Coordination mechanisms for virtual work groups

(project 014-43-731)

Research problem

This study aims to provide more insight in which coordination mechanisms are effective in the context of virtual work groups. Many firms operate in a highly global and dynamic marketplace. Such firms nowadays emphasize the importance of managing their internal and external relationships. Traditional coordination mechanisms are under pressure. Direct supervision through daily personal interactions between managers and employees no longer seems a valid coordination mechanism in a world dominated by geographically distributed and boundaryless organizations. On the one hand, using applications for remote access makes it more difficult for a first-line supervisor to have a clear overview of subordinate performance. On the other hand, the use of new on-line tools and applications may provide managers with means to measure activities of groups or individuals. Furthermore, some applications may even form a substitute for managerial roles. The project provides insight in the changing nature of managing in new contexts. Most current managerial insights were gained through studying more traditional work environments. This study aims to provide new insight through exploring the use and effectiveness of coordination mechanisms in organizations with different levels of distribution and within contexts in which various applications of collaboration technology are used.

Scientific relevance

A growing body of research in the area of boundaryless organizations shows a clear distinction between two sets of virtual groups, namely virtual teams and communities of practice. Virtual teams are groups of geographically dispersed co-workers that are assembled using a combination of ICT to accomplish organizational tasks within a company or between organizations. Communities of practice are found in the domain of knowledge management and sharing and are loosely knit groups driven by the value they provide to members, defined by the opportunities to learn and share and bounded by collective identity. Teams are more formally institutionalised. Both virtual teams and communities of practice have to communicate, cooperate and coordinate under special circumstances, such as having incompatible ICT tools and infrastructures, missing non-verbal cues in communication, and missing unplanned social encounters. Global virtual teams or communities may also have to deal with the additional issues of differences in time zone, language barriers and cultural differences These circumstances make communication, coordination, cooperation and therefore team- and trust building difficult. Studying the coordination of different kinds of virtual work groups forms the core of this project. The question is which coordination mechanisms will be successful within the context of these flexible work units that communicate mainly through ICT applications.

Recent studies of management and leadership show the effectiveness of transformational leadership, characterized by shared meaning systems, a shared sense of purpose, and high member commitment to shared values. Research in the area of knowledge management point at comparable factors. In line with this, we expect that successful coordination mechanisms in virtual environments are based on shared meaning, purposes and values, rather than on direct supervision, or standardization of tasks or output. The latter, more traditional mechanisms no longer seem valid. As relatively little is known about managing and coordination processes in virtual environments this study fills part of this gap. Also new instruments will be developed to measure the levels of group distribution and co-ordination mechanisms. Both these new instruments and the results of the study should enhance scientific insight in the area of coordination, leadership and management of virtual work groups.

Social and policy relevance

Collaboration technology provides many opportunities for organizations to improve teamwork and knowledge sharing. Despite the opportunities of virtual teamwork in organizations, the actual adoption of such collaboration technology is still rather limited. This is partly due that certain forms of cooperation are hard to achieve without face to face contacts. However, companies are increasingly confronted with a radically different work environment, in which managers fear to lose sight and control of their employees. As most managers are familiar with coordination mechanisms in traditional work environments, more insight in the dynamics of managing a distributed workforce is necessary. The project contributes to a better fit between managerial practices and distributed work environments, and will provide additional insights for developers of suitable collaboration technology solutions. On basis of this study, a set of practical guidelines will be formulated that will help to successfully manage virtual work groups with various levels of distribution.

Methodology

Managerial policy in organizations can be characterized as control versus commitment oriented. Do managers emphasize controlling employees or do they strive for commitment among their workers? This issue is also relevant in virtual work groups. The control-commitment dichotomy is specified in six main categories of coordination mechanisms. In this study, these coordination mechanisms will be linked to groups with different levels of distribution. Hypotheses on the effectiveness of different coordinating mechanisms in a virtual context will be tested. Data will be collected through conducting an extensive survey with a sample of at least 50 teams. These teams will be selected from a small number of multinational organizations in the same industry.

Group distribution is an elusive concept. It does not only refer to geographical distribution and proximity, but also to time differences and organizational dependence. Although many are aware of this, there is no instrument that systematically measures levels of group distribution. The construction of such an instrument forms an integral part of this project. Future research in the area of distributed group work may benefit from the use of such a validated measurement tool. The same holds for the tool that will be developed for the measurement of types and intensity of coordination, both for teams and communities. Two case studies will form the basis for the construction of these instruments and for a first orientation in the field. This is followed by the core survey research in a few large multinational organizations. The next step will be to analyse the relationship between coordination mechanisms and levels of distribution. The effect of the match between these two will be analysed in terms of types of team outcomes distinguished in team effectiveness studies. Internationally validated instruments will be used for measuring these outcome measures.

Research

• Prof. Dr. J.H.E. Andriessen, Delft University of Technology
• Dr. R.M. Verburg, Delft University of Technology
• Prof. Dr. D.N. den Hartog, ERIM, KLI, Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Results

Verburg, R.M. and J.A. de Ridder (2003) (Eds.) Knowledge Sharing under Distributed Circumstances. (zie ook bij boeken)

Presentatie paper getiteld “Coordination Mechanisms for Virtual project teams” tijdens het EAWOP (European Association for Work and Organizational Psychology) congres, gehouden te Istanbul (12-15 mei 2005)

Presentatie paper getiteld “Leadership and Coordination Mechanisms for Virtual Project Teams” tijdens het congres ‘ICT, the Knowledge Society and Changes in Work’ Conference website: www.nwo.nl/nwohome.nsf/pages/NWOP_64PB8P georganiseerd door NWO, SISWO en SCP te Den Haag op 9 en 10 juni 2005