‘Turning up the volume’ in inter-personal leadership: motivating and building cohesive global virtual teams during times of economic crisis

Leaders of global virtual teams (GVTs) during the economic crisis of 2008–2009 faced a leadership challenge very different from leadership of traditional, face-to-face teams during normal economic conditions. Previous research has shown that the effect of leadership tends to become diminished in virtual team situations, due to well-known challenges of virtual working (geographic dispersion, computer-mediated communication, time zone, cultural and language differences); however, little empirical research has been undertaken during crisis periods such as experienced in 2008–2009 to evaluate the effect of leadership on team outcomes during times of crisis. We present findings which shed light on the impact of three sets of leadership behaviour, as described by FIRO theory (Schutz, 1958), that is, inclusion (participation), control (structure) and affection (personal support), on virtual team motivation and cohesiveness spanning the time of the recent global economic recession. Beginning in March 2008 spanning one year to March 2009, 221 team members within 31 operational GVTs located across 22 countries responded to a three-part, online survey relating to perceptions of team leader behaviour, team motivation and cohesiveness. Findings showed significant positive relationships between leaders' perceived expression of inclusion and personal support and motivation and cohesiveness outcomes. In addition, perceived team cohesiveness was positively correlated to perceived team motivation. Results suggest the need for virtual leaders to ‘turn up the volume’ in their initiated inter-personal behaviour, that is, to increase efforts in participation and supportiveness to bridge the considerable gaps between themselves and team members working virtually and to maintain motivation during difficult times. Correspondent to these findings, we surmise that leadership development programs need to be adjusted to include training and feedback mechanisms to support these types of GVTs leadership behaviours.

[1]  John J. Sosik,et al.  Effects of Participative and Directive Leadership in Electronic Groups , 2004 .

[2]  C. Gibson,et al.  Virtual teams that work : creating conditions for virtual team effectiveness , 2003 .

[3]  D. Pauleen.  Leadership in a global virtual team: an action learning approach , 2003 .

[4]  D. Streiner.  Starting at the Beginning: An Introduction to Coefficient Alpha and Internal Consistency , 2003, Journal of personality assessment.

[5]  Emily D. Heaphy,et al.  Positive Social Interactions and the Human Body at Work: Linking Organizations and Physiology , 2006 .

[6]  G. Salomon.  Television is "easy" and print is "tough": The differential investment of mental effort in learning as a function of perceptions and attributions. , 1984 .

[7]  Debra L. Shapiro,et al.  The Future of Work Motivation Theory , 2004 .

[8]  C. Marlene Fiol,et al.  Identification in Face-to-Face, Hybrid, and Pure Virtual Teams: Untangling the Contradictions , 2005, Organ. Sci..

[9]  C. R. Evans,et al.  A Reexamination of the Structure of the Gross Cohesiveness Scale , 1993 .

[10]  A. Majchrzak,et al.  Leading Virtual Teams , 2007 .

[11]  A. Bandura.  Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control , 1997, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

[12]  John E. Mathieu,et al.  Leading Parallel Global Virtual Teams: Lessons from Alcoa , 2009 .

[13]  Kenneth L. Bettenhausen.  Five Years of Groups Research: What We Have Learned and What Needs to Be Addressed , 1991 .

[14]  William J. Haga,et al.  A vertical dyad linkage approach to leadership within formal organizations: A longitudinal investigation of the role making process , 1975 .

[15]  Richard E. Clark,et al.  Motivating Performance: Part 1—Diagnosing and Solving Motivation Problems , 1998 .

[16]  Hui Liao,et al.  Getting Everyone on Board: The Role of Inspirational Leadership in Geographically Dispersed Teams , 2009, Organ. Sci..

[17]  S. Weisband.  Leadership at a Distance: Research in Technologically-Supported Work , 2007 .

[18]  Joseph P. Stokes,et al.  Components of Group Cohesion , 1983 .

[19]  Ching-Wen Wang,et al.  Impact of Motivating Language on Team Creative Performance , 2009, J. Comput. Inf. Syst..

[20]  Pamela J. Hinds,et al.  Understanding Conflict in Geographically Distributed Teams: The Moderating Effects of Shared Identity, Shared Context, and Spontaneous Communication , 2005 .

[21]  A. Majchrzak,et al.  Can absence make a team grow stronger? , 2004, Harvard business review.

