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Maley, Lejla Bilal. "Teaming at a Distance: The Work Experience on Global Virtual Teams." Antioch University / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1588265024091539.
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Gaioshko, Dariia, and Irina Armasheva. "Impact of individual virtual competence on work outcomes in virtual IT projects." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-144329.
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As the world becomes more globalized and information technology develops more rapidly, companies are increasingly exploring the benefits of using virtual teams to work on projects that allow them to achieve their objectives. This phenomenon though keeps raising questions regarding the best practices in selection and management of employees whose work would be mostly conducted in virtual settings instead of traditional co-located teams. We have investigated the conditions of virtuality, identifying its benefits and challenges and came up to a conclusion that in order to be an effective virtual team member, a special set of skills and abilities may be needed. The central question of this study is: What individual knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that comprise virtual competence (IVC) should the virtual project team members possess, which could contribute to overcoming challenges of the virtual environment? To answer this question a variety of theories on a virtual team, professional competencies, team management and project management were examined. Quantitative research has been utilized to measure the relationship between the conceptualised construct of individual virtual competence and individual work outcomes in a project that is conducted by distributed global teams. Data on the skills of the individuals conducting their work in virtual IT project settings were collected with an online survey which was distributed among the chosen sample. The results of the survey indicated that the most important characteristics that contribute to overcoming challenges of virtuality are self-efficacy, social, and media skills, which also have a positive reflection on the individual work performance and job satisfaction. There are also interesting results regarding the effect of demographic characteristics on variables when compared with the results from the similar study conducted with a different group of respondents. In the end, a revised model of individual virtual competence is proposed that can shed some light on its impact on job performance and job satisfaction of an individual working in virtual project teams.
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Andrews, Angelique. "Virtual Teams and Technology: The Relationship between Training and Team Effectiveness." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2001. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2824/.
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The impact of training on virtual team effectiveness was assessed in five areas: communication, planning tasks and setting goals, solving problems and making decisions, resolving conflict, and responding to customer requirements. A 12-page survey was developed exploring all aspects of virtual teams. 180 surveys were distributed, 52 were returned representing 43 companies. Training led to higher effectiveness in planning tasks and setting goals, solving problems and making decisions, and conflict resolution, but not in communication and responding to customer requirements. Training may not solve all the problems that virtual teams will encounter; however, training will make the challenges easier to handle.
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Knoll, Kathleen Elizabeth. "Communication and cohesiveness in global virtual teams /." Digital version accessible at:, 2000. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/main.
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Casper-Curtis, Abbey L. "Virtual team development in a college course setting." Online version, 2002. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2002/2002caspercurtisa.pdf.
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Raghuram, Sumita, Philipp Türtscher, and Raghu Garud. "Mapping the field of virtual work: a co-citation analysis." INFORMS, 2010. http://epub.wu.ac.at/3098/1/983.pdf.
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Interest in the area of virtual work continues to increase with articles being written from
different disciplinary perspectives - e.g. information systems (IS), management, psychology and
transportation. In this paper, we map research on virtual work to (a) understand the intellectual
base from which this field has emerged, (b) explore how this field has evolved over time, and (c)
identify clusters of research themes that have emerged over time and the relationships between
them. Specifically, we use co-citation analysis of research published in all social science
disciplines to map the field at three points in time - 1995, 2000 and 2006. Our results show that
the field has grown from nine research clusters in 1995 to sixteen in 2006. A comparison across
these maps suggests that research in the cluster of "virtual teams" has gained significance even
as research within some earlier clusters such as "urban planning and transportation" has lost
ground. Our longitudinal analysis identifies relevant concepts, theories and methodologies that
have emerged in the field of virtual work. This analysis can help interested researchers identify
how they may want to contribute to the field of virtual work - by adding to popular clusters,
enriching emerging smaller clusters or by acting as bridges across clusters. (author's abstract)
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Suazo, Kïrsten N. "Effectively managing a virtual workforce." [Denver, Colo.] : Regis University, 2006. http://165.236.235.140/lib/KSuazoPartI2006.pdf.
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Hardin, Andrew Martin. "Testing the influence of collective efficacy beliefs on group level performance metrics an investigation of the virtual team efficacy : performance relationship in information systems project management teams /." Online access for everyone, 2005. http://www.dissertations.wsu.edu/Dissertations/Summer2005/a%5Fhardin%5F070805.pdf.
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Osborn, Harold Carr. "Examining Task Conflict and Team Atmosphere in Virtual Teams Engaged in Outsourced Project Work." Diss., NSUWorks, 2019. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_etd/1092.
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Global teams have become commonplace. As teams have become more dispersed, leveraging outsourced resources has gained popularity. Outsourcing can be a prudent move financially; however, when it is inappropriately applied, the damage it produces can easily overshadow any financial gains. Such ill effects can include impaired employee performance and morale caused by decreased job security. Moreover, it can lead to a less favorable team atmosphere and increased task conflict.
This study examined the effects of team virtuality along with the strategic alignment of outsourcing on team performance. The research utilized the intervening processes theory (IPT). The IPT posits that the relationship between certain constructs cannot be measured directly; however, the impact can be measured through other constructs. In the case of this study, it was the impacts of the constructs of virtuality, job security, outsourcing, and team temporariness on team performance. The intervening constructs were team atmosphere and task conflict.
The research instrument was an online survey. The results of this survey supported the hypotheses that task conflict was impacted by team virtualization, job security, and team atmosphere. Weak support was provided for the influence of team temporariness on task conflict. The impacts of team virtualization and job security on team atmosphere were not supported. Finally, team performance was influenced by team atmosphere but not task conflict.
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Sharp, Jason H. Ryan Sherry DeMent. "Globally distributed agile teams an exploratory study of the dimensions contributing to successful team configuration /." [Denton, Tex.] : University of North Texas, 2008. http://digital.library.unt.edu/permalink/meta-dc-9737.
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Biuk-Aghai, Robert P. "Patterns of virtual collaboration /." Electronic version, 2003. http://adt.lib.uts.edu.au/public/adt-NTSM20040630.160722/index.html.
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Hugentobler, Florian. "Formation and Evolution of Trust in Virtual Teams." St. Gallen, 2005. http://www.biblio.unisg.ch/org/biblio/edoc.nsf/wwwDisplayIdentifier/02602621001/$FILE/02602621001.pdf.
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Vorster, Adriana. "The implementation of virtual teams : a theoretical framework / Adriana Vorster." Thesis, North-West University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/168.
