Virtual Team Networks: How Group Social Capital Affects Team Success in a Massively Multiplayer Online Game

Virtual teams have become a ubiquitous form of organizing, but the impact of social structures within and between teams on group performance remains understudied. This paper uses the case study of a massively multiplayer online game and server log data from over 10,000 players to examine the connection between group social capital (operationalized through guild network structure measures) and team effectiveness, given a variety of in-game social networks. Three different networks, social, task, and exchange networks, are compared and contrasted while controlling for group size, group age, and player experience. Team effectiveness is maximized at a roughly moderate level of closure across the networks, suggesting that this is the optimal level of the group's network density. Guilds with high brokerage, meaning they have diverse connections with other groups, were more effective in achievement-oriented networks. In addition, guilds with central leaders were more effective when they teamed up with other guild leaders.

[1]  P. Blau.  Inequality and Heterogeneity: A Primitive Theory of Social Structure , 1978 .

[2]  Anthony R. Hendrickson,et al.  Virtual teams: Technology and the workplace of the future , 1998 .

[3]  Ezra W. Zuckerman,et al.  Networks, Diversity, and Productivity: The Social Capital of Corporate R&D Teams , 2001 .

[4]  Alexander Hars,et al.  Working for free? Motivations of participating in open source projects , 2001, Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[5]  Robert J. Moore,et al.  The life and death of online gaming communities: a look at guilds in world of warcraft , 2007, CHI.

[6]  Cuihua Shen,et al.  Network patterns and social architecture in Massively Multiplayer Online Games: Mapping the social world of EverQuest II , 2014, New Media Soc..

[7]  Saonee Sarker,et al.  The Role of Communication and Trust in Global Virtual Teams: A Social Network Perspective , 2011, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[8]  D. Harrison,et al.  TIES, LEADERS, AND TIME IN TEAMS: STRONG INFERENCE ABOUT NETWORK STRUCTURE'S EFFECTS ON TEAM VIABILITY AND PERFORMANCE , 2006 .

[9]  G. Hofstede.  Culture′s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations , 2001 .

[10]  R. Balicer.  Modeling infectious diseases dissemination through online role-playing games. , 2007, Epidemiology.

[11]  Mark S. Granovetter.  The Strength of Weak Ties , 1973, American Journal of Sociology.

[12]  B. Wellman,et al.  Different Strokes from Different Folks: Community Ties and Social Support , 1990, American Journal of Sociology.

[13]  J. Hackman,et al.  Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances , 2002 .

[14]  Rabindra A. Ratan,et al.  Schmoozing and Smiting: Trust, Social Institutions, and Communication Patterns in an MMOG , 2010, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[15]  John M. Levine,et al.  Creating the Ideal Group: Composition Effects at Work , 2018, Understanding Group Behavior.

[16]  Dmitri Williams,et al.  The Mapping Principle, and a Research Framework for Virtual Worlds , 2010 .

[17]  Joshua A. Clark,et al.  Online Games, Community Aspects of , 2015 .

[18]  G. Labianca,et al.  Group Social Capital and Group Effectiveness: The Role of Informal Socializing Ties , 2004 .

[19]  Molly McLure Wasko,et al.  The Effects of Leader-Member Exchange on Member Performance in Virtual World Teams , 2012, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[20]  Guido Hertel,et al.  Motivation of software developers in Open Source projects: an Internet-based survey of contributors to the Linux kernel , 2003 .

[21]  Ajay Mehra,et al.  The Social Networks of High and Low Self-Monitors: Implications for Workplace Performance , 2001 .

[22]  Bruce Robertson,et al.  The Social Network Ties of Group Leaders: Implications for Group Performance and Leader Reputation , 2006, Organ. Sci..

[23]  Mei Lu,et al.  How virtual are we? Measuring virtuality and understanding its impact in a global organization , 2005, Inf. Syst. J..

[24]  David Lazer,et al.  Inferring friendship network structure by using mobile phone data , 2009, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[25]  Mark S. Granovetter.  Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness , 1985, American Journal of Sociology.

[26]  Yubo Kou,et al.  Playing with strangers: understanding temporary teams in league of legends , 2014, CHI PLAY.

[27]  Cuihua Shen,et al.  Friending your way up the ladder: Connecting massive multiplayer online game behaviors with offline leadership , 2014, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[28]  Yun Huang,et al.  Functional or social?: exploring teams in online games , 2013, CSCW.

[29]  R. Bhagat.  Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations , 2002 .

[30]  Robert A. Roe,et al.  Trust within teams: The relation with performance effectiveness , 2001 .

[31]  Robert D. Putnam,et al.  Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community , 2000, CSCW '00.

[32]  Jakob J. Assmann,et al.  MMOGs as Emerging Opportunities for Research on Virtual Organizations and Teams , 2010, AMCIS.

[33]  Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa,et al.  Communication and Trust in Global Virtual Teams , 1999, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[34]  Patricia E. Tweet.  Brokerage and Closure: An Introduction to Social Capital , 2006 .

[35]  J. Coleman,et al.  Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital , 1988, American Journal of Sociology.

[36]  Robin Mansell,et al.  The international encyclopedia of digital communication and society , 2015 .

[37]  Scott E. Caplan,et al.  Who plays, how much, and why? Debunking the stereotypical gamer profile , 2008, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[38]  Nick Yee,et al.  The Demographics, Motivations, and Derived Experiences of Users of Massively Multi-User Online Graphical Environments , 2006, PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments.

[39]  Jacob Cohen,et al.  Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences , 1979 .

[40]  D. Krackhardt.  The strength of strong ties: The importance of Philos in organizations , 2003 .

[41]  G. Labianca,et al.  A Multilevel Model of Group Social Capital , 2006 .

[42]  Ronald S. Burt,et al.  Network-Related Personality and the Agency Question: Multirole Evidence from a Virtual World1 , 2012, American Journal of Sociology.

[43]  J. Richard Hackman,et al.  Group Behavior and Performance , 2010 .