Assessing Trust and Effectiveness in Virtual Teams: Latent Growth Curve and Latent Change Score Models

Abstract

Trust plays a central role in the effectiveness of work groups and teams. This is the case for both face-to-face and virtual teams. Yet little is known about the development of trust in virtual teams. We examined cognitive and affective trust and their relationship to team effectiveness as reflected through satisfaction with one's team and task performance. Latent growth curve analysis reveals both trust types start at a significant level with individual differences in that initial level. Cognitive trust follows a linear growth pattern while affective trust is overall non-linear, but becomes linear once established. Latent change score models are utilized to examine change in trust and also its relationship with satisfaction with the team and team performance. In examining only change in trust and its relationship to satisfaction there appears to be a straightforward influence of trust on satisfaction and satisfaction on trust. However, when incorporated into a bivariate coupling latent change model the dynamics of the relationship are revealed. A similar pattern holds for trust and task performance; however, in the bivariate coupling change model a more parsimonious representation is preferred.

Internal Relationship Marketing and Job Performance: A Theoretical Analysis

“…Thus, the entailing positive environment supports job performance. Also, trust in face-to-face teams has been determined to have a direct positive influence on performance ( Coovert et al ,2017),and organizational citizenship behaviors (Dirks and Ferrin 2001). These results have been supported at both the individual (Costa 2003) and team (De Jong and Elfring 2010;Coovert et al (2017)) levels.…”

Leaders of Global Virtual Teams:Implications for the Identification and Training of Successful E-leaders

“…Trust has the ability to affect multiple aspects of a team's processes, and it can hinder participation, collaboration, contribution, innovation, product quality, and team member retention (Breuer et al, 2016;Choi & Cho, 2019;Coovert, Miller & Bennett, 2017;Germain, 2011;Greenburg, P., Greenburg, R., & Antonucci, 2007;Guinaliu & Jordan, 2016;Sarker et al, 2011). Establishing trust in virtual teams is essential because of the potential benefits it can have on the organization.…”

“…The lack of physical interaction in GVTs lessons the amount of information members can glean from their interactions. Virtual teams are recognized to have a higher degree of uncertainty due to the nature of their operations; trust can serve to reduce this level but is also more challenging to build because of the technologically-enabled communication style (Coovert, et al, 2017;Germain, 2011). Virtual work also has an effect on the perception of the team members and they can easily feel that because they do not work within the organization's offices that they will be forgotten (Ford, et al, 2017).…”

“…Trust is a dynamic concept in virtual teams and needs to be managed throughout the entirety of the team's duration (Coovert et al, 2017). Monitoring of the team during the period of the team's project(s) is a part of the e-leadership strategy.…”

“…Even though the reward should be disseminated equally to the members, research suggests that leaders do a virtual award ceremony where individual achievements and contributions to the team are recognized (Greenburg et al, 2011). Germain (2011), with added contextual information from: Coovert, Miller and Bennett (2017); Edison (2011); Ferrell & Kline (2018); Ford et al (2017); Germain and McGuire (2014); Greenburg et al (2011); Guinaliu and Jordan (2016); Peters and Karen (2009); Polzer (2006).…”