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The impact of globalisation and advanced information technology on service and knowledgebased
industries in South Africa contributes to these workplaces becoming increasingly
virtual. Virtual teams can be seen as a mechanism that organisations could use to increase
their orientation for change through enhancing and integrating key organisational resources
such as people, space and information technology to deliver greater business value. The
findings of several studies suggest that the implementation of virtual teams is associated with
benefits such as cost and time saving, increased employee productivity and employee
empowerment. There are however salient barriers to effective virtual teamwork that
organisations need to address before engaging in the transformational process towards virtual
teamwork. The literature review identified ineffective leadership practices, factors relating to
virtual team development, inadequate use of information technology and a paucity of social
and organisational cultural integration, as the most salient features that impede effective
virtual teamwork.
The objective of this research was to develop a basic theoretical framework for the
implementation of virtual teams. Since virtual teams emanate from a relatively new area of
research an inductive methodology, based on a literature review, was used to achieve the
research objective. Several theoretical models on virtual teams and their effectiveness thereon
were explored to conceptualise the dynamic nature of virtual teams and the requirements for
implementing them in the workplace.
The results of the study indicated that an emergent approach to change be followed and that
the following factors be addressed to determine an organisation's readiness for the
implementation of virtual teams, namely: the degree of interdependence between tasks,
structural requirements, technological requirements, process redesign and the selection of
appropriate people. A methodology for work transformation towards virtual teamwork was
suggested based on an integration of these factors.Thesis (M.Sc. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.
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Huang, Yu. "Critical analysis of related research on characteristics of high performance virtual teams." Menomonie, WI : University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2007/2007huangy.pdf.
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Marshall, Steven John. "An exploration of effective leadership practice in virtual teams." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/97176.
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Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: As organisations expand internationally and continue to conduct business across different time zones and geographical boundaries, distributed project and organisational teams have become increasingly prevalent. Rather than meet face-to-face, developments in information and communication technology have made it possible for these team members to interact electronically thereby creating an alternative means for team member collaboration. Teams that collaborate in this manner are called virtual teams. This study explored effective leadership practice in virtual teams. The process of exploration started with discovering those core competencies considered essential to virtual team leadership. These competencies were then operationalised and tested for their respective contributions to effectiveness in virtual teams as measured by team performance and personal satisfaction. It was suggested and subsequently confirmed by the results of this study that as virtual team leaders begin to display essential leadership competencies, the virtual teams they lead become more effective. Four leadership competencies were identified as integral to effective leadership practice. These were: an ability to coordinate task delivery, an ability to communicate, an ability to build trust and an ability to manage multicultural diversity. In addition, it was determined that virtual team leaders tended to emphasise the more transactional forms of leadership over the more transformational forms with the strongest emphasis on task and communication as predictors of performance rather than satisfaction. In contrast, team members emphasised the more transformational forms of leadership with the strongest emphasis on trust and diversity management as predictors of satisfaction rather than performance. It was also apparent that for team members, task coordination was weakly correlated with performance. These differing results illustrate a distinction in leadership emphasis, which if misunderstood or incorrectly managed, could lead to conflict and low levels of team trust. For team leaders, a desire to perform and deliver against team objectives has an associated risk of inadvertently emphasising task at the expense of fostering healthy team relationships. By comparison, team members emphasise personal satisfaction over performance and are potentially at odds with a strongly taskorientated team leader. This does not mean that team members are disinterested in team performance. On the contrary, performance is important to team members but it would seem that performance follows as a result of first experiencing satisfaction as a virtual team participant.
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Assudani, Rashmi H. "Creating knowledge in a geographically dispersed context : process and moderating variables." Thesis, McGill University, 2005. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=85878.
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Increasingly, knowledge-based tasks such as new product development and market research are being conducted by geographically dispersed teams. Early evidence from knowledge-based view of the firm and geographically dispersed work literatures suggests that at least four kinds of knowledge gaps---transactive memory system, mutual knowledge, categorization and situated knowledge---exist because of the (dispersed) structure of the knowledge management context . Dispersed members therefore cannot take for granted that they have a common context, making dispersed collaboration problematic.The dissertation - a qualitative, theory-generating exercise - seeks to address the question, 'how do dispersed teams collaborate to create useful knowledge?' Specifically, the research question examines the integral elements of the knowledge creation process, the negotiation of knowledge gaps for co-creating a common context, and the association between the negotiation of these gaps with the efficiency of the knowledge creation process, effectiveness of new knowledge created, and cohesion in the team. This research has been conducted in two phases - an exploratory ethnographic study followed by a replication study.
Analysis of the data instead directed my attention to the critical role of moderating variables such as degree of familiarity among dispersed team members, degree of redundancy of knowledge structures among them and the nature of task on the perceived presence or absence of gaps. These findings clarify the literature by differentiating between the structure and the properties of the knowledge management context and therefore develop a more comprehensive model of these moderating variables that have the potential to affect the dispersed knowledge creation process. Specifically, the findings demonstrate that degree of redundancy is positively associated with the efficiency of the knowledge creation process. These studies also suggest that dispersed collaboration may be less different from collocated collaboration than previously thought. Finally, these studies contribute to the dispersed work literature by suggesting that all kinds of dispersed work are not alike and face-to-face meetings may not be necessary for all types of dispersed work.
These findings are used to develop a theory of dispersed knowledge work and have implications for determining whether and in what contexts geographic distance matters for conducting knowledge work. One implication is that perceptions of distance may be at least as important as the objective aspects of distance. Another implication is that whether geographic distance matters will actually depend upon the competitive strategy of the firm.
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De, Abrew Upuli Kanchana. "Investigating the problems experienced by virtual team members engaged in requirements elicitation." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007845.
