 years old are approved. Based on the results, teams are open and complex systems where the personalities, level of expertise and current cognition of the team members modify the team building, learning and working. High team resilience in virtual teams allows teams to cope through multiple tasks and is also directly connected to the outcome and effectiveness of team working. Literature describes team learning as essential for team working, and it can be enhanced via shared understanding and communication. A good team consists of members who are willing to cope with others: all other team building blocks are unnecessary if members are not able to collaborate. The most important role of the leader is to motivate and divide clear tasks and roles to virtual team members. There are multiple benefits in virtual distance teamworking, e.g. we will show that job satisfaction and productivity may increase when work can be done regardless of time and space. These results suggest that among other things, basic team learning, resilience and effective communication help to build trusting and effective virtual working teams. This data supports the view that it is possible for teams to work even cross-culturally without seeing each other by using only electric technology. Digitalisation enables effective communication and sharing, which in turn helps to build trust among members — even if they will never see each other face-to-face

The role of social networks in students’ learning experiences

The aim of this research is to investigate the role of social networks in computer science education. The Internet shows great potential for enhancing collaboration between people and the role of social software has become increasingly relevant in recent years. This research focuses on analyzing the role that social networks play in students’ learning experiences. The construction of students’ social networks, the evolution of these networks, and their effects on the students’ learning experience in a university environment are examined