Online Communication Technology and Relational Development

Key to success in negotiation is managing and enhancing relationships. This concept can be difficult to convey in short-term executive training courses where students have little time for relational development. Not to worry: the authors assert that by strategically using online communication before, during, and after such courses, students can effectively both train for, and depend on, good relations at a distance

Friends and Enemies Within: The Roles of Subgroups, Imbalance, and Isolates in Geographically Dispersed Teams

Research regarding geographically dispersed teams (GDTs) is increasingly common and has yielded many insights into how spatio-temporal and socio-demographic factors affect GDT functioning and performance. Largely missing, however, is research on the effects of the basic geographic configuration of GDTs. In this study, we explore the impact of GDT configuration (i.e., the relative number of team members at different sites, independent of the characteristics of those members or the spatial and temporal distances among them) on GDT dynamics. In a quasi-experimental setting, we examine the effects of configuration using a sample of 62 six-person teams in four different one- and twosite configurations. As predicted, we find that configuration significantly affects team dynamics – independent of spatio-temporal distance and socio-demographic factors. More specifically, we find that teams with geographically-based subgroups (defined as two or more members per site) have significantly less shared team identity, less effective transactive memory, more conflict, and more coordination issues. Furthermore, in teams with subgroups, imbalance (i.e., the uneven distribution of members across sites) exacerbates these effects; subgroups with a numerical minority of team members report significantly poorer scores on the same four outcomes. In contrast, teams with geographically isolated members (i.e., members who have no teammates at their site) outperform both balanced and imbalanced configurations

Online Communication Technology and Relational Development

Key to success in negotiation is managing and enhancing relationships. This concept can be difficult to convey in short-term executive training courses where students have little time for relational development. Not to worry: the authors assert that by strategically using online communication before, during, and after such courses, students can effectively both train for, and depend on, good relations at a distance

Virtual teams and group member dissimilarity - Consequences for the development of trust

The consequences of demographic dissimilarity for group trust in work teams was examined in a virtual (computer-mediated) and a face-to-face (FTF) environment. Demographic dissimilarity (based on age, gender, country of birth, enrolled degree) was predicted to be negatively associated with group trust in the FTF environment but not in the computer-mediated environment. Participants worked in small groups on a creative task for 3 consecutive days. In the computer-mediated environment, participants worked on the task for an hour per day. In the FTF environment, participants worked on the task for 20 minutes per day. Partial support was found for the effectiveness of computer-mediated groups in reducing the negative consequences of dissimilarity. Age dissimilarity was negatively related to trust in FTF groups but not in computer-mediated groups. Birthplace dissimilarity was positively related to trust in computer-mediated groups. Implications for the successful management of virtual teams are discussed

The expression of conflict in computer-mediated and face-to-face groups

This study integrated the research streams of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and group conflict by comparing the expression of different types of conflict in CMC groups and face-to face (FTF) groups over time. The main aim of the study was to compare the cues-filtered-out approach against the social information processing theory A laboratory study was conducted with 39 groups (19 CMC and 20 FTF) in which members were required to work together over three sessions. The frequencies of task, process, and relationship conflict were analyzed. Findings supported the social information processing theory. There was more process and relationship conflict in CMC groups compared to FTF groups on Day 1. However, this difference disappeared on Days 2 and 3. There was no difference between CMC and FTF groups in the amount of task conflict expressed on any day