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The constant acceleration in the rate of technological innovation, and the ever growing emphasis on the importance of information for competition has seen organisations around the world strive for the technologies that give them global customer reach. One of the most pervasive technological innovations developed is the internet, and its unique quality of being able to draw people from across the world together in one virtual space has given birth to the concept of virtual teams. Organisations have seized the advantages of such virtual teams to give them the cost and time reductions they need to stay competitive in the global marketplace. In the software industry, where product and service development is always a race against time, forward thinking software companies in the developed world have taken full advantage of the cost and time saving benefits that virtual teams have to offer. In addition, the rate of expansion of technology and software to support such teams is also growing exponentially, offering increasingly faster ways of virtual working. Despite the immense advantages offered by such teams, South African software development companies do not seem to engage in distributed work to any great degree. The importance of this research rests on the belief that South African software development companies will be unable to avoid engaging in distributed software development if they are to achieve and maintain competitiveness in the global marketplace. This research focuses on a sub-section of the software development process with a specific reference to South African software development. The requirements elicitation phase of software development is one of the initial stages of any software project. It is here that developers work with the users in order to identify requirements for the system to be built. It is acknowledged that other phases of distributed development also bring to bear their own problems, however, in the interests of scoping this research, only the requirements elicitation process is focused on. The research shows that most techniques of requirements elicitation can be adapted for use within the virtual environment, although each technique has its share of advantages and disadvantages. In addition, virtual team members experience problems during their general, day-to-day interactions, many of these arising from the dependence on technology for communication and task performance. The research identifies the problems in both categories, and develops a holistic model of virtual requirements elicitation to prevent or solve the problems experienced by virtual teams engaged in distributed requirements elicitation. The model is made up of three key frameworks, each of which prescribes actions to be taken to ensure the success of the virtual team within the requirements elicitation process. The model is verified through the testing of its critical success factors. Certain aspects of the model were adapted based on the findings of the study, but it was confirmed that the rationale behind the model is sound, indicating that it has the potential to solve the problems of virtual RE when implemented.
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Dreyer, Eben. "Factors and influences of effective virtual team performance." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/97318.
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Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Virtual team research is very relevant today as organisations have become more distributed and the use of so-called distributed teams has become more common. These virtual teams allow organisations to combine expertise from almost anywhere through the use of information and communication technology (ICT) across space and time to complete interdependent organisational tasks. To date research efforts have yielded insights into many factors that affect virtual teamwork, but the research has become somewhat fragmented. By means of a case study approach, this research paper aims to provide virtual team leaders with a more holistic understanding of the factors that influence virtual team performance. The researcher interviewed five virtual team leaders who have many years of working experience with virtual teams. All the participants work in the ICT industry sector and make extensive use of distributed teams to perform day-to-day tasks, provide business services and to implement large scale projects. The research assignment was constructed by completing a detailed literature review in order to develop a broad framework to evaluate five broad virtual team perspectives that influence virtual team performance. The five perspectives included organisation design, leadership, human resources, ICT technology and process considerations. The following findings were identified for each of these perspectives. Organisational design perspective: The importance of a clearly defined organisation structure helps to create a better understanding of responsibility and ownership. It was also identified that an additional layer of management within the virtual team structure reduces some of the complexities of virtual team management and simplifies the communication structure. The study also provides further insight into the type of person, and the experience and skills of people suitable to work in the virtual team environment. Leadership perspective: The importance of management controls was identified, like process orientation, practical awareness and management awareness in terms of cultural and importantly emotional awareness. Practical considerations for the performance management and rewards systems include the need for a broader team focus rather than rewarding individualist behaviour and performance. Human resources perspective (people): The clear goals and objectives of the organisation or project create the necessary focus, direction and understanding that guide the individual virtual team members and allow them to self-regulate. This is further supported by the a shared understanding of functional and role requirements that promote ownership and accountability which are considered to be the basis for a successful empowering approach and which allow individual team members to make decisions within the boundaries of their functions. Subsequently, the effect of social and interpersonal factors was identified as having a significant impact on virtual team performance and success. The use of various activities to build relations and to create an informal connectedness improves communication and promotes team commitment, cohesion, knowledge and information sharing. Technology perspective: The use of technologies that share the relevant context and supporting information reduces ambiguity and provides a mechanism to share information. All participants make use of collaborative technologies to facilitate the day-to-day team interaction, with a preference for technologies that promote easy participation and sharing of information in real-time (synchronously). Interestingly, none of the respondents provide ICT tool training to improve the effective use of these communication technologies and they expect their virtual team members to be able to use all the relevant technologies as a basic skill. Process perspective: The reliance on clear and agreed processes is important in virtual teamwork and requires upfront alignment. The study identified that a shared understanding by all team members of the underlying delivery process, including all in-and-output controls is a critical success factor for virtual teamwork and, because of the fragmented nature of the delivery process, there is a greater reliance on the efficient facilitation and coordination of specialised work. It also further supports the additional layer of management, in which a team leader and project manager facilitate and coordinate the facilitation of work that relies on a well-developed communication structure.
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Keller, Felix S. "Scorecard for Managing E-Collaboration in International Virtual Consulting Teams." St. Gallen, 2008. http://www.biblio.unisg.ch/org/biblio/edoc.nsf/wwwDisplayIdentifier/01651538003/$FILE/01651538003.pdf.
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Hite, Dwight M. Davis Mark Alan. "Leader emergence and effectiveness in virtual workgroups dispositional and social identity perspectives /." [Denton, Tex.] : University of North Texas, 2009. http://digital.library.unt.edu/permalink/meta-dc-11035.
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Andersson, Emmy. "Virtual Collaboration – The Paradigm of Modern Work Environment : Cohesion and Challenges in Distributed Teams." Thesis, Internationella Handelshögskolan, Högskolan i Jönköping, IHH, Företagsekonomi, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-35728.
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This Master thesis is an exploratory study that had the initial aim to research leadership in distributed teams, but, which ended up changing the focus as a result of unexpected findings. Therefore, the study refocused on collaboration in distributed teams with the purpose to explore the work environment of distributed teams from a collaborative perspective, with the aim of trying to develop an in‐depth understanding of the factors that contribute and challenge the cohesion in these teams. Furthermore, our aim was to present our findings in a model, which would describe the collaborative environment in distributed teams. Our research design was a single case study with embedded cases, overall 13 interviews were conducted representing leaders and members of hybrid distributed teams, which gave rich and descriptive data of their collaborative environment. Our empirical findings showed that structure has a significant impact on collaboration. This led to another finding, which states that management skills are more relevant than leadership skills in the virtual context. Furthermore, we could also identify several challenges, which were not explicitly approached in previous literature. Limitations/Implications: Our research is limited to a single case study, therefore future investigations including several cases or companies from different industries would be advised to strengthen the findings. Our research project contributes to the existing literature, by extending the research field of collaboration in distributed teams, while also having implications for companies, which have employees across the world and thus, consider developing or implementing this specific work unit.
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Sharp, Jason H. "Globally Distributed Agile Teams: An Exploratory Study of the Dimensions Contributing to Successful Team Configuration." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2008. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc9737/.
