Trust Development in Globally Distributed Collaboration: A Case Study in China

With the widespread use of virtual teams in learning and work, more attention has been drawn to trust in the team. Risk, benefits, utility value, effort, power, and interest are six factors that influence individual trust development. We have conducted a case study to investigate trust development in global virtual teams with Chinese students. This research takes the perspective of individual trust and aims to explore the trust development trend and new trust factors. We have collected data using survey -- interview and documentation in the case study. We have validated the trust trend and found that the risk factor is the obvious change factor. Furthermore, three trust sub-factors, i.e, time zone difference, language and culture barriers, communication technology were found to help evaluate trust development. Afterwards, we put forward solutions to mitigate these risk factors.

[1]  J. Dawson,et al.  Boundary spanners' identification, intergroup contact, and effective intergroup relations , 2006 .

[2]  Kirsimarja Blomqvist,et al.  Managing distance in a global virtual team: the evolution of trust through technology‐mediated relational communication , 2005 .

[3]  Daniela E. Damian,et al.  Global Software Development and Delay: Does Distance Still Matter? , 2008, 2008 IEEE International Conference on Global Software Engineering.

[4]  James B. Avey,et al.  Authentic Leadership and Positive Psychological Capital , 2009 .

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

[6]  Judith A. Holton,et al.  Building trust and collaboration in a virtual team , 2001 .

[7]  Lena Zander,et al.  The Licence to Lead : an 18 Country Study of the Relationship between Employees’ Preferences Regarding Interpersonal Leadership and National Culture , 1997 .

[8]  Megan Tschannen-Moran,et al.  A Multidisciplinary Analysis of the Nature, Meaning, and Measurement of Trust , 2000 .

[9]  R. Yin.  Case Study Research: Design and Methods , 1984 .

[10]  G. Hofstede.  Cultural constraints in management theories , 1993 .

[11]  S. Simmons,et al.  A case for Case Study , 1992 .

[12]  F. Peter Boer,et al.  R&D Planning Environment for the '90S - America and Japan , 1991 .

[13]  James D. Herbsleb,et al.  Global software development at siemens: experience from nine projects , 2005, ICSE.

[14]  Linda A. Macaulay,et al.  Don't give up the community: a viewpoint of trust development in online collaboration , 2013, Inf. Technol. People.

[15]  Susan G. Straus,et al.  All in due time: The development of trust in computer-mediated and face-to-face teams , 2006 .

[16]  Pnina Shachaf,et al.  Cultural diversity and information and communication technology impacts on global virtual teams: An exploratory study , 2008, Inf. Manag..

[17]  Charles Hampden-Turner,et al.  Riding the waves of culture : understanding cultural diversity in global business , 1998 .

[18]  J. H. Davis,et al.  An Integrative Model Of Organizational Trust , 1995 .

[19]  Linda A. Macaulay,et al.  Exploring Individual Trust Factors in Computer Mediated Group Collaboration: A Case Study Approach , 2014 .

[20]  John A Scigliano,et al.  Mastering Virtual Teams: Strategies, Tools, and Techniques that Succeed: Deborah L. Duarte and Nancy Tennant Snyder. (2000). 2nd ed., San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 256 pages. ISBN: 0-7879-5589-2W01. US$39.95, includes a CD-ROM , 1999, Internet High. Educ..

[21]  J. Alberto Espinosa,et al.  Modeling Coordination Costs Due to Time Separation in Global Software Teams , 2003 .

[22]  Samir Dani,et al.  The Implications of Organizational Culture and Trust in the Working of Virtual Teams , 2006 .

[23]  Blake Ives,et al.  Trust and the Unintended Effects of Behavior Control in Virtual Teams , 2003, MIS Q..

[24]  Gwendolyn L. Kolfschoten,et al.  Trust Evolvement in Hybrid Team Collaboration: A Longitudinal Case Study , 2016 .

[25]  William B. Gudykunst.  Cultural Variability in Communication , 1997 .

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

[27]  David E. Rast,et al.  Intergroup Leadership in Organizations: Leading Across Group and Organizational Boundaries , 2012 .

[28]  Ita Richardson,et al.  Global software development and collaboration: barriers and solutions , 2010, INROADS.

[29]  Linda A. Macaulay,et al.  A Case Study of Individual Trust Development in Computer Mediated Collaboration Teams , 2009, 2009 International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering.

[30]  Tobias Kowatsch,et al.  Quantitative Longitudinal Research: A Review of IS Literature, and a Set of Methodological Guidelines , 2015, ECIS.

[31]  Steven C. Currall,et al.  Measuring trust between organizational boundary role persons. , 1995 .

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

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

[34]  Linda A. Macaulay,et al.  Individual trust and development of online business communities , 2007, Inf. Technol. People.

[35]  Liz Lee-Kelley,et al.  Global virtual teams for value creation and project success: A case study , 2008 .

[36]  C. Handy.  Trust and the virtual organization , 1999 .

[37]  Richard I. Hartman,et al.  Team building: Answering the tough questions , 1993 .

[38]  J. Rotter.  A new scale for the measurement of interpersonal trust. , 1967, Journal of personality.

[39]  R. Lewicki,et al.  Developing and Maintaining Trust in Work Relationships , 1996 .

[40]  Moez Limayem,et al.  The role of modelling in achieving information systems success: UML to the rescue? , 2009, Inf. Syst. J..

[41]  Viswanath Venkatesh,et al.  Bridging the Qualitative-Quantitative Divide: Guidelines for Conducting Mixed Methods Research in Information Systems , 2013, MIS Q..

[42]  Derald Wing Sue,et al.  Barriers to Effective Cross-Cultural Counseling , 1977 .

[43]  D. Wilemon,et al.  Working Together Apart? Building a Knowledge-sharing Culture for Global Virtual Teams , 2004 .