Trust Development in Globally Distributed Collaboration: A Case Study in China

摘要

With the widespread use of virtual teams in learning and work, more attention has been drawn to trust in the team. Risk, benefits, utility value, effort, power, and interest are six factors that influence individual trust development. We have conducted a case study to investigate trust development in global virtual teams with Chinese students. This research takes the perspective of individual trust and aims to explore the trust development trend and new trust factors. We have collected data using survey -- interview and documentation in the case study. We have validated the trust trend and found that the risk factor is the obvious change factor. Furthermore, three trust sub-factors, i.e, time zone difference, language and culture barriers, communication technology were found to help evaluate trust development. Afterwards, we put forward solutions to mitigate these risk factors.