Virtual Teams Research

Abstract

Ten years ago, Martins, Gilson, and Maynard reviewed the emerging virtual team (VT) literature. Given the proliferation of new communication technologies and the increased usage of work teams, it is hardly surprising that the last decade has seen an influx of VT research. In this review, we organize the last 10 years of empirical work around 10 main themes: research design, team inputs, team virtuality, technology, globalization, leadership, mediators and moderators, trust, outcomes, and ways to enhance VT success. These themes emerged inductively because they either represent areas with consistent results, a large proliferation of studies, or a grouping of studies and results that differed from where the literature stood a decade ago. Following the review section, we turn our attention toward 10 opportunities for future research: study setting, generational impacts, methodological considerations, new and emerging technologies, member mobility, subgroups, team adaptation, transition processes and planning, creativity, and team member well-being. Some of these opportunities emerged from our review of the extant VT literature; others are grounded in the broader team literature, are unresolved theoretical issues, or were linked to insights discussed within the VT practitioner literature. Within the domain of VTs, technological innovation continues to advance the way team members interact and enable individuals who previously could not be connected to work together as a team. Accordingly, VTs provide great promise to organizations, and the field continues to be rich with research opportunities for the coming decade(s).

When distance is good: A construal level perspective on perceptions of inclusive international language use

“…Hence, workplace mobility captures geographical dispersion and how physically distant individuals are to their company. Thus, when employees have high workplace mobility, they can be argued to be more physically absent from the organization (Gilson et al, 2015).…”

“…Virtual work is becoming an increasingly important part of doing business internationally (Gilson, Maynard, Young, Vartiainen, & Hakonen, 2015;Sidhu & Volberda, 2011). Consequently, a stream of literature has been concerned with management issues related to technology mediated collaboration between geographically remote employees (Fiol & O'Conner, 2005;Henderson, 2008;Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1999).…”

“…Thus, central to existing conceptualizations of virtuality is the geographical separation between team members and their reliance on information and communication technology (Cohen & Gibson, 2003;Gibson & Gibbs, 2006;Gilson et al, 2015). Studies have consistently found a strong correlation between the degree of virtuality and team outcomes (Gilson et al, 2015;Schweitzer & Duxbury, 2010).…”

“…Thus, central to existing conceptualizations of virtuality is the geographical separation between team members and their reliance on information and communication technology (Cohen & Gibson, 2003;Gibson & Gibbs, 2006;Gilson et al, 2015). Studies have consistently found a strong correlation between the degree of virtuality and team outcomes (Gilson et al, 2015;Schweitzer & Duxbury, 2010). Thus, geographical distance combined with a reliance on communication technology has proven to reduce trust (Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1999), increase task conflict (Mortensen & Hinds, 2001), intensify coordination problems (Cramton, 2001), decrease performance (Hinds & Mortensen, 2005), and limit extra-role behavior (Ganesh & Gupta, 2010).…”

Advantages and disadvantages of international virtual project teams

“…Although virtual teams have been evolving since the early 1990s, from the beginning of the 21 st century their development has accelerated and become more dynamic [Breuer, Hueffmeier, Hertel, 2016;Gilson et al, 2015;Hoch, Kozlowski, 2014]. In the contemporary reality, people are closely connected to the virtual world in both their professional and private life, and many major companies rely on virtual teams.…”