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Drawing upon configurational theory, work group design research, virtualness concepts, and the software agility literature, the purpose of this study was to provide a starting point for theorizing about the successful configuration of globally distributed agile teams by exploring the dimensions of team structure, virtualness, and agility. Due to the complex nature of this topic, the need to examine the phenomenon within its natural setting, and the limited amount of research that has been conducted in this particular area, this study adopted an embedded multiple-case research design. The primary data collection method consisted of semi-structured interviews involving members of globally distributed agile teams within three U.S. based organizations with members located in distributed sights in multiple countries. Additional data were collected from archival records. Within-case and cross-analysis was conducted using qualitative data analysis software. This study provides a starting point for answering the question of how the configuration of globally distributed agile teams differs from the configuration of other types of globally distributed teams; it synthesizes past research and findings into a comprehensive theoretical framework; it provides a starting point for theorizing about the successful configuration of globally distributed agile teams; it helps practitioners to identify and address the challenges related to the configuration of globally distributed agile teams; and it presents a set of best practices which will inform organizations on how to configure their globally distributed agile teams.
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Townsley, Carole. "Virtual teams: The relationship between organizational support systems and effectiveness." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2001. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2774/.
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This study investigates the effects of eight organizational support systems on virtual team effectiveness in five areas: communication, planning tasks and setting goals, solving problems and making decisions, resolving conflict, and responding to customer requirements. One hundred and eighty surveys were sent to information technology managers and collaborative team members, representing 43 companies. The results indicated that developing new roles for IT professionals and senior managers significantly increased virtual team effectiveness in several areas. The findings support the theory that organizations that utilize virtual teams must create high-level structures, policies, and systems to support the teams and the information tools they use.
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Tekeh, Emmanuel Temban. "The adoption of virtual teams and virtual technology in human resources management : a South African perspective." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/2075.
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Thesis (MTech (Business Information Systems))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015.This study explores factors contributing to the slow adoption of virtual teams and virtual technology by South African organisations in Cape Town. The study adopted the Technology Organisation and Environment (TOE) framework to examine the influence of technological organisational and environmental contextual factors on organisation’s adoption of virtual teams and virtual technology. Three organisations from different industries in Cape Town were chosen as a case study. Data was collected via qualitative interviews and quantitative questionnaires while content analysis and a statistics package for social sciences were used to analyse and generate results. The results indicated that all three dimensions of the TOE framework significantly either enabled or inhibited organisational adoption of virtual teams and virtual technology. Technological contextual factors such as availability of technology were found to enable adoption while high set-up cost inhibited adoption, and perceived benefit and drawbacks either inhibited or enabled adoption due to the influence of other contextual factors. Organisational contextual factors like available resources and slacks were found to facilitate, whereas organisational competency and formal and informal linking structures impeded adoption. Management commitment, communication process, degree of centralisation, organisation size and technological competency were found to either enable or inhibit technology adoption owing to the influences of other contextual factors. Environmental contextual factors such as competition, government regulation and rapidly growing industries were found to encourage technology adoption. Lack of skilled labour was found to restrain technology adoption while industry characteristics, market structures and technology support infrastructure either enabled or inhibited organisational adoption of virtual teams and virtual technology due to the influence of other contextual factors.
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Breneman, Samuel. "Physical-virtual workspaces /." Online version of thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1850/6187.
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Jörgensen, Niklas, and Sammy Meléus. "Not Just Another Team Member : How management is affected when the customer is a member of the global virtual team." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-255758.
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Purpose - The aim of the paper is to understand how management is affected by having the customer as a member of the global virtual team within agile work methods. Research Method - This research is based on a qualitative methodological choice, and an embedded single case study conducted through a cross-sectional time horizon. The research is based on primary and secondary data. The primary data has been collected from management, employees, and customer, through semi- and in depth interviews, and observations in Sri Lanka. Secondary data is conceptualized from literature in the Global Virtual Team research field. Results - A customer is seen as a colleague and a critical team member, where the developers and management work closely with the customer. However, the customer is not fully seen as a traditional colleague. The customer’s influence outweighs the influence of the supplier, resulting in a dynamic shift of influence towards the customer. Not allowing the dynamic shift, i.e. not increasing attention towards the customer significantly, could result in a loss of business. Furthermore, the background of the customer affects the manager’s role as a Bridge Maker. How efficient the collaboration turns out within the team is dependent on the customer background, and how well the management allocates time and efforts accordingly. Research limitations - Due to time and resource limits, and the depth scope of the study, only one case firm and one customer laid the basis of this paper. Further investigation of how management is affected by having the customer as a member of the global virtual team could be the direction of future studies. Practical implications - The findings allow management to allocate their time and resources more effectively cross projects and increase the understanding of how the firm is affected by having the customer as a member of the team in the global virtual team setting. As a result, it will potentially increase the overall success of the company. Originality/value - This study supplies the contribution to existing management literature as it includes an external stakeholder, the customer, in the global virtual team, which is a growing phenomenon that has not been captured by current literature. Keywords - Global teams, Virtual teams, Multicultural teams, Customer as a team member, Bridge Maker, Team leadership, Biculturalism, Agile work process Paper type – Master thesis
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Davis, Jon F. "Effective progression of temporary virtual teams over time a pragmatic investigation towards the development of an internal structure to support knowledge sharing /." [Denver, Colo.] : Regis University, 2008. http://165.236.235.140/lib/JDavisPartI2008.pdf.
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Abrahamsson, Evelina, and Axelsson Jonathan Ollander. "Virtual leadership: Moving teams online during the covid-19 crisis." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för organisation och entreprenörskap (OE), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-95329.
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Globalization and technological developments have made it possible to engage in virtual work modes. Globalization also enabled an enormous spread of the ongoing pandemic of covid-19. A situation that forced previously co-located teams to become virtual teams. This required an adaption for leaders to lead in an environment that differs vastly from traditional ones.We conducted a multiple case study with an abductive approach and qualitative method in which 10 semi-structured interviews were held with practitioners across 3 business cases that were experiencing a transition into a virtual work mode.The findings suggest that the work relations between leaders and followers change in several ways when previously co-located teams become virtual teams. This entails new challenges and a shift in the use of leadership styles as well as follower behavior.
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Halin, Amy L. "Distributed team collaboration in a computer mediated task." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2004. http://library.nps.navy.mil/uhtbin/hyperion/04Mar%5FHalin.pdf.
