A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF VIRTUAL TEAM EFFECTIVENESS FROM THE SOCIO-TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

In the era of globalization and technologization, virtual teamwork has become a routine part of professional activity in the software industry and other industries. Understanding virtual team effectiveness helps the management to improve overall effectiveness of organizations. In this paper, we conduct a literature review of team research to set up a conceptual framework of virtual team effectiveness based on socio-technical perspective and Inputs-Mediators-Outputs-Inputs model. Our framework includes some salient inputs, mediators and outputs of virtual team life-cycle; specifically, technology readiness and intention to explore are two technical antecedents; team learning and transactive memory system are two social antecedents; and team performance is a socio-technical output representing virtual team effectiveness. After that, a 27-item measuring instrument of aforesaid concepts are proposed after a qualitative survey of 19 virtual team leaders and a quantitative survey of 151 virtual team members from 19 companies locating in Vietnam. The results are references for those interested in improving virtual team effectiveness.