CCE Faculty Articles
Impact of Heterogeneity and Collaborative Conflict Management Style on the Performance of Synchronous Global Virtual Teams
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Information & Management
ISSN
0378-7206
Publication Date
2004
Abstract
Virtual teams cut across organizational cultures, national cultures, and functional areas, thereby increasing group heterogeneity, which may result in increased conflict among team members and less effective performance of the team. Our study explored the relationships that might exist among the heterogeneity of the virtual teams, their collaborative conflict management style, and their performance outcomes. The paper reports the findings of a laboratory experiment in which homogeneous and heterogeneous virtual teams, consisting of subjects from the USA and India, worked independently on a decision task involving the adoption of a computer use fee by an online university. Team members, used a web-based group decision support system (GDSS) that allowed them the opportunity to discuss task options, critique suggestions, and vote on the result. The data analyses suggested that collaborative conflict management style positively impacted satisfaction with the decision making process, perceived decision quality, and perceived participation of the virtual teams. There was weak evidence that links a group’s heterogeneity to its collaborative conflict management styles.
DOI
10.1016/S0378-7206(03)00076-4
Volume
41
Issue
3
First Page
303
Last Page
321
NSUWorks Citation
Paul, Souren; Seetharaman, Priya; Samarah, Imad M.; and Mykytyn, Peter P. Jr., "Impact of Heterogeneity and Collaborative Conflict Management Style on the Performance of Synchronous Global Virtual Teams" (2004). CCE Faculty Articles. 371.
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_facarticles/371
