The Role of Team Preparation Processes and Task Conflict on Virtual Team Performance

摘要

The purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of the factors contributing to team performance in global virtual teams. We report on a study on global virtual teams involved on applied projects in industry. Team members differed in location and nationalities. This paper examines the relationships between goal commitment, planning and conflict. Data were collected from 34 teams in an international Master program in Quality Management, Safety and Environmental Impact hosted in Bolivia and Chile. Students were from nine different countries in South America. Students were assigned to teams of size 3 and participated in 15-week project as part of a virtual team. The project consisted of the identification of a specific problem or need in an organization and designing and planning the implementation of a solution. A survey-based approach was used combining quantitative and qualitative data collection. The survey instrument included Likert-style items evaluating the selected variables. The results provide some preliminary evidence that resource availability and task conflict contributed to team performance whereas increased time awareness in the team was related to lower levels of performance. Lastly, limitations and suggestions for future research are presented.