69,254 research outputs found
Trust and knowledge sharing in diverse global virtual teams
Global virtual teams (GVTs) allow organizations to improve productivity, procure global knowledge, and transfer best practice information instantaneously among team members. GVTs rely heavily on IT and have little face-to-face interaction, thereby increasing problems resulting from geographic barriers, time language, and cultural differences, and inter-personal relationships. The purpose of our study was to design a normative framework that would assist organizations in understanding the relationship between diversity, mutual trust, and knowledge sharing among GVTs, with additional focus on understanding the moderating impact of collaborative technology and task characteristics. Empirical data was collected from 58 GVTs and analyzed using a Hierarchical Multiple Regression technique. Results showed that in GVTs, deep level diversity has a more significant relationship with team processes of mutual trust and knowledge sharing than visible functional level diversity. This relationship is moderated by the collaborative capabilities of available technology and levels of interdependence of the task. Furthermore, knowledge sharing and mutual trust mediate the relationship between diversity levels and team effectiveness
Working together apart? building a knowledge-sharing culture for global virtual teams
A new impetus for greater knowledge-sharing among team members needs to be emphasized due to the emergence of a significant new form of working known as âglobal virtual teamsâ.As information and communication technologies permeate every aspect of organizational life and impact the way teams communicate, work and structure relationships, global virtual teams require innovative communication and learning capabilities for different team members to effectively work together across cultural, organizational and geographical boundaries.Whereas information technology-facilitated communication processes rely on technologically advanced systems to succeed, the ability to create a knowledge-sharing culture within a global virtual team rests on the existence (and maintenance) of intra-team respect,
mutual trust, reciprocity and positive individual and group relationships.Thus, some of the
inherent questions we address in our paper are: (1) what are the cross-cultural challenges faced
by global virtual teams?; (2) how do organizations develop a knowledge sharing culture to promote effective organizational learning among culturally-diverse team members? and; (3)
what are some of the practices that can help maximize the performance of global virtual teams?
We conclude by examining ways that global virtual teams can be more effectively managed in order to reach their potential in this new interconnected world and put forward suggestions for further research
Cultural diversity and information and communication technology impacts on global virtual teams: An exploratory study.
Modern organizations face many significant challenges because of turbulent
environments and a competitive global economy. Among these challenges are the use
of information and communication technology (ICT), a multicultural workforce, and
organizational designs that involve global virtual teams. Ad hoc teams create both
opportunities and challenges for organizations and many organizations are trying to
understand how the virtual environment affects team effectiveness. Our exploratory
study focused on the effects of cultural diversity and ICT on team effectiveness.
Interviews with 41 team members from nine countries employed by a Fortune 500
corporation were analyzed. Results suggested that cultural diversity had a positive
influence on decisionâmaking and a negative influence on communication. ICT
mitigated the negative impact on intercultural communication and supported the
positive impact on decision making. Effective technologies for intercultural
communication included eâmail, teleconferencing combined with eâMeetings, and
team rooms. Cultural diversity influenced selection of the communication media
Achieving high performance outcomes through trust in virtual teams
Developing trust among team members is critical for achieving high performance outcomes. Recently, global business operations necessitated working in a team environment with colleagues outside traditional organizational boundaries, across distances, and across time zones. In this article, we discuss how human resource practices can support organizational initiatives when business operations mandate increased virtual teamwork. We examine the role of HR in enhancing relationship building and the development of trust among workers who may rarely, if ever, meet face-toface. Using research from teamwork, social exchange theory, and knowledge sharing, we discuss how four areas of human resources managementârecruitment, training, performance appraisal, and compensation/rewardâ might combine with technology to facilitate the development of trust among virtual team members
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Diverse virtual social networks: Implications for remote software testing teams
This paper evaluates offshore outsourcing in the IT testing industry and determines what conditions determine its success. There is particular focus on the influence of diversity in teams on group relationships. Two studies are described: the first, investigated the perceptions of professional software testers on the critical factors of offshore outsourcing; and the second study looked at the ability for diverse teams to form close working relationships through virtual networks. We find that overt diversity factors inhibit interaction across nationality boundaries. The limitations of virtual networks for fostering personal communications is apparent in preventing group members from overcoming the initial aversion to mix with out-group members, which could be achieved with closer and more personal communications between members with different diversity factors in normal face to face communications. Where software testing teams are outsourced globaly, and must rely on virtual communications, there seems potential for significant difficulties in developing close working relationships, which on the one hand, can be negative for group cohesion, but one the other hand, can be positive for encouraging imparitality
Virtual Leadership: Required Competencies for Effective Leaders
There are countless books, articles, and resources available which attempt to identify the competencies and qualities of effective leaders. Traditionally, leaders have been at the center of a community, be it work, church, or social groups. In these communities, face-to-face meetings and close personal interaction have dominated the way leaders interact with their members. However, with the advent of the internet and the host of communication tools that followed, teams today are becoming increasingly dispersed and diverse. Studies are now being done to understand how leadership has or should evolve in order to meet the changing needs and demands of these new and different communities. Some argue that leadership in the virtual environment is simpler as fewer tools are available to virtual leaders. Others may argue that access to fewer tools makes virtual leadership more complex and challenging than traditional leadership.
