Virtual Teams Demystified: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Virtual Teams and a Synthesis of Research
Virtual teams are essential to the functioning of an increasing number of organizations. They have been the subject of much research, resulting in a growing body of literature on the topic. Nevertheless, we still lack an integrated understanding of what drives virtual team dynamics and ultimately...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
Cambridge, MA; Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2011
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66677 |
| _version_ | 1826215946385096704 |
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| author | Mortensen, Mark Caya, Olivier Pinsonneault, Alain |
| author_facet | Mortensen, Mark Caya, Olivier Pinsonneault, Alain |
| author_sort | Mortensen, Mark |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Virtual teams are essential to the functioning of an increasing number of organizations. They have
been the subject of much research, resulting in a growing body of literature on the topic. Nevertheless, we
still lack an integrated understanding of what drives virtual team dynamics and ultimately effectiveness.
A key obstacle to achieving such understanding is the lack of an integrative theory-driven framework
through which we can organize and make sense of prior, and guide future, research. We build on existing
models of effectiveness and emergent processes and states that have been applied to traditional teams and
use these to generate a framework for understanding virtual team dynamics. We then use this framework
to structure a review and synthesis of ninety-seven empirical studies of virtual teams published between
1990 and 2008. Using vote-counting analysis, we assess and integrate these findings to provide insights
into the direct and indirect antecedents of virtual team effectiveness. Based on this model, we highlight
key gaps in both our knowledge of, and approach to studying, virtual teams. We outline areas for future
research, provide managerial recommendations, and highlight implications for the study of both virtual
and traditional teams. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:39:58Z |
| format | Working Paper |
| id | mit-1721.1/66677 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:39:58Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | Cambridge, MA; Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/666772019-04-10T09:18:10Z Virtual Teams Demystified: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Virtual Teams and a Synthesis of Research Mortensen, Mark Caya, Olivier Pinsonneault, Alain information technology team design emergent team states emergent team processes virtual team effectiveness Virtual teams Virtual teams are essential to the functioning of an increasing number of organizations. They have been the subject of much research, resulting in a growing body of literature on the topic. Nevertheless, we still lack an integrated understanding of what drives virtual team dynamics and ultimately effectiveness. A key obstacle to achieving such understanding is the lack of an integrative theory-driven framework through which we can organize and make sense of prior, and guide future, research. We build on existing models of effectiveness and emergent processes and states that have been applied to traditional teams and use these to generate a framework for understanding virtual team dynamics. We then use this framework to structure a review and synthesis of ninety-seven empirical studies of virtual teams published between 1990 and 2008. Using vote-counting analysis, we assess and integrate these findings to provide insights into the direct and indirect antecedents of virtual team effectiveness. Based on this model, we highlight key gaps in both our knowledge of, and approach to studying, virtual teams. We outline areas for future research, provide managerial recommendations, and highlight implications for the study of both virtual and traditional teams. 2011-10-28T17:27:29Z 2011-10-28T17:27:29Z 2010-02 Working Paper http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66677 en_US MIT Sloan School of Management Working Paper;4772-10 application/pdf Cambridge, MA; Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | information technology team design emergent team states emergent team processes virtual team effectiveness Virtual teams Mortensen, Mark Caya, Olivier Pinsonneault, Alain Virtual Teams Demystified: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Virtual Teams and a Synthesis of Research |
| title | Virtual Teams Demystified: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Virtual Teams and a Synthesis of Research |
| title_full | Virtual Teams Demystified: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Virtual Teams and a Synthesis of Research |
| title_fullStr | Virtual Teams Demystified: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Virtual Teams and a Synthesis of Research |
| title_full_unstemmed | Virtual Teams Demystified: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Virtual Teams and a Synthesis of Research |
| title_short | Virtual Teams Demystified: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Virtual Teams and a Synthesis of Research |
| title_sort | virtual teams demystified an integrative framework for understanding virtual teams and a synthesis of research |
| topic | information technology team design emergent team states emergent team processes virtual team effectiveness Virtual teams |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66677 |
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