Virtual teams are increasingly common in organizations, yet explicit theory and research on virtual team processes and outcomes is relatively rare. In this chapter, we first place virtual teams in context and provide a two dimensional framework for understanding the range of virtualness. We then...

Information technology may play the role of a jealous mistress when it comes to the relationship between individual and organizational knowledge creation. Information technology can facilitate the dissemination of knowledge across the organization - even to the point of making virtual groups a...

Technology has been an important theme in the study of organizational form and function since the 1950s. However, organization science’s interest in this relationship has declined significantly over the past 30 years, a period during which information technologies have become pervasive in...

In this paper, we examine the mediating role of relationship, task, and process conflict in the much debated relationship between intra-group trust and group performance. We test these relationships with two different studies, including one longitudinal study of student workgroups. We propose...

A multi-faceted approach to process conflict is presented. In Study one, an exploratory analysis of qualitative data confirmed the existence of process conflict as separate from task conflict and relationship conflict. In addition, three distinct types of process conflict were found, including...

Leaders often establish personal relationships with their subordinates. These relationships are quite useful to both leaders and their followers. Such personal connections allow leaders to better motivate their subordinates, more efficiently communicate with them, increase trust, and receive...

Intergroup research has focused primarily, if not solely, on how an intergroup comparative context primes social categorization. The current research examines how individual differences, in terms of distinct forms of social self (the relational versus collective self), differentially drive...

Despite the oft touted benefits of having differences in task-related cognition, teams often do not capitalize on their heterogeneity. We add a nuance to this literature by examining representational gaps — fundamental incompatibilities in the way that team members conceptualize the problem...

Interdisciplinary teams have the potential for greater creativity in organizations. Interdisciplinary teams draw on a variety of functional expertise and divergent perspectives to facilitate the production of creative ideas. However, interdisciplinary teams do not necessarily produce creative...

This chapter considers the social structuring processes that occur in groups that use computer medicated communication (CMC). We propose several mechanisms through which status is created, negotiated, and managed in such groups. This chapter builds on earlier model of status dynamics in...