[22]  W. Schutz,et al.  The FIRO Administrator: Theory, Criteria, and Measurement of Effectiveness , 1976 .

[23]  Mentoring relationships and interpersonal orientation , 2001 .

[24]  Liz Lee-Kelley,et al.  A social interaction approach to managing the "invisibles" of virtual teams , 2004, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[25]  J. Fjermestad,et al.  Bridging the gap between traditional leadership theories and virtual team leadership , 2006 .

[26]  Donald D. Davis.  The Tao of Leadership in Virtual Teams , 2004 .

[27]  Jonathon N. Cummings.  Leading Groups From a Distance: How to Mitigate Consequences of Geographic Dispersion , 2007 .

[28]  J. H. Semple,et al.  Control and Belbin’s team roles , 2001 .

[29]  Mark E. Johnson,et al.  Internal Structure of the Gross Cohesiveness Scale , 1988 .

[30]  S. Alexander Haslam,et al.  Motivating Individuals and Groups at Work: A Social Identity Perspective on Leadership and Group Performance , 2004 .

[31]  R. J. House,et al.  A Path-Goal Theory of Leader Effectiveness , 1971 .

[32]  E. A. Locke,et al.  What Should we do About Motivation Theory? Six Recommendations for the Twenty-First Century , 2004 .

[33]  Chien Yu.  An I-P-O model of team goal, leader goal orientation, team cohesiveness, and team effectiveness , 2006 .

[34]  Mark A. Fuller,et al.  Measuring Group Efficacy in Virtual Teams , 2006 .

[35]  Richard E. Clark,et al.  Fostering the work motivation of individuals and teams , 2003 .

[36]  Crystal L. Hoyt,et al.  Transformational and Transactional Leadership in Virtual and Physical Environments , 2003 .

[37]  Richard E. Clark,et al.  Research‐tested team motivation strategies , 2005 .

[38]  W. Macrosson.  FIRO–B: Factors and Facets , 2000, Psychological reports.

[39]  James E. King.  White‐collar reactions to job insecurity and the role of the psychological contract: Implications for human resource management , 2000 .

[40]  Carol T. Kulik,et al.  Old Friends, New Faces: Motivation Research in the 1990s , 1999 .

[41]  M. Maznevski,et al.  Bridging Space Over Time: Global Virtual Team Dynamics and Effectiveness , 2000 .

[42]  D. Denison,et al.  Paradox and Performance: Toward a Theory of Behavioral Complexity in Managerial Leadership , 1995 .

[43]  Laura A. Hambley,et al.  Virtual team leadership: The effects of leadership style and communication medium on team interaction styles and outcomes , 2007 .

[44]  N. Gross,et al.  On Group Cohesiveness , 1952, American Journal of Sociology.

[45]  Dorothy E. Leidner,et al.  Leadership Effectiveness in Global Virtual Teams , 2002, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

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

[47]  Bradley L. Kirkman,et al.  The Impact of Team Empowerment on Virtual Team Performance: The Moderating Role of Face-to-Face Interaction , 2004 .

[48]  Gary Garrison,et al.  Research Note - A Model of Conflict, Leadership, and Performance in Virtual Teams , 2008, Inf. Syst. Res..

[49]  Cornelius J. König,et al.  Integrating Theories of Motivation , 2006 .

[50]  P. Pintrich,et al.  Motivation in Education: Theory, Research, and Applications , 1995 .

[51]  S. Kozlowski,et al.  A Typology of Virtual Teams , 2002 .

[52]  G. Varney,et al.  Energizing Commitment to Change in a Team-Building Intervention: A FIRO-B Approach , 1978 .

[53]  Thomas G. Moore.  Virtual team member motivation in new product development: An investigation into the influence of leadership behaviors , 2007 .

[54]  F. Horwitz,et al.  The promise of virtual teams: identifying key factors in effectiveness and failure , 2006 .

[55]  Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa,et al.  Communication and Trust in Global Virtual Teams , 1999 .

[56]  Youngjin Yoo,et al.  Emergent leadership in virtual teams: what do emergent leaders do? , 2004, Inf. Organ..

[57]  F. Atelsek,et al.  Firo: A Three-Dimensional Theory of Interpersonal Behavior , 1959 .

[58]  C. Gibson,et al.  Perceptual distance: The impact of differences in team leader and member perceptions across cultures , 2001 .