This paper will explore leadership in virtual settings and how itâs changing as more teams move away from traditional team environments. Iâll review the responsibilities and roles of virtual leaders in an effort to better highlight the core competencies needed in todayâs virtual settings. Iâll also look at competencies required of global virtual leaders and Iâll address how these competencies can be cultivated to ensure leaders are more effective in leading teams in these new environments
New Knowledge in Global Innovation Teams
In multinational enterprises (MNEs), global innovation teams are used increasingly to pool knowledge from different international subsidiaries. While it is fairly well described how subsidiaries fulfill product and know-how mandates, how parents and subsidiaries may/should interact and why team diversity is desirable from the corporate standpoint (i.e. to strengthen corporate culture), little is known about the possible innovation and technology knowledge-related benefits global innovation teams offer. In this paper, it is proposed that resources, customer knowledge, knowledge diffusion, and knowledge protection play a crucial role in a MNEs decision to deploy a global innovation team. Results from four case studies and two expert interviews show that there are indeed significant reasons for a global team deployment within innovation projects.Global Teams; Innovation; Knowledge Creation
A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Face-to-Face and Virtual Communication: Overcoming the Challenges
Virtual communication has become the norm for many organizations (Baltes, Dickson, Sherman, Bauer, & LaGanke, 2002; Bergiel, Bergiel, & Balsmeier, 2008; Hertel, Geister, & Konradt, 2005). As technology has evolved, time and distance barriers have dissolved, allowing for access to experts worldwide. The reality of business today demands the use of virtual communication for at least some work, and many professionals will sit on a virtual team at some point (Dewar, 2006). Although virtual communication offers many advantages, it is not without challenges. This article examines the costs and benefits associated with virtual and face-to-face communication, and identifies strategies to overcome virtual communication\u27s challenges
Values-Based Network Leadership in an Interconnected World
This paper describes values-based network leadership conceptually aligned to systems science, principles of networks, moral and ethical development, and connectivism. Values-based network leadership places importance on a leader\u27s repertoire of skills for stewarding a culture of purpose and calling among distributed teams in a globally interconnected world. Values-based network leadership is applicable for any leader needing to align interdependent effort by networks of teams operating across virtual and physical environments to achieve a collective purpose. An open-learning ecosystem is also described to help leaders address the development of strengths associated with building trust and relationships across networks of teams, aligned under a higher purpose and calling, possessing moral fiber, resilient in the face of complexity, reflectively competent to adapt as interconnected efforts evolve and change within multicultural environments, and able to figure out new ways to do something never done before
Acquiring and Applying Knowledge in Transnational Teams: The Roles of Cosmopolitans and Locals
This paper examines the roles of cosmopolitans and locals in transnational teams that work on knowledge-intensive projects. I propose that cosmopolitan and local team members can help their teams to acquire and apply knowledge more effectively, by bringing both internal and external knowledge to their teams and enabling them to more successfully transform this knowledge into improved project performance. Findings from a study of 96 project teams at an international development agency reveal that the roles of cosmopolitans and locals were complex and sometimes valuable, but cosmopolitans offered greater benefits than locals and too many of each could hurt. Implications for theory and research on international management, virtual teams, exploration and exploitation, and organizational knowledge are discussed
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