The HKNET Project: E-Collaboration and Virtual Team Identity

E-collaboration is much more than the technological equivalent or substitute for traditional face-toface collaboration. The new metrics of time and distance modify, in essence, human interactions and, indeed, turn the classic network of face-to-face relationships into a network of e-relationships between individuals. The network, in turn, influences the development of a virtual team and its process and product. During the past four years, the authors have developed an educational project involving hundreds of students from different national cultures working together for six weeks on a specific project (HKNet). In this paper, we present our experiences and draw conclusions giving special attention to relevant social processes such as the development of multi-cultural team identity.