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Thesis (M.S. in Modeling, Virtual Environments, and Simulation)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2004.Thesis advisor(s): Rudolph P. Darken, Susan G. Hutchins. Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-168). Also available online.
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wadii, sara, mahsa shirkhan, and Henrik Snell. "Work To Home- Home To Work : En kvalitativ studie om förändringen som skett i kommunikationen mellan ledare och medarbetare på distans." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för ekonomi, samhälle och teknik, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-54468.
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Abstract Title: Work to home- Home to work - A qualitative study of the changes that has taken place in communication between managers and employees after reorganization to teleworking. Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Malardalen University Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 credits Authors: Mahsa Shirkhan (920617), Henrik Snell (910618) & Sara Wadii (910304) Tutor: Kerstin Nilsson Date: 2021-06-03 Purpose: The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of the leadership role and to research how leaders and employees compensate for the lost physical contact that the forced teleworking has entailed and how it has affected the communication between leader and employee. Through interviews, we intend to create an understanding of how leadership and communication play out with forced teleworking seen from the leader's and employees' perspective. Research Questions: How can leaders and employees compensate for the lack of physical and social contact so that no information is lost through teleworking. Method: Qualitative research method Conclusion: The pandemic has meant that leaders and employees have been forced to work remotely. This comes with several challenges for companies and working groups that manifest themselves primarily in communication. From face-to-face communication in an office landscape to being spread out and only communicating digitally. Leaders and employees need to adapt to continue to be productive in the virtual work environment. The loss of body language that one could previously rely on and the rapid communication that could take place in the office needs to be compensated for. This study shows that leadership fulfils an important function for working remotely and by using the various digital communication solutions, one can compensate for the loss of the physical interactions so that productivity is maintained. In terms of work, efficiency and productivity can continue to be at levels like before in the office landscape. The study concludes that the biggest challenge lies in individuals' social and emotional needs. Keywords: Communication, leadership, virtual teams, virtual leadership, teleworking
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Liu, Ying-Chieh Allan. "Comparing the performance and satisfaction of face-to-face and virtual teams in a learning environment." Connect to thesis, 2007. http://portal.ecu.edu.au/adt-public/adt-ECU2007.0033.html.
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Braga, David M. "Transformational leadership attributes as perceived by team members of knowledge networks." Full text available, 2002. http://images.lib.monash.edu.au/ts/theses/braga.pdf.
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LaBelle, Deborah Mary Wiedenbeck Susan. "The influence of social motivations on performance and trust in semi-virtual teams /." Philadelphia, Pa. : Drexel University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1860/2924.
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Witzel, Marisa. "Work attitudes and well-being among virtual workers." The University of Waikato, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10289/2450.
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The present study examined how certain characteristics of flexible work, the home environment, and the individual impact the outcomes of work-family conflict, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and psychological strain. A questionnaire measuring perceptions of control, flexibility, job involvement, family involvement, work to family and family to work conflict, organisational commitment, job satisfaction, family support, physical boundaries, workplace isolation, psychological strain, personality, and demographic information was created and posted online. An email was circulated to 390 virtual sales employees from one large organisation in the United States inviting them to participate in the study, and 278 people responded. Results identified characteristics of the type of work, work enivronment, and the individual that are predictive of individual and organisational outcomes. Findings supported hypotheses that control, flexibility, and family support positively impact the outcomes of conflict, satisfaction, and strain for virtual workers. Job involvement was found as predicted to positively impact work to family conflict, and family involvement was positively related to family to work conflict. Contrary to predictions, a negative relationship was found between job involvement and strain, suggesting that those who identify more highly with their job also experience less strain. Consistent with earlier studies, workplace isolation was associated with reduced job satisfaction and organisational commitment (Marshall, Michaels, and Mulki, 2007). In line with boundary theory (Voydanoff, 2005), it was hypothesised that the presence of physical boundaries between work and non work domains would significantly impact measures of conflict and strain for virtual workers. However, results indicated no significant effects. A comparison of perceptions of work-family conflict between individuals with children at home and those without illustrated no significant differences between employees with children at home and those without. Speculated explanations for inconsistent findings are addressed in the discussion chapter. Work to family conflict was predicted to mediate the relationship between flexibility and job satisfaction for virtual workers, and analysis supported the presence of partial mediation. Family to work conflict was also predicted to mediate the flexibility and job satisfaction relationship, however, results were not significant in this case. Uses of workspace (i.e. for work, leisure, family activities, etc.) were tested as mediator for the relationship between family to work conflict and job satisfaction, and results did not support a mediation effect. In sum, findings of this study identify sources of both positive and negative outcomes for people working from home. Although individuals' experiences working virtually differ greatly, this study identifies common challenges and issues they face. By pinpointing the sources of conflict, satisfaction, commitment, and strain in the home office, organisations and individuals can take steps to protect workers against negative outcomes, and maximise positive outcomes. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed in the final chapter.
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Lundström, Isabelle, and Julia Löfstedt. "Leading Teams in Times of Turmoil : The forced transition into the digital future." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-448635.
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Background: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the associated restrictions and recommendations has forced a transition into a more digital and virtual environment. Thus, businesses have faced numerous challenges regarding both leading and working at a distance. Leading to an increased need for digital skills and new ways of working, as has been advocated by successful international consulting firms. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop the research about distance leadership, leadership in virtual and digital contexts, and leadership in crisis. Thus, the aim was to investigate and compare team leadership, such as it was before the recommendation and restrictions caused by COVID-19, with the present. Research question: How has the forced digital transformation affected the team leadership from the perspective of both leaders and employees? Methodology: A case study was conducted in which semi-structured interviews, a collection of background information and data from an internal personnel survey was used to gather in-depth information. Conclusion: The results from the case study indicated three main challenges: internal communication, the need for combined and adaptable leadership, and the observed outcomes from the relation-oriented and task-oriented behaviors.
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Seely, Peter W. "The impact of virtuality on team functioning: a meta-analytic integration." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/45894.
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Communication technologies have become a central characteristic of workplace functioning. The literature has suggested that the use of these technologies fundamentally changes the manner in which team members interact. The present study sought to reorganize previous research on the impact of virtuality on team emergent states and behavioral processes to elucidate how different degrees of team virtuality shape team functioning, and to investigate the manner in which these relationships differ according to team type, team membership stability, and publication year. Findings from 174 studies (total number of teams = 9204; total N approximately 26,050) suggest that there is not a strong relationship between team virtuality and emergent states and behavioral processes. However, moderator analyses revealed that a reliance on highly virtual tools may be most detrimental to action teams and ad hoc teams. Moreover, findings demonstrate that the degree to which virtuality shapes team transition and action process may be changing over time.
