The Linkage Between Virtual Team Leadership Towards Team Performance: A Study at Selected Companies

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, virtual teams have added significant presence in the workplace. Despite being unable to meet each other physically, virtual team members utilize various digital technologies to communicate with each another to carry out activities and achieve organizational goals. However, there are limited studies identifying the linkage between virtual team leadership and team performance despite its prominence. Therefore, this study aims to examine the link between virtual team leadership and team performance among work remote employees working in virtual environment. The survey was distributed to a sample size of 338 remote employees among selected companies that agreed to participate with a response rate of 27.6 percent (105 respondents). The collected data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics via IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). It is found that virtual team leadership have positive significant effect on team performance. In particular, virtual leaders who communicate well through virtual platform would affect the team performance. This indicates the need for existing leaders to be equipped with the latest know-how on digital communication

Applying global software development approaches to building high-performing software teams

The rapid progress of communication technologies combined with the growing competition for talents and knowledge has made it necessary to reassess the potential of distributed development which has significantly changed the landscape of the IT industry introducing a variety of cooperation models and making notable changes to the software team work environment. Along with this, enterprises pay more attention to teams’ performance improvement, employing emerging management tools for building up efficient software teams, and trying to get the most out of understanding factors which significantly impact a team’s overall performance. The objective of the research is to systematize factors characterizing high-performing software teams; indicate the benefits of global software development (GSD) models positively influencing software teams’ development performance; and study how companies’ strategies can benefit from distributed development approaches in building high-performing software teams. The thesis is designed as a combination of a systematic literature review followed by qualitative research in the form of semi-structured interviews to validate the findings regarding classification of GSD models’ benefits and their influence on the development of high-performing software teams. At a literature review stage, the research (1) introduces a team performance factors’ model reflecting the aspects which impact the effectiveness of development teams; (2) suggests the classification of GSD models based on organizational, legal, and temporal characteristics, and (3) describes the benefits of GSD models which influence the performance of software development teams. Within the empirical part of the study, we refine the classification of GSD models’ benefits based on the qualitative analysis results of semi-structured interviews with practitioners from IT industry, form a comparison table of GSD benefits depending on the model in question, and introduce recommendations for company and team management regarding the application of GSD in building high-performing software teams. IT corporations, to achieve their strategic goals, can enrich their range of available tools for managing high-performing teams by considering the peculiarities of different GSD models. Company and team management should evaluate the advantages of the distributed operational models, and use the potential and benefits of available configurations to increase teams’ performance and build high-performing software teams

Examining the influence of team work factors on team performance for software development in telecommunication industry

A number of projects have failed in software industry due to exceeding budget and schedule. The main reason for most project failure is poor performance of their development team, in which the team performance is affected by a number of factors.The main objective of this study is to identify the factors that have significant effect on the performance of the software development team.A set of questionnaire has been distributed to a sample of software developers in telecommunication industries in Iraq and Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) using stratified sampling technique.The analysis of the data was carried out using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine the relationship between the identified factors and the performance on software development team.The results prove that coordination of expertise; communication and mutual support positively affect the performance of software development team

Examining the influence of team work factors on team performance for software development in telecommunication industry

A number of projects have failed in software industry due to exceeding budget and schedule. The main reason for most project failure is poor performance of their development team, in which the team performance is affected by a number of factors.The main objective of this study is to identify the factors that have significant effect on the performance of the software development team.A set of questionnaire has been distributed to a sample of software developers in telecommunication industries in Iraq and Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) using stratified sampling technique.The analysis of the data was carried out using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine the relationship between the identified factors and the performance on software development team.The results prove that coordination of expertise; communication and mutual support positively affect the performance of software development team

