Diversity, Group Behavior, and Performance of Short Duration Ad Hoc Virtual Teams: Findings from a Laboratory Experiment

The purpose of this research is to examine whether the team diversity and psychological factors (such as, trust and motivation) can influence performance of short-duration, ad-hoc virtual teams engaged in problem solving tasks. We focus on the diversities of the members of virtual teams across national culture, educational specialization, and collaboration technology proficiency. A laboratory experiment was conducted involving virtual teams that were engaged in data model design. The results indicate that educational specialization diversity affects trust and motivation in the virtual teams. We also find that both trust and collaboration technology proficiency diversity influence performance of the virtual teams. The findings of the study highlight the importance of diversity and psychological factors in shaping the performance of shortduration virtual teams.