Team Effectiveness in Virtual Environments: An Ecological Approach

This chapter attempts to address the need for more research on virtual team effectiveness and outlines an ecological theoretical framework that is applicable to virtual learning environments (VLE). Prior empirical studies on virtual team effectiveness used frameworks of traditional team effectiveness and mainly followed Hackman's normative model (input-process-output). We propose an ecological approach for virtual team effectiveness that accounts for team boundaries management, technology use, and external environment in VLE, properties which were previously either nonexistent or contextual. The ecological framework suggests that three components, external environment, internal environment, and boundary management, reciprocally interact with effectiveness. The significance of the proposed framework is a holistic perspective that takes into account the complexity of the external and internal environment of the team. Furthermore, we address the needs for new pedagogical approaches in VLE. INTRODUCTION As a result of globalization and advances in information and communication technologies, the increased use of virtual teams (VT) in both education and business has become prominent (Weiss, Nolan, & Trifonas, in press). VT are “group[s] of people who work interdependently with a shared purpose across space, time, and organization boundaries using technology” (Lipnack & Stamps, 2000, p. 18). The need for more theoretical and empirical research on virtual team effectiveness (VTE) (e.g. DeSanctis & Poole, 1997; Furst, Blackburn & Rosen, 1999) attracted several empirical studies (e.g. Vickery, Clark & Carlson, 1999; Anderson, 2000; Lurey & Rainghani, 2001). Most of these studies on VTE were conducted under the systems approach using Hackman's normative model (input-process-output) for traditional team effectiveness (Hackman & Oldham, 1980). Shachaf, Pnina and Hara, Noriko (2005) Team Effectiveness in Virtual Environments: An Ecological Approach, in Ferris, P. and Godar, S., Eds. Teaching and Learning with Virtual Teams, pp. 83-108. Idea Group Publishing.