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Mumbi, Chanda Kabungo. "An investigation of the role of trust in virtual project management success." Thesis, Mumbi, Chanda Kabungo (2007) An investigation of the role of trust in virtual project management success. Professional Doctorate thesis, Murdoch University, 2007. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/215/.
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Studies show that virtual project teams, as an organizational working structure, are on the increase so organizations need assurance that they can be managed just as effectively as traditional projects. The virtual project structure introduces new challenges for project managers tasked with the job of delivering project success. One such challenge is the development and maintenance of trust within the virtual environment. Trust plays a major role in fostering relationships not only in teams but also in society in general.
The aim of the research is to explore the role of trust in virtual project teams and to investigate how trust influences project outcomes. Data was collected from a survey of members of the Project Management Institute. A model of trust in the virtual team environment is proposed and tested using Partial Least Squares (PLS). Analysis of the data shows that team trust predicts project success. Institution-based trust is found to have an influence on swift trust; however, the role of swift trust on virtual project success was less clear. The study also finds that the perceived traditional experience of the project manager does not have any influence on virtual project success.
Project managers must be aware of both interpersonal as well as organizational factors of trust as they plan for project success. They may find that there is a need to review their skills in readiness for the virtual project environment. This dissertation adds to the body of knowledge by providing insights into trust dynamics in the virtual project structure.
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Mumbi, Chanda Kabungo. "An investigation of the role of trust in virtual project management success /." Access via Murdoch University Digital Theses Project, 2007. http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/browse/view/adt-MU20071213.92259.
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Gonçalves, Miguel de Matos Martins. "Equipas virtuais em contexto de projetos de sistemas e tecnologias de informação." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/12752.
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Mestrado em Gestão de Sistemas de InformaçãoVive-se hoje uma época onde as organizações estão em constante mutação, as preocupações acrescidas com a qualidade e a performance tornaram o mundo empresarial um espaço agressivo e pouco tolerante ao erro. Contratar colaboradores culturalmente distantes ou geograficamente afastados, estimulando deste modo novas formas de trabalhar e cooperar passaram hoje a ser uma realidade e em alguns casos um fator diferenciador. Tentar compreender a existência de possíveis diferenças na gestão destas equipas, a viabilidade financeira da sua utilização o impacto da heterogeneidade cultural e geográfica no comportamento das mesmas são os grandes objetivos que o estudo pretende esclarecer. Para responder a estes temas, são abordados ao longo do estudo pontos essenciais para o correto funcionamento das Equipas Virtuais, sustentados numa investigação da literatura existente sobre o tema das Equipas Virtuais, com o intuito de aferir quais as caraterísticas principais já observadas por investigadores. Posteriormente é analisado um estudo de caso representativo da utilização de Equipas Virtuais, num contexto de um grande projeto de Sistemas de Informação. Foram recolhidas opiniões de alguns dos elementos participantes no projeto na forma de um questionário. Seguiu-se uma análise das respostas onde se obtiveram algumas conclusões. A necessidade de incentivar o uso de técnicas de inclusão como forma de eliminar as barreiras causadas pela distância física, a importância de aproximar os colaboradores fomentando uma maior cumplicidade e a relevância dos eventos presenciais na promoção da confiança, foram algumas das conclusões obtidas, cujo contributo espera-se, possa vir a ser útil a futuros investigadores.
Today is a time where organizations are constantly changing, increased concerns about quality and performance have made the business world an aggressive and not tolerant of error. Hiring culturally distant or geographically distant collaborators, stimulating new ways of working and cooperating, have now become a reality and in some cases a differentiating factor. Trying to understand the existence of possible differences in the management of these teams, the financial viability of their use and the impact of cultural and geographic heterogeneity on their behavior are the main objectives that the study intends to clarify.In order to respond to these themes, essential points for the correct functioning of the Virtual Teams, based on an investigation of the existing literature on the topic of Virtual Teams, are addressed throughout the study, in order to ascertain the main characteristics already observed by researchers. Subsequently a representative case study of the use of Virtual Teams is analyzed, in the context of a large Information Systems project. Opinions were collected from some of the project participants in the form of a questionnaire. This was followed by an analysis of the answers where some conclusions were obtained. The need to encourage the use of inclusion techniques as a way of eliminating the barriers caused by physical distance, the importance of bringing employees closer to each other and fostering more complicity and the relevance of face-to-face events in the promotion of trust were some of the conclusions obtained. It is hoped, may prove useful to future researchers.
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Ransone, Carol Locher. "The Nature and Influence of Relationship on Success in a Virtual Work Environment." Antioch University / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1393331576.
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Holmström, Helena. "Community-based customer involvement for improving packaged software development /." Göteborg : Department of Informatics, Univ, 2004. http://www.handels.gu.se/epc/archive/00004060/01/Holmstrom.pdf.
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Bergström, Karl, and Robert Boklund. "Kommunikation och tillit i virtuella team : En kvalitativ studie om medarbetares och ledares upplevelser av att arbeta inom virtuella team." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Pedagogik och sociologi, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-158665.
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Syftet med uppsatsen är att bidra med kunskap om virtuella team, genom att undersöka medarbetares och ledares upplevelser av att arbeta inom sådana team. Uppsatsens resultat förväntas kunna bidra till en ökad kunskap om virtuella team som verkar inom samma tidszon samt hur tillit och kommunikation förhåller sig inom virtuella team. Uppsatsen innefattar nio semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomförts med både ledare och medarbetare för att besvara frågeställningarna och genom det uppnå syftet. Att skapa en stark tillit mellan individerna i ett virtuellt team är det som anses svårast. Resultatet visade dock att virtuella team i dagens arbetsmiljö inte har samma problematik som de tidigare haft. Slutsatsen som drogs var att under premissen att virtuella team arbetar inom samma tidszon så påverkas arbetet inte i någon större utsträckning.The aim of the study is to contribute with knowledge about virtual teams by investigating co-workers and leaders’ perception of working in such teams. Nine semi-structured interviews with co-workers and leaders were made in this qualitative case study. In line with previous studies, the result reveals that creating trust is considered the most difficult for the individuals within virtual teams. Virtual teams in today's working environment do not have the same problems as they used to have. It was concluded that if virtual teams work within the same time zone, the work is not affected to a great extent.