Teamwork, interdependence, and learning in a handbell ensemble

According to Sundstrom (1999), performing teams conduct “complex, time-limited engagements with audiences in performance events for which teams maintain specialized, collective skill” (p. 20). Musical ensembles have been included in team research on orchestral leadership, yet as a performing team, the internal connections between musicians have not been studied. The handbell ensemble operates as a performing team while sustaining a prominent degree of interdependence. It is generally unknown how musical performing teams such as the handbell ensemble function and learn interdependently. Using Salas et al.’s (2005) Big Five theory of teamwork as a theoretical lens, I conducted a case study of a community handbell ensemble to understand: (a) how interdependent team interactions of team leadership, mutual performance monitoring, backup behavior, adaptability, and/or team orientation contribute to the function of and learning within this handbell ensemble and (b) how interdependent team interactions of shared mental models, closed-loop communication, and/or mutual trust contribute to the function of and learning within this handbell ensemble. The case was limited to one handbell ensemble known as the Campana Ringers, a group who performed for a community church. Members included their director and 13 ringers, one of whom was myself. In individual and group sessions, I interviewed the ensemble director and all team members. Observational and rehearsal notes were coded and primary themes were presented through the core components and coordinating mechanisms of the Big Five theory of teamwork (Salas et al., 2005). Secondary themes emerged connected to the uniqueness of handbell playing and co-mentoring occurring in the ensemble. In data from my findings, I recognized all elements of the Big Five theory were present in interactions between handbell ensemble members. Implications from this case study are connected to co-mentoring, a type of collaborative learning utilizing reciprocal teaching and learning (Mullen, 2005). Findings from this study may inform music educators in community and school settings who wish to develop or incorporate components of teamwork and co-mentoring practices into their ensembles

The development of customised support framework to guide tailored support for business incubators

Lack of skills and poor team management are found to be critical reasons for start-up failure. Even though incubators play a vital role in improving team capabilities, the failure rates for new businesses are still largely unaffected. Academics have postulated that this is because incubators may offer support that does not align with the real needs of start-ups. Prominent scholars suggest that different start-ups have different support needs due to their capability and current state of the team. Tailored support for start-ups, offered by incubators, was found to be an essential contributor to start-up achievement. However, research on developing a customised support framework for business incubators has received much less attention in the existing research studies. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to propose an Incubator Customised Support framework that helps diagnose the team and skills gap at the current stage of a start-up’s journey. This was achieved through three key phases. Firstly, from the relevant current literature on best practices for start-ups, a conceptual framework that captures the stages, distinct key achievements, processes, critical skills and team effectiveness factors needed within each development stage was synthesised. Secondly, through semi-structured interviews and observations conducted with 13 incubators located internationally, the conceptual framework was tested and refined to produce a framework that incorporated and addressed current practice issues. This was labelled, the ICS Framework. Finally, this study then investigated how the international ICS framework can be modified to suit different start-up ecosystems, taking Thailand as a case example, through a series of semistructured interviews with 16 Thai incubators. The research findings suggest that the ICS Framework could adapt directly to a local international context, as the critical processes, achievement, and overall team development factors are consistent. However, this does require some adaptation as the priority within crucial team development factors can vary depending on the start-up’s background, and the strength of the start-up ecosystem in a particular country. This study found a possible correlation between the findings from the semistructured interviews at sample Thai incubators and the start-up ecosystem performance data supplied by the Start-up Genome report. The findings from Thai incubator correlate with the Genome report emphasis on the level of “global market reach” capability, funding structure and previous start-up experience with practice at Thai incubators. This correlation could simplify the adaption of the international ICS Framework into any local context radically. This study contributes to the advancement of business incubator research. It has formulated a novel Incubator Customised Support framework that can be used to guide incubators in assessing startups’ support needs, and a means to tailor their support, based on multi-factor assessment of critical skills and team effectiveness factors importance weightings, at each stage of a start-up journey. A key factor through the factor weightings is knowing what the key ability is required to proceed to the next stage. This study proposes that national versions of the ICS framework could be created using updated “Start-up Genome data”, as demonstrated by the Thai modification demonstrated in this research. However, this approach needs further research to be more comprehensively validated