An examination of the relationship among structure, trust, and conflict management styles in virtual teams

• Published in: Performance improvement quarterly Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 77 - 93
• Main Authors: Liu, Xiaojing, Magjuka, Richard J., Lee, Seung-hee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 2008; International Society for Performance Improvement
• Subjects: Asynchronous Communication; Collaboration; Communication; Communication (Thought Transfer); Communications; Competitive advantage; Conflict; Conflict management; Cooperation; Critical Thinking; Electronic Learning; Geographic Location; Global Approach; Group dynamics; Group Instruction; Information Technology; Literature Reviews; Management styles; Military Training; Problem solving; Questionnaires; Research Design; Satisfaction; Statistical Analysis; Teams; Teamwork; Thinking Skills; Trust (Psychology); Virtual Classrooms; Virtual teams; Work environment
• ISSN: 0898-5952; 1937-8327
• DOI: 10.1002/piq.20016

The emergence of new technologies has made it increasingly easy for distributed collaboration in both educational and noneducational settings. Although the effectiveness in traditional settings of the dynamics of small group work has been widely researched, there is limited research that offers evidence on how teams can work effectively in a virtual environment. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship among team structure, trust, and conflict management style, in addition to their impact on teamwork effectiveness in a virtual environment. An experimental design was used to assess the effects of structure on team performance. Forty‐four groups, divided into hierarchical and nonhierarchical groups, worked on an online simulation project in an online MBA course. The results suggest that team structure is strongly associated with team performance, whereas trust and a collaboration conflict management style contribute to teamwork satisfaction.