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Thomas, Godwin Dogara Ayenajeh. "A virtual-community-centric model for coordination in the South African public sector." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021073.
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Organizations face challenges constantly owing to limited resources. As such, to take advantage of new opportunities and to mitigate possible risks they look for new ways to collaborate, by sharing knowledge and competencies. Coordination among partners is critical in order to achieve success. The segmented South African public sector is no different. Driven by the desire to ensure proper service delivery in this sector, various government bodies and service providers play different roles towards the attainment of common goals. This is easier said than done, given the complexity of the distributed nature of the environment. Heterogeneity, autonomy, and the increasing need to collaborate provoke the need to develop an integrative and dynamic coordination support service system in the SA public sector. Thus, the research looks to theories/concepts and existing coordination practices to ground the process of development. To inform the design of the proposed artefact the research employs an interdisciplinary approach championed by coordination theory to review coordination-related theories and concepts. The effort accounts for coordination constructs that characterize and transform the problem and solution spaces. Thus, requirements are explicit towards identifying coordination breakdowns and their resolution. Furthermore, how coordination in a distributed environment is supported in practice is considered from a socio-technical perspective in an effort to account holistically for coordination support. Examining existing solutions identified shortcomings that, if addressed, can help to improve the solutions for coordination, which are often rigidly and narrowly defined. The research argues that introducing a mediating technological artefact conceived from a virtual community and service lenses can serve as a solution to the problem. By adopting a design-science research paradigm, the research develops a model as a primary artefact to support coordination from a collaboration standpoint. The suggestions from theory and practice and the unique case requirement identified through a novel case analysis framework form the basis of the model design. The proposed model support operation calls for an architecture which employs a design pattern that divides a complex whole into smaller, simpler parts, with the aim of reducing the system complexity. Four fundamental functions of the supporting architecture are introduced and discussed as they would support the operation and activities of the proposed collaboration lifecycle model geared towards streamlining coordination in a distributed environment. As part of the model development knowledge contributions are made in several ways. Firstly, an analytical instrument is presented that can be used by an enterprise architect or business analyst to study the coordination status quo of a collaborative activity in a distributed environment. Secondly, a lifecycle model is presented as meta-process model with activities that are geared towards streamlining the coordination of dynamic collaborative activities or projects. Thirdly, an architecture that will enable the technical virtual community-centric, context-aware environment that hosts the process-based operations is offered. Finally, the validation tool that represents the applied contribution to the research that promises possible adaptation for similar circumstances is presented. The artefacts contribute towards a design theory in IS research for the development and improvement of coordination support services in a distributed environment such as the South African public sector.
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Melón-Ramos, Eliel. "A Study of the Success of Group Formation in Virtual Teams Using Computer-Mediated Communications." NSUWorks, 2016. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_etd/954.
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In the digital domain, virtual teams within organizations and corporations are becoming common. Restructuring an organization or corporation is vital because competition and globalization are increasing. In this era of globalization, distributed working groups need to develop a competitive advantage in these ever-changing environments. Historically, teams had experienced problems stemming from geographical and temporal limitations. With the increase of technology in telecommunications, organizations are increasingly forming virtual teams, which have become critical to the survival of nearly any corporate entity.
Virtual teams have some of the same problems that regular teams have. One of the key challenges is the method of forming teams, while such challenge is exacerbated in digital environments. Despite the difficulties, the digital environment has made successful team development all the more challenging. The variation in people's skills makes the formation of teams even more difficult. This is why organizations cannot determine in advance if a virtual team will be a success.
To evaluate the success of team formation in a virtual setting, this research study assessed the role of different computer-mediated communications (CMC) levels employed (no-CMC/face-to-face, online learning system, online learning system + social networking site) on the success of team formation measured by the level of task performance (TP), team cohesiveness (TC), computer skills (CS) and social bond (SB), while assessing the differences on such relationships when controlled for demographic information such as gender, age, education level, academic major, as well as academic year. Empirical data was collected from students at the Medical Sciences Campus in the University of Puerto Rico with 140 usable records.
Using three teams and 140 participants, the results indicated that there is a statistically significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed (no-CMC/face-to-face, online learning system, online learning system + social networking site) on the level of perception of CS in team formation. Significant differences were also found in the role of CMC levels employed on the levels of TP, when controlled for gender. In addition, there is a significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed (no-CMC/face-to-face, online learning system, online learning system + social networking site) on the levels of CS, when controlled for education, academic major and academic year. The outcomes of the study contributed to the body of knowledge for both practice and research, to help organizations identify ways to support effective team formations in virtual environments.
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Clear, Tony. "Supporting the work of global virtual teams the role of technology-use mediation : a thesis submitted to Auckland University of Technology in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), 2008." Click here to access this resource online, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10292/650.
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This thesis investigates the role of technology-use mediation in supporting the work of global virtual teams. The work is set in the context of a longer term action research programme into collaborative computing and global virtual teams, initiated by Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand and Uppsala University in Sweden. Over the period since 1998, global virtual collaborations involving teams of students from both universities have been conducted annually. This thesis investigates the 2004 collaboration cycle, in which participants from St Louis University Missouri joined the collaboration. This was the first triadic collaboration, and covered Northern, Southern and Western aspects of the globe while traversing three widely divergent time-zones. In spite of the extensive experience in collaboration possessed by the coordinators at all three sites, the results of the global virtual trial were at best mixed. This repeated experience of dissatisfaction in our global virtual collaborations, in spite of the technology being in place has been a primary motivator for this work. Why is global virtual collaboration difficult? What roles and activities are critical? How can we do it better? These are not issues solely to do with the student actors in the global virtual teams, but more to do with the supporting cast, engaged in “activities which involve the shaping of other users activities of [technology] use” (Orlikowski et al., 1995, p.425). Thus came about my interest in exploring the topic of technology-use mediation. This thesis applies a research framework adapted from DeSanctis & Poole’s “Adaptive Structuration Theory” (1994) by the author. Initially applied to “facilitation” in virtual teams “Extended Adaptive Structuration Theory (EAST)” (Clear, 1999a), has undergone further development. The resulting research framework “Technology-use Mediated AST (TUMAST)” is applied here for the first time to investigate technology-use mediation activities performed during the global virtual collaborative trial. A corpus of data based on the email communications of supporting parties to the collaboration is analysed in depth in this study, applying a combination of grounded theoretic and structurational techniques. Thus a very rich and firmly grounded picture of the processes of technology-use mediation is built. This thesis represents the first known in-depth longitudinal study of technology-use mediation in a real global virtual team setting. From this exploratory study some novel theorizations have resulted. Methodologically it demonstrates analysis of technology-use mediation applying the TUMAST framework in a manner that captures the richness and evolution over time of these complex activities. Substantively it proposes a novel theory of “Collaborative Technology Fit (CTF)”. It is hoped that future global virtual team coordinators and researchers may apply the theory in order to map their situation, and diagnose their degree of collaborative alignment on multiple dimensions, thus enabling corrective actions to be taken. While the work arises in a tertiary education context, it reflects the reality of professionals at work in a global virtual team. Its application within other domains remains to be proven, but readings from the literature, and personal experience within global virtual software development teams suggest its wider applicability.
