Analyzing Factors That Affect Performance of
159
ANALYZING FACTORS THAT AFFECT PERFORMANCE OF GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS
V. Sridhar Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India sridhar@mdi.ac.in Dhruv Nath Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India Dhruv@mdi.ac.in Ravi Paul East Carolina University, USA paulr@ecu.edu
Kavita Kapur Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India fpm06kavita_k@mdi.ac.in
Globalization of operations, reduced time to market, increased need to respond quickly to customers’ needs worldwide and reduced cost of operations have encouraged many business organizations to adopt global virtual teams for their business activities. In this study, we explore a comprehensive model consisting of different variables that impact performance of such global virtual teams and validate it through an exploratory experiment conducted in an academic setting. Preliminary analysis indicates that trust between team members and communication effectiveness of the teams has significant positive correlation with the success of virtual team projects. Moreover, the participants perceived the virtual team project success positively. They also were positively oriented about their learning from participating in such virtual team projects. Motivation of team members is highly correlated with team members’ learning effectiveness. Implications of these findings for businesses and curriculum development are discussed. Key Words: collaborative work, Customer Relationship Management, collocated teams, computer mediated communication, academic experiments, virtual team projects
1. INTRODUCTION
Global competition, reengineered product life cycles, mass customization, and the increased need to respond quickly to customers’ needs are some of the pronounced trends currently driving organizational change. Successful companies in this environment use Information Technology as a primary enabler and are organized as dynamic networks with globally distributed operations which allow them to adapt more quickly to
ANALYZING FACTORS THAT AFFECT PERFORMANCE OF GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS
V. Sridhar Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India sridhar@mdi.ac.in Dhruv Nath Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India Dhruv@mdi.ac.in Ravi Paul East Carolina University, USA paulr@ecu.edu
Kavita Kapur Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India fpm06kavita_k@mdi.ac.in
Globalization of operations, reduced time to market, increased need to respond quickly to customers’ needs worldwide and reduced cost of operations have encouraged many business organizations to adopt global virtual teams for their business activities. In this study, we explore a comprehensive model consisting of different variables that impact performance of such global virtual teams and validate it through an exploratory experiment conducted in an academic setting. Preliminary analysis indicates that trust between team members and communication effectiveness of the teams has significant positive correlation with the success of virtual team projects. Moreover, the participants perceived the virtual team project success positively. They also were positively oriented about their learning from participating in such virtual team projects. Motivation of team members is highly correlated with team members’ learning effectiveness. Implications of these findings for businesses and curriculum development are discussed. Key Words: collaborative work, Customer Relationship Management, collocated teams, computer mediated communication, academic experiments, virtual team projects
1. INTRODUCTION
Global competition, reengineered product life cycles, mass customization, and the increased need to respond quickly to customers’ needs are some of the pronounced trends currently driving organizational change. Successful companies in this environment use Information Technology as a primary enabler and are organized as dynamic networks with globally distributed operations which allow them to adapt more quickly to