Tension between perceived collocation and actual geographic distribution in project teams

This paper describes an exploratory comparative study of knowledge workers and their challenges in high tech global project teams. More specifically we focus on the tension between perceived collocation and actual geographical distributed project work as a function of: (1) the demand to distribute and shift attention in multi-teaming, (2) virtuality i.e. number of virtual teams participants engage in, (3) the continuous adjustment and re-adjustment to new places they perform their activity, and (4) the collaboration technologies they use. We present the methodology for data collection that included semi-structured interviews, surveys, and on site shadowing of the project participants, and discuss the findings from the data analysis. The study is based on the bricks-bits-interaction framework. It is at the intersection of the design of physical spaces, i.e., bricks; rich digital information and collaboration technology (ICT) content, mobile devices and network infrastructures, i.e., bits, and emergent work practices, process, and new ways people behave in communicative events using the affordances of ICT augmented physical, virtual spaces and digital content, i.e., interaction.

[1]  K. Eisenhardt Building theories from case study research , 1989, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[2]  Kevin Crowston,et al.  Discontinuities and continuities: a new way to understand virtual work , 2002, Inf. Technol. People.

[3]  Pamela J. Hinds,et al.  Out of Sight, Out of Sync: Understanding Conflict in Distributed Teams , 2003, Organ. Sci..

[4]  James D. Thompson Organizations in Action , 1967 .

[5]  Y. Aharoni Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind , 1992 .

[6]  T. Allen Managing the flow of technology , 1977 .

[7]  YAN JIN,et al.  The virtual design team: A computational model of project organizations , 1996, Comput. Math. Organ. Theory.

[8]  Erran Carmel,et al.  Global software teams: collaborating across borders and time zones , 1999 .

[9]  Petra Bosch-Sijtsema,et al.  Knowledge work productivity in distributed teams , 2009, J. Knowl. Manag..

[10]  Blake Ives,et al.  Virtual teams: a review of current literature and directions for future research , 2004, DATB.

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

[12]  S. Kiesler,et al.  Managing Distances and Differences in Geographically Distributed Work Groups , 2002 .

[13]  Judith S. Olson,et al.  Distance Matters , 2000, Hum. Comput. Interact..

[14]  Pamela J. Hinds,et al.  Distributed Work , 2002 .

[15]  E. Wynn,et al.  Virtuality and Team Performance: Understanding the Impact of Variety of Practices , 2006 .

[16]  C. Cramton The Mutual Knowledge Problem and Its Consequences for Dispersed Collaboration , 2001 .

[17]  김종식 동아시아 문화와 경영, Geert Hofstede, Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values (Beverly Hills, CA:Sage Publications, 1980) ; and Cultures and Organizations : Software of the Mind (New York:McGraw-Hill, 1997) , 1999 .

[18]  Lucy Gilson,et al.  Virtual Teams: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go From Here? , 2004 .

[19]  James D. Thompson Organizations in Action: Social Science Bases of Administrative Theory , 1967 .

[20]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Culture′s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values , 1980 .

[21]  John E. Sawyer,et al.  Virtualness and Knowledge in Teams: Managing the Love Triangle of Organizations, Individuals, and Information Technology , 2003, MIS Q..

[22]  Jonathon N. Cummings,et al.  The Spatial, Temporal, and Configurational Characteristics of Geographic Dispersion in Teams , 2007, MIS Q..

[23]  Renate Fruchter,et al.  Bricks & Bits & Interaction , 2001, JSAI Workshops.

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

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

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