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Hite, Dwight M. "Leader Emergence and Effectiveness in Virtual Workgroups: Dispositional and Social Identity Perspectives." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2009. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc11035/.
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In today's global competitive environment, many organizations utilize virtual workgroups to overcome geographic and organizational boundaries. Research into their dynamics has received the attention of scholars within multiple disciplines, and the potential for an integrative approach to the study of virtual workgroups exists. This dissertation is a first step towards such an approach. The primary aim of this research is to examine antecedent and contextual factors that affect the emergence and effectiveness of leaders in virtual workgroups. To achieve this aim, an integrative model assembled from theory and empirical findings in leadership, management, social identity, and communications research is posited. Hypothesized relationships depicted in the model identify key dispositional and contextual variables linked to leader emergence, member behavior, and leader effectiveness within virtual workgroups. This study employed a nonexperimental research design, in which leader emergence and social identity manifest as naturally occurring phenomena. Data collection occurred via two web-based surveys administered at different points in time. Hypothesized relationships were tested utilizing correlational and hierarchical moderated multiple regression analyses. The findings of this dissertation suggest that traits, such as personality and cognitive ability, are not associated with leader emergence in virtual workgroups. In addition, the results indicate that the exhibition of relationship-oriented leader behaviors enhances group identity. In turn, identification is associated with increases in perceptions of leader effectiveness and decreases in counterproductive behavior exhibited by group members. This dissertation exposes an important limitation to the application of trait leadership theory. It also demonstrates the importance of relationship-oriented behavior and social identity in virtual contexts. Further, it advances an integrative theoretical model for the study of virtual workgroup phenomena. These contributions should assist and inform other researchers, as well as practitioners, interested in leadership and group member behavior in virtual workgroups.
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Watson, Kelley D. "Remote management : traditional leadership behaviors in a contemporary work environment." Diss., Manhattan, Kan. : Kansas State University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/432.
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Castro, Hernandez Alberto. "Content and Temporal Analysis of Communications to Predict Task Cohesion in Software Development Global Teams." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2017. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc984118/.
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Virtual teams in industry are increasingly being used to develop software, create products, and accomplish tasks. However, analyzing those collaborations under same-time/different-place conditions is well-known to be difficult. In order to overcome some of these challenges, this research was concerned with the study of collaboration-based, content-based and temporal measures and their ability to predict cohesion within global software development projects. Messages were collected from three software development projects that involved students from two different countries. The similarities and quantities of these interactions were computed and analyzed at individual and group levels. Results of interaction-based metrics showed that the collaboration variables most related to Task Cohesion were Linguistic Style Matching and Information Exchange. The study also found that Information Exchange rate and Reply rate have a significant and positive correlation to Task Cohesion, a factor used to describe participants' engagement in the global software development process. This relation was also found at the Group level. All these results suggest that metrics based on rate can be very useful for predicting cohesion in virtual groups. Similarly, content features based on communication categories were used to improve the identification of Task Cohesion levels. This model showed mixed results, since only Work similarity and Social rate were found to be correlated with Task Cohesion. This result can be explained by how a group's cohesiveness is often associated with fairness and trust, and that these two factors are often achieved by increased social and work communications. Also, at a group-level, all models were found correlated to Task Cohesion, specifically, Similarity+Rate, which suggests that models that include social and work communication categories are also good predictors of team cohesiveness. Finally, temporal interaction similarity measures were calculated to assess their prediction capabilities in a global setting. Results showed a significant negative correlation between the Pacing Rate and Task Cohesion, which suggests that frequent communications increases the cohesion between team members. The study also found a positive correlation between Coherence Similarity and Task Cohesion, which indicates the importance of establishing a rhythm within a team. In addition, the temporal models at individual and group-levels were found to be good predictors of Task Cohesion, which indicates the existence of a strong effect of frequent and rhythmic communications on cohesion related to the task. The contributions in this dissertation are three fold. 1) Novel use of Temporal measures to describe a team's rhythmic interactions, 2) Development of new, quantifiable factors for analyzing different characteristics of a team's communications, 3) Identification of interesting factors for predicting Task Cohesion levels among global teams.
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Arredal, Anna-Carin, Pihl Josefine Axelsson, and Alice Börjesson. "Becoming a Virtual Team under Rapid Conditions: Leadership and Collaboration through change : An exploratory case study of the change to virtual work settings as a consequence of Covid-19." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för ekonomi, samhälle och teknik, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-53098.
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The purpose of this study is to contribute to the current field of virtual leadership and virtual teams. This study aims to examine the effects on leadership, the relation between the leader and the team member, and the collaboration as a consequence of a rapid virtual transition. This qualitative research was conducted with an inductive approach through a case study. Primary data was collected through three semi-structured interviews with team leaders from different departments and nine semi-structured interviews with their respective team members. The primary data was analyzed in a thematic way and had support from a theoretical model conducted from secondary sources. This study signifies the importance of establishing relationships, trust and effective communication within teams in virtual environments and recognizes how these aspects are essential for leaders when guiding a team through a rapid virtual transition. Being a leader under the investigated condition suggests individualized leadership as beneficial to maintain stability and trust through the reorganization process. Managerial attitudes are confirmed as influential on team performance through a transition and the transformational leadership theory is argued to be successful when managing a change process based on the studied case.
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Prince, Bradley Justin Cegielski Casey. "An exploration of the impact of speech recognition technologies on group efficiency and effectiveness during an electronic idea generation scenario." Auburn, Ala., 2006. http://repo.lib.auburn.edu/2006%20Spring/doctoral/PRINCE_BRADLEY_15.pdf.
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